Hey everyone, just a little update on the K3/Forte. A little background, I purchased the car used Aug 2014 with 4,000 miles on it.
I was driving the car home from work on a cold, cloudy afternoon last month, April the 7th. Cruising steadily at 60mph, I began to hear a metallic noise. I turned down the music down and continued to hear the noise so I let off the throttle, it let off simultaneously. Immediately, my brain started to shoot red flags. I snapped the throttle to test it and it became worse with the higher rpm's. Figured I didn't want to cause much further damage so I tried to find a side street where I could pull off the rural highway as stopping is prohibited there and the police here strictly enforce their local laws.
Just as I thought things couldn't get worse, I hear a metallic screeching noise which immediately causes me to pull over to the shoulder and limp to the side street. "End of the line" was all I could think. Called in the tow truck, and sent it to the closest dealer.
What truly horrified me was that this was a car that was very well taken care of. I'm a former Kia Tech that just left the industry this past December. Car used full synthetic since I bought it. Always used Kia factory oil filters and always maintained it on time. Unfortunately, since I'm second owner, Kia is really fighting me on this one as the powertrain goes out at 60K on second owner vehicles. But I told them, that's just way too soon for an engine to die. Especially one so well taken care of. They don't seem to be listening much. $5,500 dollars for a long block, $3,500 for short block.
Not too many issues with it but there were some things that made me ponder. The high beams would cut out at night, was found to be a multifunction switch. The shocks in the rear would knock around. Replaced those. There was a rattling near the exhaust manifold that suspiciously happened right before the warranty went out. Dealership never found anything on that. And then, bam, engine goes out.
Really disappointing Kia. I really wanted to buy a Forte Koup or Soul once this one was paid off but I have a foul taste in my mouth from this experience. Hope you guys have better luck with yours. As for me, I'm thinking of going European or back to Japanese. Still undecided. I really liked the Forte. I'll keep you guys updated.
I was driving the car home from work on a cold, cloudy afternoon last month, April the 7th. Cruising steadily at 60mph, I began to hear a metallic noise. I turned down the music down and continued to hear the noise so I let off the throttle, it let off simultaneously. Immediately, my brain started to shoot red flags. I snapped the throttle to test it and it became worse with the higher rpm's. Figured I didn't want to cause much further damage so I tried to find a side street where I could pull off the rural highway as stopping is prohibited there and the police here strictly enforce their local laws.
Just as I thought things couldn't get worse, I hear a metallic screeching noise which immediately causes me to pull over to the shoulder and limp to the side street. "End of the line" was all I could think. Called in the tow truck, and sent it to the closest dealer.
What truly horrified me was that this was a car that was very well taken care of. I'm a former Kia Tech that just left the industry this past December. Car used full synthetic since I bought it. Always used Kia factory oil filters and always maintained it on time. Unfortunately, since I'm second owner, Kia is really fighting me on this one as the powertrain goes out at 60K on second owner vehicles. But I told them, that's just way too soon for an engine to die. Especially one so well taken care of. They don't seem to be listening much. $5,500 dollars for a long block, $3,500 for short block.
Not too many issues with it but there were some things that made me ponder. The high beams would cut out at night, was found to be a multifunction switch. The shocks in the rear would knock around. Replaced those. There was a rattling near the exhaust manifold that suspiciously happened right before the warranty went out. Dealership never found anything on that. And then, bam, engine goes out.
Really disappointing Kia. I really wanted to buy a Forte Koup or Soul once this one was paid off but I have a foul taste in my mouth from this experience. Hope you guys have better luck with yours. As for me, I'm thinking of going European or back to Japanese. Still undecided. I really liked the Forte. I'll keep you guys updated.
