Kia initial Quality Scores BS?

[MerlintheMad]

Although the point is true, most people post only when there's a problem, I think there will always be problems whether reported or unreported and the mark of a good company is what company is willing to do about problems. Imagine how many stinger owners there may be that don't even notice some of the issues that are out there, never report it whether online or to a dealer, and just keep going about their day assuming their car is functioning normally?

I think a great car company would proactively triage all reported issues and reach out to owners to get things checked or fixed. This is a much better way to come across as a luxury company that cares about its customers. Most car dealerships focus on making the sale, then they don't give a crap about you afterwards. This is why it's important for the car manufacturer to have a role in post-sales support.

I would like to see Kia push its dealerships to hire people away from luxury dealers like Lexus/BMW/MB so that the dealership can be staffed with people that actually know how to provide end-to-end service. I've been to five kia dealerships in MA now and it appears that everything is focused on pre-sales. Look at what happens when you hire good talent away from other companies, you end up with the stinger. Trickle it down to the dealerships so instead of staffing it full of used car lot people, staff it with people that understand the space. One dealer per 50 miles staffed with at least one person with their head on right would make a huge difference.

Kia is going to fail with the stinger and anything else they attempt to challenge the luxury brands as long as its dealerships continue to focus on transactions instead of RELATIONSHIPS. That said, it is incredibly hard to change the culture of anything, so it's going to be a daunting task. The only way I can see it working is for the manufacturer to take more matters into their own hands.

If they really execute on the standalone Genesis dealerships, I would like to see the Kia Stinger serviceable through them. That would be a great way to start things over on the right foot and just let Kia dealerships be Kia dealerships.

You appear to believe that Kia dealerships generally are crap businesses. The Kia dealership I bought from hosts a number of other brands. They were reputable before they took on Kia. And I suspect many other Kia dealerships are the same. So Kia dealerships are a mixed bag, like all others. The poor ones get a rep. The good ones get more business. Over time the market sorts itself out. I believe that Kia wants only good after sales care. If word comes down that a given dealership is making a bad name for Kia, I expect Kia to do something about that.

 

[Paul32]

You appear to believe that Kia dealerships generally are crap businesses. The Kia dealership I bought from hosts a number of other brands. They were reputable before they took on Kia. And I suspect many other Kia dealerships are the same. So Kia dealerships are a mixed bag, like all others. The poor ones get a rep. The good ones get more business. Over time the market sorts itself out. I believe that Kia wants only good after sales care. If word comes down that a given dealership is making a bad name for Kia, I expect Kia to do something about that.

All dealers seem to be extremely interested how you rate them. Anything but top rating is a negative for them. Must be penalties to pay for a score lower than the top. Anyway that has been my experience and I have yet to work with a poor Kia or Hyundai dealer.

 

[ant]

The only thing I know about Kia dealerships is that I was lied to by 4 out of 4 Kia dealers I visited in MA. They would say one thing then another, or say one thing, then present paperwork that doesn't match.

The only thing that I believe is that there is room for Kia dealerships to improve, and it is to focus on relationships instead of transactions. Why do you think there are all those stories about dealerships marking up MSRP or putting nitrogen air into tires? Just because you've had smooth sailing doesn't mean that all those bad experiences on the forums didn't happen. That said, of course there are great Kia dealerships. Kia of Muncie and the one that Murlinator is from seem to be great. That's because they already think about relationships instead of just making a sale.

Although the market sorts itself out, I would hope that you agree that when attempting to enter the market segment that the stinger is targeting, there are things that could've been done or could still be done to train and improve dealerships that aren't equipped to cater to people that are in this market segment. My post was only to suggest more corporate oversight so that even if a dealership SUCKS, we can still count on KIA corporate to help us out.

 

[Paul32]

The only thing I know about Kia dealerships is that I was lied to by 4 out of 4 Kia dealers I visited in MA. They would say one thing then another, or say one thing, then present paperwork that doesn't match.

The only thing that I believe is that there is room for Kia dealerships to improve, and it is to focus on relationships instead of transactions. Why do you think there are all those stories about dealerships marking up MSRP or putting nitrogen air into tires? Just because you've had smooth sailing doesn't mean that all those bad experiences on the forums didn't happen. That said, of course there are great Kia dealerships. Kia of Muncie and the one that Murlinator is from seem to be great. That's because they already think about relationships instead of just making a sale.

Although the market sorts itself out, I would hope that you agree that when attempting to enter the market segment that the stinger is targeting, there are things that could've been done or could still be done to train and improve dealerships that aren't equipped to cater to people that are in this market segment. My post was only to suggest more corporate oversight so that even if a dealership SUCKS, we can still count on KIA corporate to help us out.

The reply was describing my experience, not all Kia dealers. I'm sure you can find bad dealers in all manufactures. Since 2013 I have leased 7 KIA(4)/Hyundai's(3) from 5 different dealers. All dealers have been marking up MSRP for as long as I have buy/leasing cars starting in 1958. Sounds like the dealers in MA are inferior to the ones I have been working with. Lastly, I think KIA entered this segment with the Cadenza and K900, the Stinger is the third in this move. The training and improving should be done at all levels of products, not just high end.

 

[ant]

haha sure, I would love an across the board improvement but seeing as the stinger has its own customer service line I'd rather they solve a smaller problem that's relevant to me than a bigger problem that's harder to accomplish.

 

[Waynerm002]

The heads of any business wants to see it succeed, not fail. Sadly, not everyone that comes into a business is dedicated to providing the best service or doing their utmost to improve. We have to remember it’s the people we deal with that ends up getting us the good or bad experience. I had an interesting experience at a Mazda dealership a couple of months back. A young kid, new to the business invited me and my buddy to test drive the new Mazda 6 they had just received. They didn’t have the top trim we were looking for but he said “since you haven’t driven the latest updated car, why don’t you drive a few of them and see which you like.” So we did. A few weeks later when the Reserve came in, we went to see him but he was busy so they assigned us an older gentleman and when we mentioned my buddy was interested in driving the CX-9, he told us we would only be driving 1 vehicle, there was going to be any multi-car drives as he is busy person and have no time to do that. We were shocked, we were going to walk away but since we were free that day, we went out. We were disgusted with this guy and I mentioned it to the kid we worked with earlier. Don’t know if they will do anything about it.

Had a similar experience at a Volvo dealer and ended up getting our car someplace else but take it to the same dealer to get it serviced. He knows we got a Volvo but not from him. Did the same thing with my first KIA, sales manager jumped in early in the process and tried to low ball me on my trade. Told him I was there to by a car and not play games, he persisted, I walked and came back a few days later with my new KIA. Ended up that two of my friends also bought at the same time, so he missed out on 3 sales. On another purchase, another sales manager messed up the deal and I had to go to the GM to get it resolved, he took care of things and also the close out of the last lease. I was given the run around by that new car manager and I talked to a used car manager that was on duty one day and he got the GM to call me back.

I say all this to let you know not to give up if your sales or service person isn’t taking care of you, keep pushing until you get someone to take care of it. Most importantly, for Stinger owners, from what I have heard here, use the premium care team, not the regular customer service folks. Personally, I feel everyone should get the top care but as we know in our society, things are segmented into tiers so those who spend more get the better treatment.

 

[CaliSting]

Sorry to hear about your stinger and the issues. However how many people do you think come on here and express that nothing is wrong with their car and they have no reported problems and keep us all updated on that progress? It's only when things go wrong that people post, so I think a sense of perspective is in order. Hopefully you can get your problems fixed and I do think you’ve just been really unlucky.

Sort of unlucky like the all yellow stinger owners in Australia that are getting their cars repainted by Kia. And perhaps when Kia USA has courage to recall all the yellow cars there too? This car is having more than it’s share of introductory hiccups. ....So let’s say there are roughly 500 cars needing repaint. Those cars spanned production over months with no quality program to determine quality issue with paint processes. That in itself talks volumes about factory management and quality people involved in making these cars. That’s a huge quality fall out. I’m betting people have been fired over this issue. All I can say is if somone is considering a Stinger now I’d strongly consider waiting for a 2019 maybe after more build time passes.

 

[mldavis2]

There are many factors in paint. Obviously Kia/Hyundai have been painting cars for many years and it's not a "black art." The problem may well be a bad batch of primer or color coat from the paint supplier. Like the industry airbag fiasco, it's not always the manufacturer which relies on the quality of its suppliers. It often takes a while for problems (like the airbags) to show up. When I was a service manager back in the '80's for a GM-BMW-Subaru dealership, we had nightmares with "silver" paint on BMW's with the clear coat just "disappearing" and the paint flaking off. Happens to everyone. What matters is what they do about it.

 

[RandallK]

As much as I absolutely love my car and am super happy to own it..

Knowing that I am buying a first year car, I am experiencing the exact same stuff as @CaliSting and it’s beyond annoying and honestly disheartening as I have less than 10k on it..

This is our 6th Kia and it maybe our last

 

[xot1]

1year of ownership. no issue so far.

 

[CaliSting]

There are many factors in paint. Obviously Kia/Hyundai have been painting cars for many years and it's not a "black art." The problem may well be a bad batch of primer or color coat from the paint supplier. Like the industry airbag fiasco, it's not always the manufacturer which relies on the quality of its suppliers. It often takes a while for problems (like the airbags) to show up. When I was a service manager back in the '80's for a GM-BMW-Subaru dealership, we had nightmares with "silver" paint on BMW's with the clear coat just "disappearing" and the paint flaking off. Happens to everyone. What matters is what they do about it.

That would be perfect example of poor quality manufacturer. High quality mindset extends to manufactures suppliers. But given cars on lots had chipping paint and in my case I have foreign material that was painted over ( manufacturers paint booth particle cleanliness issue) their direct quality in delivering product to me failed.

I was also suspect when my car was delivered with clear bras covering front of car and other areas where stones may impact car more frequently. No mention of these clear bras in dealer invoice. So somone likely had word that perhaps some cars had real paint issues early on. I’m now wondering if this clear bra treatment was done to slow down rate of complaints as I had chips emerge on top of hood. In years of driving never have had multiple chips emerge in middle of a hood.

Poor quality doesn’t happen to everyone it happens to manufacturing sites that don’t have quality leadership. So yes happens to all brands but is more tied to factory and management of all elements of quality coming in and out of a given factory.

It is also 2018 now and consumers of entry level luxury cars do expect quality focus. Kia didn’t get it right on this one unfortunately. Market will punish them. Regardless of what I say. Consumer reports, JD Powers and other consumer organizations will note issues and lower quality will be reported for this car I suspect.

Having said this I still like the car. It’s unique, quirky and fun to drive. It is still bit of an oddball as it’s not really a sports sedan but has all components of a sports sedan.

 

[Socalstinga]

5000 miles on big rig laden SoCal hwys and pothole ridden streets, no paint issues other than when a truck let loose wooden pallets on the fwy and I got caught in a wooden storm. Is the paint one that I’d expect from a 40k car - NO... but if I’m three years the car is still mechanically sound (engine tranny and chassis), I’ll custom paint it anyway like I’ve done w/ every one of my cars.

Outside of some weird quirks like not being able to lock the door while engine on and leaving the car or the ultra sensitive parking sensors, I haven’t had issues like the ones posted on this forum. Would’ve liked to see more sound dampening in the rear, a better setup for the auto start stop but the car itself has been much better quality than when I first purchased my G sedan and definitely better than my 2011 3 series TT that had mechanical issues... here’s to hoping it lasts

 

[Soca Boy]

Sort of unlucky like the all yellow stinger owners in Australia that are getting their cars repainted by Kia. And perhaps when Kia USA has courage to recall all the yellow cars there too? This car is having more than it’s share of introductory hiccups. ....So let’s say there are roughly 500 cars needing repaint. Those cars spanned production over months with no quality program to determine quality issue with paint processes. That in itself talks volumes about factory management and quality people involved in making these cars. That’s a huge quality fall out. I’m betting people have been fired over this issue. All I can say is if somone is considering a Stinger now I’d strongly consider waiting for a 2019 maybe after more build time passes.

The way your talking in this hole post is that KIA needs to replace every Stinger. Over 4000KM on mine no problems so far, one of my buddy’s new Chevy truck has a cylinder misfire with 300KM on it. Every new vehicle no matter the model/year can have problems.

 

[Waynerm002]

It’s a first year vehicle, some teething issues will occur, that is normal for most manufactures, especially when it is a new design. Volvo had issues with their new XC90, they are making sure these don’t occur on their other releases but some will still face issues. It’s not great for those folks that are experiencing the issues but you have to give them time to work out a plan of action and then implement it.