Many of us ordered cars in the fall of 2019 and were promised cars in early spring 2020. Then Covid hit. We were told delays were due to Covid plant shutdowns and supply chain issues. When Kia began building cars again in late spring/early summer of 2020, we were hearing through this forum that the newly announced Nightfall edition vehicles were being produced ahead of our cars. Keep in mind the Nightfall edition trim didn't even exist when we placed our orders and yet those people were ordering their cars AND receiving them ahead of the 2019 orders!! Like you, I was livid. I typed a letter to the President and CEO of Kia in South Korea, (you can find his name and fax number on the internet), and also cc'd a copy of my letter to the President and CEO of Kia North America (based in California). I faxed my letter to South Korea about 6:30 in the morning Eastern standard time. By 1:00 p.m. I received a phone call from the Southeast regional sales manager who had been contacted by both Korea and California executives and he told me he was "instructed to find me a vehicle that matched my order and get it to me ASAP." He called and told me that that's what he would do: he would find a vehicle that matched my orders specs and would have it delivered to me. I told him that I was monitoring failcat everyday and that NO vehicle that matched my order specs had been built or would be available for him to ship to me, according to Failcat. He did not believe me but told me he would call me back by 5:00 the following day. He seemed very assured that he was going to locate a vehicle that he said it would be delivered to me, "by orders of the CEO of Kia in South Korea." Needless to say that gentleman called me at 4:55 p.m. the next day to tell me that there was no equivalent vehicle that had been built in the last few months that would match my specifications. (This was in July 2020.) He was able to confirm that my EXACT build date would be October 16th, 2020 and that my vehicle would then be delivered to my dealer within 2 to 3 weeks of that date. He said he was instructed to "move things along" to get me my vehicle. He then asked if I was willing to wait until October or was I going to go to Honda or Toyota to purchase another vehicles (as I told him I had already explored them and would be perfectly happy buying a different vehicle than a Kia.). He said that the CEO of Kia South Korea and North America "heard me loud and clearly" and "understood my frustration" about having a brand new trim line model vehicle being built ahead of people who had placed orders 8 to 10 months before and still had not received them. Within a week or so the Nightfall edition manufacturing was cut severely and those that had ordered vehicles but not yet received them were prioritized. And my vehicle
VIN number did pop up on failcat exactly on October 16th as promised. There were that many vehicles ahead of mine that still needed to be built that were not Nightfall editions. The day my car rolled off the line and passed all of the factory required inspections it was put on a truck and shipped to Kia of Muncie, Indiana. Lucas called me that morning to tell me the vehicle was getting ready to be loaded onto a transport truck and said to expect a minimum of 4 to 5 days for transportation to Kia of Muncie dealership. He called later that SAME night and told me to his huge surprise and amazement that my vehicle arrived at their dealership 9 hours later!
SO MY ADVICE: GET ON THE INTERNET, LOOK UP THE CEO'S NAME AND BANG OUT A LETTER TO HIM TELLING HIM HOW UNHAPPY YOU ARE WITH KIAS CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TREATMENT OF THEIR CUSTOMERS WITH LONG-STANDING ORDERS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FULFILLED!!
It worked for me... True Story. Just call Lucas and he'll confirm it.
