Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/01/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Nelson Kia Subaru has now been in possession of our vehicle for more than two years. During all of our dealings with Nelson Kia Subaru we have always had difficulty getting prompt service, prompt responses to our inquiries, or honest communications. Most recently, we have been trying to negotiate the return of our vehicle to us, after Nelson Kia Subaru installed a re-manufactured transmission in our vehicle without our authorization.
  
  For better understanding, I have attached the most recent email communication with Nelson Kia Subaru regarding our 2013 Subaru Legacy.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/08/2025

  Mr. *****,I would like to apologize for the extended amount of time that
  your 2013 Legacy has been in our shop. It shouldn't have taken that long to be
  repaired. With that said, we do not agree with your request to give back your
  repaired vehicle with no charge. I have attached all repair orders for your review and will break
  down this situation in detail. Every line item that reads SRV POLICY means that
  Nelson Subaru performed all of the repairs at no cost to the customer. ** ********** was a charge of $825.92 that we absorbed, and ** ********** has
  another charge of $1,204.20 that we absorbed. To this point you have paid
  $1,970.53 for the work that has been performed while we have covered $2,030.12
  for the work that has been performed. The portion of the bill that is open is
  $5,050 for the transmission that has been replaced. You initially had verbally
  agreed to pay $2,500 to get your vehicle back. The following day you sent an
  email saying that you don't feel as if you should have to pay anything. We have
  made over $9,000 in repairs to your vehicle and are asking you to only be
  responsible for a total of $4,470. We have agreed to absorb the additional
  $4,580.12. Had you only paid for the transmission to be replaced, you are still
  paying $580 less than the single repair even though we fixed multiple other
  issues. A second factor that needs to be considered is the fact that we
  provided you with a brand-new Subaru to drive while your 2013 Legacy was in the
  shop. During the 2-year period that your vehicle was in the shop you drove a
  new Subaru Outback (actually, 2 different vehicles) for more than 70,000 miles.
  Your car had 180,983 miles when you started driving the loaner. Had you driven
  your own vehicle during that timeframe you would now have over 250,000 miles on
  your vehicle. We charge $470.42 per week to rent a Subaru Outback at our rental
  department. Since you had it for approximately 110 weeks the rental fees that
  were absorbed exceed $50,000. You saved over 70,000 miles of wear and tear on
  your vehicle while driving a much newer vehicle while your car was being
  serviced. We will honor the original offer of $2,500 to cover the repair.
  Your vehicle is ready to be picked up once payment is made. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/16/2025

  I have reviewed the response made by Nelson Kia Subaru in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.The response from Nelson Kia Subaru contains some accurate information however, it is misleading and does not contain all the information pertinent to my complaint.Before my wife and I purchased my 2013 Subaru Legacy from my wife's step-mother, she had complained that all the warning lights in the dashboard were on and the vehicle would spontaneously accelerate. Because of this, I took the vehicle to Nelson Kia Subaru service department to have it checked out before I purchased the vehicle. I was told that the vehicle was safe to drive with all the dashboard light on and that the service folks did not experience the spontaneous acceleration issue when they test drove the vehicle. After receiving the all okay/nothing is wrong with your vehicle/it is safe to drive/you can ignore the lights, from Nelson Kia Subaru service department, we purchased the vehicle. Not long after purchasing the vehicle we took it back to the Nelson Kia Subaru service department to have the dashboard warning lights fixed, thinking this was a simple electrical malfunction, but this was the beginning of our problems with Nelson Kia Subaru. Our vehicle has been in and out of the Nelson Kia Subaru service department multiple times over the past two, almost three years now, all of them because all of the dashboard warning lights were on as noted by the Nelson Kia Subaru service receipt dated June 21, 2022. After claiming to fix the light problem and taking it back in several times for the same issue, we were finally told the valve body was bad and had to be replaced, which it was replaced. Not long after we got our vehicle back all the dashboard warning lights came on again so we took it back to the Nelson Kia Subaru service department. We were told the new valve body was defective so they put another new one on but that one didn't work either. This process repeated a couple times and then we were told the torque converter was the problem and had to be replaced. They claimed they had went to the corporate office for instructions on how to proceed with repairs because they were at a loss as to what the problem was. This still did not fix the car. Finally, after approximately two years in the shop, we were told the transmission was bad and had to be replaced however, the service manager told us he could not find a transmission for our vehicle. In August 2024 we received a telephone call from the service manager, he told us he found a remanufactured transmission for approximately $5000. We discussed the charge and told him we believed Nelson Kia Subaru should bear the cost because the vehicle was never repaired correctly as it should have been when we first brought it in. We had already paid on two separate occasions what was quoted to fix the problem and yet it was still brought in for the exact same original issue. The service manager verbally offered to lower the charge to $2500 and then sent us an email with the offer in writing and asking us to sign if we agreed to the terms. We responded to the Nelson Kia Subaru service manager's email saying we did not agree to the terms and explained why. We received no response to our email or any other communication until 2025, when the service manager called us on the phone to tell us our vehicle was repaired and ready for pick up and said he needed the loaner vehicle back. He then asked us to pay $2500 to get our car, even though we specifically said no to those terms before the vehicle was repaired. The email from Subaru service dept stated they would not repair the vehicle without a signature on their emailed request for $2500. Our response, and last communication was an email reply with our terms for allowing Nelson Kia Subaru to repair the vehicle and the reasons why we did not believe we owed any additional funds stated clearly.  The only response was a call several months later to say the vehicle had a new transmission in it and was finally ready to be picked up, so we expected that our terms of no additional funds had been agreed upon. What other expectation could we have?When my wife and I arrived at Nelson Kia Subaru, one of the service agents asked for the loaner key back so I told her I would give it to the service manager after I talked with him. Not long after that the service manager came out to talk with us, so we stood in the Nelson Kia Subaru service lobby calmly discussing the issue. I explained that we did not authorize Nelson Kia Subaru to replace the transmission on our vehicle for a charge, and did not believe we should bear the cost of their mistake. When the service manager asked me for the loaner vehicle keys I calmly told him I would give them to him when I received the keys to my car. The service manager left the room for a moment and then returned to continue the discussion. Not long after, two deputy sheriffs entered who explained the law and consequences of not returning property when the rightful owner asked for it. I returned the key immediately but never received the key to my vehicle. In-fact, Nelson Kia Subaru closed and the employees left my wife and I standing in the parking lot without transportation to our home, which is approximately 45 minutes away. In addition to all of the above I had also discovered that there is an ongoing class action lawsuit against Subaru for the 2014 year model because of a defect in some of their transmissions that causes vehicle to spontaneously accelerate. I also discovered that the transmission warranty on our vehicle was extended by Subaru because of transmission issues. Coincidentally, we took our vehicle into Nelson Kia Subaru before the 10 year warranty expired but didn't receive communication from Nelson Kia Subaru until after the 10 year extension. Furthermore I also learned that Subaru sent out its own corporate instructions stating if the automatic transmission temperature light was flashing, the valve body or torque converter should not be replaced without first flushing the transmission fluid. Our automatic transmission temperature light was flashing  from the time we first brought the car in to the Nelson Kia Subaru service department. According to service records that we have, the transmission fluid was never flushed or replaced, but parts were replaced multiple times and the vehicle was test driven back and forth from home to work by the service manager for months before our transmission was claimed to be "bad."As for the loaner vehicles provided by Nelson Kia Subaru, I was originally quite concerned about being charged, but the service manager assured me there would be never be a charge. In-fact nobody from Nelson Kia Subaru ever checked on either of the two loaner vehicles we used except when the first one was due for an annual safety inspection and when the service manager called to tell me he needed the second loaner vehicle back. I have often wondered why a car dealership would loan someone, not one, but two different vehicles for more than two years and approximately 70,000 total miles, knowing that the vehicle was used to regularly commute three hours one way. The only thing I can only imagine is that there is some sort of gross mismanagement or incompetence within Nelson Subaru.Personally, I would have rather had my own vehicle repaired correctly the first time and back in my possession than drive someone else's vehicle.Given all of this, I still believe Nelson Kia Subaru should bear all the remaining cost and I would like my vehicle returned immediately. Regards,******* *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/15/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I take my vehicle to get serviced at Nelson Kia for oil changes and tire rotations. I had to get an inspection and the technician showed me that my tires barely passed inspection. Nelson Kia during their servicing my vehicle failed to share with me that there was some wear on my tires, they just rotated them. I hand to buy a new set of tires for my vehicle. If they would have shared this info with me I could've and would've addressed the issue and saved buying a new set at this time.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2023

  Mr. ******** came into our dealership on January 14th of 2023 for a service special that we were running at the time. The service advisors are supposed to print out the multi point inspection for the customer following every service. When Mr. ******** paid for his service we printed out the attached Multi Point inspection form that showed his tire tread was in the yellow at 50%. When Mr. ******** returned for an oil change on June 24th our advisor failed to print out the Multi Point Inspection form. Had she done so he would have seen that the tires needed to be replaced. Regardless of the oversight, Nelson Kia is not accepting responsibility for new tires. Tires are a normal wear and tear item that will always need to be replaced due to everyday driving. The vehicle owner is ultimately responsible for normal maintenance expenses which is what tire replacement falls under. We apologize for not providing a multipoint inspection, however he bought tires from another location and now expects us to cover his cost. We will not accept responsibility for this. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/21/2023

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  Regards,
  
  ******* ********