November 10th, 1999
Original Kia owners, your first three years are almost up...
A milestone of sorts is about to be recorded by Kia Motors Australia - the first
Kias sold in Australia will shortly move out of their mechanical warranty period. Mentors
and Sportages began selling in this country in December 1996 and have been under a full
factory warranty ever since.
The general manager of Kia Motors Australia, David Hughes, said the only disadvantage
to owners in having such a long warranty period is that they tend to lose track of exactly
when the expiry date is due.
"Until now it has been safe to say that just about every Kia you’ve seen on
the road has been under warranty," Mr Hughes said.
"But it’s now timely to remind our first Mentor and Sportage buyers that if
they have any niggling problems it’s time they got their Kia dealer to take a look.
Of course their anti-corrosion perforation warranty still has three years more to
run."
Kia’s factory warranty provides full cover for the first three years or 125,000
km, and only a handful of vehicles (80 per cent of them Sportages) have exceeded the
125,000 km limit.
Kia officially went on the market on January 1, 1997 but given strong initial media
reports and enthusiastic dealers, retail sales started happening a few weeks before
launch.
Mr Hughes said that the company’s warranty costs during its first three years had
come in well under budget, reflecting the high build quality of the vehicles. This had
allowed Kia to take a flexible approach to claims and generally offer owners the benefit
of the doubt.
"This approach has generated a very positive relationship between us and our
owners, and it’s something we plan to continue," he said.
"All Kias are well built, well tested and well priced and our first three years in
Australia have borne that out convincingly."
