Bad Bizarre experience in Edmonton, AB at Kia West (long-ish rant, TL;DR included))

[cncBilly]

Did you do a cash deal or go the financing route?

Cash deal. But in hindsight maybe I should have plunked the loot into a Tangerine account and let them zero finance for as long as they would. But really I just wanted the Stinger and didn't want the headache of payments.

 

[mldavis2]

I've posted this several time in various threads, but perhaps it bears repeating, @cncBilly. I always pay cash for my cars. But the nice $7,000+ factory rebate was only available for leasing or financing through Kia Finance. So I financed with the balloon payment option to get the rebate, then paid it off immediately to avoid paying any interest.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Cash deal. But in hindsight maybe I should have plunked the loot into a Tangerine account and let them zero finance for as long as they would. But really I just wanted the Stinger and didn't want the headache of payments.

I learned a lot buying the Stinger. I'd never leased anything in my life. The intent going in was to pay cash. But the dealer only offered an additional $500 on their already $2,995 dealer discount if we paid cash. I was floored by that: I thought that offering cash up front would be the best dickering tactic anyone could have. Mistaken on that one. They pushed the lease. And Kia's financing rebate of under a thousand hardly compared to their lease rebate of just under six thousand. It was not even a question out of the three options. Three months later I had learned enough on this forum to go through the hassle of lease buyout. That alone saved us over five thousand in lease rent. (which, of course, we would have avoided entirely by paying cash; which, if to do over again, I'd likely end up doing; because the dealer added back in a bunch of "dealer costs and fees" - not laid out in detail - which mostly took back the lease rebate anyway; so a bunch of hassle for almost nothing to show for it)

 

[Clearly Canadian]

This post could have done without the humblebraging.

 

[KiaofMuncie]

TL;DR:

• Salesperson knew nothing about the car, actually tried to convince me it was lacking specific features I was interested in.
• "Test drive" was basically out the parking lot and 4 right turns.
• Finance person was defensive and denied other manufacturer's lease incentives, calls his buddy who works for said manufacturer in front of me presumably to prove me wrong - instead gets a lesson on the phone while I'm sitting there waiting.
• Possibly I was profiled because of my fashion preference?

So today I went in to check out the stinger and go for a test drive after lurking these forums for a little bit. I have narrowed the choice of my next car purchase to the Stinger GT ltd, Audi S5 sportback and Lexus IS350 Fsprt (low down on the list). The positives from my dealership experience were the staff were all nice and personable. They were also very patient and took time to answer all my questions, and were quite forthcoming with their answers. I never felt "pressured" at any point.

OK on to the meat of it. My wife contacted the dealership earlier in the day to schedule the test drive the Stinger GT ltd for me. The salesperson (who my wife spoke with on the phone) met us there, but really lacked any knowledge regarding the car. I mentioned to him that I saw a model from this dealership listed on AutoTrader that had carbon fibre trim on the center console - we spent 5 minutes walking around outside peaking through the windows of each Stinger on the lot to see if one of them had this trim (which I later found out is only on the GT, not the GT ltd). I told him I wanted to see the trunk auto-open and mirror auto-folding features on the GT ltd - he told me he was unaware of any of these functions and they were only available in US models; with further independent research I later found this to be a lie. Then for the test drive, he stated that we could only drive the local roads around the few blocks surrounding the dealership - he then mentioned that when I'm close to finalizing the deal I can take it for a full test drive on the highway (???). I can appreciate the fact that a certain number of test drivers do not have serious intentions of buying a car, but if you're going to blanket statement not allow real test drives then you are accepting the fact that you will piss off a few serious buyers and lose their business. Not to mention during the test drive the guy was unaware of how to switch between modes and insisted that the shift stick had a "M" mode to enable the paddle shifters *facepalm* that was just fckn weird... like we're both looking at the same shifter!! Oh yeah, and the guy also asked me at 3 or 4 separate time whether I wanted gonna trade in a car - I get asking twice if you forgot, but what the fck is the point of asking a question if you're not going to register my reply?

OK so then I go talk to the finance guy because I had questions about the lease. My first question was regarding the lease interest rate, and if there was an option to put down extra security deposits up front in order to get a lower interest rate. The guy looks at me like I'm on crack and becomes very defensive saying something along the lines of "I have no idea what you are talking about and it sounds dumb. I've been working in car finance for x years and this does not exist." So I tell him this is something that Toyota/Lexus national finance offers, and for the IS350 Fsprt you can put down enough deposits to get 0% interest on leases. He says this sounds fake and one of his friends works at Toyota so he then calls this guy in front of me. I basically have to listen to this guy have a conversation with his friend who explains to him exactly what I said, but repeated like 3 times. After that ordeal, he says he learned something new, and no Kia does not have this incentive. The rest of the conversation was fine and he was much more earnest, he answered my remaining questions and gave me some good considerations to help make my decision - this may have been due to the fact that I let slip one of my family members has been in the car business a long time, who he happened to be acquainted with.

I do wonder if my appearance was part of the reason for the treatment I got. I don't know how a young doctor is supposed to dress, but I strolled in with a t shirt, weird cargo pants and sneakers. Also I look younger than my age (29). They never asked me for my occupation, but did ask what car I currently drive (Lexus RX350), which I agree is much more tactful toward the customer. I also give them a bit of benefit of the doubt because I often come across a bit direct and I ask very specific questions, which can make some people uncomfortable (though those are not my intentions).

I left the dealership feeling like I got most of I was looking for because I got all the information I wanted, got to see a Stinger up close for the first time, and got my hands behind the wheel. However, IN MY OPINION these guys I interacted with have significant room for improvement in terms of job competency. I am pretty set on the Stinger - honestly I might still come back here to go through with the purchase. On the one hand I don't want to reward/reinforce behaviour that I disagree with, I did take a while of their time and perhaps my expectations are out of line. I'll sleep on it.

Anyways rant over, I can't wait to actually pick one up soon!

So Sorry. Wish we could sell you one!

 

[SKStinger]

Drive out to Sherwood Park Kia. Ask for Scott. He won't mess around like that.

 

[cncBilly]

I learned a lot buying the Stinger. I'd never leased anything in my life. The intent going in was to pay cash. But the dealer only offered an additional $500 on their already $2,995 dealer discount if we paid cash. I was floored by that: I thought that offering cash up front would be the best dickering tactic anyone could have. Mistaken on that one. They pushed the lease. And Kia's financing rebate of under a thousand hardly compared to their lease rebate of just under six thousand. It was not even a question out of the three options. Three months later I had learned enough on this forum to go through the hassle of lease buyout. That alone saved us over five thousand in lease rent. (which, of course, we would have avoided entirely by paying cash; which, if to do over again, I'd likely end up doing; because the dealer added back in a bunch of "dealer costs and fees" - not laid out in detail - which mostly took back the lease rebate anyway; so a bunch of hassle for almost nothing to show for it)

Interesting!!!

 

[mldavis2]

Things change in the car business. It makes no sense for a dealer or manufacturer to deny a cash customer the big factory rebate that they offer to leases and/or financing -- unless the dealer gets a cut of the monthly payments, and of course Kia earns a nice return on their money. I know in my case the finance interest rate through Kia Finance was somewhere north of 9% even with excellent credit ratings. One dealer either did not know about the rebate (not likely) or failed to advise me because I did request a cash bid on the car. By shopping around, another dealer was honest, gave me a fair trade-in allowance, $1,500 off MSRP, advised me of the balloon payment option (saving me over $7,000) and ordered the car straight off the transport with no dealer-add-on crap to jack up the price. The amount was written on a signed contract at the time of the order and that's exactly what I paid after denying all the add-on "protection" insurance for bugs on the windshield or free car washes for life. I had the clear title in hand in less than 3 weeks.

Having said that, most people do not buy cars that way, and especially with Kia's previous sales model of "sell the monthly payment" with small, relatively inexpensive cars, many sales managers are rather clueless when working with more up-scale buyers. Also, the balloon payment finance option may not be available in all states. But that's the job of the finance manager -- to know ALL the options and advise the customer, which should never be a "captive" audience to one dealership. That's the only way to keep them honest. Shop around and make sure you are comparing the exact same car with the exact same options.

In the past, there were many small town dealers whose reputation was built on honest and fair dealing with local residents. Today the small dealer is vanishing and being bought out and replaced by the big mega-dealer, multiple roof conglomerates. These dealerships are often high pressure businesses with little knowledge of their products and a lot of pressure on their salespersons to "move iron." Sales persons turn over monthly and it's rare to find a knowledgeable sales person in new car sales because the best sales money is in used car sales.

Do your research online, know your MSRP, know the Dealer Invoice amount, know your trade-in amount and walk if they won't deal. Caveat emptor.