Severe engagement delay on Kia tranny

Hello all,



I carpool with someone who drives a 2008 Kia Rio, 10K miles. I noticed when she puts it in Drive (especially when cold), there is a long delay (at least 3-4 seconds) before the transmission engages. This by itself is an issue, obviously, but what makes it worse is that the delay gives the engine a chance to rev up (~2000 rpm)again on the cold idle circuit, which results in it slamming into gear. Also, the driver of this vehicle is not mechanically inclined, so they will often step on the gas upon shifting into Drive, forgetting about the delay, causing it to slam into gear even harder.



I know what you are thinking…its a 2008, its a Kia with a 10 year, 100K warranty, take it back to the dealer! Been there, done that. That was my first recommendation months ago. The owner has been to the same dealer again (total of 2x), and even went to another Kia dealer in town. Both dealers told the owner that was a common trait of Rios, not to worry about it. There was nothing they could or would do about it. I told the owner that at least there’s a paper trail now, in case this turns into a mechanical issue down the road. I also checked the nhtsa.gov website, searching for a TSB. No such luck.



Any ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Have her get it revved up as much as possible before it kicks into gear, every time. Hopefully she can break the transmission before her warranty runs out.