Last August a coworker of mine bought a 2012 Kia Optima sedan, with about 80,000 miles on it. Between then and now, she's put about 16,000 miles on it, done 3 oil changes, and put on 2 new tires. At the time she bought the car (from a used car dealer), she also purchased an extended warranty.
A couple of days ago, she caught a ride into work with another co-worker. When I talked to her, she said that she had been driving the Kia and when she went to take off from a stoplight, the car bucked and hesistated and wouldn't go. She managed to nurse it to a gas station where she shut it off, and it would not restart. She ended up getting it towed (on her dime) to the mechanic specified in the extended warranty.
Now the fun begins. Its been 3 days, she's still without a car, and the mechanic has looked at it and declared, "it's the engine". She hasn't gotten a rental car yet, and we (her concerned co-workers) have asked to see her documentation to see if the warranty (or her insurance) covers rentals, tows, etc....
On top of it, she said that someone (the mechanic?) suggested that the extended warranty may not cover "the engine", which seems awfully fishy to me. She just made a payment on the car, which is currently sitting at the shop, which is extra salt in the wound.
Any thoughts on a) what could be wrong with her Kia's "engine", and/or b) what legal standing she has? Co-worker is single female, with kids, and so doesn't exactly have either time or money falling out of her pockets.
Is it at a Kia dealer or the used car dealer? It should be part of the Theta engine recall and a Kia dealer should have no problem doing it.
In reply to logdog :
Googles just showed this:
https://www.cars.com/research/kia-optima-2012/recalls/
Co-worker dind't know about the recall....and I didn't either. Just sent her this link. Thanks!
Rule #1 is that the extended warranty is not worth the paper its printed on. You said "the shop specified in the warranty". My fear here is that the shop is in on the scam. If they are "specified" they should be familiar with what is covered, yet are not.
It must have thrown some codes. I'd start there or due to the recall, follow up that way.
In reply to John Welsh :
All very valid concerns. She's going to contact Kia straight away. Hopefully the mechanic doesn't bugger anything up. I wish I'd had a chance to throw my code reader on the thing.
Edit: I hear her on the phone with Kia right now. *thumbs up*
She gave Kia her VIN and it's covered under the recall. They told her she could have the engine replaced at the shop where its at now, or have it towed to the Kia dealer. I recommended she have it brought to the Kia dealer. I think that's probably best.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
That’s a good outcome. Yes. Have it towed to the dealer.
"Extended warranties" always cover nothing of actual value, and when they do cover, they cover less than half of it. As Seth said, not worth the paper they're printed on.
Absolutely have the dealer do it.
They're paying for the tow, the new engine, and a loaner car. Co-worker just gave me a hug, so I'll pass it along to you guys.
slefain
PowerDork
4/26/19 8:20 a.m.
I'm sitting in a Kia dealership service waiting room right now for a recall on my Sedona. Three people are in here for their Optima burning oil, all are the GDI turbo models. No bueno.
In reply to slefain :
Is that the Theta engine? Not sure if hers is the turbo or not.
Great outcome!
FWIW, my extended warrantee was awesome. It had a $100 deductible that covered the alternator ($700), AC compressor ($1500), blender door assembly ($400), and broken timing chain ($9,000). It was certainly worth having in my case.
That's great, also thank you for posting this up, last fall there was a discussion about pentastar 3.6 motors affected by a tsb. A week later a co-worker approached me with an issue with his Grand Cherokee that ended up being covered by the TSB. Learning about these things through here really helps when I get approached as the resident "car guy".
I'm satisfied that the best possible outcome is the one we got.
In reply to dclafleur :
By sheer coincidence, I happened to bake a batch of my homemade biscuits last night and brought them in with some (also homemade) jam and butter for the office. The co-worker with the Kia had been enjoying one of my biscuits, and now I've (hopefully) resolved her car issues. Apparently I'm quite the popular person here today. And they're jealous of Mrs. VCH. 
This is a good result, but it reminded me of a video I saw about a guy who had bought the high end extended warranty on a used Range Rover. It's on YouTube somewhere...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzQCj-dbgN0
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
I've had great luck with new car extended warranty from the dealer. but I always let them know what i want. Like wear and tear on struts covered. so normally i'll have them done a few times and right before it expires too.
Volvo, that’s a good outcome. Usually it’s a the total opposite of a happy ending.
And another FWIW, I had an extended warranty on our old Windstar. It had intake related issues and that warranty covered it all. That was almost 15 years ago.
volvoclearinghouse said:
In reply to dclafleur :
By sheer coincidence, I happened to bake a batch of my homemade biscuits last night and brought them in with some (also homemade) jam and butter for the office. The co-worker with the Kia had been enjoying one of my biscuits, and now I've (hopefully) resolved her car issues. Apparently I'm quite the popular person here today. And they're jealous of Mrs. VCH.
Carp, now I’m going to have to make biscuits. I can do that with yogurt, right?
also, we’re all aware of this, right?
note: sorry about the tangent
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
just make sure this broad doesn't try to put it on you. i hear broads with broken kias are attracted to you shining armor types.
Streetwiseguy said:
This is a good result, but it reminded me of a video I saw about a guy who had bought the high end extended warranty on a used Range Rover. It's on YouTube somewhere...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzQCj-dbgN0
Doug was a special case, he used the CarMax warranty so much they quit offering it on range rovers.
In reply to sleepyhead :
Tangents are what keep the conversation interesting.
I read that article, and my recipe (tweaked based on my own experience) solves the problem by dumping baking powder into the biscuits. We use King Arthur flour, which is one of the better brands, but still, that tablespoon of BP works wonders. My biscuits are light and fluffy. It's not hard to do, but it does take some perfecting of the skill.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
I make it pretty clear around here that I am happily married, with kids, and while I'm on friendly terms with everyone, they know I'm very much not available.
Congrats on a great outcome and biscuits, but what is the root case of these catastrophic failures and recall?
