Does a 2007 Kia Optima 4 cylinder have timing belt or chain?

Answer 1

The 2.4 liter , 4 cylinder , in a 2007 Kia Optima must have a timing CHAIN

because the Gates website does not list a timing belt for it

THIS IS WRONG, BEWARE. SEE BELOW

Hi to all Kia owners and especially those considering buying a Kia.

All I will say is 'BUYER BEWARE'.

We had ran a 52 plate Kia Magentis 2.5 V6 Auto for 4 years and it had served us very well, so we decided to update and settled on an 04 2.0 Auto Magentis with 68000 miles. After reading various 'on-line information' we decided to have the cam belt changed, to be on the safe side after reading about the poor quality of 'GENUINE Kia Parts'.

The belt was changed at approx 77000 miles, the car has now covered 89000 miles.

Around 3 months ago my wife started the car and selected drive and was about to pull of the drive and the car stalled, she tried to restart the car with no joy.

I checked the car and it was just turning the starter motor. After having a diagnostic check on the car we were advised the 'cam sensor' had failed, so we replaced this, no change.

I then removed the upper cam belt cover and manually wound the cam round, imagine my sheer amazement to see that the 'new cam belt' had delaminated and lost some teeth, that means the 'new cam belt' had 'FAILED' after only approximately 12000 miles, Kia's owners manual recommend changing the cam belt at 86000 miles, so the belt was well inside its life span.

However, after contacting a Kia dealership, we were categorically advised that Kia only 'warranty' the belt for 2 years from 'the date of fitting'.

Not satisfied with this advice from the 'parts department' we found a contact number for Kia UK and rang them, after waiting for 2 weeks and NO return call we sent them an email, it took a further 2 weeks for a return call.

We are now in a 'battle with Kia UK' for them to cover the costs of repairing ANY DAMAGE caused by the 'FAILURE OF THE BELT DUE TO A MANUFACTURING FAULT'.

The latest request is that they want US to pay to have the vehicle transported to their nearest dealership, so that they can strip down the engine to establish the exact fault and submit a full report of ANY/ALL DAMAGE, we also have to pay ALL the costs involved in completing this and then Kia are advising that WE will be responsible for ALL COSTS involved in repairing the car.

However, we feel that Kia have completely misled us as a 'customer'.

Especially as 'AT NO TIME WHEN WE ORDERED OR PURCHASED THE NEW REPLACEMENT PARTS WERE WE GIVEN ANY INFORMATION OR DETAILS OF THE 'RESTRICTED WARRANTY' ON THE TIMING BELTS, AND AS THIS WAS IN COMPLETE CONJECTURE TO THE INFORMATION IN THE 'OWNERS MANUAL' WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADVISED AT THE POINT OF PURCHASE, AND WE SHOULD REALLY HAVE BEEN GIVEN 'PRINTED DETAILS OF THE SPECIFIC WARRANTY' ON THESE NEW REPLACEMENT PARTS'.

Using the car on a regular daily basis for 'general commuting' with NO to and from work travelling, my wife covers round 3500-4500 miles per year, so to cover the 'recommended mileage of 86000' before having to change the 'cam belt' would take her over 20 years,(this is why we had the cam belt and balance shaft belts changed, for piece of mind while we owned the car), so we are completely shocked that Kia have advised us that they will NOT cover ANY of the COSTS we will incur to get the car repaired as they now say that the 'recommended replacement mileage', is for 'INFORMATION ONLY', and Kia does 'NOT WARRANTY/GUARANTEE' that 'ANY CAM BELT OR OTHER TIMING BELTS WILL ACTUALLY LAST THE RECOMMENDED MILEAGE' and to 'ACTUALLY' be 'WITHIN THE KIA WARRANTY PERIOD, ALL THE 'TIMING BELTS' SHOULD BE CHANGED WITHIN 2 YEARS OF THE PREVIOUS FITTING DATE'.

So this means the 'INFORMATION IN ALL KIA OWNERS HANDBOOKS IS COMPLETELY MISLEADING AND NOT TO BE BELIEVED'.

ALL KIA OWNERS OR PROSPECTIVE BUYERS SHOULD GET WRITTEN CONFIRMATION OF ALL AND ANY WARRANTY DETAILS FOR ALL KIA PARTS AND THERE RECOMMENDED LIFESPAN, AND IF THE WARRANTY WILL COVER THE COSTS OF ALL/ANY REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENT PARTS.

In this instance we are looking at repair costs of a minimum of £600 UP to £1000 to get our 04 plated car back on the road. The current market value of the car is only £560, with 'we buy any car' actually offering only £140 for the car in 'running order'.

So this looks like a 'NO BRAINER' we will have to 'scrap the car' at our expense and buy a replacement car. However this time we will definitely NOT be buying a KIA.

We think that their completely misleading information should NOT be allowed to be printed in the 'OWNERS MANUALS' and they should be 'HONEST AND UPFRONT' when supplying/selling parts that can result in 'SERIOUS DAMAGE' if they FAIL/BREAK.

However if they did this it would mean that ALL Kia owners would be returning their vehicles back to the dealerships for ALL of these poorly warranted parts to be 'replaced' before the 2 years 'WARRANTY' actually given by Kia expires, and this would obviously cost Kia a lot of money.

SO MUCH FOR THE KIA 7 YEAR WARRANTY.

This is just a complete 'SALES GIMMICK' and has NO REAL VALIDITY.

SO ONCE AGAIN WE STRESS THAT KIA BUYERS BEWARE, YOU WILL BE BUYING A VERY EXPENSIVE REPAIR BILL IF YOU BUY A KIA.

If anyone has any advice on how we can get some recompense from Kia it would be greatly appreciated.

As a disabled person who relied on our car I was left housebound until we managed to locate a car we could afford. The Kia is still sitting on our drive, we are going to approach the dealership and ask them if they would be kind enough to send a mechanic to our house to visually inspect the faulty cam belt(the de-lamination is clearly visible) and then to send the report to Kia UK advising that it is a 'manufacturing fault' that caused the belt to 'slip' and then hopefully Kia may offer a compromise to the situation.

We will keep everyone 'in the loop', however if anyone is thinking of buying a Kia, please think VERY CAREFULLY, BEFORE THE PURCHASE, as you could very easily end up in the very same position as we are, with your 'pride purchase' ending up as a 'block of scrap metal'.

Paul