In late 2009 I purchased a 2010 Kia Forte Koup from Airport Kia in Naples, Florida. The Forte Koup is a great little car; however, the car that I purchased has a very interesting, yet frustrating issue. The Forte that I purchased is a second vehicle that is not driven often as I have a work vehicle. After only 4 months of ownership, I noticed a strange smelly white substance that seemed to be growing on the carpets. I cleaned the carpets and then about one week later, after a good rainfall one day, I opened the car doors and discovered what appeared to be moisture in the door jambs, indicating that perhaps the door seals might not be functioning properly. Additionally, the strange white substance had reappeared.

I brought the car into the dealership and was told by Mike Cabrera that new carpet and door seals would be ordered. The carpets were removed and cleaned and reinstalled at the dealership. Mr. Cabrera told me that it would take some time for the carpet and seals to come in because the car was so new.

Several months passed and the substance did not come back, nor did I hear anything further from Mr. Cabrera or Airport Kia. Finally, around the middle of February 2011 I noticed that the white substance had once again returned. Once again, I called Mike Cabrera and left a message, advising him that the substance had returned and inquiring as to why it was taking so long for the carpets and seals to come in. Mr. Cabrera did not return my call.

On March 1, 2011, after receiving no communication from Mr. Cabrera, I sent an email to Mr. Mike Abner, the General Manager at Airport Kia. On March 2, 2011 Mr. Abner responded to my email, advising me to schedule a service appointment and promising that he would “follow this to its conclusion”. Before I had an opportunity to call and schedule the appointment, Mr. Cabrera called me and advised that Kia would not warranty the carpet, which explained why I did not hear anything from Kia over the past 6 months that I had been waiting for them to order the carpet and seals and contact me.

Mr. Cabrera provided me with a customer service number so that I could inquire further on the situation and advised that he would speak with his boss to see if there was any remedy to the situation because clearly there was something wrong but he could not replace the carpet unless he was going to be paid to do so. I contacted customer service and spoke with a young lady named Lynn who listened to my story and took down my information. She asked if anyone had performed a leak test on the car, which I informed her had not been done. She also asked for the contact person I was dealing with and the number for the dealership. Lynn advised that she would do an investigation and get back with me. Within 15 minutes of that conversation with Lynn, I received a telephone call from Mr. Cabrera asking me to bring the car in for a leak test. On March 7, 2011 I brought the car into the dealership for the leak test. Mr. Cabrera later contacted me and said that the leak test was negative but he wanted to keep the car over night because a Kia Service Representative was coming in the following day and Mike wanted to personally show the service rep my car.

The following day Mr. Cabrera contacted me and said that the service rep did not feel that there was anything wrong with my car. He further stated that, after viewing all of the new Fortes on the showroom floor, all of the carpets were similar to mine and had a strange white growth in the folds of the carpets. I thought this sounded outrageous. I asked Mr. Cabrera for the service reps name and he said he would get it for me but did not. I also asked for something in writing indicating what I had been told. The only information I was given is the invoice. When I picked up my vehicle from Kia that day I noticed that the carpet had been cleaned (which was not indicated on the paperwork and I was never told that they had cleaned the carpet). Unfortunately for the dealership, they missed a spot. While cleaning the carpets they failed to clean underneath the passenger seat. Also, the white substance is already returning on the driver’s side carpet.

I sent another email to Mr. Abner explaining everything that had transpired because he asked me in his earlier email to keep him advised. I told Mr. Abner that I had not heard anything further from Lynn regarding her investigation or Mr. Cabrera regarding my request for the service reps name. While I have heard nothing further from Mr. Abner, I did receive a call from Mr. Cabrera with the service reps name, Aaron Shoemo. I also received a call from Lynn, explaining that she spoke with Mr. Shoemo and Kia would not warranty the carpet because it was their opinion that there was no leak and the carpet was just like every other Kia. When I asked for this information in writing Lynn advised that she could not provide it to me because it was all verbal. Lynn also advised that Mr. Shoemo’s word was final and that I had no other recourse.

I wrote to the CEO of Kia but to date the only responce that I have received is a telehphone call from a customer service person named Danielle, who has been less than helpful. To date, my problem is unresolved and I have been told that this white, smelly mildew/mold on my carpets is a standard feature on all 2010 Kia Forte Koups.