Bad Dealer Dealings - List Your Bad Dealer Experience

[Bananahead]

Kia of Norwood, just south of Boston.

Wouldn't let me go for a test drive until "we had reviewed numbers, agreed to terms, and I had put a deposit down". Walked right out of there... if my 5 year old son wasn't with my I would have had some choice words.

Good lord. This is why places like Carvana exist, and why the good dealers that post here get so much business. A bad dealer experience can sour some folks on an entire brand, and I can't say I blame them.

 

[Lucas & Craig]

Good lord. This is why places like Carvana exist, and why the good dealers that post here get so much business. A bad dealer experience can sour some folks on an entire brand, and I can't say I blame them.

I walked into a Ford store once to drive a Raptor. Young sales guy says "I'll need to fill out a credit app 1st." I point out to the lot and say.... Do you see that white Toyota Sequoia Platinum? It's paid for, I don't fill out credit apps. Man, really irked me. I walked right out.

 

[Bananahead]

I walked into a Ford store once to drive a Raptor. Young sales guy says "I'll need to fill out a credit app 1st." I point out to the lot and say.... Do you see that white Toyota Sequoia Platinum? It's paid for, I don't fill out credit apps. Man, really irked me. I walked right out.

I would have done the same. I had a buddy who was trying to buy a Ford Focus RS when they were the hottest thing. Local Ford dealership wanted credit app and a deposit placed before they'd even really give him the time of day. Needless to say, they had that RS and a couple other RS's for quite sometime lol.

 

[raydog9379]

I walked into a Ford store once to drive a Raptor. Young sales guy says "I'll need to fill out a credit app 1st." I point out to the lot and say.... Do you see that white Toyota Sequoia Platinum? It's paid for, I don't fill out credit apps. Man, really irked me. I walked right out.

Love it! Went car shopping in my Porsche, pulled right up in front of the door in the first spot at each car dealer. No questions or forms asked for Used to do the same with my restored 78 Silver Anniv. 2-tone paint Corvette before I sold it last year. Only real question they beg to ask is will I be trading that in, to which the response is a resounding NO.

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[raydog9379]

Been trying to chase a unicorn (SXP w/ tow and no grey seats within around a few hundred miles of Chicago, while waiting for an order / trying to find something now vs. wait). Compiling an additional set of places to skip after wasting my time talking to them.

Skip the following....

Metro Kia in Madison, WI. - SXP's they want $6,841 in ADM and required garbage fees (pinstripe, environmental pkg, yada yada). They kept saying if I came in and talked with their manager I might be able to get $2k knocked off. Yeah, no thanks I don't want to waste a 4 hour round trip drive.

Liberty Kia in Libertyville, IL - Horrible communication. Beyond horrible. I was messaging with them, their manager basically said since I didn't give him my phone number that they were going to take me off their list. Funny part is I had been texting and talking to the sales guy he sent to talk to me a couple days before. Sales guy told me there is ADM, but wouldn't give me how much as he was heading home for the night and would follow up first thing next morning. 2 days later, crickets.

Hawkinson Kia in Matteson, IL - Salesman was nice enough, but somewhat wasted my time with the need to go back to the GSM game. Told him it was a done deal if he got rid of the required add-ons of $2500 and I'd give him a deposit right there over the phone 10 minutes before close. He said it should be good/easy to do considering I had a possible trade (i.e. prob. try to screw me there) and would call me back a few min. later after getting approval and drafting paperwork. Couldn't get his GSM to agree, says he is getting 5-10 calls a day about their SXPs. Yeah well, continue to get 5-10 calls but no actual buyers. I'll change/update my post if they call me back and cave in a few days.

Will keep adding to the list as I call around.

I did find a really nice guy up at Bergstrom Kia way up in Appleton, WI today. Was working with a newer salesman originally via phone and he went to his manager and asked for help. He apologized that there were some cars showing as in stock on their site which were basically customer orders. He did point out there were about 10 SXP orders ahead if I wanted to order and how the process worked, heck he walked through the KFOS system and how many allocations he has been seeing, etc. Really nice guy. Said I could order if I wanted and see which came in first. They are a no BS dealership in terms of pricing. Straight MSRP and no add-ons. I'm tempted as I see 8 of their 18 cars on the VIN site in the last month or so are SXP.

 

[pbinde]

Been trying to chase a unicorn (SXP w/ tow and no grey seats within around a few hundred miles of Chicago, while waiting for an order / trying to find something now vs. wait). Compiling an additional set of places to skip after wasting my time talking to them.

Skip the following....

Metro Kia in Madison, WI. - SXP's they want $6,841 in ADM and required garbage fees (pinstripe, environmental pkg, yada yada). They kept saying if I came in and talked with their manager I might be able to get $2k knocked off. Yeah, no thanks I don't want to waste a 4 hour round trip drive.

Liberty Kia in Libertyville, IL - Horrible communication. Beyond horrible. I was messaging with them, their manager basically said since I didn't give him my phone number that they were going to take me off their list. Funny part is I had been texting and talking to the sales guy he sent to talk to me a couple days before. Sales guy told me there is ADM, but wouldn't give me how much as he was heading home for the night and would follow up first thing next morning. 2 days later, crickets.

Hawkinson Kia in Matteson, IL - Salesman was nice enough, but somewhat wasted my time with the need to go back to the GSM game. Told him it was a done deal if he got rid of the required add-ons of $2500 and I'd give him a deposit right there over the phone 10 minutes before close. He said it should be good/easy to do considering I had a possible trade (i.e. prob. try to screw me there) and would call me back a few min. later after getting approval and drafting paperwork. Couldn't get his GSM to agree, says he is getting 5-10 calls a day about their SXPs. Yeah well, continue to get 5-10 calls but no actual buyers. I'll change/update my post if they call me back and cave in a few days.

Will keep adding to the list as I call around.

I did find a really nice guy up at Bergstrom Kia way up in Appleton, WI today. Was working with a newer salesman originally via phone and he went to his manager and asked for help. He apologized that there were some cars showing as in stock on their site which were basically customer orders. He did point out there were about 10 SXP orders ahead if I wanted to order and how the process worked, heck he walked through the KFOS system and how many allocations he has been seeing, etc. Really nice guy. Said I could order if I wanted and see which came in first. They are a no BS dealership in terms of pricing. Straight MSRP and no add-ons. I'm tempted as I see 8 of their 18 cars on the VIN site in the last month or so are SXP.

Curious what the "environmental package" was. Best of luck! I've read a lot of people having a great experience ordering from @Jason Fox and making a road trip out of it. I got my tire and wheel from him/muncie.
p.s. have a butter burger for me

 

[Lucas & Craig]

Curious what the "environmental package" was. Best of luck! I've read a lot of people ordering from @Jason Fox and making a road trip out of it. I got my tire and wheel from him/muncie.
p.s. have a butter burger for me

The Environmental Pkg keeps you safe from the Coronavirus. Vehicle goes full stealth mode!

 

[raydog9379]

Curious what the "environmental package" was. Best of luck! I've read a lot of people ordering from @Jason Fox and making a road trip out of it. I got my tire and wheel from him/muncie.
p.s. have a butter burger for me

If I had to do it over, I'd have ordered there w/ Muncie. However, being a couple months in already on my order I don't want to start at the back and I'm sure they've got a ton of SXP orders ahead based on service from this site. At this point I'm either getting something by May or Hyundai/Kia can go to h#ll and I'll never buy anything from them again. Wife has given me till 4/1 to either have an ETA (i.e. an actual ETA from Kia, not our dealer) on our order or find another car. She's already ticked at all the shadiness and is hesitant to spend a dime on a company or it's dealers that treats customers this way out of principle.

Environmental package... its about as exciting as it sounds. He claims it's a 10 year warranty on under body and in between door jamb rubberizing, paint sealant, and scotch guard. Yeah I'll skip having slop thrown on, and I'm sure the 10 year warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. One of my other favorites that was on the addendum sticker is "Additional Service Fee" of $349. I think that's the fee for writing out BS on a sticker and slapping it on the window next to the other one.

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[Lucas & Craig]

If I had to do it over, I'd have ordered there w/ Muncie. However, being a couple months in already on my order I don't want to start at the back and I'm sure they've got a ton of SXP orders ahead based on service from this site. At this point I'm either getting something by May or Hyundai/Kia can go to h#ll and I'll never buy anything from them again. Wife has given me till 4/1 to either have an ETA (i.e. an actual ETA from Kia, not our dealer) on our order or find another car. She's already ticked at all the shadiness and is hesitant to spend a dime on a company or it's dealers that treats customers this way out of principle.

Environmental package... its about as exciting as it sounds. He claims it's a 10 year warranty on under body and in between door jamb rubberizing, paint sealant, and scotch guard. Yeah I'll skip having slop thrown on, and I'm sure the 10 year warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. One of my other favorites that was on the addendum sticker is "Additional Service Fee" of $349. I think that's the fee for writing out BS on a sticker and slapping it on the window next to the other one.

If wife gives you the boot maybe we can help you secure something from one of our other stores. The link is in the bottom of my signiture.

 

[raydog9379]

If wife gives you the boot maybe we can help you secure something from one of our other stores. The link is in the bottom of my signiture.

Definitely. Still holding out hope I get the SXP for now.

 

[jrdoming]

Fred Anderson Kia in Raleigh NC. Spoke with them about attempting to factory order a SXP and they said there would be an addendum even on an order. My wife explained that this seemed abnormal and the sales manager said "check the online forums, all dealers are putting addendums on orders. My wife tried to tell her that we knew for a fact this wasn't the case due to our knowledge of Muncie and some of the other great (but not local :/) dealers on here but they weren't having it. I recommend placing your orders elsewhere...

 

[Lucas & Craig]

Fred Anderson Kia in Raleigh NC. Spoke with them about attempting to factory order a SXP and they said there would be an addendum even on an order. My wife explained that this seemed abnormal and the sales manager said "check the online forums, all dealers are putting addendums on orders. My wife tried to tell her that we knew for a fact this wasn't the case due to our knowledge of Muncie and some of the other great (but not local :/) dealers on here but they weren't having it. I recommend placing your orders elsewhere...

Thanks for the #FakeNews

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[jw_tx21]

Definitely. Still holding out hope I get the SXP for now.

There's are two black copper dune 2/4 builds heading to Napleton's Elgin per lookup site... I know they aren't yours, but maybe someone will back out of the order when it's delivered. I'd hound them to let you be the first person they call.

 

[raydog9379]

There's are two black copper dune 2/4 builds heading to Napleton's Elgin per lookup site... I know they aren't yours, but maybe someone will back out of the order when it's delivered. I'd hound them to let you be the first person they call.

Yeah I know... already started doing that. They said they were both orders and accounted for the other day. I'm hopeful someone grabbed one somewhere else and maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[timsaid]

I'm located in San Diego and have contacted all local dealers as well as all the big dealers in LA/OC/Inland Empire and all are still holding to their market adjustments/addendum's (Anywhere from 2k - 10k depending on the dealer) which isn't new information for those that have been following along with the saga that is trying to acquire these cars. However I did want to give a special shout out to Kearney Mesa Kia/Ford (in San Diego) for my recent experience working with them.

Long story short is I inquired online about their availability and was contacted a day later by a rep (Don) who said he would gather some information and get back to me shortly and texted me his contact after the initial contact. After several days of not hearing from him I texted him for follow up and stated that I would like to order and wanted to see if they would honor MSRP on a custom order. He of course balked and said that they couldn't, so I politely declined his proposal to order with the market adjustment. He texted me back several days later and said he would honor MSRP (via text) on an order, so I gave him my requirements and he said he would have his GSM place an order on my behalf (first week of January).

I proceeded to chase him for the entire month of January inquiring about order confirmation proof (using screenshots from this forum showing what I was referencing) and asking questions about their KFOS allocations. He repeatedly assured me that he placed an order with my name on it, but wouldn't answer my questions asking for confirmation (which after being a long time reader of this forum let me know that he was blowing smoke and lying about placing an order). After repeatedly not answering my direct questions I decided to reach out directly to the GSM and he answered my questions about KFOS allotments immediately and confirmed that he hadn't placed an order and that all orders required a $2500 market adjustment. Thanks but no thanks.

I normally wouldn't have even bothered to post this story as unfortunately my story is not remarkable (unfortunately) given the current state of the market, but I wanted to give them a special shout out for lying repeatedly and having little no remorse in doing so.

In summary avoid Kearney Mesa Kia as they lie about placing orders and don't honor MSRP after agreeing to it via direct text with their Sales people.

 

[pbinde]

I'm located in San Diego and have contacted all local dealers as well as all the big dealers in LA/OC/Inland Empire and all are still holding to their market adjustments/addendum's (Anywhere from 2k - 10k depending on the dealer) which isn't new information for those that have been following along with the saga that is trying to acquire these cars. However I did want to give a special shout out to Kearney Mesa Kia/Ford (in San Diego) for my recent experience working with them.

Long story short is I inquired online about their availability and was contacted a day later by a rep (Don) who said he would gather some information and get back to me shortly and texted me his contact after the initial contact. After several days of not hearing from him I texted him for follow up and stated that I would like to order and wanted to see if they would honor MSRP on a custom order. He of course balked and said that they couldn't, so I politely declined his proposal to order with the market adjustment. He texted me back several days later and said he would honor MSRP (via text) on an order, so I gave him my requirements and he said he would have his GSM place an order on my behalf (first week of January).

I proceeded to chase him for the entire month of January inquiring about order confirmation proof (using screenshots from this forum showing what I was referencing) and asking questions about their KFOS allocations. He repeatedly assured me that he placed an order with my name on it, but wouldn't answer my questions asking for confirmation (which after being a long time reader of this forum let me know that he was blowing smoke and lying about placing an order). After repeatedly not answering my direct questions I decided to reach out directly to the GSM and he answered my questions about KFOS allotments immediately and confirmed that he hadn't placed an order and that all orders required a $2500 market adjustment. Thanks but no thanks.

I normally wouldn't have even bothered to post this story as unfortunately my story is not remarkable (unfortunately) given the current state of the market, but I wanted to give them a special shout out for lying repeatedly and having little no remorse in doing so.

In summary avoid Kearney Mesa Kia as they lie about placing orders and don't honor MSRP after agreeing to it via direct text with their Sales people.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. it is people like that, that give car salesman a bad wrap. I hope you are able to find what you are looking for!

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[StephenCantrelle]

I'm located in San Diego and have contacted all local dealers as well as all the big dealers in LA/OC/Inland Empire and all are still holding to their market adjustments/addendum's (Anywhere from 2k - 10k depending on the dealer) which isn't new information for those that have been following along with the saga that is trying to acquire these cars. However I did want to give a special shout out to Kearney Mesa Kia/Ford (in San Diego) for my recent experience working with them.

Long story short is I inquired online about their availability and was contacted a day later by a rep (Don) who said he would gather some information and get back to me shortly and texted me his contact after the initial contact. After several days of not hearing from him I texted him for follow up and stated that I would like to order and wanted to see if they would honor MSRP on a custom order. He of course balked and said that they couldn't, so I politely declined his proposal to order with the market adjustment. He texted me back several days later and said he would honor MSRP (via text) on an order, so I gave him my requirements and he said he would have his GSM place an order on my behalf (first week of January).

I proceeded to chase him for the entire month of January inquiring about order confirmation proof (using screenshots from this forum showing what I was referencing) and asking questions about their KFOS allocations. He repeatedly assured me that he placed an order with my name on it, but wouldn't answer my questions asking for confirmation (which after being a long time reader of this forum let me know that he was blowing smoke and lying about placing an order). After repeatedly not answering my direct questions I decided to reach out directly to the GSM and he answered my questions about KFOS allotments immediately and confirmed that he hadn't placed an order and that all orders required a $2500 market adjustment. Thanks but no thanks.

I normally wouldn't have even bothered to post this story as unfortunately my story is not remarkable (unfortunately) given the current state of the market, but I wanted to give them a special shout out for lying repeatedly and having little no remorse in doing so.

In summary avoid Kearney Mesa Kia as they lie about placing orders and don't honor MSRP after agreeing to it via direct text with their Sales people.

Sorry about your experience.. no telling how many people not on the forum has a “order” with them and unknowingly will never get the Telluride

 

[pbinde]

So just out of curiosity, I looked on the site of Jack Daniels Kia (the one charging 10-15K over msrp) and according to their site inventory they have 14 Tellurides in stock including ex and sx and sx-p. With the price saying "conditional final price". No compare that with my dealer that is charging msrp and treating their customers like people not numbers and they have 1 in stock (an ex). The local Hyundai dealer that was also charging a premium (~5k over) for the palisade always has at least 10 on the lot when I drive by.

If only they were charging msrp they wouldn't have any left on the lot!!

 

[jw_tx21]

So just out of curiosity, I looked on the site of Jack Daniels Kia (the one charging 10-15K over msrp) and according to their site inventory they have 14 Tellurides in stock including ex and sx and sx-p. With the price saying "conditional final price". No compare that with my dealer that is charging msrp and treating their customers like people not numbers and they have 1 in stock (an ex). The local Hyundai dealer that was also charging a premium (~5k over) for the palisade always has at least 10 on the lot when I drive by.

If only they were charging msrp they wouldn't have any left on the lot!!

Yes, that is an issue. But, since the number of allocated Tellurides to a dealer is a function of other Kia model sales, high volume dealers can discount Sorentos and Sportages and end up getting more Tellurides... which they use to "sell from". They know they will sell at MSRP, so they mark them up and hope that someone comes along with a good trade so they can effectively steal the equity and figure out a reasonable payment on a 7 year note. If and when they really want to move them, they'll agree to MSRP, but for now if they start at +10k and end up at +5k after negotiation, it's a win for them.

 

[LVP]

I walked into a Ford store once to drive a Raptor. Young sales guy says "I'll need to fill out a credit app 1st." I point out to the lot and say.... Do you see that white Toyota Sequoia Platinum? It's paid for, I don't fill out credit apps. Man, really irked me. I walked right out.

When I was shopping for a car about a year ago, I walked into a Ford dealership and told them I was comparing vehicles around the Sorento size. In the salesman's effort to sell me one of his cars he told me that KIA was for people with slow credit. Fast forward 48 hours, the 2019 loaded Sorento SX was sitting in my garage paid in full. There was a scene in "Pretty Woman" where one of the boutique shop assistants treated her like crap because of her appearance so when she was done shopping to her heart's desire at competitors boutiques she went back with her bounty and declared that they had made a Big. Mistake. I'm pretty sure that's not just a Ford thing but it was indeed a $44K mistake