I had a problem in August this year and it turned out that I needed a new Turbo. I briefly read your discussion of someone who had a similar problem in March this year and promised myself I would post something when it was repaired and when I returned from holidays.

I have had not the slightest problem with my Ceed Estate having bought it new in July 08 and had it serviced at WLMG Wooburn Moor nr High Wycombe. It was serviced and MOT'd in late June (53000 miles) prior to driving to the South of France for two weeks. In the hot weather in late July/early August I started to pick up a low whine on accelerating away which then disappeared as speed increased. I kept my window open more than usual and the whine started to get louder and did not go away until I got up to say, 60mph - of course engine noise might have concealed the whine. No warning lights and no engine smells were apparent and the car seemed to perform as usual except for a slight loss of power going up my local 1 in 5 hill where I live.

Went to my Kia dealer in mid August who said it could be a myriad of things but as they were coming up to their peak service/MOT season they could not look at it till 5th September but in their view it was 'safe to drive'. I was told on that day that the turbo was Kaput and it would cost £1250 to replace/refit a new one. I mentioned the Warranty and was told 'it might be possible but that they would have to send details to KIA HQ as the garage itself had no authority on this matter' and this would take 'a few days'. I was due to drive to Italy on 12th for two weeks holiday but that appeared improbable as the garage would need to order parts and schedule the work (1 whole day apparently) assuming it was agreed to be 'a Warranty job'. It took 8 days to get agreement that the work would be covered by the Warranty, despite me and my local dealer chasing it every day. I got so frustrated towards the end - largely because I could see my late holiday going down the pan - that I rang the main KIA Customer Services number but they refused to let me speak to anyone who dealt with Warranties, saying, in the nicest possible way, I would just have to be patient!

When the decision came I immediately booked some flights/hotels in Italy and the garage agreed to collect the car from my house and do the work before I got back on September 28th and return it to my drive, So I suppose that 'All's well that ends well'.

Thanks to Garry at my local garage who was 'on my side' at a time of great pressure. Perhaps KIA HQ need to buck their ideas up a bit on such a matter.

Two questions: Why did my motor not 'blow up' like your earlier correspondent? If it is such an essential part of a diesel engine was it really safe for me to drive it during the waiting period?