Kia UK Reviews 

One star since I can't give zero!

Despite numerous calls hanging on in a queue for a total of almost 5 hours (and my phone bill) I then emailed twice. Generic script so nothing was addressed - clearly emails hadn't bothered to be read. I'm expected to drive 160 mile's to nearest dealership for a 'half hour's job to replace fuses in the junction box re safety recall. This had already been done 2 years prior. I'm not physically able to drive ths distance now so I was told to get my car towed there and back!??? All at my own cost obviously even finding the money for diesel for 160 miles never mind the alternative towing suggestion. Great when my pension is barely covering essential bills! Never would I recommend Kia simply by the appalling 'customer service'.

I am a self‑employed whose entire livelihood depends on having a working vehicle. Unfortunately, my experience with KIA has been nothing short of devastating.
On 16 September 2025, my vehicle suffered a gearbox failure — the third incident within a year. I took it immediately to an authorised KIA repair centre, where the garage confirmed that a complete gearbox replacement could have been done within two days. Instead, KIA decided to repair only certain parts, which had to be ordered from abroad.

Over four weeks later, I am still waiting, with no confirmed repair date. This decision has caused enormous financial losses, emotional stress, and the loss of long‑term clients who depend on my services. KIA’s communication has shown no urgency, no accountability, and no empathy throughout.

While I was provided a courtesy car, it was completely unsuitable for my business needs. No practical support, compensation, or meaningful communication has been offered — just policy excuses and silence.

This whole situation was entirely avoidable. A quicker, proven solution existed, but corporate decision‑making prioritised cost‑saving over customer welfare, leaving me in financial ruin and unable to work for over a month.

I urge KIA to take responsibility, compensate fairly, and truly understand the human consequences of such poor service. No customer should ever be left in this position — helpless, ignored, and financially broken — because of a manufacturer’s failure to act with care and urgency.

Date: 13 October 2025

Thank you Sarah, for good customer service on my visit for the yearly service of my car. She was very professional, friendly and very helpful during my time at KIA

The second star is only because the car (EV6) is great when it doesn't need the dealers to do anything. So far it took 6 weeks to get a new heater motor, the washer motor has failed twice and now it is off the road completely as the ICCU failed in August and the dealers can't even do the diagnostics until 7 November. By far the worst dealerships I have ever dealt with.

All a load of hype, once they sell you an over priced new car, they couldn't give a SH-T.
My tailgate sounds like a bullet going off when it opens, dealer said its all OK, (after two attempts to reduce the noise.) I am 60% deaf and it sound bad. It did get better after the last adjustment but still loud .
RAC provided free for a year, once that runs out try renewing with the RAC, its a nightmare, they take your money and the RAC app is crap, it doesn't show in My RAC app.
Cannot find your RAC Policy !!
Should have gone with the AA a decent breakdown company, why KIA use the RAC must be down to price.

Good cars spoilt by shit warranty. Car breaksdown and you could wait 3 months for an appointment to assess.
Better cars and better dealers than. AC and Kia. Lease a car with maintenance, cheaper and courtesy car in 24 hours.
Avoid avoid avoid and just incase you missed it AVOID. Kia been getting away with it too long. Vote with your money. Go elsewhere.

Great service when looking to buy but the after service is appalling. Even after admitting giving wrong information they are refusing to take responsibility. Poor and disappointing. Wouldn’t recommend Kia to anyone.

My KIA Sportage (still under warranty) developed a EML fault on 13th Sept.
Reported fault to KIA Wessex in Bristol & given a date of NOVEMBER 5th !! for booking in
Vehicle has since failed its MoT on 24th Sept, due to EML fault,therefore unable to legally drive my car.
Contacted KIA Wessex again & managed to get date improved to 15th Oct. Still > 2 weeks away.
When informing receptionist that I didn't think it was a good advert for KIA, was told the opposite. KIA think it is a GOOD advert for them, as it indicates how popular they are &showing how busy they are. ???????????????????????

My experience with Kia UK Customer Service has been extremely disappointing. Every time I raised my issue, I was simply told to “speak with the dealer,” even though the dealer had already failed to take responsibility.

Because of a paperwork error made at the point of sale, I could not use my brand-new car for three weeks. During this period, I had to rent another car at my own expense, while the vehicle I purchased remained parked outside my home, unused. Despite repeatedly contacting Kia UK, I received no practical support or ownership of the problem.

I chose Kia because of the brand’s reputation and reliability, but this experience left me feeling completely abandoned. Kia UK does not stand behind its customers.

As a key owner, I am able to provide feedback regarding the vehicle. While it may not be a Mercedes-Benz, it is operational and possesses certain features. I am satisfied with the vehicle's performance; however, the customer service and associated vehicle plan require improvement.

Zero stars. Phoned Brentford KIA today, was quoted almost £400 for a replacement key fob plus programming for my 2011 Sportage, outrageous. I will never buy another KIA.

I am extremely disappointed with Kia’s customer service and aftercare.

My Kia Carens was taken to Premier Automotive Kia Rochdale for a safety recall fuse replacement. IMMEDIATELY after the work was done, several critical systems stopped working – speedometer, fuel gauge digital number kept changing, rear-view camera,parking sensors and Seat belt alarm all of which were working perfectly before the recall.

Since then, I have contacted Kia Customer Services multiple times by phone and email. I even returned to the dealership twice. Instead of support, I was told repeatedly that the issues had “nothing to do with the work carried out,” which is unacceptable given these problems started immediately after the recall.

Despite raising a formal complaint and speaking with different staff, including management, I have received no response and no resolution. This is not just poor service, but also a serious safety issue that Kia has completely ignored.

I expected Kia, as a global brand, to take responsibility and show care for its customers, especially when it involves a manufacturer safety recall. Instead, I have experienced lack of accountability, lack of communication, and poor treatment as a customer.

I would strongly advise others to be cautious when relying on Kia for recall or service work, as their customer support is unresponsive and dismissive.

KIA EV6 THIEVES PARADISE

I am writing this after a very terrible and disheartening experience.
I bought a new KIA EV6 GT-LINE in 2023.
I have regularly serviced the vehicle, applied OTA updates and also car is registered in my KIA CONNECT app.

But still thieves are break threw the security of this state of the art car, packed with so much technology.
A thief stole my car in under 2 mins...UNBELIEVABLE...JUST UNBELIEVABLE.

To make it worse as he stolen it he made the car un-register from my app automatically.

I was left so handicapped, not knowing how to trace my car.
Just frustrates me to say why KIA make such technology that is THIEVES,ROBBER friendly.

KIA Cars are not cheap by any standard but still security is low class.

Why can't they advise and recommend manual method of hardening the car.

I loved KIA EV6 it is wonderful vehicle but I am sorry to say it is a GOLD DUCK waiting to be eaten by criminals,thieves and robbers.

I have given my VIN number to trace but it has been more than 24hrs not one response...never expected this from KIA.

I have been using a 25 plate Kia Niro for work and the engine management light came on whilst driving at 30mph. No issues with how the car drives but obviously wanted it checking out with it being brand new. Had to wait 3 weeks for an appointment at Lincoln Kia. Took it in for them to check it out. They told me it was either a water pump or the wires to the water pump and could I bring it back on 1st Sept to have the work done. I took it back today, arranged lifts there/back (20 miles each way) etc and work cover only to get a phone call early afternoon telling me the technician has confirmed it's the water pump. OK, I thought we already knew that......so is he fixing it? Not today. They advised not to drive the car and to leave it with them. (I've been driving it for the last 6 weeks with no problems).
OK, so how long to fix it?
Well the good news is that the parts are in stock so it will only be 2 or 3 days. Right, so I'll have the car back at the end of the week?
Oh no, we can't fit the work in until 17th September! It's the 1st today and my car won't be ready to the 17th and you don't want me to drive it. Crazy. No sane person could be without their car for that long. Kia are absolutely out of their mind. Their customers obviously don't matter to them. 3 trips to fit a water pump, how incompetent can you get? Let's just say next time I'm looking for a car for myself it definitely will NOT be a Kia!

Terrible experience – faulty car, ignored legal rights, and shocking service

I purchased a used Kia from **Donalds Kia Ipswich** earlier this year and the experience has been nothing short of a nightmare. Within days of taking delivery, the engine management light came on and the car developed serious issues including:

* **Excessive revving**
* **Strong vibrations** when driving
* **Engine management light repeatedly returning** even after being “fixed”

Despite these clear and ongoing faults, my **legal right to reject the vehicle** under the Consumer Rights Act has been completely ignored by Kia Ipswich and Kia UK. Instead of accepting the return, I have been given dismissive responses and passed from one branch to another.

At Kia Brentwood, I was told to pay **£180 for spark plugs**, even though Ipswich confirmed these had supposedly been changed at the last service. I was assured this would fix the problem and that the car had been road tested – yet the issues returned immediately. I’m still waiting to be reimbursed for that payment.

I have had to chase constantly, with little to no response. Emails go unanswered, calls are not returned, and I’ve been left stuck with a car that is clearly not fit for purpose.

I must specifically call out **David Hardiman at Donalds Kia Ipswich**, whose handling of this matter has been dismissive and unhelpful throughout. His refusal to acknowledge my rights and failure to deal with the situation fairly has forced me to escalate matters to the **Motor Ombudsman, Trading Standards and my bank.

This has been an extremely stressful experience, and I would strongly warn others against buying from **Kia Ipswich or Kia UK**. They do not stand by their customers, they do not uphold consumer law, and their aftersales service is appalling.

Kia recalled our car for a fuse fault. The job takes 2 hours tops but they insisted they have the car all day which is inconvenient for us who rely on the car for work. If I asked my client to come for an appointment of 1 hour but they have to be around all day waiting it would be unacceptable. I will never use Kia again I have other complaints as well as this one. RUBBISH garage.

Received a safety recall notification, concerning a possible fault with the Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit, which could possibly burn, melt or smoke.
Called local Kia garage ( Flear & Thomson of Dunfermline) and got no answer, emailed & got no reply, visited garage & was told I’d get a call to resolve issue, but never got a call.
Tried customer services for Kia & still waiting a month on.
Very poor service for such an important safety recall.

KIA HAVE STILL NOT RESOLVED OR RESPONDED TO CUSTOMER FEEDBACK !!

LIVES AT RISK NOW.

I leased a Sportage 2021 car with Kia, which was returned in May of this year.
Would I use Kia again? NEVER!
After a year the suspension went in the car, which the dealer said was down to speed bumps. Laugh out loud! Poor manufacturing and parts is the real issue.
When the car was returned in May I have literally had to fork out £650. I am so angry. Even though I had the car serviced 4 times in 4 years, Kia argued I should have had it done at exactly 10000 miles. The whole company is a mess and so are the conceited and arrogant people who work in the complaints department. Individuals who don’t even put their full name on communication. “Dylan P” is both conceited and arrogant and clearly gets off on a feeling of power.
If you are thinking of personal leasing with Kia, you will regret it!

Upgraded to an EV6 GTs from an E-Nero 4+ What a mistake that was. Nero was a solid car. EV6 has had nothing but problems. Battery charge system failure. Battery wouldn't charge above 70% Brakes, indicator switch, air con systems ( they have no parts in the UK for replacement) The list goes on. . .
Customer Service don't have a clue about warranty parts coming in either. Just keep saying there sorry.
They keep pumping these cars out but a 7 year warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on if Kia don't have the warranted parts to replace them.
It's a case of shipping the cars out fast at inflatable prices and then stuff the customers.
It's a case of . . DON'T BUY KIA..

If i could i would give 0
Shocking customer service
My car has been with them for 9 weeks Went in for a knocking noise on the trailing arm bush.
To then be told that the engine needed to be stripped for them to investigate further they had my service booklet which then kia warranty agreed for it stripped under warranty.
Once it was stripped s g petch kia darlington told me that it needed a new engine which was hopefully covered under warranty.
4 weeks later i was told that kia warranty had refused it under warranty due to back before i had the car the service was late by 2231 miles.(may i add this is nearly 5 years later). Also since then my car has done a extra 40000 miles and your telling me that by not getting the oil changed delayed by 2000 miles has caused this problem now. I think not.
I brought the car under the impression that it had 7 years full kia warranty and a full service history clearly this isn’t the case.
S gpetch told me for me to have the work carried out it would cost me £7000.
In the mean time i have been back and forth with the dealership trying to get my car back to it’s original state.
I drove it in garage and it was ok.
I was told that my car was not in running condition and if i wanted it back
I would have to have it on a tow tuck!!
I was basically black mailed into rather paying the £7000 or to pay £508 to get them to put the parts back on which was done under warranty!
How can they take my car apart under warranty but not put it back together without me having to pay for it.
They surely didn’t have to strip it as much as they did to see what the problem was.

This has been that stressful it has caused me to fall ill with worry / financial stress.

Honestly to everyone who reads this please don’t buy kia and definitely not from S g petch Darlington