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Well, this new transmission has a whine from first to second to third. I am going to sit on this sound for awhile and see if it changes before raising the issue again. I have lots of warranty left. If the car was not so quiet, I probably would not hear it.
I too just love this car.....have had many people think that it is a Jag....hehehe !!
Todd
MagMax
Bill no-more-hurricanes-Orlando
Hi **** ******,
My name is J****** Z** and I am the General Manger at Kia of *******. I have noticed that you contacted our Dealership recently and I just wanted to let you know how important your overall satisfaction with our company is.
Our Automotive Group has been selling and servicing cars in this area for over 25 years and quality service has always been the foundation of the way we do business.
If for any reason your visit or contact with our Dealership did not live up to your expectations, I would really appreciate a call. We are always looking for suggestions on how to make our process better and more satisfying for our customers. If you did not win our Sportage contest but would like to consider buying one I have a special offer. Make your deal in the next 10 days and I'll give you a 250,000 mile warranty at "NO CHARGE". Buy any vehicle in stock for Edmund "TMV" and the warranty is yours. Thank you
J******** Z****
General Manager
***.***.****
I had a look at Lincoln's new Zephyr the other day and found it almost impossible to get into without hitting my head on the door opening, something that's never happened with the Amanti. And the Lincoln doesn't even offer stability control as an option! I also dropped in to see the restyled 2006 Accords and discovered that the top of the line cars are listed at about $2000 less than an Amanti, for nowhere near the same level of equipment! In my book the Amanti is still the best luxury car value available at any price. Perhaps the idea with the two levels of pricing is to drop the Amanti base price below that of an Accord. Right now the Amanti lists at $3600 including pdi & freight in Canada. That's more than $5000 less than a Maxima LS, by the way.
MagMax
I live in Quebec City Canada and I made the move today, my new car will be delivered tomorrow at 01 PM I can't wait.
I will be back in a week or so with my comments,
I read all 50 pages of this board to get a better feeling of the car and it really helped.
Thank you all
Cheers
mechanic80
MagMax
my last three vehicules were Honda's CRV which I really liked by the way, the only thing that bothered me was the low fuel mileage I was getting aroud town mid 10's only, so far i think me Amanti will be better We sill see
cheers
Dan
If this thing is legit - it's going to have enough "holes" in it as to coverage you would be able to drive a semi thru it! I don't see how any warranty company can offer a product like this. Unless of course it's a Mercedes or Volvo!
also the news just out that the old president Peter Butterfield has been replaced .
enjoy your new car and lets hear from you again
I've had my 04 Charcoal Grey since last spring. It's got almost 30 000 km .... lots of driving this past summer. Love the car. First saw it at the Toronto car show last spring and couldn't beleive the features and quality for the price. When we drove some other vehicles last spring and then drove the Amanti..... there was no comparison. I walked away from some significant savings on GM because I couldn't compromise to the extent that the interior and ride were so obviously better than the Buick for example.
As it gets colder (northern Ontario), I'm talking withe the dealer about installing a remote starter especially nice in the winter. They (Kia) want $415 including installation (two hand held units). Has anyone out there any advice to offer. Installing the remote is not new for me. I had it on my Toyota 4 Runner..worked flawlessly. The Kia dealer assures me that their supplier fully warrants their equipment so as not to nullify the Kia warranty (an earlier concern of some manufacturers)
Your comments are appreciated.
Jay Daiter (alias miata owner)
Nakina, Ontario
(some fine fishing country)
There are stipulations,they are usually #1 all maintence must be done at licensed shops. #2 be done at times stipulated by maintence schedual. #3 use approved components only. #4 voided if any of the first not followed and if parts show signs of abuse IE tires show signs of burnouts, used car off road, drove at excessive speed, overloaded car, towed excessive weight, didn't save every receipt for work done/oil change etc... and that 250k mile warrenty only covers engine and tranny.
My very first car got 300k miles before I sold it, it was a 1978 subaru GL 2 door sedan, only work it had was new clutch and brakes when needed and synthetic oil change every 6k miles.
You do know Mercedes is owned by chrysler and they have recalls on over a million at the moment, Mercedes is not what it used to be, from what I have heard from my relatives in germany just about the entire german work force quit rather than build to chrysler specs.
I read a few people on here concerned about the gas door not opening with the button. There is a manual release in the trunk behind the fuel door.
Those with fuel economy concerns might want to look at Synthetic Oils. I have run my cars full synthetic for the last 20 years. I only change oil every 10K and have taken a Plymouth Voyager and a Honda Accord to over 250K that way and they still ran well when another kid of my got it passed on the them. Yes Synthetic does cost more but you change oil less and get better gas mileage. Changed a valve cover gasket on the Honda with over 200k on it and you could have eaten supper out of the cover.
I was disappointed to find they recommend a Timing belt change at 60K. I wonder what they charge for that?
It would also be nice if the changed to a modern coolant like Dexcool. Changing the coolant every 30K is so yesterday.
I do love the car so far and my wife is so happy she was jumping up and down at the dealership when they handed her the keys. She was happy to show her appreciation to later at home!
MagMax
MagMax
Cheers
Dan
Todd
He said that he is going to order alloy rims after christmas, and get rid of the steel ones.
Has anyone tries Goodyear Triple Tread tires on their Amanti?
1) Several other cars which I have owned had the ability to change some of the settings in the computer. The service tech hooks up the shop computer and can change things like
- does the horn toot or headlights flash when you lock it?
- tire size compensation
- lock doors at a certain speed
- other similar settings.
My service guy claims he has never heard of any car having this capability.
The change I really want is to add Instant Mileage to the trip computer. From the manual it says that North American cars don't have the feature. I think that this would really help to see what moment to moment changes in driving style would have.
2) ebay always has several sets of nearly new OEM take-or wheels and tires. If I go to studs, I would do this so the perfect appearance of the car doesn't"t change.
Michael
-P
Two different dealers didn't have any idea about this. This is about the only annoyance I have had with the car.
Michael
Just a tidbit -I was told that the very first Amanti's had a black instead of blue computer screen, (perhaps in Korea only?). Anybody with one of those or was that just a rumor?
-P
In mid May, 2004 my good friend and I bought our 2004 Amantis at the same time so we could negotiate a better deal. We have compared notes on every little detail. Recently his computer screen was not functioning. He, like I and most, if not all of us had a blue screen. We also loved the instant MPG feature. When he brought the car to the dealer, they replaced the screen. Now he has a black screen with white numbers and he has two features missing: the instant MPG and the one that tells the distance traveled since the last fill up. He's not happy, but the dealer said that was the only replacement available. I had my own screen replaced when the car was only a few months old, and I got the blue one with all the same features.
My wife was very sceptic aboutleaving an SUV for a car but she now loves all the comfort.
Even brand new and doing 80%city and 20 HW, i got 17 miles to the gallon (CDN) which is about 22 miles US.
So far so go.
I'll be back so more later on.
Cheers
Dan
Todd
The latest was the air filter. What both Autozone and Wal-Mart told me was that they can't get the air filter for my Amanti. We happened to already have an appointment at the Kia dealership, so we went ahead and had it installed there. The price: $20 for an air filter. Of course, they did tell my wife that it would be installed "at no charge", so that was good (with a $20 air filter). But of course then they stuck a $5 labor charge on the bill, hoping she wouldn't notice, or wouldn't speak up. LOL - they don't know my wife very well!
OK, so now I've learned that Kia doesn't trust any other service shop to be able to do major work (OK), or to change the oil and oil filter (a little odd...), or even to change the air filter (WHAT?!?).
I suppose I should be grateful that Kia still allows me to rotate the tires, put gas in the car all by myself, and clean both the interior and exterior of the car.
Next I'll read somewhere that "washing the car in an unapproved facility voids the anti-corrosion warranty".
I love my Amanti. It is the most wonderful car I've ever owned. But if Kia wants to make sure my next car is a Ford, they're doing all the right things to make it happen... they already have me wishing I still had either my '95 Mercedes or my '95 Chrysler Cirrus.
The reason I ask is that your Kia dealer should be the most competent to do the work. They do charge more, though you can find some decent deals if you look hard enough.
It's not always convenient to get all the service work done by your Kia dealer but the understanding has always been that if you do get work done by someone else, keep the receipt!
That's it. If someone messes up your Kia's engine, it's not Kia's fault. That's where they have their law departments available. It's just something to think about. You would expect only the best service by your Kia dealer, then. The ones I've had, in Washington state and Missouri, have been great. Helpful, never charging me more than what should be charged, etc.
I'm looking at a 2006 Kia Rio5 hatchback at my local dealer. If I get it I will try to get all work done there because it's within a couple miles of my house and very convenient. I have had work done on my '01 Kia Sportage 4x4 (alternator replacement) before that was done accurately by a gas station's service department in mid-Missouri and everything went just fine.
I just think that your Kia dealer is supposed to know your Kia best. What could really be irritating in this "just in time" parts philosophy that everybody is buying into. Your part may be lost in the "just in time" shuffle. If you know what you want ahead of time it would be smart to let your dealer know way out ahead to circumvent that problem.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Bill - Orlando
I think all of you guys are missing the point. All of you have purchased a car that is sold in realitvily small numbers, by dealers that are few in number. Do any of you think that any Kia dealer are selling enough of these cars to keep more than a very parts in stock? I don't blame them... it's simply business. But you are not alone. I knew of several people who had Jags (before Ford bought them) that couldn't get parts either. You can get an air & oil filter for a Ford Taurus, Chevy Impala,etc. all over town!
I agree, you really can't blame Kia for not stocking up on odd types of parts for lower-selling cars. Kia has won my respect for their hard-working style, and great product mix that only gets better each passing year. I was behind Kia back in 1998 when most people were dissing them and putting them in the Daewoo category. I saw the great value in them after getting my '99 Kia Sephia and spending some quality "fun" time in it with some great Yokohama tires on Konig Diva wheels. The car handled so much better and could be pushed into turns at a faster speed. Once the tires and wheels were swapped out the car really handled nicely.
Back to parts ordering here in the U.S. This is an area that Kia is trying to improve upon right now. I read about it several months ago. They are working on a program to get a parts network that is connected to each other throughout the U.S. and getting the technical personnel trained right to handle all of the problems that might come up. I forget the name of it but Kia has a particular name for it and it has begun.
I have been happy with each of my Kia's and would like to trade for my third sometime in the next 2 or 3 months. I have confidence in the Kia brand and they keep improving every year. Just try and find another vehicle that packs so much feature content for lower prices. And I don't trust the Chinese brands coming out soon enough to pull the trigger and actually buy one. Gonna be interesting to follow the car industry the next few years, huh?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I agree. The Chinese will probably follow the Hyundai model. They will produce cars a little below our quality standards the first few model years, get their knees scraped, and then look out. Everyone (GM, Ford, Toyota, even Hyundai & Kia) will have some serious price competition!
I don't know about you but I would be interested in a test drive at least of a Chinese car. It's gonna take a good car to beat Kia, IMHO. I looked at Scion for a while but ended up not being as impressed as I thought I was. Kia still has them beat.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
In section SEVEN, page THREE, parargrph TWO on the right hand side of the page of the owners manual it states:
"We reccommend that maintenance be performed by an Authorized Kia Dealer using genuine Kia parts.However, maintenance may be performed by any competent automotive repair establishment using automotive parts equivalent to those with which your vehicle or your engine was originally equipped."
Joe