I am at my wits end. Back in 2020, I purchased a 2018 Kia Optima from CarMax and even purchased the MAXCare extended warranty. Obviously, extensive research wasn’t done to see that these cars have always had problems AND there was a class action lawsuit. Since November of 2022, I’ve been fighting with Kia to get my engine replaced. During the time of owning the car, all maintenance was done at mechanic’s and not the dealership. When the car limped home in 11/22, we took to a Kia dealership. They said that there was a recall and that it hadn’t been performed and that I needed to contact Kia Consumer Affairs. I checked the NHTSA website, entered vin, no recall. Kia calls it a “campaign”. They told me that since I had not done the software update, they were denying my claim to install a new engine and that records show that I was last sent a letter in 2019. I DID NOT PURCHASE THE CAR UNTIL 2020! They had the nerve to tell me that when I bought the car, I should have contacted Kia to let them know I was now the owner. Seriously, how many ppl reading this has ever called the manufacturer of the car you just purchased? They also said that all maintenance should have been done at a Kia dealership. The owner’s manual “recommends” that but it is not mandatory. Next was taking it to CarMax. My local location doesn’t do engine repairs, so they had it towed to mechanic shop. The local mechanic called the extended warranty company to get the claim started. An inspector came out and metal shavings were found INSIDE the engine. I must also state that I did get on time maintenance and oil changes. In fact, prior to the car dying, it had just had an oil change the week prior but after, there was no oil detected. MAXCare denied the claim since Kia denied it since the update wasn’t completed. This car only has 84k miles and at this point is an overpriced paper weight that I’m still paying for. I have no idea where to turn and refuse to pay for this when I did not know there was an update needed and I paid extra for the extended warranty. HELP!