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.
