2016 Kia Optima SXL: About 4 weeks ago the Driver Lane Assist warning lights turned on (which impacts the cars auto-distance/cruise control system). I took it to my local mechanic who had said the front bumper camera/radar sensor had been disconnected and was out of alignment. They reconnected the camera but said that due to special equipment, that they don't have, the radar had to be recalibrated at a dealership. So we took the Optima to Courtesy Kia of Brandon.
My wife brought it and was told there were two recall issues that needed to be repaired and that the work would take about 3 hours. She chose to wait...after over 6 hours later, right around 5:30pm, only to find the same warning service lights were still on. Not having any more time to deal with it, she brought it home. I called the service manager I asked what the hell was going on. We brought the car in for issue A, they keep the car for 6+ hours, do other stuff...and return the car with issue A still on going. They never even looked at it....and I got a sheepish apology from the service manager. Rescheduled for the next week to bring the car back in.
Brought the car back in and after having the car for most of the day they call and tell us the front radar/camera system needs to be replaced for $3000. I asked if they even bothered to see if the system was working and just needed to be recalibrated or if in tact the radar sensors had gone bad? And after having the car ALL day, within 30 minutes their tech went and looked at it again and LOW AND BEHOLD, the system was just fine and needed to be recalibrated...the charge was $550. How come they didn't do that analysis in the first place? If I hadn't known to ask the right question, they would have charged me $3000 to replace a perfectly good part - but they didn't bother to do their job.
Two weeks after this another related sensor warning light turns on. It was on for about week before we were able to bring the car back in for diagnostics. But on the way over, mysteriously the warning sensors had turned off...but we brought it in anyway. My wife dropped off the car and while she was still there waiting on her Uber, the mechanic came out and said the "red oil sensor" light was on....odd, it wasn't on when brought it in. A few hours later we get a service update telling us the front windshield camera/sensor system has gone bad - and to replace it will be $2000. In addition to this $2000 charge...there are nearly $2000 other services needed. $340: leaking oil pressure switch, $750: leaking valve cover GASKET replacement, $312: new spark plugs, $210: wheel alignment and tire rotation. $1612 (before taxes) for all these extra "NEEDED" services....that miraculously never turned up when we brought the car in, TWICE, just two weeks prior.
I called my local mechanic again and asked what he would charge for valve cover gasket, the spark plugs and the oil pressure switch - his charge...AFTER taxes, was $612...IF the the fixes were even needed.
So now, I have a service dealership that wanted to charge me $3000 for replacing a perfectly good part - and now was was trying to charge me another $4000 to fix all these other issues. Had I done all this I would have been on the hook for just over $7000. We told them to bugger off...we picked up the car. And guess what...the original sensor warning light we brought it in for that had turned off by itself...was still off... and miraculously (again), the "red oil sensor light" was not on....apparently it was ONLY on during the 30 minute diagnostic while the mechanic was physically staring at it. It was never on before this...and hasn't come on since. But that darn oil sensor light would have led to $1200 in extra charges....What a damn coincidence!!!
In the end, we paid $550 for the original radar sensor to be recalibrated and are bringing the car into our local mechanic this week. If....IF...all those extra BS items are actually needed we will pay another $612...for a grand total of $1162. Hmmmm....$7000...or $1162....we aren't talking a few hundred dollars or percentage points higher here....we are talking 600% higher! Can you...would you....trust ANYTHING out of these a$$holes mouths!? We wouldn't...and we don't!
Who knows if the 2nd sensor ($2000) is actually bad or not; the warning lights for it turned on for about a week and then turned off by itself. Maybe it is going bad, who knows....because after nearly $7000 in useless and not needed charges...we can't trust a thing out of their mouths. For now that sensor continues to work normally....if the warning lights go on again we will take it else where because you can be damned certain we are not taking it back to the thieves known as Courtesy Kia. If they were truly Courtesy, at least they would try to give you a reach around while they have you bent over the hood over your own car.
STAY AWAY FROM THESE LYING, THIEVING FRAUDSTERS! You have been warned. read more