Kia EV3 (2025-2026)

Computer says no! Although conservatively specced compared to some rivals at the same price point, I decided to buy my first electric car from an established manufacturer expecting dependability, and solid support for when something inevitably goes wrong. I've never owned a Korean car before but my first 6 months with the EV3 have been very positive. I like the sparse clean looking interior although the boot seems a bit unfinished, there's a weird gap between the back seats and the folding adjustable boot floor which tends to collapse down to the lower level if you have the seats down while braking. I also like some of the driving/safety aids but it's quite obvious the software needs a bit of work. The adaptive cruise control can be a bit jerky and the lane assist tends to weave a bit between the lines, but still pretty cool and I'm sure it will improve with time.

Yesterday after a quick to trip to Bunnings, I returned to the car to find it wouldn't shift into gear. The dash display showed a weird combination of warning lights and no matter what I did, I couldn't get the car to move. It was only later that I remembered seeing this problem a few days after buying the car but I was at home, less stressed and the problem cleared itself - can't remember how but soon forgot about it. Hot and bothered (the AC wouldn't work) I called for road side assistance, it was going to be a 75 minute wait so I sought some shade in Bunnings but couldn't lock the car, pressing the door handle did nothing. I forgot I was carrying the key fob in my pocket so I reached for the phone app, this was when I noticed a message about an OTA update had failed - normally it tells you when one is available before attempting an update. I locked the doors from the app and was surprised that worked (the app by the way is fairly basic and Kia connect tends to send very confusing outdated notifications). Curious about the OTA failed message I went back to the car to find it was all working again. Feeling relieved and cooler now that the AC was working I cancelled the road side assist and to Kia's credit (not sure if it's a third party that handles that part) got an immediate call to verify everything was OK. The person I spoke to recommended I take the car directly to a Kia service centre but there were none close so I decided I would call the dealer where I bought the car from home.

Seems there is a huge backlog on warranty claims (make of that what you will) and was told nothing could be done for several weeks, it was suggested I try another dealer. I was pretty p*ssed off to find that another dealer would treat me like a new Kia account and the one I called was fully booked and couldn't help for at least 2 months. Exasperated I got in touch with the Kia rep who sold me the car and he seemed as p*ssed off as I was but the best could do was ask the service department to call me if there's a cancellation.

So overall the car itself is OK but the software is obviously very flaky and because everything relies on the computer you can get left stranded as I did. I know there can be problems with new cars but to be honest in my experience they tend to be minor and usually get fixed pretty quickly. The response from Kia is baffling, I'm not going to be comfortable driving the car knowing I could be left stranded and there's nothing good to say about that.