Plaza Kia Brooklyn refusing to cover $250 diagnostic fee after telling me to proceed — CPO Sorento
I wanted to share my experience with Plaza Kia Brooklyn and get some feedback from the Kia community.
I recently purchased a Certified Pre-Owned Kia Sorento from Plaza Kia. Shortly after taking delivery, the check engine light came on.
I first emailed Big Lou at the dealership and received no response. I then contacted my salesperson, Philip. To be fair, Philip has been responsive and helpful throughout the process, which unfortunately has not been my experience with the rest of the dealership.
Philip instructed me to take the Sorento to my local Kia dealer to have the check-engine light diagnosed.
When I got there, the local dealer told me there would be a $250 diagnostic fee, which would be waived if the issue resulted in warranty-covered work.
Before I authorized anything, I called Philip and specifically explained that policy and that I could end up personally responsible for the $250 if Kia did not classify the repair as warranty work. Philip told me to go ahead with the diagnosis.
The local Kia dealer diagnosed the problem and found that a filter under the hood had not been properly sealed by the selling dealership. They corrected it.
Because simply correcting the improperly sealed filter was not classified as warranty work, I was then charged the $250 diagnostic fee.
I contacted Plaza Kia and asked them to reimburse the $250.
My position is pretty simple:
- The check-engine light appeared shortly after I purchased the CPO vehicle.
- The problem was traced back to something that had not been properly secured before the vehicle was delivered to me.
- Plaza Kia instructed me to take it to another Kia dealership.
- I specifically warned my salesperson about the possible $250 charge before authorizing the diagnosis.
- He instructed me to proceed.
- I followed their instructions and am now out $250 as a direct result.
Plaza Kia has refused to reimburse me, and after my latest written request to management, they haven't even responded.
I don't think a customer who just purchased a Certified Pre-Owned vehicle should be responsible for a diagnostic bill caused by something the selling dealership failed to properly secure—especially after the dealership specifically told the customer to proceed knowing about the possible charge.
At this point, I'm considering filing complaints with the New York State DMV and New York Attorney General and pursuing the $250 in Small Claims Court. It's obviously not a huge amount of money, but to me it's about whether a dealership stands behind the vehicle it sells and takes responsibility when something was not properly handled before delivery.
Has anyone else dealt with a situation like this with a Kia CPO vehicle or with Plaza Kia Brooklyn? Would you pursue it on principle?