Bad Dealer Dealings - List Your Bad Dealer Experience

[Sal Collaziano]

Let's allow our members and readers to SKIP the bad dealers and give their business to those dealers who've treated you RIGHT.

Please take a moment to reply with your bad experience so we can steer other buyers away from that dealership...

GOOD experiences go HERE.

 

[cgallagher]

I’ve been shopping for an SX w/P for about a week now and Jim Ellis Kia of Kennesaw said they may have one inbound. I had to visit the VW dealer next door, so I said what the heck and told them I’d stop by.
One employee followed me around when I arrived, presumably since we had said hello to one time prior as we were window shopping. Then I sat down with Natasha, one of the managers. She had a $48k SX worked up with ~$1500 in market adjustment on the paperwork. I figured I would give her a minute to give the pitch... then as she’s going over the numbers she excuses herself and comes back with the same paper and $5k of market adjustment. I thanked her for time and said I was no longer interested.
I understand supply and demand but this just rubbed me the wrong way. Oh well, I’ll buy from someone else.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Yes. Kia of Irvine was adding $7k market adjustment. I suppose they are trying to feast while they can. IMHO it really turns people off to the brand. I’m sure many people who are looking at the Telluride are customers who have never set foot in a Kia dealership (I know I haven’t) and it’s almost like going back in time and experiencing the shady practices of days gone by. Corporate needs to completely re-educate the dealer network!!!

 

[stbentoak]

A lot of this can be eliminated by dealing strictly with the Internet sales dept. All negotiations done via email.. State you case of what you want, What is there best offer out the door, everything included and put it in writing. Tell them "Do not reply without these things enclosed...."

Be very clear..... A. You want to buy a vehicle and B. You are not playing back and forth games. Save a lot of stress over uninformed sales people and back office price "Adjustments"....


Once they have you in the showroom, the power curve is on their side, not yours....

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[Tim-in-CA]

I DID ‘deal” with the internet sales dept. in fact I’ve been messaging all the internet departments and several of them just won’t answer my questions or are evasive.

 

[Karam.31]

Just got this email from a dealer in Columbus... I asked for a black or gray SX prestige. He says they are only making 40,000 Tellurides this year? That can't be right....

"Hi this is Bill from Byers, I'll put you on the waiting list for that trim level and color, Kia has a limited production of 40,000 Tellurides this model year."

 

[Karam.31]

He followed that up with the below after I stated they had a 100,000 vehicle capacity.

"It's a hot vehicle, meeting with the District Manager yesterday he reported that the production number is going to be just a little over 40k vehicles. Kia has stopped production of the second row bench and going forward all the Tellurides will be second row captain chairs."

 

[Lisa & Bryan’s Telluride]

Just talked with the dealer on the east side of Phoenix.
1. Sales person and manager not educated on the Telluride
2. Called every other day to keep the internet sales team away from the deal which I get but seems rather schetchy if one person steals a deal from a fellow employee.
3. Charging MSRP plus dealer add ons totaling 2k, told me everyone pays the add ons even employees.
Not a totally bad review but I’m waiting till the newness wares off. Maybe this fall I can order the Snow white SX prestige AWD, tow package, Dune brown Napa leather, hopefully Kia will change their logo by then.

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[dej001]

Horrible experience thus far. Has turned me off from this vehicle purchase. Firstly, the sales guy was uneducated about the features of the Telluride. I had to explain to him what the features were. I knew the features based on the 30 YouTube video reviews I watched. The sales guy didn’t know the vehicle had auto-off, he didn’t know the six comes with the 10 inch screen, he didn’t know details of the prestige package, he didn’t know about the lane change assist, or the camera parking features. I asked about the auto-start temperature control system which he responded he’d have to check into that. Basically I learned all the features and was sold the vehicle by the YouTube video reviewers. I placed an order for a six prestige. The salesman and his manager told me the vehicle would be in in 3 weeks. I challenged that timeframe as I told them I’d think due to popularity, I thought it would take longer. They insisted the vehicle would be in in 3 weeks. I left a $1k deposit and proceeded with the order. While completing the paperwork, the sales guy gets a call from his son. He then did the worse thing ever. He out loud, verbal led refers to his son as the n word, but he used the actual word, after he got off the phone with him. I could not believe it. I was so turned off. So unprofessional. I completed the paperwork, left my deposit, and left the dealership. Its been 3 weeks and no word from the dealership. In the back of my head I knew three weeks was a stretch but I thought these are the professionals and they know their product. Yesterday I contacted the salesman and he told me that there has been no update in their system as to when the vehicle will be delivered. I somewhat had to remind him who I was. He left off with me that he would continue looking for the SX model for me and will call me back when one is available. I don’t need a call back when one is available, I need a call back when the order I placed for the model and features I want is available, being manufactured, being delivered. Thus far, my first Kia purchase is not going well. I am minutes away from canceling my order and realizing maybe Kia, the Telluride, and this NY dealership is not for me. I hate to associate this bad experience, this bad purchase, this bad salesman using the N-word in front of a customer and overpromising a delivery with the Kia brand but i can’t help doing so. This has put a really bad taste in my mouth killing the excitement I had for the Telluride purchase.

 

[stbentoak]

Well when you understand that most dealerships will hire anyone with a pulse and put them out on the floor with little or no education... things come into perspective. On any vehicle purchase I have done, I've done far more research and am more knowledgeable than 90% of the salespeople I have encountered. I don't have ANY expectations from a salesperson when going into a dealership other than getting the deal put together to my satisfaction. Hopefully, they'll surprise me, but that is not usually the case, especially at the KIA level. This is definitely the case of a potentially great vehicle that the dealership network hasn't caught up with yet....

 

[Tellmeride]

Well when you understand that most dealerships will hire anyone with a pulse and put them out on the floor with little or no education... things come into perspective. On any vehicle purchase I have done, I've done far more research and am more knowledgeable than 90% of the salespeople I have encountered. I don't have ANY expectations from a salesperson when going into a dealership other than getting the deal put together to my satisfaction. Hopefully, they'll surprise me, but that is not usually the case, especially at the KIA level. This is definitely the case of a potentially great vehicle that the dealership network hasn't caught up with yet....

Yup, the Telly was going to convert them a shitload of new customers, customers who otherwise would have never ever thought about stepping foot into a KIA dealership. And these idiot managers are just turning them away and showing them the door. KIA must be thrilled.

 

[djmrg]

Just talked with the dealer on the east side of Phoenix.
1. Sales person and manager not educated on the Telluride
2. Called every other day to keep the internet sales team away from the deal which I get but seems rather schetchy if one person steals a deal from a fellow employee.
3. Charging MSRP plus dealer add ons totaling 2k, told me everyone pays the add ons even employees.
Not a totally bad review but I’m waiting till the newness wares off. Maybe this fall I can order the Snow white SX prestige AWD, tow package, Dune brown Napa leather, hopefully Kia will change their logo by then.

Sounds like Mark Kia.....not a fan.

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[Mr White]

I just located a Moss Green SX w/ Prestige at Fette Kia in Clifton, New Jersey. Website shows the Kia MSRP with a strike through that says call for price. I contacted them with interest, and the sales rep told me he would have the sales manager call me back. 5 minutes later the sales rep called me and stated that due to "limited supply, the rare color option, and the fact that KIA has shut down production" there would be a market adjusted price. The new price for the vehicle would be $71,000. I repeated the number 3 times thinking I perhaps heard it wrong, even stating that was easily $23K above MSRP. He stated that was the final offer.

 

[Cnkelle2]

omg. That is hilarious!! $71k? Get the F outta here.

 

[Tellmeride]

Swear to God, these dealers in NJ are out of their f$@& minds. Do not go to Global or Rt 23.

 

[CAsuKiHy]

Ask them if they heard of Lexus?

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[TellurideSX]

I just located a Moss Green SX w/ Prestige at Fette Kia in Clifton, New Jersey. Website shows the Kia MSRP with a strike through that says call for price. I contacted them with interest, and the sales rep told me he would have the sales manager call me back. 5 minutes later the sales rep called me and stated that due to "limited supply, the rare color option, and the fact that KIA has shut down production" there would be a market adjusted price. The new price for the vehicle would be $71,000. I repeated the number 3 times thinking I perhaps heard it wrong, even stating that was easily $23K above MSRP. He stated that was the final offer.

This has to be a joke. I’m gonna call them myself just for the laffs.

 

[ucinn]

This has to be a joke. I’m gonna call them myself just for the laffs.

I was thinking the same, ust to laugh at them.

 

[Mr White]

I was thinking the same, ust to laugh at them.

Please call them. The sales person I talked to was named Adam. I am not in NJ, so I told them I was out of state, and would like to negotiate over the phone. The sales manager never talked to me directly, he made Adam call back with that outrageous price. He stated they had 12 people ready to come look at it. I told them if we found a price I would send a down payment to reserve it until I got there the next day. I suspect they don't want to sell that one, and are using it as a way to get people on the lot to look at other Telluride models.

 

[WhiteSX]

My dealer has one AWD SX w/out prestige. Told me today they're using it to "sell from".