Plainfield woman files suit against car maker
03/09/01
BY ROBERT E. MISSECK
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Regina Little said she is fed up with having to repeatedly take her 1999 Kia
Sephia back to the dealer for brake work that did not fix the problem, and
she is suing the California-based company that built the car.
Attorneys for the Plainfield woman said yesterday the class action lawsuit
they filed on her behalf against Kia Motors America Inc. of Irvine could
ultimately involve 166,000 Sephia models that were sold in the United States
between 1997 and last year. Little claims she began having serious brake
problems on her new Sephia three months after purchasing the car for $15,000
in March 1999. The vehicle had 8 miles on its odometer when she drove off
the lot of the dealership in Jersey City. She alleges that despite her
complaints about difficulty in stopping the car and continuous vibrations
and rotor defects, the company has not corrected the conditions. Little said
yesterday said she has brought the car in for brake work six times. The
first two times were free, but she has paid as much as $279 on the other
repairs. "Their final answer to me was that with that year, make and model,
the brake pads had to be changed every three or four months. I thought that
was ridiculous," she said. "I want them to either fix the problem, or refund
my money for the car," said Little, a 39-year-old mother of six who works as
an administrative support clerk at the Veterans Affairs Health Care System
at Lyons. The company issued a statement calling the allegations in the
lawsuit "unfounded."
"We are confident Kia brakes are, and always have been, safe," the statement
said.
Saying its brakes comply with federal standards, the company maintains "we
have carefully monitored brake performance to ensure that our customers are
not, and never have been, at risk by virtue of unsafe brake performance."
However, Kia conceded it had received "customer satisfaction complaints
about the Sephia brake system revolving around noise and vibration." "Kia
has spent large sums of money over several years to improve and upgrade the
brakes to eliminate the problems that have been reported. At no time were
these reported problems safety-related," the statement said. Teppy
Wigington, a Kia spokesman, said yesterday the company would not comment
beyond the corporate statement at this time. Little is represented by three
law firms. Her suit was filed Feb. 16 in Elizabeth by representatives of
Kimmel & Silverman, P.C.; Francis & Mailman, P.C. and Donovon Miller, LLC.
The suit alleges the company has known about brake defects in its 1998, 1999
and 2000 Sephia models and has not corrected the problem. Craig Thor Kimmel,
one of the attorneys representing Little, said the problem is the premature
wear of the front brake rotors, which cause the brakes to grind and the
vehicle to vibrate.
"This ends up requiring the continuous replacement of brake pads and
rotors," he said.
Kimmel said the lawsuit filed in New Jersey "is primarily a breach of
warranty action, and a demand for the refund of purchase (price) and return
of every car involved." He said a similar suit has been filed in
Pennsylvania at the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, on behalf of
another woman who maintains her 2000 Sephia has had its brake rotors and
pads replaced four times within the first 17,000 miles.
The woman, Shamell Samuel-Bassett, also said faulty brakes caused her to hit
another vehicle, according to Kimmel
Robert E. Misseck is a reporter in the Union County news bureau. He can be
reached at rmisseck@starledger.com or (908) 322-0828.
Greg
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