Car / SUV / Light Truck Warranty Coverage

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Just wondering if anyone has had any denied warranty issues related to a vehicle's regular maintenance schedule vs. the "severe" schedule.

My 2020 Kia Telluride with just 60,000 km is dealer serviced at this time. It's been made crystal clear that Kia considers 99% of Canada to meet severe service requirement due to cold temps + snow + salt etc....... So far I've fended off a number of "recommended" services that fit the severe service schedule interval or sometimes at less mileage than that.

Today's example is to check the differential fluid every 60k km, but to change it every 120k km if severe service. So I get told today by the dealer it needs to be changed at 60k km for $300............ which I declined.

Kia has a regular schedule, a severe schedule and dealers have their own service interval recommendations which more often than not exceed the frequency of Kia's severe schedule.

There was a class action lawsuit in Quebec about Kia's service schedule and that it mislead Canadians re service costs. the suit maintained that if 99% of Canada is severe service for all intents that is the "regular" service schedule and the other one should be removed from the owner's manual. Apparently Kia stipulated that no one has been denied warranty coverage because they adhered to the Kia schedule (presumably the "severe" schedule) vs. service intervals recommended by the dealer. The class action was dismissed.


Martel c. Kia Canada inc.

Consumer protection – prohibited business practices – conformity of the good – automobile – frequency of maintenance – class action
courdappelduquebec.ca courdappelduquebec.ca
 
Not a Kia owner, but a Hyundai owner since 2013 (and IIRC, one holds 50% of the other's shares or something like that)...anyways, I've never brought my Elantra GT in to the dealer for service...stuff like oil changes, brakes, tire swap outs (winter to summer to winter) we all do at home...it has been in for a couple of recalls and an item that broke on a road trip a few years ago, but never had any issues with them telling me my warranty would be void if I didn't do this and this on such and such a date...
 
Due to Covid and some personal circumstances we don't put enough distance on out Hyundai to challenge any mileage limits. The dealership we use is good and reasonable unlike the the one we bought our first Hyundai from.

Of course if you moved from Fort Erie to Buffalo it's a major climate change and the car is totally different. The roof paint is even formulated to withstand sap stains from the banana trees. SF
 
Sometimes dealers will use an extended warranty to twist your arm into paying for services not required. I had declined a brake lube service (had done it just 6 months prior) and the service advisor stated that she would write that "customer refused brake service" and the comment could be used to deny me claims under the extended warranty.
(This is not a NA or EU or ROK vehicle)
 
There's been news reports of people having trouble with Hyundai/kia when there's a major problem... engine failure type thing. I recall one incident where they were debating the oil change frequency.. similar to what you described.
I don't know the result.. didn't follow up on articles.
 
raginduck said:
There's been news reports of people having trouble with Hyundai/kia when there's a major problem... engine failure type thing. I recall one incident where they were debating the oil change frequency.. similar to what you described.
I don't know the result.. didn't follow up on articles.
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I have that engine and so far no problems but it's one reason I use that dealer. Also they aren't ripping me off. Oil changes are reasonable and even their snow tires on wheels were competitive.

Another Hyundai dealer was a total rip off.

I miss my old mechanic as he retired. While the oil was draining he did chassis checks free, stuff the dealers up sell you on.
 
Chris-CJ said:
Sometimes dealers will use an extended warranty to twist your arm into paying for services not required. I had declined a brake lube service (had done it just 6 months prior) and the service advisor stated that she would write that "customer refused brake service" and the comment could be used to deny me claims under the extended warranty.
(This is not a NA or EU or ROK vehicle)
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My wife often uses quick lube type places. They are really bad for leaning hard on victims to conduct "required" items that make the vehicle unsafe. They'll even show you on their computer that it's required. After having been screwed once, she notes the items "required" and declines them all. They give you an invoice with grumpiness in caps about how unsafe the vehicle is and the impending death. I check the things they say and almost everytime they are not required to be replaced by the manual nor by condition. Dirtbags. For example, on one vehicle, their computer (supposedly based on manufacturer information) showed transmission fluid flush and change every 60K was required, every 30k was recommended. Manufacturer said lifetime fluid. Now, I don't agree with lifetime fluid, but telling people it was mandatory every 60K was a straight-up lie.

While under warranty I often use the dealer (if I can find one that isn't awful) as it makes claims easier if dealer uses some goodwill to get claims through. If the first time the dealer sees you is the day you want warranty service you better hope that the claim is crystal clear and cut and dry. Last time I went to the dealer, they said front brakes were down to 2mm and replacement was required for >1K. wtf, they didn't look bad last tire swap, I'll order parts and do it myself. Pulled wheels to put on snows and brakes have more than half left. Lying sob's. Not going back.
 
Transmission drain and fill every 60,000km isn’t required but not a bad idea either unless you’re just going to trade it in at the 100k mark.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
Transmission drain and fill every 60,000km isn’t required but not a bad idea either unless you’re just going to trade it in at the 100k mark.
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I wouldn't be so upset if they recommended it but the hard sell that it was required and you were going to die without it was entirely inappropriate. I also highly doubt they had the proper fluid for that trans and would have actually shortened the life by touching it.
 
My tires are changed and stored at the dealer, everything else gets done elsewhere. I had a conversation with the dealer once about getting an extended warranty on my CRV at a discount when the standard warranty was about to expire. If they had sold it to me at a discount (which dealerships can do easily) I would have been more inclined to get the car serviced at the dealer too, instead I have zero incentive to get work done at the dealer now it’s out of warranty. For the sake of a few hundred $$$ they lost thousands in service fees. For some warranty work (while it was under warranty) I’ve had to argue, for others it’s been straightforward. Just make sure you have a paper trail. For me it was easy to show that there had been a small oil leak since the car was new and get it fixed for free eventually despite the dealership trying to charge me. It seems many dealerships don’t want negative press/complaints from customers reaching “the mothership“ so you have that on your side if you’re persuasive.
 
Your car doesn’t have to be serviced at dealership even if it is under warranty. So long as you have a paper trail proving that the service was done at service intervals
 
ToSlow said:
Your car doesn’t have to be serviced at dealership even if it is under warranty. So long as you have a paper trail proving that the service was done at service intervals
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Thing is that the Dealers have exclusive access to the CPU programs and software.

On a side note, recently the car's fuel gauge was stuck at "Full". It would have been a simple matter to decant 5 or 10 litres of gas from the tank to verify the issue, but no I had to drive it another 100 clicks to prove that the issue existed and then resolution required hooking up the scanner and doing a reset.
The scanners used outside of the dealers will show the error code but it will not indicate the precise module of where the error is (or so the Dealer told me).
 
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Chris-CJ said:
Thing is that the Dealers have exclusive access to the CPU programs and software.

On a side note, recently the car's fuel gauge was stuck at "Full". It would have been a simple matter to decant 5 or 10 litres of gas from the tank to verify the issue, but no I had to drive it another 100 clicks to prove that the issue existed and then resolution required hooking up the scanner and doing a reset.
The scanners used outside if the dealers will show the error code but it will not indicate the precise module of where the error is (or so the Dealer told me).
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Sometimes true, sometimes not. If you get a vehicle specific scanner, they can often do most of what the mothership computer can do. Even dealer techs often use 3rd party scanners as they are faster/cheaper/easier than the mothership connection (and avoid the hassle of voiding a warranty if a tuned car talks to the mothership). Often you need the mothership for a few functions like key programming or submitting an official diagnosis for warranty consideration.
 
GreyGhost said:
My wife often uses quick lube type places. They are really bad for leaning hard on victims to conduct "required" items that make the vehicle unsafe. They'll even show you on their computer that it's required. After having been screwed once, she notes the items "required" and declines them all. They give you an invoice with grumpiness in caps about how unsafe the vehicle is and the impending death. I check the things they say and almost everytime they are not required to be replaced by the manual nor by condition. Dirtbags. For example, on one vehicle, their computer (supposedly based on manufacturer information) showed transmission fluid flush and change every 60K was required, every 30k was recommended. Manufacturer said lifetime fluid. Now, I don't agree with lifetime fluid, but telling people it was mandatory every 60K was a straight-up lie.

While under warranty I often use the dealer (if I can find one that isn't awful) as it makes claims easier if dealer uses some goodwill to get claims through. If the first time the dealer sees you is the day you want warranty service you better hope that the claim is crystal clear and cut and dry. Last time I went to the dealer, they said front brakes were down to 2mm and replacement was required for >1K. wtf, they didn't look bad last tire swap, I'll order parts and do it myself. Pulled wheels to put on snows and brakes have more than half left. Lying sob's. Not going back.
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My brother went in for a quick oil change and was handed a bill three or four times what was expected. They automatically did the required (According to their computer) services. He pointed out that he never authorized the extras and made them eat the costs.

More than one mechanic has told me you don't need to change tranny fluid unless it smells funky or feels sticky.

Brake con: Your brakes are half way to their limits. You should worry. You wouldn't want to have only half your brakes in an emergency. I hope I don't have to explain why this is wrong.
 
nobbie48 said:
My brother went in for a quick oil change and was handed a bill three or four times what was expected. They automatically did the required (According to their computer) services. He pointed out that he never authorized the extras and made them eat the costs.

More than one mechanic has told me you don't need to change tranny fluid unless it smells funky or feels sticky.

Brake con: Your brakes are half way to their limits. You should worry. You wouldn't want to have only half your brakes in an emergency. I hope I don't have to explain why this is wrong.
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That's not how brakes work. They are like ni-cad batteries. Performance roughly unchanged until just before it changes a lot. Now, if you were planning on doing something incredibly demanding like a track session, you want the most rotor weight possible to buy you a little more time before temps get out of control.

You should replace at 3mm to avoid getting into that region. Dealership says I was at 2mm. Six months later I am at 8-10mm on all four pads and they havent been replaced.
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