Kia Carens faces severe condensation and clutch issues, dealers clueless about a potential fix
The latest entry-level MPV from Kia, Carens, is currently reeling with a host of severe issues which the Kia dealers are nearly clueless about. Multitudes of owners are continuing to share their agony on social media platforms and other avenues to grab the company’s attention.
The biggest issue, however, is regarding the car’s relentless condensation. Customers say that within minutes of switching on the air conditioner, the interiors including the dashboard begin to drip in water.
To explain you more about the gravity of this issue, the dashboard contains advanced electronics for the cluster and infotainment system and when water enters inside, it might even lead to a potential short circuit and fire on the move.
Users can be seen reporting these condensation issues online from as early as April. Initially, it seems, the condensation had occurred only at the roof near the right third row AC vent. But now owners are reporting it throughout the interiors.
Kia service centres had reportedly fixed additional foam liners on the wall for no avail. Service technicians had informed the customers that the issue has been forwarded to Kia headquarters and that they are currently waiting for a fix.
Recently, MotorBeam got a picture of a Kia Carens outside the Korean automaker’s head office in Gurugram. The owner is reportedly circling around the head office with a banner fixed at the car’s back that reads, “Say No To Kia.”
“People who want to buy Kia cars should be on alert. I bought the Kia garbage for Rs. 19 lakhs,” the banner added. Kia Carens is among the cars with highest waiting periods now with select variants commanding as high as 75 weeks wait.
So, the customer must have bought the MPV with a long patient wait. He even claimed that he had invested over Rs. 19 lakhs. While we can’t make out the variant, it could be the top-end Luxury Plus which commands the same price tag the user had mentioned.
Another Carens owner by the name Pramod Kumar has shared the picture of his MPV getting towed at the night due to a clutch issue. He mentioned that the problem has happened within 1 month of purchase.
The user further claimed that Kia service was very poor taking too much time. Even if such problems can be fixed in the long run, it doesn’t look good for a brand new car getting towed this soon for a cause that isn’t related to an accident.
The Kia Carens currently competes with Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, XL6, and Mahindra Marazzo. This might be the right time India needs new customer protection laws. Till date manufacturers have easily got away with selling products with issues.
In the last couple of months about 3-5 people have lost their lives in EV fires but it seems like no action has been taken yet. The sad part is that those deceased customers would have hardly known that the EVs they fondly bought are going to take away their lives.
