...I had to buy it from a Kia dealer.
Don't get me wrong. I love the car and the people there are generally nice, but woefully under-trained in how to sell a $40,000 car.
- At my local dealer, whom I have bought 3 Hondas from before, their entire showroom / customer lounge is 20 feet x 40 feet in size and housed a new Optima. The seating was at 6 small round tables very used, uncomfortable chairs. I wasn't expecting a Starbucks atmosphere, but something a little more inviting will certainly help them going forward.
- After agreeing to a price, they promised to get me in to see the finance guy right away. Two hours later, I picked up my stuff and headed for the door. They promised that it would only be a couple of more minutes...
- After agreeing to a price, they had to reprint the sales contract 5 times as they kept on making mistakes... The MSRP changed each time, as did the taxes. While I would like to think these were honest mistakes, the tax calculation was consistently overstated by $200 - $300 each time. I did have them correct it during the final documentation process.
- While waiting, they had no TVs, no magazines, just the drone of a talk-radio show. I don't need to be pampered, but it was a painful process. Actually, now that I think of it, it was kind of fun, as I got to hear other salesman mislead their customers on a whole assortment of issues.
- I knew substantially more about the car, then my salesman. Sure, he was young and had only been there for 3 months, but I had to correct him on several basic questions (e.g. he swore that the back seats folded down. I almost laughed as I watched him crawl into the trunk trying to figure it out...
- After waiting so long, the final handoff was literally a handoff. He drove the car around front, handed me my keys and books and wished me a fine evening. Sure, I had given them a hard time about having to wait, but he didn't even walk out to the car with me.
- The PDI was problematic... They forgot to take off the yellow, protective wiper blade covers and the sticker over the clock. I went back to the dealer today and asked them about it and was 'told' that they intentionally left the sticker on the clock... Why would they leave that one on, but take off all of the other ones that cover many of the other surfaces...
It's lucky for them that I can look past these challenges. I've owned several luxury cars and know the kind of people that pay $40k+ for cars. If this dealership is any indication of others, then Kia will have a hard time bringing those customers down.
The car, however, is truly fantastic and is a perfect fit for me.
I just can't wait until I get the survey...
- theGhost
Don't get me wrong. I love the car and the people there are generally nice, but woefully under-trained in how to sell a $40,000 car.
- At my local dealer, whom I have bought 3 Hondas from before, their entire showroom / customer lounge is 20 feet x 40 feet in size and housed a new Optima. The seating was at 6 small round tables very used, uncomfortable chairs. I wasn't expecting a Starbucks atmosphere, but something a little more inviting will certainly help them going forward.
- After agreeing to a price, they promised to get me in to see the finance guy right away. Two hours later, I picked up my stuff and headed for the door. They promised that it would only be a couple of more minutes...
- After agreeing to a price, they had to reprint the sales contract 5 times as they kept on making mistakes... The MSRP changed each time, as did the taxes. While I would like to think these were honest mistakes, the tax calculation was consistently overstated by $200 - $300 each time. I did have them correct it during the final documentation process.
- While waiting, they had no TVs, no magazines, just the drone of a talk-radio show. I don't need to be pampered, but it was a painful process. Actually, now that I think of it, it was kind of fun, as I got to hear other salesman mislead their customers on a whole assortment of issues.
- I knew substantially more about the car, then my salesman. Sure, he was young and had only been there for 3 months, but I had to correct him on several basic questions (e.g. he swore that the back seats folded down. I almost laughed as I watched him crawl into the trunk trying to figure it out...
- After waiting so long, the final handoff was literally a handoff. He drove the car around front, handed me my keys and books and wished me a fine evening. Sure, I had given them a hard time about having to wait, but he didn't even walk out to the car with me.
- The PDI was problematic... They forgot to take off the yellow, protective wiper blade covers and the sticker over the clock. I went back to the dealer today and asked them about it and was 'told' that they intentionally left the sticker on the clock... Why would they leave that one on, but take off all of the other ones that cover many of the other surfaces...
It's lucky for them that I can look past these challenges. I've owned several luxury cars and know the kind of people that pay $40k+ for cars. If this dealership is any indication of others, then Kia will have a hard time bringing those customers down.
The car, however, is truly fantastic and is a perfect fit for me.
I just can't wait until I get the survey...
- theGhost
