Bad Dealer Dealings - List Your Bad Dealer Experience

[Schlegel]

Though you guys would enjoy this one - for a Telly EX, not sure if fully loaded because the sticker was already funny enough I didn't bother looking:

View attachment 27616

Edit: forgot location - Kia of Carson last week, and it was already sold while still being a display unit in the dealership.

W T F F F - gives me a headache.

 

[ddeub]

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.

"I understand supply and demand but this just rubbed me the wrong way. Oh well, I’ll buy from someone else."

I completely agree! And add my WONDERFUL story.....

I waited a year for 2022 Wolf Gray, at Dolan Dealer in Reno claimed no markup so was fine to wait. Last month they shared actual VIN and car was due end of the month. Yahoo, right? Later I find the VIN 5XYP5DHC6NG322116 at Alaska Dealer's lot with 10k markup. I called the Reno dealer and ask about it. They said sooo sorry and that KIA relocated their entire incoming October batch.

I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS BAD DEALER OR BAD KIA?

Anyhow, what a "turn off". They share they could put me on a list for the new SX PRO, 6-12 months wait. And have this happen all over again?!

Instead I ended up buying a Toyota Highlander XLE at almost 4k UNDER MSRP (everyone want hybrid version so these models aren't moving). It includes 2 years free maintenance (oil changes) that I extended to 5 for $700.00. This is last year of 3.5-liter V6, which I prefer over their move to Turbo. Been driving the Highlander for a week now, it's plenty nice and appreciate the savings and no hassle experience.

Maybe I trade it for PRO-X if they ever get one for me at no markup, but doubt it.

 

[movnviol]

My dealer called me last week asking if I wanted to trade in my 2022 EX. I laughed at the guy and told him that I would buy a horse before I would EVER buy a car from them again. Told them to delete my number.

 

[ernysan]

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[Tellmeride]

"I understand supply and demand but this just rubbed me the wrong way. Oh well, I’ll buy from someone else."

I completely agree! And add my WONDERFUL story.....

I waited a year for 2022 Wolf Gray, at Dolan Dealer in Reno claimed no markup so was fine to wait. Last month they shared actual VIN and car was due end of the month. Yahoo, right? Later I find the VIN 5XYP5DHC6NG322116 at Alaska Dealer's lot with 10k markup. I called the Reno dealer and ask about it. They said sooo sorry and that KIA relocated their entire incoming October batch.

I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS BAD DEALER OR BAD KIA?

Anyhow, what a "turn off". They share they could put me on a list for the new SX PRO, 6-12 months wait. And have this happen all over again?!

Instead I ended up buying a Toyota Highlander XLE at almost 4k UNDER MSRP (everyone want hybrid version so these models aren't moving). It includes 2 years free maintenance (oil changes) that I extended to 5 for $700.00. This is last year of 3.5-liter V6, which I prefer over their move to Turbo. Been driving the Highlander for a week now, it's plenty nice and appreciate the savings and no hassle experience.

Maybe I trade it for PRO-X if they ever get one for me at no markup, but doubt it.

What?! Toyotas are now selling at $4k under? Is this a broad range auto market re-adjustment or just NO ONE wants the Highlander?

 

[ddeub]

What?! Toyotas are now selling at $4k under? Is this a broad range auto market re-adjustment or just NO ONE wants the Highlander?

Dolan Toyota in Reno had 16 '22 Highlanders in lot and it was the end of month. So hard to say where else this deal offered.

 

[ddeub]

Dolan Kia finally has what was to be my Telluride (Wolf Grey fully loaded), but with taxes and required extras would be 58k. And they only offered 40k for my Highlander with 500 miles. I'll stick with Highlander (paid 49k including taxes and all) as it would cost me too much switch now.

 

[movnviol]

Good decision. The Wolf would be overpriced by 8-10k$. I had a 2018 Chevy ZR2 Colorado. Paid (all in) $43K. Car was 3.5 years old with 19,000 miles. I sold it to Auto Lenders (online sale) for $40k !! I don't like the term "required extras". It's more like "dealer shakedowns".

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[Ricco]

This is my 3rd time trying (and failing) to buy a Telluride. I tried in 2019, and again in 2020, and decided to go with another brand at that time. Now 2 years have passed, looking for another suv.

I contacted about a dozen dealers online, clearly, with specific model desired, preferred colors, and simply asked what I need to do to order and what the price would be. I mentioned that I have driven it before and can not come in to discuss yet. I did not get a single proper response. All of the dealers started asking me to "come in", and "what trade", "what is your down payment, credit etc", and other inane questions. All of them took between 6 to 10 emails to get any answers at all, or to realize that I would never get a straight answer.

Here's a summary:

Palmen Kia, Kenosha, WI +$2500

Liberty Kia, Libertyville, IL +$5000

WAG Elgin Kia, Elgin, IL +$5000, one year to order

Russ Darrow Kia, Wauwatosa, WI refused to give any price, said that orders would be priced "at market" at time of delivery. So you place an order, wait a year, and then get hit with an unknown adjustment at dealer discretion. Also claimed it's NOT POSSIBLE to price a car that's "not created yet"

Rosen Kia, Milwaukee, WI no price given, said that Kia "has not been taking orders for 2 years", but they can try to find me one. Then never did

Ewald Kia, Oconomowoc, WI obscene dealer markup of +$8,893

Highland Kia, Highland, IN took many emails back and forth, never got honest answers, to discover that all the cars they had in their website are actually sold already.
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Hours and hours spent on this, even by email. Imagine the waste of time to try to go in person to talk to these scumbags. The few dealers i have visited in the past had outdated facilities and disinterested staff. As much as I like the Telluride, it's still a Kia, they are used to a "monthly payment" clientele, and you will be stuck dealing with this treatment for many years if you buy one.



I've decided to choose another brand and forget about Kia and their indignant dealerships forever. A cool looking car is not worth being treated like that

 

[Impala]

Both dealers in Madison, WI are worthless and horrible to deal with. Russ Darrow Kia and Metro Kia. Both want 5-8k in market adjustment and other worthless addons. Didn't want to order one as it would effect their units allotted, which makes no sense. Also horrible at returning phone calls. I know Kia doesn't care as they say they are independently owned but it makes them look bad. That is why GM is cracking down on it.

 

[G-951497]

I try to tell myself these bad dealers will get their payback when the economy changes, but in that case, they will just adjust the pricing to msrp or even lower if needed. What will remain constant is that they are dishonest and deceptive, so there is no scenario where it is a good idea to buy from them. Just forget about Kia. There are some suv redesigns coming out other brands and this dealers will at least treat you with some respect and dignity

 

[dcreno]

Castle Kia of McHenry, IL

So they are advertising a $1000 off MSRP. but get this - they add a market adjustment after that!!! ha ha so they just lowered market adjustment.

Matt Wollman was the person I dealt with - wouldn't answer the question on what the out of door price is. Just wanted me to fly in and then hash out a deal. So this is their "Internet Sales manager" - effectively a tool who only wants to do business in person? so why even have an internet sales division.

Went with Arapahoe at MSRP. Lets see.

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[jhande]

"Tried" working with North Austin Kia. He asked when I wanted to test drive it and I told him I am buying online from ND, no test drive needed. Oh, he says that will be $10-12,000 over MSRP because of your location. I told him what I thought of their dealership trying to take advantage of people and hung up. I did also post a good dealership story in the other thread about where I did end up buying ours.

 

[Sniknejbor]

"Tried" working with North Austin Kia. He asked when I wanted to test drive it and I told him I am buying online from ND, no test drive needed. Oh, he says that will be $10-12,000 over MSRP because of your location. I told him what I thought of their dealership trying to take advantage of people and hung up. I did also post a good dealership story in the other thread about where I did end up buying ours.

When I went by North Austin Kia in December, they had between $5000-12000 (markup) packages, but each package contained the same things. They didn't even try to hide the fact the markup was higher based on trim level. Ridiculous.

 

[Sniknejbor]

Went by Parkside Kia in West Knoxville yesterday and when I asked about the price for a SX-P X Pro, the salesman had to go check for the markup amount from his manager. He knew I'm well aware of the markup game and how it's no longer viable in this market, but his manager sent him back with a price that included an $11k markup, putting the final price at $73121! That's more than I paid for a new Audi SQ5 a few years ago.

He explained, as I'm sure he's trained to do, that with covid, supply chain issues, chip crisis, and used car prices, Kia (and all car dealers) had to adjust pricing up to compensate for low inventory and ensure the new prices were still above the used Telluride prices. Utter and complete BS, especially since I saw these banners on the wall, confirming what I've been reading about manufacturers and dealerships enjoying record profits the past couple years. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for capitalism, but I'm not going to needlessly pay thousands over the value of the vehicle just because other people are willing to do it.

I am still looking for a Telluride or Palisade or maybe even Pilot, but don't plan on paying over MSRP. I also test drove the 2023 Pilot yesterday and it's nice, with underfloor storage in the cargo area and wireless carplay/android auto but not much else nicer than the Tellurides that I could tell.

 

[mbecks11]

Went by Parkside Kia in West Knoxville yesterday and when I asked about the price for a SX-P X Pro, the salesman had to go check for the markup amount from his manager. He knew I'm well aware of the markup game and how it's no longer viable in this market, but his manager sent him back with a price that included an $11k markup, putting the final price at $73121! That's more than I paid for a new Audi SQ5 a few years ago.

He explained, as I'm sure he's trained to do, that with covid, supply chain issues, chip crisis, and used car prices, Kia (and all car dealers) had to adjust pricing up to compensate for low inventory and ensure the new prices were still above the used Telluride prices. Utter and complete BS, especially since I saw these banners on the wall, confirming what I've been reading about manufacturers and dealerships enjoying record profits the past couple years. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for capitalism, but I'm not going to needlessly pay thousands over the value of the vehicle just because other people are willing to do it.

I am still looking for a Telluride or Palisade or maybe even Pilot, but don't plan on paying over MSRP. I also test drove the 2023 Pilot yesterday and it's nice, with underfloor storage in the cargo area and wireless carplay/android auto but not much else nicer than the Tellurides that I could tell.

View attachment 29238

Make the drive from Knox to Cincy. Plenty of dealers with inventory and selling at MSRP. Well worth the 3-4 hours. Let me know if you are interested. I can pass along a couple of dealer names.

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[rnick1976]

Just cancelled my order from June '22 with Lev Kia in Framingham, MA (who I only heard good things about prior to this year). I went with them because they were local and the only MSRP game in town (although now, my understanding is they are MSRP+$2k). Here's my experience:

• After two weeks of emailing them and leaving voicemails for basic information about their purchase process with no response (including CCing the sales manager several times) - literally just a couple basic questions about their lead times and deposit policy - I finally had time to drive to them and talk in person. I introduced myself and the first thing the sales person said to me was "Oh yeah, we've been meaning to get back to you." OK.
• When I signed on with them, I was given the lead time of 10-12 months. Totally fine. I texted my salesperson once every 3 months (October and January) just to ask if things were still on track and where I was in line for allocation - never once received a response (he and I texted a bit the first few days after the making the order, so it was not as if he wasn't receiving them). Finally in December I emailed the sales manager, who responded but didn't answer the question about where I was in allocation, and just reiterated "orders come in 10-12 months from the date I placed the order."
• A few weeks ago, another user of this board noted that his custom order from Lev arrived... and wasn't what he had ordered (incorrect interior, no Prestige, etc), and that Lev basically said "Kia's not doing custom orders right now, so here's your car". While what arrived was fine for this user, I would not have been OK with that. I emailed Lev once again asking them to confirm my order specifics (SX/X-Line/Prestige), and to also confirm my order was still refundable. No response for over a week.
• Emailed AGAIN to the sales manager; HE doesn't respond, but the salesperson writes back and just says "Your order was converted to a 23 from a 22, SX model. Thanks." I immediately responded asking him to confirm the EXACT trim I ordered would be what comes in, and whether my order was allocated yet. No response.
• A few days later, I messaged the sales manager/salesperson asking to cancel. They called me within a couple hours to confirm the credit card I put the deposit on, and refunded it immediately. It was the smoothest part of the entire transaction.

I know plenty of people have good transactions with Lev, but they made it very clear to me that they didn't need my business.

 

[HairyMilkshakes]

We're back at Kia of Carson! Let's see what they're up to today...



Ah same old same old

 

[dcreno]

We're back at Kia of Carson! Let's see what they're up to today...

View attachment 29637 View attachment 29638

Ah same old same old

Funny bcos I live in reno and Carson city NV capital is 20 mi away. I assumed it was our Kia in Carson city and called and was given a price (MSRP-1000). So after talking and setup a time realizing they are near LA I said ok send me the papers I will wire the money and once it clears I will come pick up the car. Then, I am told they won’t take wire. And they don’t send the papers. They need a wet signature. And I have to come
Into the dealership to buy the car. I knew the games were about to begin and said wasn’t interested.

 

[HairyMilkshakes]

Funny bcos I live in reno and Carson city NV capital is 20 mi away. I assumed it was our Kia in Carson city and called and was given a price (MSRP-1000). So after talking and setup a time realizing they are near LA I said ok send me the papers I will wire the money and once it clears I will come pick up the car. Then, I am told they won’t take wire. And they don’t send the papers. They need a wet signature. And I have to come
Into the dealership to buy the car. I knew the games were about to begin and said wasn’t interested.

The LA market is notorous for markups and 90% of the people I speak with had no idea you can buy and drive in from out of state.