My Kia Canada Experience so far/rant!

[invader166]

So, here's the story:

My finacee/wife, got her student and past car loan consolidated a year ago, and ended up getting a (new at the time) 2014 Kia Forte EX.
I've driven it a few times. Great car, handles well, is comfortable, bells and whistles, you name it.

The only problem with the car: shit tires! They're from a Korean manufacturer I'd previously never heard of, called Nexen. These are the original tires that came with the car. Just over 46000km later, she runs into a nail (from what she told me) whille driving on a work related trip in the city centre and gets a flat on the front passenger side wheel. (She also made a big gash on the passenger side doors from a delivery truck ramp that same day, but that's a different story.)

Now, previously, during one of the times I drove the car, I noticed a lack of spare tire in the trunk. (Kia's explanation according to a salesman is to improve fuel economy by reducing weight.) I never liked that concept from the very begining, and my intuition proved to be dead on!

Granted, I don't expect her to be able to change a flat tire on her car as she doesn't have much mechanical knowlage or interest in car things, but she could at least gotten some help from someone. But no, no spare, because f**king fuel economy.

That day was a write off for her and she had to get the car towed to the dealership. They took care of the tow bill, and kept the car overnight.
The next morning, they inform her that the tire can't be repaired and she would have to get a new one because apperently the warranty is expired on them and the tires have been retired. I said, alright, fine. Come winter we'll change all of them and keep the new one they put on as a spare.

Not even 2 months later, we had picked up a relative from the airport, and were heading home. We had 2 lugages in the back. Approx. 27kg of total weight in the trunk. Nothing out of the ordinary, all went smooth...untill we hit a bridge on-ramp.

I was sitting in the rear passenger seat and felt a slightly bigger impact than normal. Next thing we know, a loud noise starts from the rear passenger side and gets progresevly worse. We managed to pull over into a shopping market parking lot, and woudn't you know it, another flat tire... this one on the rear passenger side.

Once again she had to go through the same process, get the car towed and leave it overnight at the dealership. This morning, the same thing, tire can't be repaired and she needs a new one. This time we've had enough and are getting a spare along with the new tire.

I guess at this point we'll just get two more tires later on of the same size, brand, etc. to have them all new and keep the spare, but what a pain in the ass this wholle ordeal has been so far.

Anyone else experience something like this lately? I'm seriously annoyed about how they sell new cars with these crap tires, with no spare, and give them a short warranty time. Almost like they know the're going to fail.

Anyone else think this situation is messed up?

[Kalispel]

I remember driving to work at 4:30 am back in the 90's in my Acura Integra and running over a load of nails covering the road in the dark. 3 out of 4 flat tires. My spare tire wasn't much help.

But yeah, new cars without a spare tire are just lame.

[WeeYari]

Becoming the trend now with a lot of manufacturers to eliminate the spare and provide these inflation kits. All in the name of weight reduction.

I just acquired a 2013 Soul last weekend which was the last model year that came equipped with a "proper" spare.


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[thebarber]

can't blame the manufacturer for tires.

nexen's are generally fine. korean cars used to run hankooks

tire warranty from a nail after 46k? you're a starry eyed dreamer.

stop going back to the dealer for tires. go to a tire shop that offers an X km tire warranty.

shit luck you guys have, though

[bronsin]

"Weight saving" my ass!

Its PROFIT.

If they get away with that pretty soon there wont be an engine just hols in the floor for your feet like the Flintstones.

[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by invader166

and give them a short warranty time. Almost like they know the're going to fail.

Actually they are not given short warranty times due to being 'crap' tires with expectations of failure. On the EX trim level she would have been equipped with High Performance tires. These typically have a sub-50K tread life warranty regardless of manufacturer. Much softer compound with about half the life expectancy of regular duty A/S tires.

[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Its PROFIT.

Wrong.

[ern-diz]

Originally Posted by WeeYari

Wrong.

Well, technically it's not wrong. Their intention and primary motivator may very well be weight reduction for increased FE, but a nice side effect is not having to spend on those spares

[thebarber]

just pick up a donut and jack from kijiji or the wrecker

[dogsridewith]

Second flat sounds like a snakebite due to insufficient pressure for the size of the edge hit. Look real closely at that rim for a low spot.

(I bought a nice running 07 Yaris base hatch w/ 135k miles. It had a vibration on the test ride I thought might be a wheel out of balance. Found 50 pounds cold in the stock size front tires, which had thinner tread than same type rears. So, I did a same-side front-to-back rotation and reduced pressure to spec. Better. Went for balance w/ a sharp mechanic who lets me observe. One of the tires that wasn't quite true spinning was on a wheel that had a slight low spot I'd noticed earlier. He banged it out w/ a hammer (nice feature of steelies), and the car is now smooth up to the highest speed I'll use.)