The 2023 Towing Saga Part 2 - Finally good news!

[Jaesunel]

To follow up on this, I just got back from the Dealer and they have ordered the parts to install the factory hitch. They said 2-3 days, so we'll see. They also replaced the driver's side floor mat to fix a giant lump and ordered an X-pro badge as mine came with and X-Line badge for some reason. ...to be continued

Got mine installed on Friday. Took 2 weeks to get the parts. They had to keep it overnight to install due to the extra work required to remove all the aftermarket garbage they put on the first time...

 

[Grapeking]

Got mine installed on Friday. Took 2 weeks to get the parts. They had to keep it overnight to install due to the extra work required to remove all the aftermarket garbage they put on the first time...

Congrats, glad you were able to get what you wanted (and were promised). Your perseverance paid off!

 

[Ivan44]

Got mine installed on Friday. Took 2 weeks to get the parts. They had to keep it overnight to install due to the extra work required to remove all the aftermarket garbage they put on the first time...View attachment 32182

Any word on if they had to replace rear latch part and why?

 

[xcelir8kia]

TTT, subscribed to this thread!

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[ZeroG]

I can't find anyone online who has the S9TOW-POWER available. A few show it being replaced but the replacement part is just the hitch & bumper cover. When you add in the harness & power latch you get to $1000!!! Any ideas? Is this an in-person dealer discount program thing? Should I print the letter and go to parts department?

 

[corsair]

Has anyone been able to source just the 2023+ bumper plate without the tow hitch? Appears to be p/n S9F61AU760 per earlier post on this thread. I haven't been able to find a source yet.

 

[sm11963]

I can't find anyone online who has the S9TOW-POWER available. A few show it being replaced but the replacement part is just the hitch & bumper cover. When you add in the harness & power latch you get to $1000!!! Any ideas? Is this an in-person dealer discount program thing? Should I print the letter and go to parts department?

I am having the same issues right now! Please let me know if you find a resolution and I will try to do the same.

The dealerships I've been talking to seem to have no idea about the power latch requirements and harness which is really frustrating on top of this.

 

[ZeroG]

I am having the same issues right now! Please let me know if you find a resolution and I will try to do the same.

The dealerships I've been talking to seem to have no idea about the power latch requirements and harness which is really frustrating on top of this.

So I've ordered S9TOW-POWER twice from 2 different websites. Both orders got canceled due to shipping costs. One website said that the kit was replaced by another part # --- and they gave me updated shipping cost and I wound up canceling that order because it was close to $600 but didn't include the power latch. It would seem if the old power latch is a fire hazard, that should be covered via a recall. Since I'm doing it myself, I want to do it all by the book so I don't void any warranty or anything.

I ordered it from 2nd website --- and confirmed it included the 3 important parts. I was shipped everything BUT the power latch. They are at least making it right. Apparently Kia has discontinued the kits and they weren't aware until after they said yes to all of my questions.

So it sounds like you've got to order the power latch individually. Best price I found was eBay for like $270. So it still brings everything close to $1k just in parts. Ouch.

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[daniel1]

I can't seem to find s9towpower, dealers are saying the same thing. Is the kit no longer available and is the latch no longer an issue?

 

[sm11963]

Given that dealers don't seem to know about it (I've talked to 3 now in my area), S9TOW-POWER seems like its not available, and there was no actual recall for the tailgate latch, do we think we actually need to replace the latch?

I'm tempted to just let the dealer do what they were planning on to just install the tow hitch and harness.

 

[Deb in Bailey]

Given that dealers don't seem to know about it (I've talked to 3 now in my area), S9TOW-POWER seems like its not available, and there was no actual recall for the tailgate latch, do we think we actually need to replace the latch?

I'm tempted to just let the dealer do what they were planning on to just install the tow hitch and harness.

There was no recall of the latch.

You can find this earlier in this thread, but here is the letter from Kia to dealers when the hitch/harness first became available for 2023's and early 2024's (before they were are PIO option).

 

[sm11963]

So one of the dealers I’ve been speaking to in the Bay Area ended up having 1 last S9TOW-POWER kit in stock somehow for a semi-reasonable price. I ended up just snagging the kit that day.

However, it’s still not installed since that dealer was asking $1100 just for the labor and the other dealerships service departments either seemed clueless about the latch replacement which did not fill me with confidence.

I even got to the point I figured I might do a DIY install as this post suggests: reddit dot com/r/KiaTelluride/s/8EpzoIalFX

But after reviewing the instructions (and not having a car lift) it seems a bit more of an effort than I’d like to take on, even as handy as I am.

Anyhow, I’ll probably end up having one of the clueless dealers install it and will let you folks know.

This whole process of not getting a tow hitch on custom build, waiting for a tow hitch, finally going for it, then feeling like I missed the window somehow, and then now spending hours to try and get it figured out is really making me love Kia less right now. I am now (unrealistically) wishing I can avoid ever getting my car serviced again.

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[Deb in Bailey]

So one of the dealers I’ve been speaking to in the Bay Area ended up having 1 last S9TOW-POWER kit in stock somehow for a semi-reasonable price. I ended up just snagging the kit that day.

However, it’s still not installed since that dealer was asking $1100 just for the labor and the other dealerships service departments either seemed clueless about the latch replacement which did not fill me with confidence.

That PDF from Kia to dealers states not only the install time (1.84 hours), it also has informatio for the dealer to find the procedure for the latch install.

If you haven't, take them the PDF. It's something they should have and should be able to look up with the date or other information on that memo. It's from corporate headquarters! But if they can't look it up take it to them.

I don't know that they can offer you the 2022 labor cost as the memo states, but I'd definitely find a dealer that is willing to charge a reasonable amount for a 1.84 hour job.

 

[ZeroG]

But after reviewing the instructions (and not having a car lift) it seems a bit more of an effort than I’d like to take on, even as handy as I am.

I just did mine. Took me ~3 hours or so but I'm pretty meticulous and took my time. I did NOT have a lift or even ramps and it was non-issue. I also didn't have muffler pulling tool. Those took a bit of time with different screwdrivers and plastic tools to pry off. Also --- you probably don't need to bend those pins much (if at all). I did borrow a torque wrench and glad I did because a few of the bolts required much tighter than I would have done them without a torque wrench

I'm super happy I didn't pay a dealer to do it. The YouTube video of the guy doing it didn't match everything for my 2024 SX X-Line. But it did help see what all was entailed.

Jump in and do it yourself! It's not a big deal if you're handy like you said.

 

[sm11963]

I just did mine. Took me ~3 hours or so but I'm pretty meticulous and took my time. I did NOT have a lift or even ramps and it was non-issue. I also didn't have muffler pulling tool. Those took a bit of time with different screwdrivers and plastic tools to pry off. Also --- you probably don't need to bend those pins much (if at all). I did borrow a torque wrench and glad I did because a few of the bolts required much tighter than I would have done them without a torque wrench

I'm super happy I didn't pay a dealer to do it. The YouTube video of the guy doing it didn't match everything for my 2024 SX X-Line. But it did help see what all was entailed.

Jump in and do it yourself! It's not a big deal if you're handy like you said.

Thank you for the recommendation I will certainly take a closer look now!! Do you happen to have the instructions for the power latch replacement? That one I haven’t been able to get my hands on yet.

 

[sm11963]

That PDF from Kia to dealers states not only the install time (1.84 hours), it also has informatio for the dealer to find the procedure for the latch install.

If you haven't, take them the PDF. It's something they should have and should be able to look up with the date or other information on that memo. It's from corporate headquarters! But if they can't look it up take it to them.

I don't know that they can offer you the 2022 labor cost as the memo states, but I'd definitely find a dealer that is willing to charge a reasonable amount for a 1.84 hour job.

Thank you for this advice as well! I did share the pdf with one of the dealerships, and they quoted off of that time (still $815 labor) but I really didn’t like that that claimed to have no idea about this before I send them this email and spent 90 minutes on the phone with them. Another dealership said they didn’t care about the letter, they said they’ve done it before and it’s minimum 4 hours work….

But yes absolutely, going forward I plan to always have printed service requests and specific details for the dealership including things like “don’t wash my car please” (because I’ve had and heard about issues with these complimentary washes).

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[Deb in Bailey]

. Another dealership said they didn’t care about the letter, they said they’ve done it before and it’s minimum 4 hours work….

For what it's worth, I had it done and it took just about 2 hours.
Hoping you find a good dealer to work with.

 

[ZeroG]

Thank you for the recommendation I will certainly take a closer look now!! Do you happen to have the instructions for the power latch replacement? That one I haven’t been able to get my hands on yet.

I actually haven't done the power latch yet. There are some notes from a page I saved and the guys said it took 30 minutes. I'll get to that in next day or 2.

 

[Bilt.K5]

Thank you for this advice as well! I did share the pdf with one of the dealerships, and they quoted off of that time (still $815 labor) but I really didn’t like that that claimed to have no idea about this before I send them this email and spent 90 minutes on the phone with them. Another dealership said they didn’t care about the letter, they said they’ve done it before and it’s minimum 4 hours work….

But yes absolutely, going forward I plan to always have printed service requests and specific details for the dealership including things like “don’t wash my car please” (because I’ve had and heard about issues with these complimentary washes).

I had mine done at the dealership here in Indy and cost for install and parts came to $980. It took them about 2 hours to knock out and Im surprised the dealer isn't following the letter from the mothership. I'd call Kia corporate on that one as thats simply highway robbery. But Ive seen some videos and seen some directions, you can certainly do this yourself, including the latch. GL

 

[Bucks11]

I’ve got the Curt aftermarket installed on my ‘23 and am debating I should just add the Kia harness/latch (~$450) or try to order the full Kia kit (~$675 for S9TOW-Power is it even still available?) and replace the Curt hitch. Other than sitting 1” higher are there any other benefits to Kia hitch?