ComplaintsforWalker Kia

• Initial Complaint

  09/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a brand new car from Walker Kia in Alexandria last May, it was 2023. The car was a 2023 Kia K5 GT with GT1 package. Since i purchased the car I noticed it had a very disruptive rattle sound coming from the headliner of the car. I called and reported the problem to Walker KIa and they told me to bring it in. Since then the car has been back more than 5 times with the ***e issue and they say they can not fix the noise. they agree with me they hear it and know its a problem but tell me they are unable to repair it. I paid over 40,000 dollars for this car and to me this is unacceptable news. I talked to ***, who is over the Service Dept at walker kia, and he has tried to help me out as much as he says he can, but nevertheless, the noise is still very bad in the car and I can not deal with this noise any longer. I have lots of documentation to prove my car has been back to the dealership for this issue and I can supply them if they are needed to resolve this matter. Please let me know if you need anything else on my end and I will gladly help. I feel like this is a lemon and the car needs to be replaced with a new one, since it has done this i have owned the car.

  Business response

  09/13/2024

  Good Morning- We are aware of the customers concerns and very much empathize , no one wants a new car with a rattle , we have been working hand in hand with Kia Technical assistance in California for a remedy , the vehicle is in our shop currently. This noise is clearly a manufacturing issue , the customer is encouraged to contact Kia Corporation customer assistance to have re-purchase concerns registered 1-800-333-4542 .

  Sincerely,

  **** ********

  Walker Auto Group

  Customer response

  09/23/2024

  I have spoken to *** at Walker Kia dealership and they are still working on this issue. they have had my car for around 10 weeks now with no luck to getting this fix at the moment. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I brought my 2018 Kia Optima to Walker Kia in Alexandria. My car would not start, there was an electric issue. **** ****** was my advisor, she informed me that it would take a week or so before they could do a diagnosis test because they were backed up. That was fine, I understood they were busy. I gave it a week and never heard anything. I had to call multiple times before getting through to my advisor and then had to be on hold for at least an hour before she picked up. They wanted to order a part they thought could fix it. I gave them the go ahead to order the part, costing me 546 dollars and it did not fix the issue. Nora never called me and gave me an update. Again I had to call multiple times and be put on hold before getting through. Walker Kia had my car for a month when they finally told me they would have to rewire my car and it could cost me up to 7,000 dollars. I knew that couldn’t have been right. So I got my car towed to a body shop. Come to find out it was a blown fuse that needed to be replaced. It only cost me 250 dollars and it was fixed within a few days. Walker Kia cost me so much money not only on a part that was unnecessary but on paying for rides to get back and forth from work because they had my car for a month. I feel as though they were trying to rip me off or the service department does not know what they are doing and it would’ve been easier for them to rewire my car instead of trying to find the issue, costing me more money than it should’ve. Walker Kia does not have their customers best interest in mind, nor do they care about keeping their customers informed about their vehicles. Personally I feel like I shouldn’t have had to pay that 546 dollars. They did nothing to help me, all they did was waste my money and a whole month of my time.

  Business response

  06/18/2024

  Good Afternoon,

  The vehicle in question is a 2018 Kia Optima 135,021 miles , we have no service history on this vehicle as it has never been to our location, we did find a blown fuel pump relay after much electrical diagnostic work , relays dont just blow something causes that to happen , we diagnosed a short in the wiring of the fuel pump system , Kia standards only allow us to replace the entire wiring harness ( no repairs ) as we are a franchised Kia dealer, thus the expensive quote.

  The customers claim of a "fuse" fixed her car is just temporary until the short in the harness connects to another ground at some point and then the vehicle will cease to run again , fuses are there to prevent overheats from a short or other electrical issue in the system, the fuses blow to shut the system down to prevent further damage.

  We stand behind our estimate of the wiring harness, the vehicle was here for 18 total days ( 13 working days ) which is not uncommon for a older vehicle with a unusual electrical issue , as it must be diagnosed by one of certified electrical techs.

  We do apologize for any communication issues on our behalf or difficulty in reaching our service team members, we take the feedback and use it to be better in the future.

  Sincerely,

  **** ********

  Walker Auto Group

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchased a used 2016 Kia Soul on 4/12/23 with known engine recall, I was unaware of. Leaving me 12 weeks with no car. Everything seemed fine until I got a call that my 15 year old daughter 8/8/23 that she and my 8 year old son broke down on side the road in 115 degree weather. I immediately reached out to my sales person ***** advised of the current event and the only response was, "I completely understand your frustration and I hate the situation you have been put in. I truly do...it does show that you have a warranty on the vehicle. If you can get it towed to Walker we can get it looked at and do everything we can to get it resolved". From the start I was left to figure it out on my own. I finally was able to work something out with my personal insurance after the car was left on side the road overnight and got it towed to dealership the next day, 8/9/23. I did not get a call from **** until Friday 8/11/23 acknowledging they even had my car. Of course the tow company reached out as well as myself to verify delivery but had I not I would never known rather they received. From that phone call forward it was pure lies and deceit from both **** and ***, I have text/voice history to show proof of poor customer service. Never received loaner or call backs as promised, nor proper claim information. Car sat 3 weeks untouched then **** call with a diagnosis(engine locked up) but not able to explain why, hence "recall". She then share "possible" options of repair as if they were doing me a favor "trying" to get Kia to replace through a claim when it was under recall all along. I only found this out and got claim info after I called Kia Corporate on my own due to lies told by *** and ****. My car is returned with a DEAD battery and needed repairs I was told about 1 day before pickup even after Kia put the car through a "full" expectation prior to the sale. Now I have a car sold 5k more than it's value and no one wanting to trade due to poor history.

  Business response

  11/14/2023

  Good Afternoon-In response to Mrs. ****, her 2016 Kia Soul did not have a open recall when sold in 4/23 , it was in fact covered by a Kia Corporation Warranty extension PI2002 which covers the engine for 15 years or 150,000 miles whichever comes first for a "specific bearing failure issue" , not a blanket engine warranty. 8/23 when vehicle was towed to Walker Kia , we informed Mrs. **** that at that moment we had 26 vehicles in line before hers for engine replacement/diagnosis. She did ask for a loaner car , that is not part of the Kia warranty extension , we did make contact with Kia Corp to advocate on her behalf and that was declined. Due to the type of repair and the specific diagnosis required by Kia to make sure the failed component is covered by the warranty extension , it does in fact takes weeks for a vehicle to be inspected , then approved by Kia , then wait 4-6 weeks for a engine to arrive. We understand when customers are upset and we have understanding and empathy, there is no reason for anyone to "lie" or "misrepresent" what this is on behalf of Walker Kia , as of today 11/15/23 we have 17 vehicles in line for the same issue of diagnosis/engine replacement and we must follow specific diagnosis and repair guidelines before Kia will approve the repair, which we take very seriously as we want every customer eligible to get a replacement engine from Kia at no cost.

  Mrs. **** now has a replacement engine paid for 100% by Kia corporation that if properly maintained should last her through the vehicles life cycle, we did attempt to charge her battery multiple times unfortunately the battery had failed , we did in fact give her a estimate for a new battery which was declined prior to her picking up the vehicle , yes we did have to jump start it for her to take it away as previously stated the battery requires replacement .

  We wish Mrs. **** a trouble free ownership of her Kia Soul and we are here to assist her in the future if needed.

   

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I bought a car from this dealership 2023. They were responsible for registering the vehicle and sending my license plate and registration. I was waiting for those documents to arrive in the mail and they did not come. On the 24th of August I contacted the local DMV in Leesville LA and they informed me that the license plate and registration was sent to the dealership on July 13th. I contacted the dealership and the sale person who I spoke with confirmed that the documents are located at the dealership and that they will send them immediately. I still have not received the documents and my temporary tag is expired which means that I cannot go to work because I use the vehicle for work and now I am in jeopardy of not being able to pay bills because it's illegal for me to drive with an expired tag. I contacted the dealership many many times and I got no answer. I left multiple message inquiring about the documents and I have not received a call back from them. I even asked my husband to call them and he did and he was also ignored. I believe that this is intentional bad business practice and they are preventing me from working because I cannot drive my vehicle and not working and being able to earn money to pay my bills, provide groceries for my family and sending my kids to school is causing me a lot of pain and stress. They are intentionally ignoring me and my concerns and I would like you help to resolve this matter. Thank you!

  Business response

  10/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2022/10/05) */ Mrs.Graham was contacted and came into our dealership to see her salesman and she picked up her plate from him. Consumer Response /* (3000, 13, 2022/10/06) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Their response is false and evasive from the issue. They never contacted me. I contacted them after i found out that they have my license plate. The sales person promised me that he will "mail" the licenses plate "today or tomorrow". After week of waiting and calling the dealership without any answers or call back, i decided to go to the dealership because i was unable to work because i couldn't drive the car. I went to the dealership because nobody would answer my calls, they would not return my calls, and mostly because i was unable to work and pay my bills and provide my children's school lunch. I did not want to put my family through such difficulties. If they would have told me to come and get the license plate, i would have done so, but instead I waited because the sales person lied and told me that he would mail the licenses plate, so i was expecting the licenses plate in the mail and it never came. I also met one lady who had the same issue with buying a car from this dealership. Her temporary tag was expired and she took the risk of driving with an expired tag. When i arrived at the dealership to inquire about my license plate, the sales person said that he thought they sent it a long time ago, then they searched for it through a stack of licenses plates. This shows me that this behavior was intentional and im not the only customer having this issue.

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On June 4, we put down a deposit on a Kia EV6 since there weren't any available. We were told by our salesman and the sales manager that we would have a car within 3 months of our ordering and putting down a deposit of $1K. We agreed that if we got our car by Sept 4, then we would go ahead. We were assured we would!! After many texts and phone calls to our salesman, throughout the months of June, July and August...we are constantly being told that it isn't even "fulfilled" yet which means that the order has been placed abut not fulfilled (until there are a certain amount of cars ordered) and that now we won't have a car for another 3-6 months after fulfillment. So, we were lied too from the start! When we asked to get a full refund of our $1K, we were told we would have to FORFEIT our hard earned money if we cancel the order. How is that when you, the dealership, didn't hold up your end of the bargain?? We have text messages to prove what we were told and now we are getting the run around. We have an attorney on stand by on our behalf, being that Walker Kia HAS NOT secured our vehicle nor have they removed it from the market as it hasn't even been fulfilled yet and we are almost at the 3 month mark. This business doesn't tell the whole truth and then they want to take your money, that you work so hard for...when they are the ones who didn't do what was promised.

  Business response

  09/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/29) */ We have refunded Mr. ***** his deposit for the Kia EV6. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/08/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) We have received a phone call saying that they would refund us...however, we have not been refunded as we have not yet told them to do so.

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We brought our car in on July 13th to this dealership for warranty work to be done. They still have not fixed the car. Parts were ordered and then needed more parts and then said all parts were in. Then tech discovered bolts were needed and had to be ordered. I have asked for a loaner vehicle and I am told they can't give me a loaner. I believe 5 months of having my vehicle is plenty of time to get parts in and be fixed. I keep getting the run around and excuse of parts being backordered and not being able to be delivered. Please help because I am fixing to be out of my vehicle that I am using now and I am not going to have a way back and forth to work. I can't afford to pay for a rental vehicle.

  Business response

  01/10/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2021/12/28) */ **** McCallum from Walker Kia responding , XXX-XXX-XXXX, *********@walkerautomotive.com We understand our guest frustration , due to the global pandemic causing a backorder situation on the engine parts needed to fix the vehicle in question and then a shipping backlogs, it took almost 4 months for all the parts to arrive from Korea, unfortunately Kia does not offer replacement transportation, we are very sorry it took this long to get the necessary parts , the issues were outside of our control however. The great news is as of 12/15/21 the customers vehicle has been repaired and picked up.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩