I meant individual as in a separate notice each time a repair is undertaken not separate as a particular notice only about using reconditioned parts. I would assume from the ACCC article the notice must be supplied before the repairs commence and it must be plain to be seen and that it is clearly distinguished from the other info in the notice and not be obscured. So yes to being added in the general T&Cs notice of the repair (but subject to those clear requirements) but would a General Warranty Notice be acceptable as the requirementā¦not one I am able to answer as I am not a legal expert. Euey should get solid legal advice to determine if KIA breached or not.
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The usual service experience with a motor vehicle service centre includes signing a vehicle in, and agreeing to the T&Cs. That has also been our experience with recalls. The dealer service Centre needs to verify your vehicle being provided for the work and your acceptance of their services.
The Kia Warranty T&C does make the following statements.
Refurbished Goods
Goods presented for repair may be replaced by refurbished goods of the same type rather than being repaired. Refurbished parts may be used to repair the goods.
3 Year AV (Audio) and AVN (Audio + Navigation) Warranty
For vehicles purchased after 1 January 2017, the original audio system (AV - Audio or AVN - Audio + Navigation) head unit is covered by the KIA New Vehicle Warranty against defects arising in materials or manufacture for a period of three (3) Years / Unlimited kilometres .
Production Changes
KIA reserves the right to make changes or have changes made to vehicles built and/or sold by KMAu and its authorised KIA Dealers at any time, without incurring any obligation to make the same or similar changes to vehicles previously built and/or sold.
Whether Kia or their service agent has subsequently complied with the exact requirements of the ACL, Kiaās intent is self evident.
One might need to read the actual sales/purchase documentation, vehicle handbooks, and documents provided by the dealer service centre at the time of warranty assessment to confirm or disagree.
Regardless, it is poor customer service when:
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Maybe not. When one buys a cheaper type of car with an industry leading manufacturer warranty period, something has to give. I imagine KIA would be carrying out such practices, where lawful, to minimise itās costs and risks so that it can offer cheaper cars with a good warranty. This is to satisfy the consumer in the end.
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It costs nothing to keep the customer informed. I am simply taking @Euey at face value that they were not directly informed in advance.
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You might be surprised at the prices Kia and its owner Hyundai command these days if you have not looked for a few years. Their quality and reputations have not gone unnoticed. 
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The comment was about the brands in general rather than individual models. If one looks at the sales data for Kia (and Hyundai), it is dominated by vehicles in the cheaper end of each size class. While they are ācheaperā, they are often reported by motoring journalists of being potentially better value for money than their competitors. This is usually based on purchase price, accessories included in new vehicles as standard and warranty period.
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As the it states in the warranty Goods presented for repair may be replaced by refurbished goods of the same type rather than being repaired. Refurbished parts may be used to repair the goods. it does not say shall be replaced by as result nothing should have been done to my car with out a complete description of the works to be under taken and then my approval.
The fact they did not mention it at all when telling me they were ordering a replacement unit was a form of dishonest conduct on their behalf if intentional and if not then it was negligent.
They are constantly evasive when carrying out repairs to faults with our car and failing to provide documentation detailing the work carried out.
Decades ago the PC industry got caught out by using good parts taken from returned DOA or otherwise broken machines for warranty repairs. It was not published and there was a class action. Once of the outcomes is that the PC as well as many other industries publish text stating āmay be replaced or repaired using refurbished or used partsā in a fairly standardised text.
āMayā is used rather than āshall beā or āwill beā because the parts systems do not know until they need to supply the part. In your case Kia may have an inventory of your part; they may have an inventory of the upgraded part; they may have no inventory of any used/refurb part.
They receive a warranty order to replace your part. If they have that in stock they ship it, if not and if they have the upgraded part they ship that, and if they have neither they ship a new one. Whether it is may be or shall be becomes a semantic argument, noting commas or lack thereof and specific words can become very important in law.
But hanging your hat on the differences between may or shall is likely tilting at windmills to differentiate them. Even with law being as it is, the absence of any legal firm launching a class action on same is a powerful defence that Kia is on solid ground. Of course it might take someone like yourself to launch a class action to have it sorted, and I accept that may be the case there is no class action because no aggrieved customer has stepped up to launch one yet.
While personal opinion I doubt you would prevail on either count at a tribunal or court. What you have experienced, for better or worse, is how many industry warranty repairs are serviced. Your unit broke and they gave you an exact replacement; yours was not new; the replacement is not new but is warrantied.
A service department not documenting what they did is unacceptable but if they documented it, although not to a level that satisfies you but meets industry norms and invoicing requirements under law it becomes a customer service problem the dealer or Kia should address, not a failure on their part.
You have made your point and a number of members have replied with their views, and you have now restated your position.
While you may feel aggrieved there is evidence Kia acted according to norms, whether or not one agrees with them. Could they have done better in your case, it seems so. What are the options you have now? You could ask Kia for an at cost swap to the newer unit or you could accept the ārepairā as is. Is there another option? Seeking legal advice as opinions are opinions and not the last word until a conflict is adjudicated by a court, sometimes including appeals.
Good luck working it out, and let us know if Kia or the dealer are happy to ātalkā and resolve your repair to your satisfaction.
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Remembering the cost to do so is likely to exceed any purchase value in an upgraded/newer model head unit.
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Given that head units these days are often integrated into the electronics of a car it is often virtually impossible to replace a head unit with a different one. In essense this means that replacing and installing a different head unit would be prohibitively expensive. I do not know if this is the case with Kia but it is with some other brands.
They may not be able to replace it with a newer model due to the integration and you cannot expect them to provide a new car due to a head unit failing.
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Talk to another KIa dealer about your problems with the original dealer . You might find they are more interested in your problems and view you as a potential purchaser of a new vehicle from their dealership . I worked in the industry for a number of years ( Toyota ) and would often advise customers to do this . Just as " oils aināt oils " neither are dealers all the same in their attitude to customers .
Go to another dealer and see if things improve for you . Kia have a good name in the trade . Just because of that though some dealers "may " become complacent regarding servicing and warranties .
Hope things work out for you .
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Note the OP indicated he believes the updated unit is compatible with his vehicle.
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Sorry, I should learn to read. 
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I believe it would be compatible as I have read about a couple people having theirs replaced with the new units from the old type
Unfortunately their are not many Kia dealerships around, the most important thing is that people know this type thing is happening more and more and we cant just rely on what we think are our rights under consumer law. The law seems to be drifting away from the consumer to be more in favor of the provider
Lets start from the beginning . Did you ask them to put a new Android unit in the vehicle to replace the defective unit ? Were you charged for the repairs done to the vehicle or did they honour your warranty ? They would certainly have the older units available as the estimated life of the vehicle these days is 5 - 7 years and Kia would maintain an inventory of parts to cover that .
You purchased a 2017 vehicle that did not have the Android unit fitted . The dealer is obliged by warranty to fix the vehicle to the specifications as you purchased the vehicle. There are exceptions naturally if a safety issue is found such as that which occurred with the Takata air bags recall .
If you were to take this further you would find there is no breach in consumer law . Your warranty states they , the dealer , can use reconditioned parts . The question that would be asked at a tribunal hearing would be this . " Was the Android unit the specified unit fitted to 2017 model vehicles ?" The answer would be no . āWas an appropriate unit fitted as per 2017 vehicle specifications when replacement was needed?ā The answer would be yes . In my opinion the dealer met all warranty obligations . Good luck but I donāt think you have any redress concerning this issue .
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Lets start from the beginning, I did not ask for an Android Auto head unit, I thought it was a possibility that I could get one as I have read of others getting them who were in the same position as me. At no time did I demand one or think that they should have installed one.
What I was upset about Is that I did not get a new unit of at least the same model as i had. I also know about the clause in the warranty that states they may use refurbished parts, what upset me is that they did not tell me they were replacing the head unit with a refurbished one. This is was the point that I trying to make other people aware of this possibility.
I do not want to take it further but Kia do not have a right to do what ever they want to my car with out my approval which they did not get. From now on when I get something repaired I will ask whether new or refurbished parts will be used given the option of a refurbish unit or having to pay for the new Android Auto unit I would more than likely have gone for the new one.
I would think twice about buying a Kia again as we have had numerous faults, seat belt lights, side auto door not closing or opening ( took a couple of month to get that repaired ) Air bag light on 4 times in two and half years before they replaced the module, two recalls and this was not a cheap car.
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The reconditioned unit they supplied has now died less than 3 years after the replacement.
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Hi @Euey,
Iāve just read your other post re the air-bag faults. You clearly arenāt having a good time with your car.
Re the head unit, I too have problems with my 2017 Carnival that I purchased new.
Since Iāve owned the car, the head unit has been replaced 4 times. It is currently awaiting a replacement now. The Brand of head unit is Motrex. My dealer showed me the number of Motrex units in their office. They said they typically have 5+ per week. Each time, the head unit is replaced with a reconditioned unit. Each time, I have been forced to wait 6-9 months to get the replacement. This means for over half the time Iāve owned the car, it hasnāt had a fully functional head unit. This has posed safety problems with at times not having reversing cameras or having a bright white screen when driving at night.
I have raised this issue with Kia Australia and the best they would offer was another unit made by Motrex; a company in which I have no confidence. They told me the new unit would be ābetterā as it had Andoid Auto but they couldnāt provide any other details. After considerable asking, they provided me an image of what the screen would look like before finally sending me a user handbook except that had a different screen image. They also couldnāt identify any vehicle in Australia with the same unit fitted so I could check it out or even a youtube video of it working. All I could see was tha this unit didnāt have a DVD player like my original unit. After waiting 6 months for the last replacement, I was told by Kia HQ that they wouldnāt order me a unit with a DVD player as āKia doesnāt sell cars with DVD players.ā After they worked out that yes they do, they replaced my Head Unit with a refurbished one.
When they replace the head unit, they donāt update the maps either so the maps on my last one were around 3 years out of date. They didnāt even show well-established suburbs in Canberra. I was told that I needed to pay roughly $300 to update the maps, even though the maps were supposed to be updated every year when the car was serviced. Apparently they changed that policy to only be for 3 years. Iāve not actually had a single update as I havenāt had a working unit for a full year.
I believe Kia chose a very poor provider for their head units so now they are holding them to whatever contractual responsibilities they have in place to continue replacements. Clearly Kia would be unwilling to replace the head units with better ones as that would be a costly exercise for them.
I have written to the CEO of Kia but have received no response. Iāve also emailed the Principal of my Dealer multiple times since last year but I have not received a single response. I even spent a few hours at the dealerās whilst awaiting repairs but the GM was āin a meetingā this entire time.
I am now reviewing options for addressing this further. I would be interested to hear what you are considering as your options. Perhaps ACA need to get involved with your case, especially given the air bag issues you are having.
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Hi TeddyMutt
Thanks for sharing your story, thats is so horrible story and I understand your frustration. Kia Australia has washed its hands of my issue telling me to take it up with the dealer, they donāt seem to care. When you call them they refuse to put you onto anyone who can make a decision. You have paid for a level safety and not having the screen means you have lost all the safety cameras on the car as well.
It is criminal that they replace the head unit with a reconditioned one to start with knowing that these units are unreliable, the replacement screen unit they installed in my car was hopeless I could hardly see it if I was using it in daylight.
I do not understand why yours is taking so long, the one I am having replaced on Monday took a week to come in. Having said the other dealer I took it to before said it would take a month to come in, when I called to check in about the replacement 6 weeks later they told me I have to bring the car back in as they need a photo and try to do some update. I would not recommend Kia to anyone after my experiences.
I laugh/ cry every time I have called Kia Australia I hear they message when you on hold - Welcome to Kia Australia home of Australiaās best 7 warranty.
Good luck with you issue I hope it is fixed this time
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