I took my 2013 Kia Soul (2.0L manual, 100k miles) to the dealer to have the oil pressure sensor replaced. The guy at the desk was acting squirrely when I went back at the end of the day to pick up the car. He said the mechanic had "cracked" something while replacing the sensor and they'd have to fix it before returning the car to me. They gave me a loaner and sent me on my way.
More than a month later, and after umpteen calls from me to check the status of the repair, they sent me a bill for the work. Two small lines on the bill indicated that the engine had been replaced! When I inquired with the service rep, he told me that the mechanic had cracked the engine block by overtightening the sensor. So they had gone ahead and put in a "new" engine, which turned out to be a salvage engine that's older and has more miles than my engine.
Weird thing is, the dealer's acting as if this is completely normal and insists that I pick up the car and pay for the new sensor, reminding me that they had replaced the engine for free (gee, thanks). I'm trying to work out a deal whereby they buy the car for more than it's worth so I can move on and buy something new. But they won't budge, insisting that they did nothing wrong.
I'm at a loss to make sense of these idiots.
Sounds like typical dealer shenanigans, particularly where Hyundai/Kia products are involved. (Hyundai/Kia dealers are very accustomed to swapping out engines since they fail so frequently. For them it is something normal that they probably do every day. Unfortunately it's not unusual for them to install used engines.)
Not much you can do unless you want to sue the dealership and a lawyer would probably cost more than you could hope to get.
@chucktobias Small claims court wouldn't require the use of a lawyer, but it would still cost you a lot of time.
When I inquired with the service rep, he told me that the mechanic had cracked the engine block by overtightening the sensor.
Was this is first time working on a car, or something? I thought you had to be at least a certified mechanic before Kia/Hyundai would let you work on cars. Apparently, he missed the part of training where they taught the importance of using torque wrenches
I took my 2013 Kia Soul (2.0L manual, 100k miles) to the dealer to have the oil pressure sensor replaced. The guy at the desk was acting squirrely when I went back at the end of the day to pick up the car. He said the mechanic had "cracked" something while replacing the sensor and they'd have to fix it before returning the car to me.
From now on, don't go to the dealership to replace wear-and-tear stuff, unless there are recalls or you have warranty work that needs done. Almost all work done by dealer mechanics these days are guys first starting out, not the professionals of the olden days. Dealers charge premium prices to you, but they need to pay for their tremendously high overhead too. Take your car to an independent mechanic from now on. If you don't know one, ask around. When I can't fix stuff on my own, we use an independent mechanic shop that we've known about for years.
Here's an example I had recently. My wife has a 2017 Mustang. She recently started having idle issues, and P0301, Cylinder 1 misfire kept tripping the check engine light. While there, she asked the "technicians" to change the oil while her engine was getting carbon cleaned. The dealer charged her $160 for the service; the carbon cleaning cost $300. With our independent mechanic, we buy the oil and filter, and the mechanic charges us $45 for their service. Altogether, oil changes cost around $80 at the independent mechanic shop. The dealer also did not tell us that coolant was leaking. The "tech" noticed that there was water where water shouldn't be. It was in the PCM, if I remember right, and he wanted $2000 to replace it. Her head gasket blew not two weeks later; we noticed the heater wasn't working anymore. Her car's blend door makes noises when it moves sometimes, my 2017 doesn't do it, so we figured that was it. I also noticed her coolant was a little low the next day. I topped it off, then I noticed that the water pump seemed "wet", as it had residue streaking down. I went to the same dealer to order another water pump, and I had my wife check coolant and top off every time she drives until we could replace it. A good friend and I replaced the water pump the next weekend. Two days later, the head gasket still blew.
We're still dealing with this fiasco. Long story short, don't use dealership mechanics.
.
Holy *$&%*$. I would be absolutely livid if some scumbag destroyed my engine and didn't tell me. Especially if they're charging stealership prices.
How much was the bill?
Take it from us ... never buy Korean cars, and avoid stealerships like the plague if you want less problems like this in life. It'll be better for your health.
Pretty discouraging. I don't mind so much that they replaced the engine. It's the fact that they did it without telling me, or giving me a chance to insist that they find a suitable replacement, that's disturbing. Not to mention that they employ the level of mechanic who would be hapless enough to cause such enormous damage during a routine procedure.
They take no accountability. And I'm not at all confident that the car is worth keeping with the salvage engine. Too bad, I took great care of the car for more then ten years -- regular oil changes, etc. All down the drain. Ugh.
@thombrown It's an unfortunate situation. In general we advise people to avoid Hyundai and Kia products. We even have a special topic just for those vehicles.
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/hmg/