Bad Dealer Dealings - List Your Bad Dealer Experience

[Deleter]

Dealers in the DMV are not good, I’ve called everyone around here, found one in PA at MSRP, very nice people and honest. Check my post in the good dealers thread. Good luck!

On Sep 23 I ordered with Superior Kia in Cincinnati. $1,000 below MSRP when ordering. I'll fly there & drive it back to VA at some point in the future.

 

[Littlebear1965]

Two NJ/PA area dealers; Burlington Kia and Kia Allentown, both adding 10k on sx nightfall and prestige, but I am seeing a lot more new cars come in so hopefully the gouging will stop. Says a lot about a dealerships customer care or don’t. I did ask the Allen town dealer if they had stockpiled all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer a few months back. ! I’m surprised Kia let them get away with damaging their brand so badly ... have a dealer tomorrow I’m going to who has said they are not marking up MSRP I’ll let you know if that’s true

 

[Frost271]

Southwest Kia off S35 and the one off 183 in Austin,TX are all scumbags. They are price gauging $10K above claiming “market” price.

My family lives in Ft. Worth and when I visited them one weekend, I visited the Moritz Kias there. They are ALL selling at MSRP. They are volume dealers. Thanks to simple research in these forums I didn’t get screwed.

Three hour drive north. I bought same day. Great service. Picking mine up in the morning!!

$45 gas money each way. GG Austin Kia Dealers. Eat a fat you know what!!

 

[AKblackhawk]

For the FL folks: Daytona Kia ignored my emails. Called to get price on a SX AWD with N/T/P in Black Copper in stock. Was told all Nightfalls are $15k over MSRP.

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[frankrp]

For the FL folks: Daytona Kia ignored my emails. Called to get price on a SX AWD with N/T/P in Black Copper in stock. Was told all Nightfalls are $15k over MSRP.

I got DeLand Kia down to $2500 over on the SX, but their doc fee is $900. Best I found here in North/Central Florida.

 

[claybakin247]

On Sep 23 I ordered with Superior Kia in Cincinnati. $1,000 below MSRP when ordering. I'll fly there & drive it back to VA at some point in the future.

Im dealing with Parsons Kia in Winchester VA. Selling at MSRP. I thought I put that on the good dealers thread but maybe not.

 

[Littlebear1965]

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.

Ask a sales guy for a sx prestige and nightfall combo and he said they don’t do them in that combination, challenged that having seen one the day before and he said that’s not what they said in training... they don’t know there product and are currently ripping every one off in 95% of dealerships. This cars no longer the value for money I’m with you enough is enough,, Im going back to looking at Ford explorers with similar specs and costing less money.
The whole experience over the last two months has left a bitter tast for the industry the make and model and the brand (who let their dealers get away with this bs) and I couldn’t bear to hear Another salesman tell me how rare these cars are ,blah blah bsbs I’ve seen 5 in the last week with my very specific spec, all asking 3-5 k over in some cases with mandatory paint insurance and pulse break lights wtf

 

[G-70485]

Southwest Kia off S35 and the one off 183 in Austin,TX are all scumbags. They are price gauging $10K above claiming “market” price.

My family lives in Ft. Worth and when I visited them one weekend, I visited the Moritz Kias there. They are ALL selling at MSRP. They are volume dealers. Thanks to simple research in these forums I didn’t get screwed.

Three hour drive north. I bought same day. Great service. Picking mine up in the morning!!

$45 gas money each way. GG Austin Kia Dealers. Eat a fat you know what!!

Are they requiring any add ons?

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[ClosingTime]

New forum member here. Just purchased (3 days ago) a '21 SX AWD Nightfall edition for my wife. Window sticker had an added $5K "market value adjustment", but sales negotiations eliminated most of that. Main complaint was a $400 military discount that the salesperson and co-worker told me did not apply to this vehicle. All I could find online about it was "on select models" so I figured maybe since demand was so high, they were not offering any discounts. Now I see online they are offering this discount on their other identical Tellurides and I confirmed through Kia that it should have been offered. Not sure why they would lie about this as it seems like the $400 would not actually come out of dealer profit and have not heard back from salesman. Any hope that they can apply this discount after the fact? I have military service documentation readily available. I know it is only $400 we are talking about, but hey every dollar counts! Thanks...have found a lot of useful info already from this forum.

Update on my $400 military discount situation: Finally received this in the mail today!

Perseverance paid off! Now that this matter has been resolved, I must say, what a complete clown show of an operation Jeff Wyler Kia in Fairfield, OH is. Just the absolute worst customer service I have experienced in any vehicle purchase in my life! This should have been an easy resolution:
Me: "Hey, I just purchased this vehicle the other day and I was given some bad info...here is my military service documentation."
Them: "Great, we'll get that rebate check sent out right away. Sorry for the bad info and inconvenience and thank you for your service."

What actually happened: They continually ignored my emails and phone calls, including the salesman, sales manager, and general manager. When I did reach someone by phone, they promised to "look into it" and call me back (they never did). I went to another Kia dealership to pick up written proof that I qualified for the discount, and made the hour long drive back to the dealership to handle things in person. After trying to tell me it was too late now to qualify (despite the memo I had in my hand from Kia corporate that said I still had plenty of time), they then tried to say my DD-214 did not have sufficient info (it was an original form with complete proof of my 21 years of service). After realizing I was not going to go away without the $400, the sales manager finally gave us something in writing saying the check would be coming.

I patiently waited nearly a month, and no check arrived and no communication from anyone at the dealership. I called the sales manager and he acted surprised that it wasn't handled already and he promised to look into it and call me back. Yet again, no return call. I gave it another week, thinking he took care of it and just didn't call me back...Wrong! I call again and get a similar response to one from the week before. Another week goes by and nothing. Then comes multiple days of calls where I can only reach voice mail, and I leave a message each time asking for a status update. No return call on any message left. Then finally the check arrives in the mail today. No call to tell me it was handled, no apology for the 2+ month delay. Seems like it would be a basic of good customer service to communicate with your customer to ensure the matter was satisfactorily resolved, but hey I'll get over it...they at least finally sent the money.

I have had a family member and another friend purchase a Kia in the last month or so, and thanks to my relating my experience to them, they purchased their vehicles elsewhere, so that makes me feel a little better in some way!

Sorry for the long message, just was super frustrated that they would treat a customer like that, especially over a military discount.

In other news, two months in and my wife is loving her Telluride, so happy ending to this story!

 

[bcjenkins]

Thank you for your service!

 

[ucinn]

Update on my $400 military discount situation: Finally received this in the mail today!View attachment 11257

Perseverance paid off! Now that this matter has been resolved, I must say, what a complete clown show of an operation Jeff Wyler Kia in Fairfield, OH is. Just the absolute worst customer service I have experienced in any vehicle purchase in my life! This should have been an easy resolution:
Me: "Hey, I just purchased this vehicle the other day and I was given some bad info...here is my military service documentation."
Them: "Great, we'll get that rebate check sent out right away. Sorry for the bad info and inconvenience and thank you for your service."

What actually happened: They continually ignored my emails and phone calls, including the salesman, sales manager, and general manager. When I did reach someone by phone, they promised to "look into it" and call me back (they never did). I went to another Kia dealership to pick up written proof that I qualified for the discount, and made the hour long drive back to the dealership to handle things in person. After trying to tell me it was too late now to qualify (despite the memo I had in my hand from Kia corporate that said I still had plenty of time), they then tried to say my DD-214 did not have sufficient info (it was an original form with complete proof of my 21 years of service). After realizing I was not going to go away without the $400, the sales manager finally gave us something in writing saying the check would be coming.

I patiently waited nearly a month, and no check arrived and no communication from anyone at the dealership. I called the sales manager and he acted surprised that it wasn't handled already and he promised to look into it and call me back. Yet again, no return call. I gave it another week, thinking he took care of it and just didn't call me back...Wrong! I call again and get a similar response to one from the week before. Another week goes by and nothing. Then comes multiple days of calls where I can only reach voice mail, and I leave a message each time asking for a status update. No return call on any message left. Then finally the check arrives in the mail today. No call to tell me it was handled, no apology for the 2+ month delay. Seems like it would be a basic of good customer service to communicate with your customer to ensure the matter was satisfactorily resolved, but hey I'll get over it...they at least finally sent the money.

I have had a family member and another friend purchase a Kia in the last month or so, and thanks to my relating my experience to them, they purchased their vehicles elsewhere, so that makes me feel a little better in some way!

Sorry for the long message, just was super frustrated that they would treat a customer like that, especially over a military discount.

In other news, two months in and my wife is loving her Telluride, so happy ending to this story!

It's a shame that place has turned to crap.. I used to buy all my vehicles there. I had bought 6 vehicles in 8 years there and had ordered my Telluride through them and told me it would be at MSRP, came in 4 months later and they tried to add 10K to it. So, won't buy from there ever again. Their service is still pretty top notch though. I ended up getting mine from Kia of Muncie for below MSRP including military.

 

[HisNameWillBeRambo]

So while I did end up getting what I wanted at MSRP with i25 Kia in CO I had also placed a $2000(!) refundable deposit with Capitol Kia in San Jose, CA. My experience with the person I was dealing with, who is not the person that posts on this forum, was disappointing at best. We went to the dealership the day after we put the other deposit down and explained the situation. We were rushed through the deposit process and it seemed the man I was speaking to and the finance manager didn’t like that I had done my research and knew what I was talking about so as soon as they had my money they were done with us. My subsequent contacts with the sales person went like this Hi, blah blah, I heard KFOS opened today and I wanted to see if we got put in the system, his response “Have been doing this for a while. As the largest Kia volume sales dealer in Nor/Cal, we get the most units, based on last month production. We already have a long ;ist and I have a dozen Telly here now! Most are Sports & Lx trim! I do have a Sangria & Gravity Grey (Nightfall Edition) If Interested as they will sell today in the next hours! It will be upto couple months weeks or months. Someone may cancel ahead of you...?” Um ok, so I take that as a no. Then he emailed me several times about vehicles that didn’t fit my specs and were going for $6k over msrp which irks the heck out of me because I was very very specific about my parameters. The next month I emailed the same thing asking for an update where we are on the list and I got no response back other than he didn’t know and would have to check, never heard back. Finally I got in to KFOS with i25 and I asked Capitol Kia for my deposit back, didn’t hear a peep for two days, emailed again, nothing, finally after emailing the GM I was able to get my deposit back but I wasn’t left with a good feeling.

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[Littlebear1965]

Gave up yesterday and bought a Ford, Last Friday I was about 10 miles away and had one lined up 1k over msrp only to be told by the salesman they had sold it whilst I was on my way to sort out the paper work. Went back to looking at the Ford and realized they’re doing about 10% of msrp at the moment for the explorer so makes the price point comparable with the telluride with more options. Ended up with a explorer limited awd/4wd moonroof, tow hitch, 20 inch polished alloys, leather seats and paint upgrade for 49k and zero percent .. a little upset because I would have loved a telluride but the dealers have ruined my view of the brand.. off to join a Ford Explorer forum, thanks for the support to this point and I hope you all get a great deal

 

[Schlegel]

Gave up yesterday and bought a Ford, Last Friday I was about 10 miles away and had one lined up 1k over msrp only to be told by the salesman they had sold it whilst I was on my way to sort out the paper work. Went back to looking at the Ford and realized they’re doing about 10% of msrp at the moment for the explorer so makes the price point comparable with the telluride with more options. Ended up with a explorer limited awd/4wd moonroof, tow hitch, 20 inch polished alloys, leather seats and paint upgrade for 49k and zero percent .. a little upset because I would have loved a telluride but the dealers have ruined my view of the brand.. off to join a Ford Explorer forum, thanks for the support to this point and I hope you all get a great deal

Congrats! I like you am a frustrated KIA owner. My local dealer now adds $1,200 per vehicle, on EVERY vehicle with these dealer add ons. Ding protection (for 1 year) and some other garbage. On the Tellurides they adding $3K to $7K STILL. I believe this "frenzy" has empowered some KIA dealers to get marks ups on the whole vehicle line up now. So if people negotiate the $1,200 "add on" (on non Tellurides) people feel like they got a "deal." BUT they still wind up paying MSRP (not Tellurides). KIA sales were VERY STRONG last quarter led by three vehicles (one being the Telluride). So now it's a "popular" brand that you have to pay a premium for. Sorry. That formula doesn't work for me. Been a loyal KIA customer for 7 years. Doesn't mean anything and longer. When this lease is up I will be exploring and researching other brands. MTC.

 

[Devo565]

Did some research on Cars.com this morning and found a 2021 SX AWD with MSRP $46,760. I called the dealer (World Car Kia of New Braunfels, TX) to ask if they'd be willing to sell it at or around sticker. I already have one on order but figured I could avoid the wait if they were willing to make a deal.

He said they aren't marking up their cars but that they do have a dealer installed 'Appearance Package' option that they add to all of their Tellurides. All I could think was... here we go again...

This option apparently includes a paint protection package, leather protection, window tint, and wheel locks. (So basically b**l s**t ). And can you guess the cost?? $6,698. I literally laughed the guy off the phone... what a joke. The total with this would have been $57,570 which is a solid 11k above what the car retails for. At that price I'd rather have a certified pre-owned BMW X5.

Buyer beware! - dealers doing this are complete scam artists. Even if they aren't marking up the base price, they're adding on 'appearance packages' that aren't able to be taken off.

 

[noles1983]

Did some research on Cars.com this morning and found a 2021 SX AWD with MSRP $46,760. I called the dealer (World Car Kia of New Braunfels, TX) to ask if they'd be willing to sell it at or around sticker. I already have one on order but figured I could avoid the wait if they were willing to make a deal.

He said they aren't marking up their cars but that they do have a dealer installed 'Appearance Package' option that they add to all of their Tellurides. All I could think was... here we go again...

This option apparently includes a paint protection package, leather protection, window tint, and wheel locks. (So basically b**l s**t ). And can you guess the cost?? $6,698. I literally laughed the guy off the phone... what a joke. The total with this would have been $57,570 which is a solid 11k above what the car retails for. At that price I'd rather have a certified pre-owned BMW X5.

Buyer beware! - dealers doing this are complete scam artists. Even if they aren't marking up the base price, they're adding on 'appearance packages' that aren't able to be taken off.

South Texas dealerships are the worst.

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[frankrp]

Did some research on Cars.com this morning and found a 2021 SX AWD with MSRP $46,760. I called the dealer (World Car Kia of New Braunfels, TX) to ask if they'd be willing to sell it at or around sticker. I already have one on order but figured I could avoid the wait if they were willing to make a deal.

He said they aren't marking up their cars but that they do have a dealer installed 'Appearance Package' option that they add to all of their Tellurides. All I could think was... here we go again...

This option apparently includes a paint protection package, leather protection, window tint, and wheel locks. (So basically b**l s**t ). And can you guess the cost?? $6,698. I literally laughed the guy off the phone... what a joke. The total with this would have been $57,570 which is a solid 11k above what the car retails for. At that price I'd rather have a certified pre-owned BMW X5.

Buyer beware! - dealers doing this are complete scam artists. Even if they aren't marking up the base price, they're adding on 'appearance packages' that aren't able to be taken off.

My local dealer pulls this crap too, plus they add on a bunch of other overpriced items, like $1500 running boards.

I had to travel 5 hours away to get anything close to a fair deal.

I will never buy anything from any of these local Kia dealers.

 

[John Wade]

Avoid Winn Kia from Fremont, CA.

They were asking for a 4k markup for an EX. When I called them on it, they replied by saying supply and demand.

I asked for a Costco pricing, and he basically said that when Hell freezes over, that's when he would match Costco pricing. He kept saying that to his fellow employees, as if to taunt me.

When I told them that I was willing to wait, his behavior was racist and stereotypical. His justification was that he was open, fair, and tells what he thinks.

I would just avoid this dealer at all costs.

That is why Costco doesn't recommend any dealerships in the Northern California area. I called them when looking for our Telluride and they stated that no KIA dealerships met their sales standards for Costco for this vehicle.

 

[cltsig]

Miami Lakes Kia. Total false advertising. Show $48,200 on website and that suddenly becomes $52,860 as the basis and then add on junk fees and protection packages. They are snakes and I would avoid. I filed a complaint with the FL AG office for false advertising.

 

[WhoUTelln11]

Dealers in the DMV are not good, I’ve called everyone around here, found one in PA at MSRP, very nice people and honest. Check my post in the good dealers thread. Good luck!

My "Bad Dealer Experience" -

Koons Kia of Woodbridge (Woodbridge, VA).......do not even consider them. TRUST ME. My July 2020 interactions were with Christian Punlay (Product Specialist), & Jay Madrigal (Sales Manager). It was bad. Resulted in me sending complaints to Kia Motors corporate, Better Business Bureau, & a Google review. Disgusting dealership.

Ourisman Chantilly Kia (Chantilly, VA) Chris Bell, General Sales Manager, quoted me approx $8,800 over MSRP to order a Telluride. What a jackass. Sick. Twisted. Greed.

Kia dealerships in Northern Virginia & surrounding areas of Maryland & Delaware, have addendums to their window stickers indicating “Market Adjustment” of $5,000+ for Tellurides on their lots. Sick. Twisted. Greed.

MANY dealerships out there have lost their minds. Slow & steady wins the race, right? Price fairly & keep churning out the sales vs a need for immediate gratification & blatant GREED that may have long term negative impact on the dealership. Guess it all depends on what the consumer remembers from the experience.

Thank you for this info. This will save me A LOT of time. I'm in the DMV as well and just beginning my "journey". I still plan to visit a local dealership for a test drive...