Reviewed : 10/20/2025
Comment : People say that you should always bring your car to the dealer because they will do the work correctly. Laughable when it comes to Bill Dodge KIA of Saco.
I was approaching 100k on my vehicle, and had them do a full inspection. I paid $175 for the information, and while I think that is ridiculously high, it turned out to be well worth it because I found out how much I can NOT trust this place.
On the results sheet, they claimed that my back brakes were at 4mm, and the front brakes were at 8mm. Before this inspection, I had a mechanic listen to my brakes while driving, and he concluded that my front brakes were bad. I wanted to wait until the inspection before doing anything. Once the inspection was over, I contacted that mechanic and told them the results. He still thought it was the front brakes, but I went with what KIA said. I got rotors and pads for the back brakes, because that's what Bill Dodge KIA said was bad.
The other mechanic took the tires off, stood up and walked over to me to ask who told me that my back brakes were bad, and why did I buy rotors and brake pads? See, my car does not have rotors and brake pads on the back. They have DRUMS and shoes.
I contacted Bill Dodge KIA of Saco and inquired what, exactly, were they measuring? I was told, "the brake pads". I advised them that I do NOT have brake pads on the back, so, again, what were they measuring.
After a brief hold, I was told that the service person did not actually remove tires to see the brakes, the only did a quick visual scan, and decided that because what they saw in the back was 'thinner' than what was in the front, which were, allegedly, 8mm, then my back (non existent) brake pads must be at 4mm.
I asked, straight out, "So, the mechanic just made it up?"
Answer: "Yes."
It's not easy to find a good mechanic that isn't trying to rip you off, sell you stuff you don't need, etc. You SHOULD be able to trust a fricken dealer, but clearly NOT!
UPDATE:
The response from the KIA dealer is ridiculous. First of all, I did NOT 'bring it in for a driveability issue", I brought it in for a 100k inspection. I mentioned that while they were doing the 100k inspection, that my car was sounding rough under load, could they also look into that. But the POINT of the appointment was for the 100k inspection.
Further, they did NOT say that they measured drums or shoes, in case you missed it, they literally told me that they measured the 'brake pads' on the rear brakes, (which do NOT exist), and literally told me that the mechanic completely made up the 4mm measurement.
The very fact that you say it's 'rare' for a KIA to have drums and shoes in the back only proves that "He didn't take off the tires, just did a quick visual look" from the person I was speaking to on the phone is what actually happened. For the record, the mechanic at another place put on new rotors and brake pads on the FRONT brakes that were said to be 8mm, and in the 'green' range. Guess what? No more brake issues, including the horrid sound they were making. Amazing how another mechanic got it right from the start, but Bill Dodge KIA of Saco can't figure that out with a full paid inspection. (The other mechanic did not charge me to 'diagnose' my brake issue.)
But thank you for responding, because now I know you'll make up BS excuses to cover for your failures. Never again will use this dealership.