There’s not much to recover at this point. They don’t compensate for ticking noises. So far, there’s an oil change, cleanup and a belly pan that’s damaged. Not worth the claim and potential increase in rates IMO. If a real problem arises from the incident, then it may be worthwhile but until then, motor on.
Already did before my reply…
I dunno but I’ve never filed a claim for hitting something on the road. Maybe they would pay. Animals though are considered acts of god and they pay. I hit a raccoon one dark night. Tore the radiator support out and wrecked the air dam. Insurance paid for the $700 repair. The agent asked if it was dead or alive. I said he was alive before I hit him and then dead.
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We’ll have to see. Just finally got a call from dealer saying “Not covered” on warranty due to oil starvation and said without a doubt that this is not collision related. They’re willing to provide documentation stating that. So at least that confirms my suspicions about the shop’s dishonesty. Dealer said that they’ve not had a single case like that with a Kia of any model in the last 10yrs. Suppose I should trust my gut more.
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Well, the car has a forever warranty, so it has to be fixed to maintain the warranty. Currently quoted at $4900 for an entire engine replacement. Cannot just drive it until it dies or the warranty would be void and car was only at 66k miles. So for now, it’s the choice of warranty (denied), insurance (pending reply from adjuster), or out of pocket with a fight with the shop’s corporate department. We’ll see…
Yeah, I’m mildly hopefully…and my insurance company (USAA) is historically great. Only time will tell. Not looking forward to the process if insurance denies though. Chasing negligence against a corporate giant seems tedious and of unlikely success.
Most big corporate giants have ins or are self insured for these types of claims and generally will pay the claim with a dealers statement stating negligents, it is much cheaper to pay out then to pay the corp lawyer fees involved, they just right it off… That is why I said to get pictures of the oil trail where it happened… I have had to deal with this stuff working for a corp giant…
Good luck and sorry you are going through this…
What am I missing here? Was there engine damage? Just because the oil drained out doesn’t mean the engine is shot. Did they pull the pan? Check for bearing problems?
If you have noises now, sure that might indicate engine damage. If so, good bye car. If not forget the forever warranty and drive on. It’s just a marketing gimmick anyway.
You had the oil change done at the dealer, right? They claim they tightened the bolt. Now th3 same dealer says they did nothing wrong? Wanting a new engine might be a little premature unless they verify the engine is shot.
Drive on and keep all the paperwork if the engine dies. As as far as the warranty, I might do one or more oil changes with them just to see.
Well Dave, by God I hope you’re right. I’ve now got both insurance appraiser denial forms saying negligence and not due to collision and a letter (plus full assessment with pictures) from the dealer saying not collision-related and that they’ve never seen this happen in the last 10yrs.
Hopefully, those two documents (Insurance and Kia) are enough to get the auto shop to fess up and just resolve this amicably. Not at all looking forward to that conversation at the previous shop, but it must be done. Will update again eventually. Thanks for the support!
You will probably need to go to upper management (district/area manager or corp) to get it going, the shop will tell you not there problem most likely…
If this is a small locally owned shop then it will be much harder…
Most corp giants (above store level) are all about customer is always right and are willing to make you happy to keep from getting negative reviews and customer retention… Check the receipt for any complaint 800 numbers, or their website… We used to call it the 1-800-get it for free number…
Yep, bunch of metal fragments in the pan, guessing a decent bit of lower engine damage (as per Kia). Nah, took it originally to a local shop that was well rated (4.6 on google, owned by a corporate giant that franchises a number of small shop brands). That shop did the oil change improperly. Went through insurance to see if appraiser would confirm collision caused. Denied. Went to Kia directly for the assessment so the shop that made the mistake couldn’t claim conflict of interest for taking the car to one of their local competitors.
So now Kia and Insurance both denied fault (which I find to be fair and I agree with). Now I chase the original shop.
Just got the email from Kia…you’ll love this verbiage! I sure do…(some info redacted for Kia’s privacy):
Good afternoon,
This is Awesome tech with my local Kia. I am reaching out to inform you that the engine is failing on the lower end. We did find evidence on the skid plate of a crack but nothing at all on the engine itself. There was oil soaked all over the skid plate and evidence of a new drain plug which tells us that a previous shop had not torqued down the drain plug enough causing the bolt to come loose and oil to drain out. That means this will not be a warrantable repair. The reason the oil light was unresponsive is due to the fact it is not a level sensor, it is strictly a pressure sensor. Therefore, would not have come on during this time. That being said we did verify there is zero evidence of collision damage causing the engine to fail, I spoke with insurance as well, who had come to the same conclusion after inspection. Moving forward, it will be up to the previous repair facility to take care of this properly, as it is extremely evident it was an accident on whomever performed the oil service.
If you have further questions please give me a call 123-456-7890
AWESOME Service tech name
Service Consultant
123-456-7890
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Thanks. That clarifies that. You have to contact the oil change place with that info and if they deny, you can put the engine in and take it up with small claims. Good luck.
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Jiffy Lube, Walmart Firestone etc etc would pay that, they no leg to stand on… Again if this was Bubba Joes lube and Pizza Place then you are probable out of luck…
I have both taken care of stuff like this with oil outs, wheel offs etc etc and been paid by the giant corp by credit card or had to take care of my own customers due to new guy not properly doing the job correctly…
Heck, I even proved one time that the customer removed the drain plug to blow the engine up as well as our company’s claim adjuster denied the claim and my ADM still said to take care of the customer anyway… So yeah you shouldn’t have any issues getting them to pay the dealer to keep the warranty up…
Just my experience working for a GIANT company for 17 years +…
Thanks Dave! That provides some reassurance/hope. I believe in integrity and acting respectfully and I would hope any good shop would too. Two copies of everything printed. Plenty of evidence in my favor. Now I just have to hope the shop acts honorably. Ultimately, people make mistakes and that is why we have insurance. I’ll keep you posted. 
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Up until my post, there was only a ticking noise identified. Nothing had failed that required repair. This is the first post I saw where a replacement engine was being suggested. Obviously, something happened between those two time frames. Sorry to hear.
Bummer but I find it really odd that such significant damage was incurred under the circumstances.
Well, that basically says to me, we admit our oil “problem” light does nothing to help protect the engine. It is completely useless.
Best of luck on your situation, I hope you come out of this whole.
If they continue to gaslight you have your insurance adjuster look at it for you. I hope they will do that if they haven’t already. If there is no hole where the oil pan was damaged then the oil could only come out of the drain hole. The road debris strike on the pan couldn’t have backed out the drain bolt without it hanging on by a thread. This isn’t a dealer problem unless a dealer did the oil change. You probably need a second opinion on engine damage. As a last resort you may need to contact a lawyer.
Yep! Thankfully I already have the appraiser’s feedback too:
Dear PUcmw11,
You have the following message in the Claim Communication Center:
Per Appraiser Name appraiser: Inspection was done at the dealership. Appraiser opened the hood and oil splatters throughout the engine compartment . I pulled the oil dip stick and oil is very clean. He checked the radiator and it was full as well . He then started the engine was at 2500 rpms and started to make a knocking noise. I Shut off the engine and inspected the underside . No impact to the the front cover , or air dam. He noticed a couple minor scuffs on the belly pan. No tears or pull marks on the mounting points on the belly pan. The belly pan had a hole for access to the oil filter and oil was dripping off of it. Based on the tech
statements at the shop and my inspection it shows no impact with an object to the vehicle.
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