Henrico man waits 9 months for Kia repair after engine failure

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A Henrico man says his Kia’s engine failed nine months ago, and he still does not have his car back.

James Somers says after the company told him the car was repaired, it was back at the shop the same day. Kia later confirmed the issues were not fixed. Now he is demanding a buyback.

“I’m making car payments every month on a vehicle I don’t have,” Somers said.

Somers said his 2023 Kia Seltos has been at West Broad Volkswagen Kia in Richmond with a list of issues.

“They’ve got to replace the exhaust, the turbos, the intake manifolds, the coolant system,” Somers said. “It’s just significant.”

The dealership also replaced the battery, the alternator, two cylinder heads and a timing chain, along with components required with the disassembly and reassembly of the motor, Somers said.

Somers said he bought the car new in 2022 and purchased two 100,000-mile warranties. In July, after driving it for a few years, his engine failed.

“They said the bearings seized in the motor,” Somers said. “The entire motor had seized. They had a hard time getting it to turn over.”

Somers said the repairs took more than 270 days and were covered by his warranties. On March 25, the dealership said everything was fixed.

He picked up his car and immediately noticed there were still issues. He took it back to the dealership, and it has been there since.

“They determined that debris was residual debris in the catalytic converter from the original failure was being sucked back into the motor, and that’s what caused the second failure of the motor,” Somers said. “I was infuriated to be told that the vehicle was repaired. It’s meeting specifications and to not get not even two miles down the road. It was infuriating.”

Kia has provided Somers with loaner cars. He has to swap them out after a certain number of miles. Somers said he is on at least loaner car number six or seven.

Somers filed multiple complaints with the Better Business Bureau and with Kia America’s customer care. He asked Kia America to buy back his car due to ongoing and unresolved issues following an extended warranty repair.

“Kia has declined both formal requests for me to purchase the vehicle back,” Somers said. “They just state at this time they are not offering to purchase the vehicle back.”

Kia America was contacted with Somers’ specific concerns, including his request to have the company buy back his car based on the extensive repairs and amount of time his car has been in the shop.

Local Kia Responds

General Manager of the West Broad Kia dealership branch Danny Fisher responded with the following message: