PopcornAndData
Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2021
- Messages
- 8
I'm writing to share the largely positive experience of having a battery that started getting weaker, and it was trending worse, when Kia agreed to replace the battery. My 2016 car now has range that looks as good as new (or better?) - just over 100 miles.
We started getting concerned last summer (2020), when the car's estimated range kept decreasing into the 60s with mid 50k miles on the odometer. Into the fall it was continuing, dipping into the 50s estimated range, so I took it in for service on 12/10/2020. The next day they confirmed that it qualified for replacement. The impression I got from the service reps on a previous visit was that a key indicator for qualification for replacement was that the capacity was below 70% of original, but it was also clear that additional diagnostics were performed in this instance.
Kia then ordered a new battery. That took a surprisingly long while to arrive, but in this Time of The Pandemic who knows what might have interfered ... I try cut everyone some slack. It was getting a bit nerve wracking, though, as the estimated range dipped into the mid-40s as the car passed 59k miles. Eventually the battery arrived, and we were given an appointment for replacement on 2/16/2021.
They provided me with a rental car - all good there. They also had a customer service person walking me through this process throughout, and she was immensely friendly and helpful, even making proactive phone calls to update me on the status of shipping and asking me if the car's condition had created any tangible issues for us. (Does the inconvenience of a teenager having to add a fast charge to her round trips to a distant sporting practice qualify as tangible? I had trouble answering that one...)
The Kia system issues that recently made the news slowed the final delivery a bit beyond the 4 days it took for the physical tasks, but it was worth the wait. The range estimates have been consistently over 100. The consumption on the first few trips, which I monitored closely, matched the estimator to within a mile ... it was the most accurate I've seen in this car and certainly better the 2011 LEAF I had previously. (Apologies, Nissan ... we were all learning back then.)
Overall I'm impressed and appreciate that Kia stepped up so completely. As a systems analyst, I'm well aware that new technologies will come with many lessons - the engineers will need some iterations to get good at this. What counts is that they honored the warranty and made it right. Onward.
We started getting concerned last summer (2020), when the car's estimated range kept decreasing into the 60s with mid 50k miles on the odometer. Into the fall it was continuing, dipping into the 50s estimated range, so I took it in for service on 12/10/2020. The next day they confirmed that it qualified for replacement. The impression I got from the service reps on a previous visit was that a key indicator for qualification for replacement was that the capacity was below 70% of original, but it was also clear that additional diagnostics were performed in this instance.
Kia then ordered a new battery. That took a surprisingly long while to arrive, but in this Time of The Pandemic who knows what might have interfered ... I try cut everyone some slack. It was getting a bit nerve wracking, though, as the estimated range dipped into the mid-40s as the car passed 59k miles. Eventually the battery arrived, and we were given an appointment for replacement on 2/16/2021.
They provided me with a rental car - all good there. They also had a customer service person walking me through this process throughout, and she was immensely friendly and helpful, even making proactive phone calls to update me on the status of shipping and asking me if the car's condition had created any tangible issues for us. (Does the inconvenience of a teenager having to add a fast charge to her round trips to a distant sporting practice qualify as tangible? I had trouble answering that one...)
The Kia system issues that recently made the news slowed the final delivery a bit beyond the 4 days it took for the physical tasks, but it was worth the wait. The range estimates have been consistently over 100. The consumption on the first few trips, which I monitored closely, matched the estimator to within a mile ... it was the most accurate I've seen in this car and certainly better the 2011 LEAF I had previously. (Apologies, Nissan ... we were all learning back then.)
Overall I'm impressed and appreciate that Kia stepped up so completely. As a systems analyst, I'm well aware that new technologies will come with many lessons - the engineers will need some iterations to get good at this. What counts is that they honored the warranty and made it right. Onward.
