[Paulmcc77]

Hi,
Firstly this is my first Kia car and quite possibly my last.
Having waited months for my xceed 2 from stoneacre which was ordered in February last year I finally received my car at the end of July.Loved the car and was delighted with the service and delivery.
Initially the car ran fine but a few odd moments of not starting it finally gave up fortunately in my drive.Rac was called through kia assist but didn't arrive till the next day due to a mix up.He went into the car and started it straight away so.This happened again luckily at home again and rac was called again and again it started.Dicksons of Inverness took the car in for a number of days but no fault found,trying to sort out higher cars inbetween all this going on was a real shambles due to Kia assist having so many different operations going on.
I phoned stoneacre who weren't interested in the problem who told me to phone ald who is the leasing company(on hold for 1 hour) then was told not our problem.Phoned Kia helpline who weren't very helpful so back to square one with the car.
I ran the car for a while before it gave up again at my ex wife's house,my dad and kids had to push it out the drive and left abandoned on the pavement.Next morning it started first time much to my annoyance once again.
Finally it all came to a head when on Christmas eve I broke down again on my local high street,waited 2 hours for Rac in my freezing car who couldn't start the car(Finally a result of some sort!!)
Having to explain to the locals why my new Kia wouldn't start was rather embarrassing for myself Never mind kia itself
Rac towed it through to Dicksons again just after Christmas and it's been there ever since.
Trying to sort out a higher car was an absolute joke again with at least 10 phone calls and finally Europa car delivering one at 4pm on chrimbo eve.

Dicksons have given me a courtesy car as the other car had to go back(another 5 phone calls)

Now Dicksons have had the car for over 3 weeks now and finally a fault code has appeared and traced to the immobiliser.Iv been told they've put it down to electrical wiring and I'm due to pick up my car tomorrow morning.

Now from a consumers point of view this has been an absolute nightmare of a car,iv only done less than 2500 miles.Im quite a level headed type of guy and I'm glad this hasn't happened to another person or the likes of my older parents.
Kia have an outstanding name and it seems the rebrand is looking quite good for the future but from my point of view this is the worst car iv ever had and I'm feeling rather let down from the Kia name
Thankfully Dicksons have finally come good but initially even after showing them the issues which id recorded they were clueless.
Looking through YouTube clips I found what my car was doing not starting or reving then dieing off and it was down to an immobiliser problem.
Months of garage visits and I find it on YouTube in 5 mins.
Not sure about mechanics these days due to all looking for fault codes but if I could find it in under 5 mins why couldn't Kia find fault in my videos.

I hope no one has to go through all the issues iv had and thankfully iv only 18 months of my lease and I can get rid of this car.

A very disgruntled Kia owne

 

[solarpower03]

I was thinking of switching from ceed to Xceed!

 

[gdh300]

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum. Sorry to read of your clearly very frustrating problems.

I'd love to offer you some words of comfort but I've no experience of leasing (or even of buying a new car.) Who actually owns the car, the leasing company surely? Isn't up to them to ensure the car they are leasing you is serviceable and that if it isn't, that you always have a car available? Or do they just take your money every month and then slopey-shoulder responsibility to anyone but themselves? Hopefully someone with better knowledge will be along soon.

The car has a obvious immobiliser problem but by the sounds of it is perhaps not just a case of swapping it out. Could be something like a frayed harness or dodgy connector which is making it difficult to isolate. These things happen, sadly, don't think it is limited to just, or is typical of, all KIA products. What is important is how KIA handle the situation. It might be that you need to escalate and highlight your case on the KIA Customer Support section of this forum.

 

[Paulmcc77]

Hi gdh
Thanks for your reply and kind words.

Since speaking to Dicksons of Inverness a few weeks back the service manager thought it would be down to ALD that has owner ship of the car.I did phone them initially when I encountered the problems and after being on hold for an hour I spoke to a very nice lady who told me we only take the money from you and can do nothing for your issues.She told me to phone stoneacre who I had phoned previously.Having spoken to them again they told me to phone Kia customer support who then told me they could do nothing due to the car not faulting.

You can see what I'm dealing with and very frustrating

Having taken out a 2 year lease iv already had months of wasted time and money trying to sort out this car.

As for the issue I believe the garage has tracked down the fault to some form of pinhead but will find more out tomorrow when I speak to the garage.
I was told they've never had this issue but digging a bit deeper immobiliser issues seem to crop up a bit with the Kia name.

Maybe iv been unlucky but after having car problems for years I was hoping to have a car that was reliable for me and my kids but sadly not.

 

[gdh300]

Well fingers crossed. It knocks your confidence in a car something like that, and like you say reliability is key for a family motor. And just reading the ALD drivers Guide, yes, it seems they will not assist you in anyway...

Let us know what the garage say. I think you might need to ready a post to KCS for tomorrow evening.

 

[Paulmcc77]

Just a little update on my xceed

Picked the car up on Monday and it's finally starting.
The service manager explained it was a faulty connection to the immobiliser that was the cause of my months of frustration.
As much as I'm delighted at having my car back it's been a long few months of endless phone calls and stress which obviously not ideal with the on going pandemic.
As much as I'd like to defend Kia's reputation as a leading manufacture in the car industry it's completely put me off the brand.

An apology wouldn't go a miss Kia🤔

Let's hope the car lasts for the next 18 months

 

[solarpower03]

Glad things are sorted out. Just wondering if you paid by credit card, can one file section 75 against them in this kind of situation? Maybe similar mechanisms exist if paid by finance company ?

 

[gdh300]

Well that's good news you got it back, apparently fixed. And thanks for posting the outcome.

Your story has has opened my eyes a bit. It's demonstrated how clued-up you have to be when dealing with multiple parties in a modern car 'purchase'. You need know exactly what each of them will or won't take responsibility for, and what falls to the registered keeper.

As I read it, your car is owned by ALD, it was supplied by Stoneacre (who probably aren't near to you) and Dicksons are your local dealer. If I've understood that right, I think with hindsight some of your grief was probably needless, if instead you'd skipped talking to Stoneacre and ALD and just dealt with Dicksons (and so KIA) from the first recovery. Both KIA Customer Support and the RAC could have done better. In my experience, all hire car companies are a bit crap.

Hopefully, the Xceed won't let you down again, it might even win you round. I couldn't face living with a car for 18 months if I had turned against it, but I guess that ALD will screw you financially to hand it back.