We brought our Kia Optima in due to having an engine failure, and this being a warranty item. I recently had the vehicle in my personal repair facility, and noted some maintenance items and other minor items that (tires and a cv axle boot) needed to be addressed. So I expect to receive a phone call with recommendation on these same items I noted, as this is customary. I had full intentions on allowing them to perform some of these services, as the parts in question were going to be removed during the engine replacement service. But what I did not expect, was for the service advisor to call and recommend a coolant exchange service. Being my back ground for my career was spent as a technician with Kia prior to opening my facility, I was pretty astonished. Especially since step #5 in the engine replacement procedure is to drain coolant. So I mentioned it to the advisor thinking it was a harmless mistake. Instead of accepting the mistake, the service advisor doubled down on why it still needs to be done. After a couple of minutes back and forth I declined all services minus the engine repair. I then used their texting feature to try and explain again to the service advisor as to why trying to sell a coolant service during an engine replacement was wrong. The advisor yet again doubled down stating that his technician “clamps the hoses off, so he doesn’t lose coolant”. (Which clamping hoses can cause premature hose failure.) I still explained that it’s wrong to try to sell a service like this while the engine is being replaced. Eventually I asked the advisor, since the technician did all of this, and I still need the service, does that mean he did not bill the coolant out on the warranty as required when doing the service? The advisor then said yes it’s billed out. Then quickly told me he will let me know when the vehicle is ready.
Once again, I was prepared to allow them to perform some of the services while the vehicle was there, which I even mentioned to the advisor. But to try and sell a service that is 100% not needed, caused me to lose all trust in their establishment.
Also as a side note, when the advisor was explained the items that needed to be taken care of. He started the recommendations with fluid flushes and an alignment, before getting to the items that could actually cause issues with driving, like a tire that needed to be replace or the axle that needed to be replaced. Instead of trying to worry about safety items first, he felt I needed to worry about useless maintenance items that were currently being performed under warranty.
If you do take your vehicle here, double check all recommendations before approving, as they seem to try and sell things that are not needed, and prioritize what’s most profitable over safety.