The 50-Day AS Commotion Caused by a Single 'Brake'

‘Brake Dragging’ Repair Referred to Busy Partner Company

“No Improvement” Complaint Met with “Additional Parts Replacement Needed”

“Apologize for Second Repair Misdiagnosis” vs “Cost Outcome Is the Same”

Baek, a salaried worker in his 60s, experienced a frustrating situation after leaving his car at a service center due to a brake malfunction.

More than 50 days have passed since he first entrusted his car for after-sales service (AS), yet it remains unrepaired, forcing him to commute by public transportation. Although the vehicle was left at the official service center of the car manufacturer, the center distanced itself from the issue, leaving Baek to dispute with the partner workshop to which the center outsourced the repairs.

What exactly happened?

On June 25, Baek left his 2011 New Morning vehicle, which had driven about 140,000 km, at the Kia Motors Busan Service Center due to a brake slipping issue.

Since the drop-off day was Sunday, the car was registered the next day, and he was informed by phone that there was a brake problem. However, the center said, "We are very busy," and asked, "Is it okay to outsource the repair to a partner workshop?" Baek, thinking it would be better to get the repair done quickly, accepted the outsourcing without suspicion.

The partner workshop soon found abnormalities in four brake-related parts and sent a repair estimate of about 600,000 KRW. Baek readily agreed and picked up the repaired car three days later.

However, when the same issue recurred in the supposedly repaired vehicle, Baek thought the replacement parts might need time to settle properly and continued to use the car as is.

After about a month, as the brake slipping persisted, Baek called the outsourced workshop to complain and then requested the original service center to re-inspect the car.

The next day, Baek was informed that there was a problem with another part, the master cylinder, and that an additional 100,000 KRW for parts would be required, which he accepted. However, the following day, he received an additional labor charge, bringing the total extra estimate to 220,000 KRW.

Baek argued, "The repair shop failed to fix the actual problem and made me pay for something unrelated, so isn't this a misdiagnosis?" He insisted he would only pay for the additional parts cost.

More than the cost, Baek was upset by the workshop's attitude of avoiding responsibility for the initial inaccurate diagnosis. He refused to pick up the car and filed a complaint with the Kia Motors service center. However, an even more frustrating event occurred. The center said, "Since the partner workshop handled the repair, it is not our responsibility," and advised him to "negotiate well with the workshop."

Moreover, the center claimed that the vehicle owner had accompanied the partner workshop when receiving the car after the initial repair and confirmed that the brakes were functioning "without issues." Baek denied ever accompanying anyone and said he had picked up the car keys himself from the security office locker at the AS drop-off location and drove the car home, expressing his frustration.

Baek later filed a complaint with consumer protection agencies but only received responses saying, "Since both parties have differing positions, mediation is difficult; please negotiate between yourselves," which he found unsatisfactory.

A representative of the workshop that repaired Baek’s vehicle said, "When the car first came in, there was severe leakage in the ABS module that required repair. We thought fixing the ABS alone would solve the slipping issue, but since it persisted, we proceeded with additional repairs." He added, "Even if all repairs had been done at once initially, the total labor and parts cost would have been the same."

There was no apology for the inaccurate initial diagnosis or the inconvenience of having to leave the car twice; instead, they insisted there was no problem since the total cost was unchanged.

Baek, who endured stress over the brake slipping issue, recently received an "unwelcome" mediation call from Kia Motors’ complaint office and finally "gave in."

He accepted the original manufacturer’s mediation proposal that he would bear only the 100,000 KRW parts cost while the workshop would cover the labor charges. Thus, the 50-day ordeal caused by a single brake issue is expected to conclude after two rounds of repairs and additional costs.

Baek said bitterly, "As a consumer who doesn’t understand the car’s structure well, I would have accepted this if the repair shop had just apologized for not identifying the exact faulty part from the start. But shifting responsibility and focusing only on profit is disappointing."

The first car inspection and maintenance statement received by Mr. Baek, who entrusted the repair due to brake failure.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.