Hi,
The car has been with Kia UK at its headquarters for its second week with no update from either the dealer or Kia UK. Despite chasing both.
Meanwhile I am being spammed by Kia to come and look at their new range of cars (EV6, new E-Niro and Sportage). And how EV6 has won car of the year 2022:
Whilst I agree with the accolades and that the car is good and deserving of its title, I find myself a little miffed by the lack of update. I appreciate it will take time to get replacement battery cells but still I haven't even had confirmation that the battery is at fault or no guestimate of its return.
I called the dealer who diagnosed the fault (Ken Brown Kia Stevenage) who said there was no update and Kia UK never get back to them, he suggested it was 3-4 weeks last time a car went back before they heard a response. I contacted Kia UK via social media and was told that the dealer should be updating me!
After much slagging off of some of their Facebook posts I got a response from Kia PR stating they are sorry my car had a fault but there was a global shortage of parts.....
They must have got fed up of me adding comments to their posts and direct messaged me asking for car registration and details. I explained that I just wanted an update and confirmation of the fault with a realistic estimate for the car to return (I need to share this with the Lease Company as the are looking into compensation). So they said they would investigate.
They responded and said they will contact the dealer..... round in circles. As this is a lease vehicle I get the feeling that the dealer doesn't really care as I didn't buy the car from them.
Kia seem to have enough components to build new electric vehicles that they want me to come and see but really need to think about those who were early purchasers. I would also like them to make sure all of the recalls and updates are done on the car whilst they have it. As there is now a fix for the remote heating issue and the last thing that I want to do when the car returns is put it back in for known fixes.
So basically no news. The e-Niro loan car has been solid, the real world range is very good and seems to beat/match that of the EV6 whilst we had it. Although the weather has been warmer of late which affects range/battery. It feels like a very stable package and I would have no hesitation recommending one for those who are considering.