View attachment 19556
I got my car serviced on Monday at Kia - Great Western Kingswood, where I waited almost 5 hours for my 10,000km service when they told me it would be 2.5 hours (and I had it booked in). After it was done, I drove home and parked it in the garage, and didn't drive it the next day. The following morning I went to get into the car and saw drips down the left bumper. No problems so I thought, so I tried to clean them off. No luck. I tried numerous products, with the same result. I was headed back to Kingswood for some other reason so I popped back into Kia and told them this stain was not there when I left home on the morning of the service (as you other Stinger owners can appreciate, I often ogle the car before I take her out, and spot clean any obvious dirt that I can see, so I KNOW this stain was NOT there when I left that morning),
Kia service team took it to their pre-sale department where they had a detailer try to remove the stain. Bad news - it had absorbed into the paintwork and the only option I now have is to get the whole front bumper resprayed!!! I told Kia that this stain was absent when I left my house, and they told me 2 of their mechanics can confirm that the stain was there when I brought it in. I was also told they tried to clean it off. When I queried this further, I was told they took before and after photos.
Ok - long story I know, so bear with me. I then drove the car to the Smash Repairers who painted and fitted my spoiler. They told me the stains look like some type of mechanical fluid (e.g. transmission, brake...) and roughly quoted me over a thousand dollars to get the whole front bumper resprayed! I, as you can imagine, was devastated! I have no problems paying that kind of money for an after marked accessory, but NOT to have my car looking exactly the same as it was a few days ago...especially when I did not cause the problem.
Upon further thought, I called back Kia and asked them to please look at the photos to confirm the stains WERE there prior to my service. It took them about 15 minutes to get back to me, where they replied "the mechanics confirmed the stains were there". I repeated my question. What did the PHOTO'S show? Well.....nothing. They showed nothing. They then told me that the photos don't pick up everything, but I told him he was the one who wanted to use photo's as proof, so he can't have it both ways.
I have since been to two other smash repairers who confirm what the first had stated - looks like mechanical fluid that has spilled. I was told this would not show an immediate stain, but after a few hours to a day it would show up.
I am now going to contact Kia Australia with this information and see what THEY have to say. I will admit....I do not know if the stain was caused by the service department, but I DO know it wasn't there 20 minutes earlier when I left home.
