Advice Sought.

[Paullus1959]

The alarm on my KIA Sorento developed a fault at the beginning of January where it started to go off for no apparent reason. Also, when I locked the car using the smart fob the alarm beeped three times which it never did before. I googled this and three beeps mean a fault has been detected and the is alarm disabled. The only way I could stop the alarm sounding was to use the emergency key in the smart fob to lock the car.
It's still under warranty so it went back to the KIA main agent from where I bought the car and who has maintained it since. I explained all the symptoms to them and they had it for two weeks before I was told it was fixed and to come and collect it.
I spoke to the technician who had worked on it and he told me that he'd replaced the internal motion sensors and the alarm module and that the alarm had stopped going off. He also added that it now beeped when the car was locked. I told him that it shouldn't beep at all and that the three beeps signify a fault.
So, it's not fixed and they've now had it for a further week. I contacted them on Friday and they said they were stumped and KIA technical support was drip-feeding them things to try but couldn't come up with a definitive solution.
I'm starting to lose my patience now. I do have a courtesy car which I didn't have for the first two weeks but I can't tow with it.
My caravan is booked into a company 80 miles away to have the repairs to the bodywork carried out in three weeks time following my mishap in France last September. This was the earliest available date to get the work done so, I can't afford to miss it.
So, where do I stand if my car isn't fixed in time to take my caravan to the repair centre?

 

[Buckman]

Advise the motor dealer that you need the vehicle to tow the caravan to the dealer as vehicle can be driven. They are not working on your car 24/7 365.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Discuss your difficulty with your car repairer. As Buckman says, they may be able to allow you to use your own car, or they may have an alternative vehicle capable of towing you caravan.

Three weeks seems to be excessive for for what should be a module swap repair, so they should be looking for ways to minimise the inconvenience its causing. Even if the repair is being carried out under Kia's warranty, the seller is still beholden to you to keep the negative effects of any repairs to a minimum under the CRA.

If they don't have a suitable tow vehicle, ask them to hire one. or arrant transport for the caravan.

 

[otherclive]

If the OPs Kia is drivable surely Buckmans suggestion is the better option. Why complicate what ostensibly is a relatively straightforward matter. A module swap is not a long job. Providing the module is available and not somewhere south of the Cape of Good Hope.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If the OPs Kia is drivable surely Buckmans suggestion is the better option. Why complicate what ostensibly is a relatively straightforward matter. A module swap is not a long job. Providing the module is available and not somewhere south of the Cape of Good Hope.

If the OP's car is drivable so be it, but clearly it's taking much longer to repair than it should. Thus the dealer should be more active in ensuring the customer is inconvenienced as little as possible.

 

[Plug]

My tow car has a problem with the door handle on the passenger near side door i'v got a VW tourage i had the car pluged in a code reader and says its got an open circuit on one door hadle i used to be able to just hold the handle and the car door opened now i have to use the fob to open it when the code was cleared it worked fine but as soon as the back door was opened rhe fault came on again is this a easy fix or an expensive one

 

[RogerL]

My tow car has a problem with the door handle on the passenger near side door i'v got a VW tourage i had the car pluged in a code reader and says its got an open circuit on one door hadle i used to be able to just hold the handle and the car door opened now i have to use the fob to open it when the code was cleared it worked fine but as soon as the back door was opened rhe fault came on again is this a easy fix or an expensive one

Best place to ask the question is on a Touareg-specific forum like https://www.mytreg.com/ What code reader was used, VCDS/ODIS or a cheaper generic type? The latter won't necessarily give all the relevant codes.

 

[otherclive]

My tow car has a problem with the door handle on the passenger near side door i'v got a VW tourage i had the car pluged in a code reader and says its got an open circuit on one door hadle i used to be able to just hold the handle and the car door opened now i have to use the fob to open it when the code was cleared it worked fine but as soon as the back door was opened rhe fault came on again is this a easy fix or an expensive one

Given the complexity of modern car locking systems you should go to a your dealership, or a good independent who specialises in the brand, or an auto electrician, or a model Forum. Cost; who knows?

 

[Dustydog]

sadly not all technicians have all the knowledge to solve all problems. Years ago my Renault had a recurring fault with the rear self levelling suspension. New shock absorbers, pump, sensors , module didn’t work. Three months later the Renault HO engineer appeared. A broken wire ! 50 p to fix. Last I heard was the lease company asking for a substantial contribution from the Dealer.

 

[RogerL]

sadly not all technicians have all the knowledge to solve all problems.

That's particularly true of the VW Touareg - when it was launched in 2002 it was part of VW's attempt to emulate Lexus and was only sold by a handful of "Premier VW" dealers, each of which had a fully trained Touareg Master Technician - subsequently they abandoned that attempt and all VW dealers were allowed to sell the Touareg (and Phaeton) but few of these dealers have a Touareg Master Technician and far too many VW dealer staff think that Touareg has a lot in common with Tiguan, Golf, etc which it hasn't - it does though have a lot in common with a Porsche Cayenne!

 

[Buckman]

sadly not all technicians have all the knowledge to solve all problems. Years ago my Renault had a recurring fault with the rear self levelling suspension. New shock absorbers, pump, sensors , module didn’t work. Three months later the Renault HO engineer appeared. A broken wire ! 50 p to fix. Last I heard was the lease company asking for a substantial contribution from the Dealer.

Similar with our previous Jeep. Took it to the dealer because occasionally it had a flat spot. £2500 it still had the flat spot. Annoyingly when quoting for the repair they gave me a price over the phone without VAT so was a bit of a shock to the system when the bill was over £300 higher than anticipated.

In hindsight I should have taken the Jeep to our preferred dealer although they are over 70 miles from our residence instead of the nearest dealership. Lesson learnt!

 

[Dustydog]

That's particularly true of the VW Touareg - when it was launched in 2002 it was part of VW's attempt to emulate Lexus and was only sold by a handful of "Premier VW" dealers, each of which had a fully trained Touareg Master Technician - subsequently they abandoned that attempt and all VW dealers were allowed to sell the Touareg (and Phaeton) but few of these dealers have a Touareg Master Technician and far too many VW dealer staff think that Touareg has a lot in common with Tiguan, Golf, etc which it hasn't - it does though have a lot in common with a Porsche Cayenne!

And it was you Roger who diagnosed and advised on my blocked rain channel causing water ingress into the foot well The VW Dealer Solihull didn’t know! And as you said it was a VW bulletin. They found it in the end but for the powers of PCv👏👏👏

 

[Paullus1959]

Just a quick update as I still haven't got my car back!
KIA Technical have decreed that the body control module needs to be replaced. The dealership now has the part but, their master technician is off sick!
I've told them I must have it back or be loaned a suitable towing vehicle by 15th March at the very latest. Watch this space.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Just a quick update as I still haven't got my car back!
KIA Technical have decreed that the body control module needs to be replaced. The dealership now has the part but, their master technician is off sick!
I've told them I must have it back or be loaned a suitable towing vehicle by 15th March at the very latest. Watch this space.

I think you have been very reasonable about it... Good luck.

 

[Raywood]

More than reasonable by you. I suspect the problem with a loan car is that they may not have access to one with a tow bar unless they have one as trade in and let you have that.

 

[RogerL]

More than reasonable by you. I suspect the problem with a loan car is that they may not have access to one with a tow bar unless they have one as trade in and let you have that.

If the work is being done under warranty, the manufacturer should be supporting the dealer and if necessary hiring an appropriate car - the OP should notify the manufacturer of the situation and express the expectation that a suitable vehicle will be provided "in the unlikely event" that the repair is delayed that far.

 

[Paullus1959]

Well, hopefully, today I can finally conclude this saga. The KIA dealership, which to be fair has gone the extra mile to sort out this problem appears to have finally succeeded. Unfortunately, they were in the hands of KIA Technical Services and had to follow their instructions.
So, as of today and five days on since I got it back there have been no more alarm setting error beeps and random alarm activations. I did have to buy a new battery as one diagnosis pointed to low voltage errors but, this didn't fix the problem.
This time when it went back in I reminded them that this whole problem had started after I was negotiating a flooded section of road back in January. The water was around 8" deep and I was going through it at around 5 mph so as not to create a bow wave when a berk in a Range Rover coming the other way hit the flood at about 60 mph and the wake it caused engulfed my car with such force it rocked it.
I asked again if it was possible that water ingress into the electronics of the smart door handle could be the cause.
So, finally, they replaced the door handle and all appears well, touch wood. Thank goodness for the KIA 7 year warranty.

 

[otherclive]

Well, hopefully, today I can finally conclude this saga. The KIA dealership, which to be fair has gone the extra mile to sort out this problem appears to have finally succeeded. Unfortunately, they were in the hands of KIA Technical Services and had to follow their instructions.
So, as of today and five days on since I got it back there have been no more alarm setting error beeps and random alarm activations. I did have to buy a new battery as one diagnosis pointed to low voltage errors but, this didn't fix the problem.
This time when it went back in I reminded them that this whole problem had started after I was negotiating a flooded section of road back in January. The water was around 8" deep and I was going through it at around 5 mph so as not to create a bow wave when a berk in a Range Rover coming the other way hit the flood at about 60 mph and the wake it caused engulfed my car with such force it rocked it.
I suggested again that water ingress into the smart door handle and lock may be the cause.
So, finally they replaced the door handle and all appears well, touch wood. Thank goodness for the KIA 7 year warranty.

That’s a good outcome. I assume that 8 inches water depth wasn’t high enough to think about changing diff/transaxke oil?

 

[RogerL]

That’s a good outcome. I assume that 8 inches water depth wasn’t high enough to think about changing diff/transaxke oil?

200 mm (8 inches) is the ground clearance of many SUVs, so high enough to cope

 

[otherclive]

200 mm (8 inches) is the ground clearance of many SUVs, so high enough to cope

Of course I should have multiplied by 25.4 🙈

In my Pajero I installed high level breathers to diffs etc. to protect them from water ingress.

 

[RogerL]

Of course I should have multiplied by 25.4 🙈

In my Pajero I installed high level breathers to diffs etc. to protect them from water ingress.

I stick to the published wading depth as a maximum depth - right or wrong I assume that won't cause any issues.

 

[otherclive]

I stick to the published wading depth as a maximum depth - right or wrong I assume that won't cause any issues.

The SWB Pajero I modified for off road driving which would often require river crossings above the standard wading depth.
Hence breathers were an essential fitment.