In August of 2021 my engine seized on my Kia Optima. Because of the pandemic and lack of availability at most dealerships close by, Ron Bouchard Kia seemed to be the only one available to take care of my car in a reasonable amount of time. Other dealerships were giving me estimates of 2-3 months. In good faith I towed my car there. It was about 10 days before I heard any update on my car so I decided to call and check in. I spoke to both Ryan and Tyler and they told me they were waiting on parts. Now, in the meantime, I had to go out and get my own rental car as they were not able to provide me with one. The reason for this was they had no available cars due to the high demand and low inventory. I get that. I myself have worked through the pandemic and understand that times are tough. On Friday, September 3rd, the start of a major holiday weekend, they called me to tell the parts came in and I would have my car returned to me within the next several days. However, the next day, Saturday September 4th, they called me and told me my car was ready for pick up! Wow, that was fast! Great! I couldn't believe it. I returned my rental as soon as I could since I did not want to get stuck paying for any extra days since the money was coming out of my own pocket. I then got dropped off at Kia by a friend to pick up my car. I went to start it and it was not running properly. It started to lag. I expressed my concerns to Ryan and he told me that he would have the technicians address it. A few moments later Ryan came out to tell me that nothing obvious was found and that most likely it was "bad gas" and I should drive the car around until the gas light comes on. Then add new/fresh gas to the car. Against my better judgement I listened to his advice and left. The engine light came back on, only to have my car towed back to Kia for a second time less than 24 hours of having it back. On Tuesday, September 7th, Tyler called me to inform me that the fuel pump was reading an error message and that it would be fixed as a priority that day. I asked him, "how could this be missed? How did the technicians not hear or see that my car was lagging to start? Did they drive the car after they fixed it?" It appears to me they "fixed" my car and never drove it based off of the obvious lag to start. Both Ryan and Tyler said that they did drive it. If they did drive it, why on my paperwork is my mileage clocked in as the same number of miles clocked out? Tyler assured me someone would drive the car prior to me picking it up this time, which it did appear someone drove it about 10 miles or so. My main frustration with this dealership is the fact that I am now out almost $675 in rental fees, that they will not reimburse me for. The first rental cost me $489. The second rental $186. Not only did my car fall under a recall, but it also fell under the Kia powertrain warranty. A rental should have been provided from day one! If they could not provide me with a rental, reimbursement should have been included. Now I am dealing with Kia Consumer Affairs and they are not being helpful whatsoever. Epiq, the settlement company in charge of the recall, is also not getting this resolved. I had the knock sensor detection software update done prior to my engine seizing, but I am being told there was a deadline to have this done by? How is this possible on a recall? A deadline for a software update? Seems very odd to me. Even Kia Consumer Affairs agreed. Why should I be out of money on not only one rental car??? But two??? Especially since they sent me home with a car that could have potentially stalled AGAIN?! And they missed the issue with the fuel pump, instructing me to take the car home when I didn't feel comfortable knowing it was lagging to start? I also had to return for a THIRD time because I noticed I had zero coolant in my car after the engine had been replaced! I have gotten nowhere with this dealership and I am extremely frustrated with management and their lack of help or assuming responsibility for sending me home with a car that wasn't ready to be picked up. My experience was less than stellar. I have been severely inconvenienced by obtaining my own rental cars. I was calling around until I found a location that had a rental available, driving to and from the rental dealerships, finding someone to drive me to and from the dealership to pick up my car, waiting on AAA to have my car towed back to the dealership for the fuel pump they missed initially, calling Kia Consumer Affairs MULTIPLE times, calling the dealership and Epiq MANY times. The Kia Dealership and Epiq have put me out money I cannot afford to be out of. I am limited financially, especially now around the holidays and the insane increase on gas and cost of living. This is NOT good business to a customer. I will be moving forward with contacting the Better Business Bureau regarding my experience. read more