My Review Of Autotown KIA:
"If you say your bi-weekly budget is $150 they will push it to $200 or more. I understand that businesses need to make money, but bottom line, they are not here to help us, and they are sneaky and unprofessional. If you go in, spend limited time and sign right away, this is the place for you. If you take your time and research you will not be taken care of, they will try to bully you into buying vehicles at a high price and they will get mad when questioned.
At first glance, it is great service and great prices but they are in terrible service, terrible prices and terrible values. Terrible. "
My husband and I recently visited Kia on Waverly while window shopping for a larger vehicle. While walking the lot we were approached by the sales associate and the customer service was excellent. We were not certain about the vehicle that we were interested in, but we knew that we wanted something larger and “reasonably” priced. From the beginning I stated that I was interested in a van. Our sales man was very helpful with going through his paper of vehicles that they have and helped us narrow the choices down. We walked the lot together and sat in various vehicles.
I was always asked what I wanted to pay monthly, instead of asking my monthly budget. I told them the price I was comfortable spending on a car (and what that comes down to bi-weekly after research). I also had a trade – in vehicle and wanted to see what they would give me for it, so I can make my decision on my comfortable price range. He kept saying that they would appraise it later, which showed me that they would not give me the price that my vehicle is worth; rather they would wait to see what vehicle I choose to give them a higher profit.
After siting in 4 different vehicles we finally were able to test drive a car. The sales person came along, and never allowed my husband and I a minute to discuss alone. He spent more time writing up paper work than meeting our needs. The car we test drove was nice but it was also $10,000 over budget and I was not sold. Although I repeatedly asked to see the lower priced the appointment kept getting of course to a more expensive vehicle. We were told that the van smelled like cigarettes and is not in the best condition. We asked to see it so they pulled it around front. It was in good condition.
We spent 4 hours at the dealership, when I was trying to leave hours before but we were told that “this will only take 10 minutes” continuously. We had our 7 month old daughter with us and we felt exhausted. 4 hours of walking, talking and only test driving 1 vehicle. Our sales person stayed past his shift to assist us with a “number” that we would feel comfortable paying bi-weekly. At this point I asked to get my car appraised, and they came back with $2,000 less than other dealerships have offered me. He said “this is an excellent price”.
The number that I gave which I was comfortable with all of a sudden got extended to $60 more bi-weekly. I asked them about their math because there was $8,000 in additional costs that made no sense. When I told him that the math does not add up, and my bi-weekly payments should be less $60 he told me that there are fees that are added. I asked how much the fees were and he said “around $500”. I told him that it makes no sense.
He and his manager seemed very helpful to try to meet my “bottom line” and kept scratching out their previous number on the paper and saying “is this your car?” I found this to be pushy and not understanding of our needs. We shook their hands and asked to have a night to think about it. The manager then said that usually a $500 deposit needs to be made to hold a vehicle, and I said that I would take my chance. The manager was understanding and let us walk out the door without feeling pressured.
Once I got home I did the math again and found that there was an additional $80 after tax and the “$500” fees added to the bi-weekly payments. For the price that they quoted, I could get a brand new SUV.
We returned the next day after looking on their website and seeing vehicles that were better priced. He was respectful and had us test drive the Van and a SUV. While driving the van, I noticed that the brakes were very soft, he said that is how the Dodge breaks were made. While testing another vehicle we complained about a sound, yet he didn't hear anything and 2 minutes later the entire car died on us (thankfully we were close to the dealership). We had to ask if we could test drive another vehicle which now seemed to be an inconvenience to him. It seemed as though he wanted us to sit in a car in the lot and from that sign the papers. He gave us the keys to the vehicle we both agreed on, however he was not with us as he was helping other customers. We wanted to test drive the vehicle but since he was not with us we couldn't. We drove it around the lot.
When he wasn’t busy, we went inside and he had papers ready to go and wanted us to sign on the dotted line. The bi-weekly payments again did not match to what I inputted into the computer with taxes, the $500 fee, warranty costs and the trade. We were pressured to sign and I did not feel comfortable. He made it seem like we wasted his time however he wasted ours. I immediately got the impression that he was annoyed with me, he went to his manager and came back to me saying “this is the final price, nothing we can do”. I told him again that the price is ridiculous and we walked out.
If you say your bi-weekly budget is $150 they will push it to $200 or more. I understand that businesses need to make money, but bottom line, they are not here to help us, and they are sneaky and unprofessional. If you go in, spend limited time and sign right away, this is the place for you. If you take your time and research you will not be taken care of, they will try to bully you into buying vehicles at a high price and they will get mad when questioned.
At first glance, it is great service and great prices but they are in terrible service, terrible prices and terrible values. Terrible.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes | No
Thank you