Oil Filters... WTF?

[Dodger Blue]

I'm going on a road trip tomorrow so I wanted to make sure that the car had a fresh oil change, since it was about that time anyways. I've been excited about this all week, I got the go pro mounts set up for some video along PCH and everything. With the car being so new I typically bring it over to the dealership, since it's on my way to work and they can do their usual inspection. Today I showed up for my appointment and two hours later I was headed home in a loaner Optima with an estimated completion time of tomorrow afternoon.

Turns out, they had the wrong oil filter in stock. As in, the part number from Wix is correct, but it wouldn't fit. As I'm sure you all know, the 3.3 V6 uses a cartridge type oil filter, well this one wouldn't fit in the housing because of a lip on both ends that sticks out a few mm. The closest OEM Stinger oil filter in the entire inventory is in Los Angeles, about 4 hours away, can you believe that? They're going to have it overnighted so that my road trip is *only* delayed half a day.

I figured, maybe I could find something closer, so I started going around to auto parts stores. These filters are hard to come by, but eventually O'Reilly tells me there's one in stock at a store about 20 miles from my house. So I drive all the way over there, buy it, drive all the way back to Kia, and they show me that it is in fact the wrong one again. I wish I'd remembered to have them give me the old filter for comparison...

So I gotta wonder, what the hell is going on here? Why does Kia's parts & service department and the computer at an independent parts store and Amazon all say that this filter works if it apparently doesn't? Did Wix make a change to it without consulting Kia? Is the mechanic full of crap? The world wonders, but at this point I'm just crossing my fingers that the one from LA fits, or else I'm screwed.

Has anyone encountered this problem before? I've gotten three oil changes from the same dealership before without any issues.

 

[skygtr]

Bought Wix WL10237 off Rock Auto, used one last oil change. Fit fine.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Bought Wix WL10237 off Rock Auto, used one last oil change. Fit fine.

Did it look like the ones in the pictures, with that lip on top?

 

[skygtr]

Did it look like the ones in the pictures, with that lip on top?

Pretty sure it did, can't really check it now since it's on. But I looked at the other ones I bought since I got 3 of them, and they look like that.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Lol. The Kia tech put it in backwards I bet. Lololol.
Certified techs.
Fk Kia.

it you don’t do it, it won’t be done right.

 

[Dodger Blue]

They look symmetrical, I have the same sized lip on both sides.

 

[SKStinger]

He does realize that you have to use pressure to pop it into the housing right?

 

[SKStinger]

Here is what an OE one looks like. I have 5 of them in my garage. You have to pop them into the cartridge as they’re a tight fit. And FWIW you can buy the OE filters for $7 each from online Kia parts stores. The Wix ones are overpriced.

26320-3LTA0 - Oil Filter 2018-2023 Kia | Kia.Parts Store

Save When You Order Your Kia Oil Filter # 263203lta0 For Your 2018-2023 Kia Vehicle From Kia.Parts Online Store!

www.kia.parts

 

[eflyguy]

Dealer service.. lol..

(10237 fits perfectly.)

 

[Dodger Blue]

Dealer service.. lol..

(10237 fits perfectly.)

So what's the problem with these guys, takes too much muscle to get the Wix filter in?

I guess the answer to my question was that the mechanic is full of crap!

Screw it, I'm buying ramps and doing it myself next time. Only reason I was going to them was because I wanted the documentation. I figured, they can't possibly f**k up something so simple...

 

[eflyguy]

It installs exactly the same as on my Sorento, and my daughters Challenger.

If they couldn't figure it out, god knows what else they might screw up!

 

[skygtr]

The Wix ones are overpriced.

Gotta disagree. Wix ones are like $6.50 on Rockauto.

 

[CKeeler]

I can get the WIX filters for about $7 or $8. Mine look exactly the same. Don’t know what the Kia techs were having a problem with. Putting the filter in has a nice click to it. I’ve had zero problems using the Wix filters

 

[Buzzrush]

I don't understand why people keep bringing this amazing car into the dealerships for basic maintenance. I just don't get it. Just find a good reputable mechanic, keep all the receipts and don't sweat it. The biggest universal knock against buying a Stinger is the dealerships so why would you ever trust them with your car? Yeah I know, there's some good Kia dealerships out there but those are few and far between. Is it really worth the risk to your car and your sanity? The Kia techs that are doing your basic maintenance have very little experience especially when your talking about working on a car like this. Fine if they're working on a Forte but keep your greasy paws off my Stinger. They can't even figure out how to lift the car without crushing the side skirts....WHAT??? It's just out of their league. My car will NEVER see the inside of a Kia service department unless it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! My mechanic does everything and never asks where's this on the car or how do I do that even though he'd never even SEEN a Stinger before I brought mine in. Just uses his 30 years experience to navigate it and keeps my car running perfectly.

I took mine in to the dealership for it's first oil change 3 months after I bought the car and the experience was abysmal...never again. 6 hours for an oil change and a recall fix (why they sold me the car without performing the recall first is baffling to me considering it was a safety issue ) filthy waiting area, no vending machines, gum on the chairs, cheesy advertising everywhere, stale donuts that had to have been there for 3 days, Oh good...a refrigerator with cold water bottles...WRONG fridge was broken and water bottles were HOT..not room temp...HOT. Got the car back after 6 hours and had greasy finger prints all over the hood, door handles and interior. Just terrible. As I was waiting, I befriended the service manager and even he hinted that I should go elsewhere for maintenance. He handed me my keys and said "OK.. we'll see you at X thousand miles to rotate your tires then we'll see you again at 45,000 miles to change out your spark plugs. Until then, drive it like you stole it...oh...and keep all your maintenance receipts". Roger that..never went back. I just see it as I'm on my own now unless something catastrophic happens. I'm starting to get a slight shimmy under high speed breaking and I'll be damned if it's going to the dealership. I'll just buy some new rotors and pads and have my guy install them. It's better than risking damage to my car. It sucks but it is what it is.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Generally I've always taken my cars to the same trusted mechanic instead of any dealership, but I moved away recently :/

And fortunately my dealership waiting area isn't disgusting like that lol, it's kept clean and the coffee isn't half bad. Haven't had problems with the service up til now and the techs have been professional and friendly. I figured, these guys see more Stingers than anyone else (this car seems super freaking rare in my part of the state, I've seen like 3 ever and they're always over near the dealership, probably on test drives) surely they know how to do whatever basic stuff comes up.

Just saw that thread about the side skirts, woof.

 

[Dodger Blue]

So, an update, I called as soon as they opened and told them about all the stuff I'm seeing online, that everyone says these filters work fine and so on. The service manager basically said that, his mechanic says they don't, and if they try to use the Wix filter I'll be charged for it if it doesn't fit, and if they do muscle it in there, I'll have to put my consent in writing, and if something goes wrong with the engine later that will be taken into account when the warranty claim comes up.

That got me thinking though, if they're going to charge me for contaminating a filter that doesn't fit, how do they know it doesn't fit right now?

I figure waiting an extra few hours for the Kia filter to come, and then never coming back here again, is probably the correct course of action, lol.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I've sung the praises of Jerry Seiner, South Jordan, before. But after Buzzie's rant (justified, I have no doubt), I just have to repeat my assertion that most Kia service departments, anymore, are better than they used to be. "Mine" is clean, modern, professional, and I've never seen a single finger print or oily smudge anywhere on my car. An oil change, regular maintenance, takes less than an hour; the biggie (at c. 30K miles), they said, could be over four hours and gave me a ride home and picked me up less than three hours later.

I look at the "Dealer Experience" board to see the proportion of Bad and Good threads. Today eight our of twenty on the front page are Bad. I haven't ever noticed if the Bad ever outnumber the Good; but every time I've looked the Good outnumber the Bad. Then the Consumer Reports customer survey produced a score of c. 635 out of 1,000; which is c. two-thirds positive feedback, or, nearly two out of three Kia dealerships getting positive marks.

It needs to be a lot better ratio than that, for Kia to pull away from their negative rep of the past.

 

[Dodger Blue]

Got the car back, they comped the service before I could even ask about that, which was nice. The car pulls slightly to the right now so I guess they must have torqued the filter on so hard that my car's out of alignment

 

[Hockster]

My dealership is kept impeccable. I've not had my Stinger there yet, but the two times I've had my Forte there I had no complaints at all. Not my pics but I've never seen not this nice.

 

[Buzzrush]

Got the car back, they comped the service before I could even ask about that, which was nice. The car pulls slightly to the right now so I guess they must have torqued the filter on so hard that my car's out of alignment