Pre-owned Kia engine defect causes warranty standoff — Illinois buyer still $2,300 in the hole

A certified pre-owned (CPO) purchase is supposed to offer peace of mind. However, one Illinois buyer says his 2018 CPO Kia Sorento has instead turned into an eight-week warranty standoff, and potentially, a loss of his entire $2,300 down payment.

According to a Reddit post detailing the ordeal, the buyer purchased the Sorento from Bettenhausen Automotive in Chicago, accompanied by a 3-month/3,000-mile dealer warranty. Two months later, the SUV began losing oil at an alarming rate. The dealership diagnosed the issue as an internal engine defect, one that should have been covered under Kia’s extended engine warranty stemming from a class-action settlement.

According to the post, the dealer submitted the case to Kia five separate times. Every submission was denied. Despite assurances that the claim was escalated “to the highest level,” the buyer says eight weeks have passed without a resolution. Instead, the dealership has offered an alternative: they will “wipe out” the remaining loan balance on the defective Sorento and put him into another vehicle.

The catch? The $2,300 he put down on the Kia disappears

That all sounds good, of course, until the buyer learns the dealership says the down payment cannot be transferred because “you still have to pay taxes and fees and registration,” even though those costs don’t remotely total the full $2,300.

Because the down payment went toward the Sorento’s principal, he argues there’s no reason it shouldn’t be credited toward a replacement vehicle. To make matters worse, he has already made three loan payments and continues to pay the insurance.

No official buyback has been offered — just a clean slate on the defective loan and a brand-new loan for a different car. To the buyer, that feels like a push into a deal that erases his equity and leaves him financially upside-down.

He believes the dealership should be responsible for a proper remedy since the defect appeared during its own warranty period. That remediation, he says, should include fully repairing the engine, replacing it entirely, buying back the vehicle, or giving him full credit toward another car.

Wiping the loan may be best case scenario

A commenter in the thread offered a blunt assessment of the situation and why the dealership may be pushing the “start fresh” option. “Fight them to fix it is really your only option here’s why,” the commenter wrote. The Sorento, he adds, “even if it was in perfect running driving condition has no equity in it even with your money down and payments that car is 99.99% surely worth less than you paid for it and they’re actually in a way helping you out by taking it back and just wiping the loan out.”

The commenter also warned about the risks of a used engine solution: “I’m assuming under their dealer warranty they could get by throwing a used engine in it that’ll probably die in a year anyways then you’ll really be in a bad spot.”

And the long fight with Kia? That part, they say, is predictable. “I’m guessing the reason they’re trying to do what they’re doing is to get you in a vehicle and on your way and they’ll spend the next 1–3 months going back and forth with Kia to eventually get it fixed.” They added a broader warning: “Kia/Hyundai especially used pre 2022 are not good cars to buy they all have high rates of engine failure.”

For now, the buyer is weighing his options — including filing complaints or speaking with an attorney if the dealership refuses to honor its warranty obligations. What he wants is straightforward: transparency, a fair remedy, and assurance that his $2,300 down payment doesn’t simply vanish.

The dealership may see the loan wipeout as a favor. But for a consumer now two months into a warranty limbo, $2,300 and a defective engine is a steep price for a CPO badge.