Bad Buchanan Kia Wesminster MD, False Advertising or a dumb mistake?

[antne]

Well it's been over a year and my interest in a Stinger got revived when I checked my local dealer's website , screenshot follows. Boy howdy was I all fired up over that advertised for a '19 GT1 RWD.

( I was writing a rant but decided to cut to the chase)

I get trade in offer of $9500 for my '13 Optima SX to which I'll add another 8 grand to the down payment. Tell the finance guy I'm like to see a ~ $400/60 month if that was possible. He says no way Jose, at 60 months it would be $510/60 months unless I went to 72 months. We go round and round and he starts showing me screens and dealer incentives ($ 2000 loyalty, 0% APR, even throws in military) . I scan his screen and see he's calculating of the window sticker of $46,420. I quote him him the dealer website price for the car and his eyes get huge.Can't be he says till he pulls up the web page. Pulls out binder and shows me the car's invoice. Says he has no idea who was responsible for posting that price on the web site. Can't sell me the car at that price.

I wasn't going to pursue this issue, I knew he wouldn't budge. We shook hands, agreed to disagree and I left, probably will never return. So what say you all?

 

[eflyguy]

Bait and switch. Oldest trick in the book.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Shame them with the local news channel. I’ll bet you get a call offering the price they listed.

 

[1macuzer]

it really is a shame that some people in the industry just don't know how to be honest. I've known several people in the business spanning well over 20 years. I know the games. I've tried to be as up front with dealers as possible and still had them try to pull BS like this. Your best revenge is to make others aware and spend your hard earned dollars at a competitor. Hit them in the purse. Businesses that work to move volume tend to stick around for much longer than those that try to get the most profit on each unit. Sadly, sales management at that place must be clueless. I had a dealer in NOVA try and tell me my trade had engine trouble, then suggested getting it appraised at CarMax. I told him if I leave, I'm not coming back. I took my car into an appraisal place and was offered over 6k more than this dealer wanted to offer. I hope you end up in a Stinger soon. I'm in the same boat as you. Looking for a great deal and unwilling to settle for less.

 

[Obxguy2000]

About 90% of the Kia Dealerships do this. That sale price is a combination of all possible discounts that could be applied to that car. What you find out is that you will only qualify for 1 or 2 rebates and it’s rare that 2 or more rebates can be combined. I am not sure if the dealership is doing this on purpose or if Kias dealer websites automatically do it. Also, for any deal, they will start with the paperwork with the window sticker price and then apply discounts or rebates. You should not pay that much for it and should get some rebates in the 3000-4000 range.

 

[1macuzer]

I agree with what @Obxguy2000 said. A lot of them do this. I would love to know how it's legal for them to advertise a price that can't EVER be met when the manufacturer won't let you stack the rebates.

 

[Rob M]

Neither false advertising nor a mistake on the dealership's part. Confusing, yes, as most car dealership ads are. The fine print states that their internet pricing includes all possible incentives whether purchase or lease. The ad alludes to $2750 incentive and 3.25% financing, but it isn't clear how they got to the price of $39,018. It could have been lease cash, which would have meant that the dealership wasn't discounting the vehicle by much if at all. It is kind of sad that the salesperson wouldn't show how the internet price was determined, or at least go ask the internet sales rep. Based on that treatment alone, you probably don't want to go back to that place.

However, I also don't think yourself any favors by attempting to negotiate based on targeted monthly payments.

Another thing to be careful about with this dealer and some others, in order to start out with attractive looking prices, they are later adding a very likely non-negotiable $895 "freight" fee to every new car they sell, and they even disclose this in their "detailed" online pricing. This is in addition to the legitimate $995 inland freight that is charged by Kia and is identified on all US Monroney labels as part of total MSRP. This plus their $297 dealer processing fee amounts to $1292 added to any sale price prior to TTL and any other add-ons.

 

[antne]

Neither false advertising nor a mistake on the dealership's part. Confusing, yes, as most car dealership ads are. The fine print states that their internet pricing includes all possible incentives whether purchase or lease. The ad alludes to $2750 incentive and 3.25% financing, but it isn't clear how they got to the price of $39,018. It could have been lease cash, which would have meant that the dealership wasn't discounting the vehicle by much if at all. It is kind of sad that the salesperson wouldn't show how the internet price was determined, or at least go ask the internet sales rep. Based on that treatment alone, you probably don't want to go back to that place.

However, I also don't think yourself any favors by attempting to negotiate based on targeted monthly payments.

Another thing to be careful about with this dealer and some others, in order to start out with attractive looking prices, they are later adding a very likely non-negotiable $895 "freight" fee to every new car they sell, and they even disclose this in their "detailed" online pricing. This is in addition to the legitimate $995 inland freight that is charged by Kia and is identified on all US Monroney labels as part of total MSRP. This plus their $297 dealer processing fee amounts to $1292 added to any sale price prior to TTL and any other add-ons.

Really NOT false advertising? Maybe you should have been sitting next to me at the dealer in question last Saturday. FWIW the red higlighted appears at the bottom of every car they list on line not just the car in question. Why would the finance guy tell me that's NOT the selling price of the car and BTW , a week later, that online ad has not changed. Give them a call and say "Hey, I'd like that GT1 you're selling for $39,018". Ask for Greg specifically and see how he responds
And, you might be Daddy Warbucks, the rest of us mere mortals DO have a monthly budget and make financial decisions based on it, especially if you're retired and have a fixed income.

 

[eflyguy]

When reading these stories, I often think it would be fun to get two friends to go with me next time I'm ready to talk numbers on a vehicle, and introduce one as my accountant, and the other as my lawyer.

 

[Rob M]

Really NOT false advertising? Maybe you should have been sitting next to me at the dealer in question last Saturday. FWIW the red higlighted appears at the bottom of every car they list on line not just the car in question. Why would the finance guy tell me that's NOT the selling price of the car and BTW , a week later, that online ad has not changed. Give them a call and say "Hey, I'd like that GT1 you're selling for $39,018". Ask for Greg specifically and see how he responds
And, you might be Daddy Warbucks, the rest of us mere mortals DO have a monthly budget and make financial decisions based on it, especially if you're retired and have a fixed income.

So if i went there and offered to pay them full MSRP on a lease as long as they gave me the current $7,900 gt1 rwd 24mo lease incentive, they would reject my offer? That is what you are essentially saying because the advertised discount ($7,402) is less than that rebate. Salesperson might be a complete idiot, or just plain dishonest, but based on the example i just gave, the internet advertised price isn't fraudulent because you could lease it for well less than the advertised price. The details in their pricing specify that the offer could be a purchase or a lease and any combination of incentives and that it is an internet only price. I'll say this again.... You probably didnt help yourself out in the process by trying to negotiate a payment. It has nothing to do with being on a monthly budget. You need to negotiate the selling price, apply incentives, understand dealer processing fees or other add ons, TTL, etc., and go in knowing what financing will cost.

 

[antne]

FWIW, I got an apology text from dealer sales, "we made a mistake with our rebates". New advertised price is $42,225.