Incheon kia - Premature Clutch Failure and Repeated Breakdowns in Kia Sonet iMT No Permanent Resolution Provided

I am facing repeated failures and breakdowns in my Kia Sonet iMT (**** model) despite regular servicing.

On **.**.****, the car became immobilized due to the gear getting stuck midway on the road. The vehicle had to be shifted by a recovery vehicle to the Kia service center. At the time of the incident, the car had run only **,*** kms.

Shockingly, the entire clutch unit had to be replaced (Disc Assy Clutch, Cover Assy Clutch, Actuator Assy Clutch, Cylinder Assy Concentric Slave, etc.), with a repair cost of ₹*,**,***/-. This is despite Kia’s claims that the iMT transmission requires less maintenance and offers longer clutch life. The car has not even crossed * years of use, yet such a major premature failure occurred.

This problem is not new—I had already reported the issue on three previous occasions but no permanent solution was ever given:
*. **.**.**** – Immediately after the **,*** km periodic service (mileage: **,*** km on **.**.****), the car broke down. The clutch actuator oil reservoir was found empty and oil blackened. Instead of addressing the root cause, the team only cleaned and refilled it.
*. **.**.**** – The car again broke down and had to be recovered. After keeping it for * days under observation, the service team reported “no issues found” and returned the car without rectification.
*. **.**.**** – The same issue repeated. Despite test drives and inspections, your team again failed to diagnose or provide a permanent resolution.

On all these occasions, the breakdowns occurred while driving, leaving my family and me stranded in the middle of the road.

Finally, during the August **** breakdown, the car remained in the service center for ** days (until **.**.****). I had come home from abroad only for a month to resolve this issue, but I was left without my car during my entire stay. This caused severe inconvenience, multiple cancelled meetings, and difficulties traveling during heavy rains.

I also requested a detailed technical report from the service team regarding the repeated failures, but no report has been provided to me till date.

This clearly indicates premature component failure either due to design flaws in Kia’s iMT clutch actuator assembly or repeated service negligence.