Driving steadily in suburbs & outer metro with no hills = 11-12l/100k. More recently 12.6l & 13.4l = 448km/60l tank. Hot weather & a/con?

My husband gets 15l/100k = 400l/tank.

Any other Viva auto drivers getting this poor fuel economy? Holden dealer checked car & said normal. They all use this amount of fuel.

Hello,
I'm sorry to hear about your poor service. Was it a Hyundai dealership or just a mechanic workshop? Because we always get a Lot of vehicles that have been to other workshops and come back to our dealership for warranty work and the amount of things they don't do in a service is unbelievable. I'm not saying all non-dealers are like that but a lot, I've noticed are.

At our dealership we always follow the service schedule as required and have our foreman check every car that leaves the dealership to avoid incidents like yours. Maybe the workshop you used needs to get into a bit of "Quality Control".

James

I can't give you an exact answer but I can help you work it out. What kind of accessories (bullbar, towbar, specially made tray, etc) do you have fitted? Weight in vehicle (toolboxes, etc)? How often do you have your vehicle serviced?

Using the correct oil and service intervals are very important. Also basics like tyre pressures, using 2HIGH, auto/manual, driving conditions and style vary fuel consumption. How much fuel are you using per 100km? I worked out that you're using 18.18-20.51L per 100km with the figures you provided but are not as accurate as they're calculated with an 80L tank and the tank is never completely empty.

Cheers mate... Look forward to hearing from you.

James

An outrage? I don’t think so. Your bad luck and that is what warranty is for.

As long as your dealer or Nissan are looking after you with a loan vehicle, then be thankful the transmission didn’t fail two weeks after the warranty ran out and you would be paying out thousands of dollars. It is only a machine and things will go wrong.

Mark.

Rang the dealership on Monday, they said that Kia wanted photos of the crank shaft. They emailed them to Kia and myself then Kia rang them back asking them to take it to a engineer to have a report done on it. They also asked to have what parts are needed to fix it, fingers crossed they will come to the party and have it all repaired under good will.

Keep in mind they rejected the app of good will about a week ago before it was sent. So the dealership rang up Kia Brisbane and explained that the office in Sydney was no help in resolving the problem that was a manufacture fault and made a complaint how they speak to customers and dealers and said that the owners will be taking matters through (to the media and courts).

So far our constant ringing every day and stating that they are recorded has helped a bit and got some info they slipped out whilst doing that. It’s to the point now that I don’t have to give my rego to them. Thanks Dale, the info you gave me has helped out a bit and I have been telling every one who turns up for fuel how Kia deals with their customers and how unreliable these cars are.

Pick up some carby cleaner and clean Everything. All the sensors, the throttle body, the IAC next to the throttle body, the EGR valve (black cylinder next to the throttle body), around your brakes. All the carbon and dirt will pour out everywhere and a couple of days later your car will run perfectly.

Ours was playing up the same. Now it is perfect.

12 month old Ford Escape. During all 12 months, when vehicle is stationary and handbrake on, when my dogs get in and out of rear of car (cargo part) a strange creaking noise is heard. This noise is quite loud. If release handbrake, noise doesn’t happen.

Have taken to Ford dealer (where purchased from) at every service and even between services and they advise it is a 'problem' with the Escapes and that nothing can be done.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Ford will not assist as they tell me to go to the place we bought it from and deal with them.

Ta.

Fiona

Reply back to me & I will forward info to assist.

I don't know who you were speaking to but it would not have been "Kia Customer Assistance". You were most likely speaking to "Mondial". Mondial is Kia Motors mouth piece they have put in place to filter calls from people just like you to tell you to "Go Away". "You are not covered by a warranty".

You were Not Talking to Kia Motors Australia instead you are having the "Wool Pulled Over your Eyes" to make you think you are the only one in this position & you have no claim because you only have a 3 year warranty. Nothing could be further from the truth. There has been 20,000 plus engine failures dating back to 1999.

Kia will have consumers believe that they fixed the problem in 2002 & there have been no engine failures since. But if you look at this site there are hundreds of examples of post 2002 engine failures just like yours.

Now any Kia Dealer you go to will pretend "I don’t know what the problem is" despite having seen hundreds of engine failures come through their workshops It’s a game they like to play. (This is a real cash cow for them and they do this because they don't want to upset Kia & cut off this revenue stream eg: hundreds of engine repairs p.a)

They will say we can’t be sure it is this fault until we take the engine & inspect it & try to pick something else to blame it on. Only then will they be able to give you an exact quote on the repairs. (Can you believe this they have seen thousands of these failures & they can't be sure till they strip down your engine. Talk about clutching at straws)

This is what you need to do:

1) Lodge a formal request via your local Kia dealer for Kia to repair the vehicle at their cost. (Insist they lodge a request with Kia to repair the vehicle at Kia's Cost. they will try & fob you off that you are wasting your time etc etc etc)
2) Lodge a formal complaint with your States Fair Trading Dept & the ACCC.
3) Never believe anything Kia will tell you (They will misrepresent the truth)
4) Do everything in writing & politely request everyone confirm their answers / replies to you in writing.

Kia won’t pay anything before you commence repairs. You would have to agree to the Kia dealer stripping down your motor to establish the cause (at your cost). Then the KIA Dealer submits a claim to Kia for a “goodwill” payment outside of warranty to cover part or all of the repair costs.

If you are lucky & forceful Kia will offer you the short motor at their cost but you still have to fork out around $4-$5,000 (This will save you around $2000). I say if your lucky because Kia are now starting to dig in their heels & insist that there is nothing wrong with the engines in Carnivals post March 2002. If they were to admit to post 2002 engine failures they would open a flood of complaints & claims.

The point I make in item #1 is only for your KIA dealer to lodge a goodwill payment request. They are not the people to send in your official letter of complaint or assistance request that should be addressed to Neil Fraser.

KIA Motors Contact Details are: (send everything to Neil Fraser the others will just forward it to him anyway for action)

Kia Motors Australia
Customer Service Centre
350 Parramatta Rd Homebush
PO Box 2506 Silverwater NSW 2128
(02) 9701 1700

Mr. Neil Fraser
Customer Services Representative
EMAIL: ****

Mr. Darren Carver
Managing Director
EMAIL: ****

Mr. Bill Gillespie
Director - Sales and Marketing
EMAIL: ****

Cheers

Dale

Hyundai i30 CRDi is an unbelievable highway car. I highly recommend one, especially with highway use. One of the office ladies at our dealership has one and has gotten over 1000km per tank of fuel on the highway. Her best result so far was 1200km on one tank. Unbelievable...

Plus you also have the 5year unlimited km warranty. If you're looking for more room, the i30 wagon is being released mid 09 too. Very reliable, fuel efficient and generally a good car to drive.

James

If anyone who has experienced problems with their Nissan X-trail clutch during the warranty period, please email me your story.

Mate you are a Nissan mechanic, can you tell me why I am only getting 390 - 440 to a full tank of diesel. I fill it to the top and I can see the fuel, it is an auto T/D D40. I am trying to get Nissan to help out but they say no and will charge for labour as there are no fault codes. If you can help this would be great.

I have bought brand new Suzuki Liana in 2007. Just after 3 months its battery went flat. Suzuki replaces the battery and now again after 1 year and some months battery again gone flat. I have spoken to Suzuki dealer and they said it's not the same battery which they have replaced. I have never given my car to anybody but they keep saying it's not the same. Customer service and Suzuki is the Worst I have ever seen. I will not buy any Suzuki in the future and I’ll advise this thing to everybody. They have changed the battery and now they are saying it's not original, what a ****. **** model I have ever owned.

Have you put these questions to General Motors Holden in writing? It would be interesting to see their response.

Mark.

I have a Nissan Navara. 2 days after I picked her up I have a bad auto trans shudder. A month later they decide to do something about it but this week I was informed there is not one transmission in Australia. It looks like another 3 weeks for one from Japan.

This is an outrage. Has anyone else had a transmission problem?

Dave

Hi, my husband and I purchased a Kia Carnival LS the end of October last year and so it is just out of warranty. A few weeks ago it started to leak oil, so we had the fuel sensor replaced and then it continued to still leak oil and so we had the front seal replaced. Then when the motor was started it had a very loud rattle sound and when the mechanic opened the motor it had sludge like vegemite where the oil was meant to be.

I have contacted the place of purchase and been told 6200 dollars to recondition the motor with us having to pay 50% of the cost. As we have 3 children and live week to week we don’t have 3000 dollars for the repairs. I phoned Kia Australia and told them of the problem and because we are second owners and it has done 122,000 kms that there is nothing they can do.

Can anybody help us as to where to go next? We are expecting a letter from the mechanic next week and also have photos of what the motor looks like when they pulled it apart. I want Kia to pay for the repairs or also under consumer law if a product is faulty before you purchase it you are entitled to a full refund. The mechanic also said the problem was pre-existing so we should be entitled to a full refund?

I know people have posted this before but I really do recommend everyone with a BA Ford to have an external oil cooler fitted, this is a cost of $350 and well worth it.

If the transmission fluid tank in the lower part of the radiator corrodes, all your coolant will flow through into the transmission and cause you much grief and about $3000.00. The main problem that causes this to happen is transmission fluid turning acidic due to lack of servicing. Ford don’t tell people this will happen and it might not but it has to many and not worth taking the risk.

So if it hasn't happened to you yet book your car in to a transmission service center and get the to fit the external cooler. They will block off the connections from the radiator and the two fluids will never mix and you can rest at ease. Then my advice is to have your cooling system flushed and renewed every 20,000kms, and your transmission serviced every 20,000kms as well and will last forever.

$115 for a coolant flush and change, and $120 for a transmission every 20,000 is pittance for looking after your Ford. So all stop and whinging about it and get it done.

I have a Nissan Pulsar ST 2000 and it has been great. Recently, and after my last service, one morning I switched on the engine and it had a very high rev. The rev lasts for about 20min and when I drive it, the power cuts off. I haven't driven it very far from home as my feeling is it wouldn't make it for more than 10k's.

I took it to a mechanic who diagnosed everything and finally after a week and a half of replacing this and that, recommended I take it to Nissan for them to change the computer. They couldn't do anything for me... Luckily they didn't charge me a cent.

I bought my X-Trail new in 2002 and after 3 months the clutch started making a noise similar to that of a worn thrust bearing. After much negotiation, Nissan agreed to have a look at it under warranty.

The result was they had to seek advice from Nissan Japan who sent back a heavy duty clutch to try and solve the problem. I've now had the X-Trail 7 years and I'm about to have my third clutch installed.

Yes, you could say it's the way I drive but I've had several cars: keeping each between 5 and 10 years and this is the first car this has happened with. But you could argue my driving habits have suddenly changed!

I am very happy with the X-Trail generally but their clutch designs are rubbish...

Dear Dale, I've seen your postings everywhere and am interested in finding out how you got Kia to pay for your engine! My Kia Carnival 2000 has only about 70-80,000km on it. I've just been told I need a new short engine, cylinder head, gasket etc. It just stopped. It has not been serviced since Jan'08. Please help! Thanks.

50,000 km $3500 new clutch
100,000 km $3500 new clutch

$7000 to keep this vehicle on the road. Have a good think about this, is it worth it contact me or I can tell you, I will never buy another one. And the thing that really annoys me is Nissan will not recall them, it’s ****.

Greg

I have just received a letter from a Renault dealer in Sydney that I take my car in for service - the letter reads Outstanding Service Campaign for injector rail replacement.

My vehicle is not in warranty anymore, but will ring them tomorrow so it can be looked at their expense. You could ask your Renault dealer a call to see if the same applies in UK.

Cheers,

P.S. The guy in brissy wake up to yourself

Hi Ian,

I am having the same problem, cuts off time to time and I removed the parts of dash board but I can’t see any plug other than speedo & instrument panel plug, ignition switch connector, radio only. Please let me know the place behind the dash where this plug is.

Thank you
Malin

Doug

Happy to assist, reply to me & I can forward some info to assist as well as put you in contact with hundreds of post 2002 Kia Carnival owners that have had engine failures despite Kia's denials.

One other thing to you & any others that post their messages on this site it is so so difficult to look up someone in the white pages when they list their location as Sydney, Perth, Melbourne etc (e.g.: your actual Suburb would assist heaps).

Dale

2 years later still having clutch problems, whole thing was replaced after it failed yet again, thankfully under warranty. In early Dec 08 we could hear a noise when taking off in 1st, apparently it was a spigot bearing problem. Mazda replaced the whole clutch plate and assembly for the 4th time as there was significant wear.

However while on holiday in Jan 09 our clutch overheated on firm sand in Kalbarri and smoke billowed out from the bonnet. The 4wd switch disengaged and 4wd could not be selected again. 2hrs later we had the car towed to nearest road. Mazda blamed us for overheating the clutch and tested the 4wd switch with no failure. We insisted the car be taken 4wd to replicate problem. Without fail the test drive produced the disengaging 4wd switch which according to Mazda dealer is unheard of. Now they accept that maybe the problem has always been a faulty 4wd switch that is failing and causing the car to slip into 2wd when off-road.

Hopefully this is the end of another Mazda saga.

From what I have read and experienced the problem with nuts coming loose on Nissans seems to only occur with the alloy wheels. The steel rims seem to be OK. It appears that you have to regularly check the nuts and also make sure that the nuts you use are absolutely the correct ones for the alloy wheels. A friend of mine had his back wheel come off his 75 series Cab/chassis. They discovered that the nuts were the wrong ones and didn't engage far enough onto the studs. Hope this helps.

Ansis