[theGhost]

...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

 

[gene]

Sorry to hear about your kia dealer experience. I also have a Cadenza, Got it in Aug this year. It's the smokey blue, and still haven't been able to get a paint chip touch up pen from Kia.
Ordered two new switch surrounds for the rear seat doors. Quess what they sent me the ones which fit the Korean model. Only one switch hole ( for the window switch) no hole for the seat heaters.
Mine being one of the first cadenza's didn't have air in the passenger seat, I ask about changing the seat ( at my expense) Quess what they will not do it.
ask about turning off the agree for the radio when not using the navigation, sorry can't do it.
The car has the little black box which keeps track of everything for a small time period. I ask if it keeps a tape of what the lane departure camera see's. Quess what no one can tell me. This would be nice if someone runs a red light, we would now have proof.
The first ad s showed Led running lights, A rear center console with storage and controls on it. quess what we didn't get dispite the advertisements.
Kia had the chance to have a real seller a step above everything else in it's class, instead they left half the stuff off of it that they can get in the Korean model. a lot of the goodies on that model were left off so they could sell it here cheaper.
Kia isn't ready to sell luxury cars here, they don't know about the service we expect from a luxury car dealer, thier service after sales sucks.
I wish them luck with the K900 as they lost a sale here. how many things will be left off that, but show up in the advertising? Maybe some where down the road they will be ready for a luxury car and understanding of the American car buyer in this class of car.
All that being said I to like the cadenza but can't use the other L word (love) because they don't understand how to treat a luxury or near luxury car buyer

 

[theGhost]

The worst thing about my new Cadenza is... BUT WAIT, it gets worse...

More updates on my 3 Stooges experience...

I opened and closed the trunk for the first time yesterday and found yet another Pre-Delivery Sticker that they did not remove... This time, it was on the back of the antenna. It really makes me wonder if they did any of the official PDI work...

I also, still, don't have a registration for my car, now 6 days later... When I purchased it last Sunday, they said that they would have it registered on Monday. On Monday when I showed up, they said it would be Thursday, as the Registry was closed on Christmas eve and Christmas. I called the Registry and they were open on 12/24... My guess is that they knew that, but were planning on closing their showroom early that day.

Ok, so Thursday is the day - or NOT! At 11:30, they called looking for insurance paperwork. Let's see: They could have asked for it on Sunday when I bought the car, Nope; or on Monday when I dropped off the extra key for my trade-in, Nope; or on Wednesday when I confirmed the date via email, nope... I didn't get their message until 1:30 - too late for Thursday's run. Now it is Friday and I might get it emailed to me by 6:00 tonight.

It's like they've never sold a car before...

If you're looking at luxury / near-luxury cars and don't mind being treated like you are buying a 10-year-old Kia Rio, then please feel free to look at the Cadenza. Otherwise, I would recommend that you look elsewhere.

 

[kzookid]

I think I am missing something here

So you are telling us that you purchased a $40k vehicle and was treated like crap and still went through with the purchase? I live in Battle Creek Michigan and when I went online and expressed interest in the Kia, I had Kia dealers competing for my business. My local dealer ended up getting the sale but I had dealers withing a 250 mile radius willing to bring me the car. Once it is determined that you can truly make the purchase, I have never not seen a dealer kiss your butt to make the deal.

There is a guy in this forum who shared his website and I am sure he would of given you a better experience. There is a fairly large Kia dealer network across the country and even though I purchased my Kia in Battle Creek, the dealers I didn't purchase from still were happy to tell me that they were happy to provide Kia certified service which is where most dealers make their bucks.

A lot of you guys in this forum probably have much bigger bucks than me but if I am making a purchase and get crappy service, I typically vote with my money and move down the road to someone that wants my hard earned money.

There are a lot of small items that I have found missing on my Cadenza (thanks to a lot of you guys calling them out on the forum) but I like the car and the dealership has not been an issue and if they were, I would have driven 30 miles West to Kalamazoo to the Kia dealer or 35 miles East to Jackson Mi where they would have been happy to have my business.

Hopefully you can find another dealership in close proximity that is happy to treat you the way you deserve.

 

[diggy44]

The worst thing about my Cadenza is....I didnt buy it sooner! Picked it up on Christmas Eve and I have been in love with it ever since. I'd been searching for something because I was getting irritated with my 2012 Dodge Durango always ending up in the shop for one thing or another, and when the water pump went out and I lost heat over a weekend when it was 20-something degrees, that was the last straw. I picked up a Satin Metal Premium with Luxury and Technology packages. I love everything about the car, but really wish they would have included a remote start system. Its the one thing that I've had in my vehicles since 2004; I dont really want to go with a 3rd party system, but I hear some not so good things about the Kia RS system.

 

[Theil24]

The worst thing about my Cadenza is....I didnt buy it sooner! Picked it up on Christmas Eve and I have been in love with it ever since. I'd been searching for something because I was getting irritated with my 2012 Dodge Durango always ending up in the shop for one thing or another, and when the water pump went out and I lost heat over a weekend when it was 20-something degrees, that was the last straw. I picked up a Satin Metal Premium with Luxury and Technology packages. I love everything about the car, but really wish they would have included a remote start system. Its the one thing that I've had in my vehicles since 2004; I dont really want to go with a 3rd party system, but I hear some not so good things about the Kia RS system.

Congrats on your purchase. I picked up my Satin Metal with luxury package on 12/28 and I love it. It's a great color and changes slightly depending on the light. What color interior did you get? I got black. I also just put a fresh coat of McGuires was on it today. The finish is brilliant!

 

[diggy44]

Congrats on your purchase. I picked up my Satin Metal with luxury package on 12/28 and I love it. It's a great color and changes slightly depending on the light. What color interior did you get? I got black. I also just put a fresh coat of McGuires was on it today. The finish is brilliant!

I got the black interior as well