Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but stoked to find a couple other Hawaii members!
I forgot to ever come back and see if I got replies. Heh.
Guess what? After 10 months my issues are about to be corrected! I've been in a loaner/rental most of the time since June last year, and had to go all the way to Kia of America VP via email, but they're finally replacing my forte. It's been ridiculous waiting this long, and they actually expected me to keep the old forte after it being driven thousands of miles with CANBUS/computer connections disrupted by a manufacturing defect. I don't think so. Who knows how much wear and tear damage has already been done? And 2000 miles were put on it by service team trying to troubleshoot. Damage was
done to the interior (minor, but still...) and exterior (also minor, but the stories of how it happened made no sense), and the car which used to idle so quietly that I even thought the engine had died once now has a much different, and less smooth, sound and rhythm.
The issues were so varied, including transmission sticking in 1st or sometimes 2nd gear, ABS system kicking in at inappropriate times (like gently braking for a turn and suddenly the ABS kicks in causing that harsh shaking feeling), dash panel lights going crazy, and even power steering acting weird, a couple of times forcing the steering wheel back left when I turned the wheels all the way to the right.
There were more issues but I don't even remember off the top of my head, it's been so long. Oh! One more I do remember: gas mileage dropping to below 20 mpg even when driving mostly freeway, and intentionally keeping it in the green "Eco" zone to make sure it wasn't my driving style.
Anyway after a long odyssey, and finally a change in staff at the dealership, I'm getting my replacement this week. I just hope they do the right thing and take into account the fact I've been paying for a forte I haven't had all these months and driving a lower mpg loaner costing me big bucks over the last months in fuel costs. Also the many many many hours spent back n forth to the service dept, waiting for a shuttle or a loaner, and my boss questioning the validity of my many excuses for lateness and time off, since it was a new car after all.
They should compensate me in some other way as well, either with some package (wheels, maybe even upgrade from EX to SX) or a cash compensation package.
Well, I'm glad I'll have the car I bought a year ago finally back in my garage.
Hope there will be even more Hawaii owners joining the forum. Maybe we can have a meet-up somewhere or something. Maybe a round-island drive?
Oh yeah, I'm on Oahu, to answer that question.
