Help Get the Freemans Back On The Road

Hello, while its humbling to ask, we have found ourselves in need of help from our extended community. This is a lengthy read so please free to scroll to the bottom for the TLDR summary if you'd prefer.

We would like to start by saying that we have been so blessed by the wonderful people who have loaned us vehicles to use for the past months so that we can still get our kids to their out-of-town appointments! We are so thankful for our wonderful community!!

In May of 2024, I (Leila) was involved in a collision that ultimately saw our family car written off. When the dust settled, we started looking for a newer model of the same car (a seven passenger, four-cylinder, Kia Rondo) and after kissing a few frogs we found what seemed to be our prince. In July of 2024, we purchased a 2015 Rondo with just over 200,000 km on it. It had a great pre-purchase mechanical inspection, a detailed history of its oil changes and services and a clean car-fax report. With the extra medical needs of our children, many out of town trips to appointments that these needs necessitate, and our modest income, we were happy to once again have the fuel economy of a car and the seating capacity of a van.

What we didn't know is that this car was hiding a frog in its engine... Our Rondo was one of many manufactured with a defective engine knock sensor. There was a "recall" on the sensor (that the previous owner heeded) but the "fix" was a software update that did not fix the issue.

Just before Christmas, after only five months of enjoying driving the car thither and yon, the engine went into limp mode with a flashing engine light while I was driving one of our children home from a specialist appointment four hours away. Following a tow home and multiple trips to our local shop to ascertain the issue, the car finally threw a code for the knock sensor. Our shop advised us to move forward with a service department at a Kia Dealership. I thus reached out to our nearest dealership and explained the situation we found ourselves in.

We were assured that the breakdown was covered by an extended manufacturer warranty due to the previous recall solution not having fixed the knock sensors. We were told that it was Kia's job to replace the knock sensor free of charge, and if the engine itself were damaged due to the knock sensor it would also be replaced free of charge. We hailed a chariot, um… tow truck… and sent our frogged-up prince to the dealership just over two hours away.

A couple days later we received a discouraging phone call. We were told our car's engine had been damaged to the point it needed replacing because of the knock sensor not functioning and alerting us, but it was outside of the parameters that Kia had set for honoring their own extended manufacturer warranty. They would only fix any problems with or caused by the defective sensor up to 200,000 km or within ten years. We were within the time frame but outside the km limit set. Despite me spending hours on the phone with Kia Canada contending that the only fault with our car is that it had been well enough maintained that it didn’t start having issues sooner, we were ultimately met with a ruling that Kia will not address any of the repairs.

So, here we are just over six months after having expended what funds we had into this beautiful car and it needs an entire new engine. We cannot afford the engine (or another car, which would be even more expensive), but we need a family car. As such, we are asking our extended community to consider stepping in as knights in shining armour and supporting us in this unpleasant situation. We understand that it is nobody else's responsibility to provide us with a working car. We would be so grateful though if those who are able could help us get our car back on the road. If that's not a possibility, please consider sharing our funding link to your socials. Thank you for having a read!

TLDR: Our new to us car had a defective engine sensor that was not adequately fixed when the previous owner brought it in for the related recall. When Kia became aware the sensors were not fixed, they offered an extended manufacturer warranty if the sensor or engine broke down, but only under 200,000 km or within ten years. Our engine has been well enough maintained nothing went south until after the 200.000 km mark and five months after buying the car it needs a whole new engine from the sensor not alerting that something was going wrong. We cannot afford such a big fix having just expended what excess funds we had into the purchase of this car. Please consider supporting us in this if you're able, though we completely understand if you cannot. Please also consider sharing our fundraising link to your socials. Blessings!

In the event we exceed our goal for repair, we will use those funds towards future car related expenses.