KX3

Great at beginning but now regretting it

On paper the kx3 did all I wanted it to do. 7 seats (tick), 4wd (tick), good internal load space (tick), low carbon so low company car tax (tick), enough of a luxury feal with enough toys inside to make it desirable (tick). In fairness it has taken me, my wife and 3 kids in comfort to the south of France in the summer and to the alps in the winter. My problem is that now we have attached a horse box to it, the dealer is saying that the burnt clutch and smoke billowing out from under the bonnet is due to driver error and not a car fault.

7 year warranties are only as good as the company that writes them, and it would appear that Kia are not being honourable here. I can absolutely assure all reading this that if I thought it was my fault I would accept their assessment. However a 1 tonne horse box being reversed over a short distance unloaded and on the flat by a car designed to managed 2.5 tonnes is not stacking the odds in their favour. Add to this that the reversing was done whist being trained by a driving instructor on how to reverse with a trailer (who has never seen a car smoke so much and confirms that the driver was doing all the right things). Add further the list of people on the Kia owners club who have experienced exactly the same issue (see link below), and I would have to conclude the following:-

- do not buy the Sorento if you intend to tow anything
- do not rely on Kia to honour their 7 year warranty

I will obviously be fighting back with Kia over this, and will gladly update this review with any news.

http://www.kiaownersclub.co.uk/forum/clutch-problems-kia-sorento-kx2_topic4553_page1.html

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