Kia lost my order !!

[Franklin Bing]

Thanks but no thanks. No 18" wheels on this car.

I respect you wanting exactly what you want. especially at this price point. I'm sure you know this, but the U.S. spec 18" GT wheels are the same exact style as the 19" GT wheels. just one inch smaller. it's not like the other 18" stinger alloys, and it's not like the 18" GT wheels found on the Aussie spec Stinger.

that being said, I def prefer the 19"s........ they just fill the wheel well better imo

 

[mldavis2]

I respect you wanting exactly what you want. especially at this price point. I'm sure you know this, but the U.S. spec 18" GT wheels are the same exact style as the 19" GT wheels. just one inch smaller. it's not like the other 18" stinger alloys, and it's not like the 18" GT wheels found on the Aussie spec Stinger.

that being said, I def prefer the 19"s........ they just fill the wheel well better imo

Yes, when you pay $50,000 for a car you should be able to style it as you like. I don't like the style of the 18" wheels themselves, and the 19" tires are staggered which is how the car was suspension-tuned. Sorry, no 18" wheels and tires. I'll switch colors but not wheels.

 

[xot1]

Not sure what you mean by "this." If you're responding to my frustration, then I'll cease and desist. If to Kia, then I must agree. At this point I have no options until Kia calls back.

I am talking about their salesman, of course.

 

[mldavis2]

I am talking about their salesman, of course.

No, I don't blame the salesman because all he had was the same information I had. It is the screwy Kia system of holes in their specs. He has been in contact with me and the Kia rep trying to figure out what to do, and has apologized profusely. Not his fault.

 

[robz32]

Hopefully Kia will make it right for you. Let us know.

 

[ibmaxx]

I read somewhere that Kia doesn't actually accept custom orders and that dealers just take deposits to find the cars customers are looking for.

can confirm. there's no such thing as a special order with KIA (in U.S. at least) there's no system in place to do so. you can make a "sold order request" through a dealer but this only ensures priority once the car shows up in the "pool" of available cars. it's been this way for years, I don't expect a change anytime soon. what a dealer can do is guesstimate the amount of time it will take a certain build to show up, but no they can't special order...

What the heck? I get the impression they aren't trying. Here in NZ about 1000th the size of your market I did just that - placed a special order and it arrived 2 weeks ago. Long wait but that was due to late release here. Cannot see why it can be done in NZ but not USA.

 

[gilthanis1]

I will not accept the little all-weather tires. I don't like the wheels and I sure don't want the tires. I have cancelled the order for the GT1 and awaiting a call from Kia tomorrow to tell me what my options are. And they better be damn good ones. At this point I'm thinking that Kia has placed some unwritten restrictions on what they are building that are not known or common knowledge to either their reps or dealers. And the restrictions sure as heck are not on their Build web pages. I spent two days reading the fine print before deciding exactly what I wanted. It matched every spec and description on the web page, in the literature and on the dealer order spec sheet. Now after wasting 5 weeks waiting, and by sheer dumb luck that I just happened to ask for the VIN and check it, I've wasted 5 weeks and I have no car on order because there was some dumb change that no one knew about so they either didn't know it was a sold car, or they couldn't fill the order from the pipeline so they just canned it.

I'm looking into a Genesis in my spare time. Kia sure is not doing much to further their brand reputation with me.

Amen to that, Kia has really borked it up with these cars. You can't expect to 'compete with the best' when you lie to customers, let your dealerships screw over customers, no custom orders (seriously, WTF), and then have the audacity to ask for $50k???

If the statement about the Genesis G70 in limited quantities for September 2018 is true, the hell with this whole company. I'll look elsewhere for no games.

 

[mldavis2]

Every car I've ever owned has been a custom factory order. I don't buy stuff off the lots. I order what I want and avoid paying for what I don't want. I also get a new car with 3-5 miles on the odometer that hasn't been hammered by every test driver showing up at the dealership. I've never heard of a car company that couldn't build a car to specs. Unbelievable.

At this point, I don't "need" a new car, I just liked the Stinger. If I can get my "non-refundable" $1,000 back, I'll just keep the faithful G8 for another year or two and let someone else deal with the mess. They apparently don't have a car on earth that fits my order, so what will they do?

I'm going to bed. I'll feel better in the morning, I hope. Too mad to type right now.....

I respect you wanting exactly what you want. especially at this price point. I'm sure you know this, but the U.S. spec 18" GT wheels are the same exact style as the 19" GT wheels. just one inch smaller. it's not like the other 18" stinger alloys, and it's not like the 18" GT wheels found on the Aussie spec Stinger.

that being said, I def prefer the 19"s........ they just fill the wheel well better imo

That's not the point. The point is that the staggered 19" tires were the tires on which the chassis/suspension was tuned, not the little 18" tires. I don't want or need 18" all-weather tires.

 

[Franklin Bing]

there's a lot (A LOT) of things that Kia as a manufacturer could do better. But they have come a loooonnnnnng way. Number 1 in J.D. Power IQS last year and Number 5 in J.D. Power VDS this year. Very significant. But all OEMs have growing pains... 15 years ago everyone would laugh their face off at the thought of a $50k Kia. I feel like there should be some expectations of compromise when you choose to be an early adopter. Early adopters always take a bullet for the masses. And this car isn't even fully distributed around the state's yet... just my opinion. but again, to reiterate, I would feel exactly the same as you if I were in your shoes...

 

[mldavis2]

My objection is not only because they simply cancelled my order without notifying the dealer or the customer, but because they have some irrational hidden "rules" about options that are not spelled out to dealers or customers which apparently invalidates an order:

RWD LSD available in GT and GT2 but not GT1 (why skip the GT1?)
You can't get a GT1 with both DriveWise and AWD (why not when it's listed on all literature as options?)
If you order a GT1 with DriveWise you can't get 19" tires (not found in any literature)
Kia will NOT custom order any cars - you take what's in the pipeline for forget it.
If you order a car that is not or cannot be built because it violates one of their unwritten rules, they simply cancel the order and don't notify the customer or dealer, OR they have no way of knowing that the order is a "sold" unit. Either way, they simply drop it.​

I think Kia is going to learn some hard lessons here. Early emotional buyers are snapping up all the GT2's with 19" tires. Over the past month of surfing dealer inventories for cars that fit my desires, it is apparent that the 19" tires are disappearing and the 18" tires are beginning to pile up. Knowledgeable gearheads don't want the little wheels and inventories are beginning to show that. Maybe Kia used the 19" tires as a loss leader and then glutted the market with the cheapie 18" tires. I think this is going to create a big, unwanted backlog on dealer lots except for people who don't know any better or don't care.

Angry? What do you think?

 

[AV8R]

I have waited a month since ordering my Stinger. No cars like I wanted anywhere apparently so I had the dealer put in a build order which was promised by the Kia rep to be in sometime early March. During a discussion, another dealer had access to the computer and offered to run my VIN and check on its progress. The VIN they gave me checked to a different car - right dealer but different trim and color and options. The dealer claims all his records are correct (and I tend to believe him) so apparently somewhere Kia dropped the order through the cracks and my car was never built and does not exist. So after one month of waiting, I'm starting all over again with a new build order.

I will not name the dealer until I determine it was his fault and not Kia's fault. Needless to say, I am NOT happy.

Kia dealers are notorious for stuffing up, I had the same issue here and my order got stuffed up. Stand your ground and ask for lots of extras to compensate.

 

[robz32]

In my opinion, KIA shoud let you get a GT2 (which is the trim that apparently has what you want) with the color combo and features you want, for a deeply discounted rate.

 

[mldavis2]

If they intend to cater to an upscale performance market, they have one hell of a lot to learn.

 

[mldavis2]

OK, I promised an update on my "lost" order. Can't remember what I posted, but this will catch up.

The dealer said (and I think I trust him) that he had received a VIN that he thought was my GT1 car. Obviously he never checked the VIN against the order because he didn't have the invoice, although there are ways you can check if you know how to "read" the VIN. So for some unknown reason, I decided to check the VIN against my order, courtesy of another dealer in another part of the country who offered to help track the car. The VIN however, checked to a black GT2. So I called the dealer back and asked him about it. In checking he couldn't find any trace of my GT1 order and said he thought the VIN he had given me was my car and not (as it turned out) a stock unit.

So I started surfing the dealer inventory on their web page and found nothing except GT2's, GT's, Premiums. So I got back to the dealer and told him I would move up to the GT2 if he cut me some more slack on the price because there were things I did not want on the GT2 but agreed to take them if it didn't cost me the $3,900 extra between the GT2 and the GT1 as I ordered. We made a deal on that, so today he will either find a dealer trade on a virgin (under 10 miles) car, OR the Kia rep promised March delivery on a GT2 in my color. Depends now on whether he can find a virgin car and a willing dealer trade. I will pick the car up to verify the mileage and he knows that. Otherwise, I'm in a hopefully short queue for a red GT2 from Kia inventory. More later today when they call me back. I still have no idea what happened but I'd sure like to know.

My complaint is that IF such a combination of options did not exist and was not currently "build-able" why in the hell didn't Kia either red flag that order in their computer or the Kia rep call back and say they didn't have one and couldn't build one? If the dealer had known, I'm sure he would have advised me and tried to upgrade me to a GT2. What did the dealer have to gain by stringing me along? I blame him only for not checking the VIN if he had the ability to do so. I blame Kia for losing control of an order. They have no idea how close they came to losing a sale. If the car wasn't so very good, I would have walked.

EDIT: Dealer called as promised before 11:00AM. No dealer was willing to trade for an AWD GT2, so back to port. I have the Monroney label and delivery date of March 5. So I'm paying $4,000 more for the GT2 than the GT1 I originally ordered, and I'm risking that Kia will extend the $7,000 cash rebate into March, which is very risky. I'm at risk for only $11,000 more than I thought I was a week ago. With my luck ..... they will drop the car off the transport and I get to start over again.

 

[robz32]

Glad to hear that a solution has been found in your favor @mldavis2. I was going to let you know that the dealer I purchased mine from currently has a GT2 AWD with your spec on the floor. Let me know if I can be of help.

 

[AV8R]

Fingers crossed!

 

[KiaofMuncie]

I have (2) Hichroma Red GT2 AWD in stock. $-1,000 off MSRP. We ship anywhere in the United States. Let me know if we can help.

 

[mldavis2]

Mine is enroute due March 5 and I have the Monroney page with the VIN and the dealer sheet that shows delivery date.

However, that is essentially the same deal I got at Superior Kia in Fayetteville, AR. Thanks for the offer. Hopefully others will take advantage. I don't get back to Indiana often, but I did my undergraduate work at Earlham College in Richmond.

 

[KiaofMuncie]

Nice! We are not far from Richmond. Ball State is our local college.

 

[rdromance]

I have (2) Hichroma Red GT2 AWD in stock. $-1,000 off MSRP. We ship anywhere in the United States. Let me know if we can help.

Do you have a GT2 AWD Ceramic Silver?