Kia as a car brand has become popular; it is definitely a recognizable name today, and puts out several trusted, iconic, and high quality—bang for your every buck vehicles. Its Telluride, Niro, Sportage, Sorento, Carnival, and EV lineup (especially the EV6 and EV9) just put shame to every other car. But, its dealerships tell a different story. Kia dealerships are ranked among the worst according to Consumer Reports and J.D. Power. I myself own a Kia, but I never got it from a Kia dealership—I still got it from a dealership, but the experience was probably less worse. Kia dealerships’ worst qualities are in their repair shops, and I can attest to that. Before reading on, ask this question: should you judge a car by its dealership. Afterall, dealerships are never known for fair pricing, and it is possible to bypass them altogether.
The Service Center
I specifically own a Kia Niro 2018, which comes in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or EV; I have the hybrid. For the more than 100k miles I have put on it, there have never been any issues; just regular maintenance with tires, alignment, and fluids (oil, washer fluid, etc). But, as a hybrid, battery issues are much more pricey and more complicated than buying a new one. My first issue began last year. The Kia Niro 2018 hybrid does not have a user replaceable 12 volt battery—at just a little over 100k miles, at which warranty no longer covers me, the 12 volt battery started having issues (it was allegedly swollen). Seeing that I have really no experience with hybrid systems, and the limited amount of shops/mechanics that deal with hybrids (including Pep Boys), I took the car to a Kia dealership.
One Year Ago
First of all, I first took it the Clovis Kia dealership. In the days it had been sitting there after I dropped it off, the service center revealed to me after I had called in to get some updates that they had not even touched it, and would not get to it in another 2 weeks. At that point, the 12 volt battery was so bad it somehow impacted the car’s driving, limiting it to a top speed of 30mph. At this point, I got it towed to another Kia dealership, with this one in Selma. Throughout the entire process, I felt happy at first. They got to the car with much more immediacy, and not too long after, replaced the battery. The cost was around $3000. I thought this was normal. The price made me think they would have had replaced the entire battery system, which includes the high voltage battery that actually powers the vehicle (including the AC, engine, steering, and so on). I did not find out how badly I had been ripped off until just a few weeks ago. They charged $2000 for two parts: a relay, and the 12 volt battery, which on Kia’s OEM parts site, runs for a total of $600. The other $1000 was for four hours of labor, for a job that is otherwise simple. Yup, I paid more than 3 times the price for a simple job that involved only 2 parts, both of which aren’t even major, and did not realize it, yet.
November 2025
Fast forward to November, and now another issue comes up. A BMS (Battery Management System) error code pops up, so I take the car to the same Kia Selma dealership. Now, I was shocked when the dealership said that there was a battery issue yet again; surely the battery I thought they had replaced had not gone bad again, right? Well, it didn’t; it was the hybrid battery. At the time, I still felt shocked, and finally looked back at the reciept in 2024 to look up what was replaced and the part numbers, finally realizing that the 12 volt battery was replaced for a price just slightly under the price it would cost to replace the actual hybrid battery ($4000+). What really made me have an out of body experience was when the dealership quoted me nearly $10000 to replace this battery. That is 1/3-1/2 the price of an average vehicle! I just had to do my own research and demanded the parts the dealership would replace. On the first try, the dealership only provided me with the name of the parts: The high voltage battery, and the BMS module. The dealership wanted $7500 for those 2 parts. Those 2 parts run for $4000 at most from Kia’s OEM parts site (and significantly lower elsewhere). Yikes. But they didn’t provide the actual part numbers. So on the second try, the dealership finally provides the part numbers. But get this—They lowered the price of the hybrid battery from over $6000 to a little over $3000, making the total cost for repairs a little over $7000 instead. Still expensive. But why did the dealership want $10000 in the first place? To no one’s surprise, turns out they’re just shady, greedy goblins, and there seems to be little to no regulation to prevent shops from overcharging their customers; and customers that want lower prices have to negotiate (multiple times) or go elsewhere.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere I go, because I got ripped off the first time, and was not willing to haggle with these conniving goblins. But where is elsewhere? In Fresno, there are little to no options. For now, that is a story I still have yet to tell. But I can say this—I got my car the hell out from the Selma Kia dealership and took it back home. I swallowed the ridiculous $235 diagnostic fee, and the mechanic finally admits that the error code no longer showed up, but that the battery really should be replaced sometime soon. Hopefully, I can find out whether or not if that really needs to be done… This is where I write, To Be Continued.