Picanto News: Kia To Reduce Picanto Roadside Assist

If ever there was evidence that the facelift Picanto will get it's warranty extended to 5 years, the latest announcement by Kia to reduce its roadside assist package to 12 mths should go a long way to proving this.

Currently all Kia Picanto derivatives come with 3 yrs KIAssist (roadside and European recovery), but following a thorough review of the programme's usage and demand, Kia have indentified that utilisation of the programme has decreased significantly since its inception.

The service is only being used by 15% of customers in their first year of Picanto ownership, and this is falling further in years two and three. The top five call out requirements are all for user related issues such as lock-outs, running out of fuel and punctures. Incidents of actual vehicle breakdown are now running at a very low level during the three years of KIAssist cover due to Kia's improving product quality.

According to a document sent out to it's dealer network, Kia would rather use the saving of the second and third year cover and redeploy it's resources towards media investments and increasing the length of its standard vehicle warranties.

Warranty extensions have already been funded for the Kia Ceed 7 year bumper to bumper warranty and the recent extension of the Kia Carens from three to five.

All new Kia Picanto and other Kia vehicles, regardless of sales type, registered on or after the 1st September will be affected by this change. This shouldn't affect customers who have already ordered cars for the new September registration as dealers usually register vehicles prior to that date. Anybody not sure about anything should contact their Kia dealership for help.