Hi.

I have a Kia that looks like it has now died for the 2 time. Engine replaced about 18 months ago for $5K approx. Certainly not sure what to do, it’s a 2002 Carnival and based on the feedback looks like I picked the best model.

Any feedback would be great on current success anyone has had with Kia. Or if anyone has any information / links to sites with maintenance manuals and engine diagrams this would also be great.

Much appreciate any information,

Sean

My Rav4 (2003-automatic cruiser) gearbox has just started slipping from yesterday. It started all of a sudden. It ran 197000 km so far (most of it Highway km).I have taken it to my local automatic transmission specialist and have been advised to do a transmission service, but reading all these info in this forum, I believe it is not going to be an easy fix. I will keep you posting. If it is a legacy of a faulty design, we all should raise awareness against it and should make Toyota to shoulder the responsibility.

Hi Dale,
I am about to write to Kia Australia giving them a chance to deal with my car privately before making an application to VCAT under the Fair Trading Act. If you could provide me with any copies of documents, that would be appreciated.
Thanks, Amanda

Motor keeps revving, I think the fuel pump, or injectors but I’m not sure.

If you got Nissan to replace them under warranty you must have performed a miracle. When I spoke to Nissan Australia's complaints department they just fobbed me off and said brakes and rotors are not warranty problem as they are wearable parts. I have been buying Navara's from Nissan since 2002 and this is my fourth one and after their treatment from their complaints department this is the last Nissan I will ever buy.

My other Navara has 150,000kms on it and still on original discs so that shoots down in flames any theory on Nissans part that it is a wear problem due to my Driving. When I told Nissan they had lost me as a customer they did not care one bit. They have lost me as a customer and I have told anyone who asks me not to buy one either. The front universal collapsed in tailshaft only 200km after it was serviced at Nissan. The electric windows play up regularly, the coating is peeling off steering wheel and door trim and all this on a vehicle still under warranty.

Would love to join everyone else to fight Kia. I have a dead Carnival, engine overheated and blew at the weekend. Bought less than a year ago family of 3 young kids and can’t afford a new engine and shouldn’t have to at 125000 ks. Anyone who can help? Cassie

Has anyone used E10 fuel long enough to experience problems directly attributable to the ethanol blend. Mine runs perfectly on E10, but there are persistent rumours of injectors ‘gumming’ up and/or valves ‘burning’ out faster.

I bought a Mitsubishi Lancer VR-X the other day. I was checking the user manual and discovered it only has the 2.0L 92kw engine in it as opposed to the purchaser’s contract stating it has a 2.4L. The rego expiry on the contract is also incorrect but engine, chassis, and rego numbers are correct. Where do I stand? I did get the engine code and searched it through the net to check and I am right.

The gears are just revving right out. Just want to know if anyone knows how to reset the computer in the car. Someone told me it could cost up to $2000 for a mechanic to fix the computer (reset it) so any ideas are great.

Read all the posts and wondering if anyone can send me details to try get help from Kia.

I just had my 2002 Kia Carnival towed to a mechanic with oil all through the cooling system and the engine running hot; the usual Kia Carnival story. I have been told it will cost thousands to repair by the mechanic. I rang the Kia dealership in Essendon and was told it's out of warranty and old (it only has 116K on the clock, I previously had a Toyota with 200K on the clock and a Fiat with 140K and they both went like a dream). I told them it's nothing to do with the age of the vehicle, it's a known problem and the guy didn't disagree.

He told me at my expense I could have the car taken there, the problem diagnosed and I would have to supply the service history (not complete and I am now the fourth owner) before all the paperwork could be sent to Kia for a "goodwill" claim. I told him I was not throwing more good money after bad, that I already know what the problem is and that I would be complaining and considering my options.

I have since made an online complaint to the ACCC. I expect this will be filed with all the other complaints about Kia but it is important to do this I believe. I have been looking around the internet and found some useful information. Freelanders have the same engine and also problems with head gaskets.

The ACCC advised that under the law, individuals or groups of individuals who entered into a contract (bought a car) have to take legal action, as the ACCC has not entered into a contract with the company because they did not buy a car.

I have looked into taking a small claims application to VCAT in Victoria, it does not cost much ($36.20) and the paperwork looks easy to put together. I would file an application under the Fair Trading Act 1999 and choose which parts of the Act I think Kia breached.
I have been quoted between $1,000 to $2,000 for a trade in so I don't have much to lose as I see it. I came here from overseas last year and had no idea these cars are of such poor quality. We bought it thinking it would last our family of five many years. These cars should not be available for sale.

If I made an application to VCAT, I could include witnesses. Would you be willing to testify to your experience with your car to lend weight to my claim? I could do the same for you.

Don’t let a dealer tell you that a Steering Rack can only be repaired / replaced through a Dealer. I saved $1,500 by going to Pedders who replaced my Steering Rack for $1,600 instead of a dealer’s price of $4,100. These cars are lemons. My car now needs a new Wheel Bearing at $800, however managed to find a non genuine for $180.

Reported both to Holden and they said my car is out of warranty by 4 months. This is a newish car and only 2005 and shouldn’t happen. I will never buy another Holden as also had a Commodore and had too many problems.

Problems associated with BA Mk1 Falcon, hope this helps:

1. Stalling and not starting - Fix: replaced computer board in engine bay $750
2. Brake shudder - Fix: new rotors and Bendex pads $190
3. Leaking transmission fluid into radiator coolant - Fix: new radiator with
strong copper pipes for transmission section. Flush cooling system several times to remove transmission fluid. $250

Now I have a rattle like a heat shield has come loose, hard to find.

Interlining clanking noise at the back differential. Universal joint looks good, no play, all looks Ok. Only 25000km. Suggestion to change all bearings... expensive. Any suggestions?

I have the same problem with a '98 Freelander diesel. The dealer said $5000 but the brake computer (modulator) does not always fix the problem. My mate from the US said that over there you can buy a device that will monitor and cancel error codes. I searched down the most promising supplier but they said they can cancel codes for VW but only read them (not cancel) for Landrover. Each time I get a service and the codes are cancelled, it last for 3-4 weeks before they re-appear.

Hi
Don’t waste your time and money going to court. I work at Mazda and I can assure you plastic and metal paint colour will be different on most cars. Some colour look worse than other like silver or grey. The white is the best but even then they are slightly different in some lights. I have a white 2 and I know for a fact it is factory paint and hasn’t been painted. To say your car has transit damage is very unlikely as transit damage usually they only paint part of the bar not the whole thing...

There is an article in the New York post about the problem with auto transmission in Rav4 from 2002 onwards. By the way, we had the same problem, the solenoids were changed, the fluid changed and the ECM reprogrammed and nothing worked, after spending almost 1600. The car was driveable but not perfect as we suspect the transmission was damaged and we part exchanged it. Good riddance to a lemon.

We have a good will claim currently with KIA Motors Australia, for our fourth engine. We were told the standard **** in 2002, yes there were problems with the early models 1999 to 2001, but KIA has re-engineered the 2002 engine, and we guarantee it's problem free. Within 27,000km it was dying, second engine around 46,000km and third around 75,000km. I guess you could say fortunately (ironic) our first three were covered by warranty.

This is not some new issue, KIA knows about the problems, and why the engines fail repeatedly. The 1974 trade act is in ****, being that KIA Motors Australia kept on selling a motor vehicle to the Australian market in an unmerchantable state, being that 65% to 75% of the total volume of vehicles sold, had some form of engine failure, and some vehicles had multiple failures. I see lots of people stating the ACCC is of little or no help, in upholding the 1974 Trade Act.

Question 1: Why isn't our government (ACCC) helping us? We are Australians Taxpayers, and we are families (we are a family of six) who can ill afford $8500.00 repair bills, for an engine that was so poorly designed, it can't run for more than 75,000km (being generous here).

Question 2: Has anyone or does anyone know how to start a class action against both Kia Motors Australia, and the ACCC for dereliction of duty to Australian families/consumers?

Question 3: How much is KIA Carnival worth without an engine, or even with an engine that blows more frequently than live volcanoes?

Question 4: Why don't we all get together on this, cause nothing is going to happen if we don't? There are at least 5500, 1999 to 2002 KIA Carnival owners or ex owners out there who had engine problems, we don't need them all, I would think around 200 would do it to start. If you are in leave a message like: Yes to Class Action Kia Motors.

We have a Nissan Navara D40 2007 and recently took it into our dealership to have the problem seen to. They replaced the Timing Belt Gasket Cover and told us that this would fix the problem. Hubby is now on his way down to Rocky and the smell is worse then ever.

We needed to get this smell sorted out because we are driving up to the NT in 1 and a bit weeks with 2 small children. The smell truly makes you feel physically ill and then very tired like as if it is taking all the oxygen out of the cab and replacing it with this smell.

When the vehicle was last in at the dealers they managed to snap a hard wired phone aerial from its mount off the bullbar and scrap it all along the side front mud guard, so obviously the other half is not real keen on taking it back to the dealership. Can anyone please let me know if they would have any ideas as to where to start looking first for this smell? There are No visible oil leaks anywhere on the vehicle. It hasn’t used a drop of oil since purchase. Please help am truly concerned about taking the family in the car all the way there if we could end up in some mischief.

Thanks for any advice.

Following up on my previous email Nissan will not cover me for the second clutch as they consider it is not a "mechanical defect”. So now I am up for $3000 to keep my $45000 lemon on the road. Thank you Nissan!

Hi Ian, a few things that should be checked in regards to stalling when selecting drive and not moving would be the ISC (idle speed controller) motor which carbons up in the throttle body. Another thing to check is the distributor and TPS (throttle position sensor) connectors. Hope this helps.

Hi Catherine, yes there are issues with distributors in TF Magnas. It’s best to get one that is a whole assembly and replace the ignition leads at the same time. The problem is the coil fails which is part of the main assembly of the distributor. Hope this helps.

Hey James, in regards to the auto trans shift problems it could be a few different things. The speed sensors on the top of the transmission fail occasionally giving drive-ability problems and there may be an ECU software update available or there may be coolant leaking onto your ECU from your heater core causing corrosion to the circuit board.

Hi Jennifer, firstly how often do you have your vehicle serviced? Problem with the smoke is most likely valve stem seals run dry from lack of oil due to extended service intervals or just really rubbish oil. The oil residue in the air intake is fairly normal may get excessive if the PCV blocks up. Hope this helps.

Hey Roger, have you got the lacking power and engine problem sorted out yet? If not I would need more info to help, is it auto and diesel? If so your problem is likely to be the turbo wastegate becoming blocked also manifold carbon problems and also Map/Boost sensor problems. Contact me if you want more help.