Dealer Markup Carriage Kia of Woodstock - Woodstock, Georgia - Markup

[mandasol]

They (still) have their Stingers online with this advertisement:

$1,015 off MSRP!
Why Buy From Carriage? Transparent and Upfront Pricing

But their listed MSRP is actually over Kia's MSRP and their discounted price actually brings it back down to Kia's MSRP. Anyway I spoke with their internet sales department over email and over the phone and they confirmed the internet pricing was correct and there were no dealer add-ons or mark-up. So I drive up there and the salesman brings the car out and I see an addendum sticker on the window for $1300 in dealer fluff (paint protection, yada, yada), $450 other extras, PLUS a $4000 mark up (and no mention of the $1,015 off the inflated MSRP), so they are actually about $6700 over MSRP. If they want to mark it up, whatever, but don't lie to someone over the phone and make them waste a trip.

Well since I was up there I might as well do a test drive, right? No. They want all the purchase paperwork done before any test drive. Did I mention I contacted them before I arrived and gave them all my information, only to have the salesmen interview (interrogate?) me to get all my information again and then ask how am I planning on purchasing, what are my payment goals... etc. I felt like they were treating me like a deadbeat trying to by a Kia Rio and needed the payments to match my welfare check. I don't need to justify being upset but I drove up in a BMW X5 and can afford to pay cash. I really don't know if I want to buy a Kia and go through their dealership experience again.

 

[Kia Stinger]

They (still) have their Stingers online with this advertisement:

$1,015 off MSRP!
Why Buy From Carriage? Transparent and Upfront Pricing

But their listed MSRP is actually over Kia's MSRP and their discounted price actually brings it back down to Kia's MSRP. Anyway I spoke with their internet sales department over email and over the phone and they confirmed the internet pricing was correct and there were no dealer add-ons or mark-up. So I drive up there and the salesman brings the car out and I see an addendum sticker on the window for $1300 in dealer fluff (paint protection, yada, yada), $450 other extras, PLUS a $4000 mark up (and no mention of the $1,015 off the inflated MSRP), so they are actually about $6700 over MSRP. If they want to mark it up, whatever, but don't lie to someone over the phone and make them waste a trip.

Well since I was up there I might as well do a test drive, right? No. They want all the purchase paperwork done before any test drive. Did I mention I contacted them before I arrived and gave them all my information, only to have the salesmen interview (interrogate?) me to get all my information again and then ask how am I planning on purchasing, what are my payment goals... etc. I felt like they were treating me like a deadbeat trying to by a Kia Rio and needed the payments to match my welfare check. I don't need to justify being upset but I drove up in a BMW X5 and can afford to pay cash. I really don't know if I want to buy a Kia and go through their dealership experience again.

Thank you for posting this up for us. It sounds like they really need to get their act together if they want to sell Stingers...

 

[mandasol]

At the very least they need to have "Transparent and Upfront Pricing"

 

[MichaelH]

Double check with Cobb Kia as i believe you can test drive without paperwork. Call and talk to Jimmy or James.

 

[Larry Denen]

This is happening too much with the Stinger. They're treating it light a Ferrari. You need to make a deal before you can test drive it? Who does that? Who do these people think they are?!

 

[mandasol]

This is happening too much with the Stinger. They're treating it light a Ferrari. You need to make a deal before you can test drive it? Who does that? Who do these people think they are?!

Right. When we bought my wife's $60K 2017 Volvo XC90 my wife was busy (and hates going to dealerships) so the dealer gave me the keys and said take it home show your wife and my house is 45 min away from the dealer. Actually I cross shopped all the luxury SUV's and they were all happy to let me take the car home to show my wife.

 

[eljay]

I've been able to walk into local Infiniti and Lexus dealers with no appointment and no prior contact, and before I even asked for a test drive, they said, "Let's take it out on the road." All they needed to check was my license. What's up with some of these Kia dealers?

 

[Chris]

I was at the Chrysler dealer a couple weeks ago and they were fairly busy. Told them I was interested but wasn't sure in what. He tossed me the keys to a grand Cherokee told me to take it out and that he would be done with his client in 20 minutes. He didn't even ask for my license or come with me.
This whole you have to practically give them a down payment before they even let you drive the car is a joke.

 

[ballistic]

I was at the Chrysler dealer a couple weeks ago and they were fairly busy. Told them I was interested but wasn't sure in what. He tossed me the keys to a grand Cherokee told me to take it out and that he would be done with his client in 20 minutes. He didn't even ask for my license or come with me.
This whole you have to practically give them a down payment before they even let you drive the car is a joke.

it's newbie salesmen that don't know how to treat their customers.

 

[ChrisCarriageKiaWoodstock]

My name is Christopher Basha I am one of the Executive Managers at Carriage Auto Group and I just wanted to reach out and apologize about some of the pricing concerns you had with the Stingers we had listed online as well as the way you feel you were treated when you came in. We had an automatic pricing issue when the vehicles were first stocked in and due to the way vehicle feeds are sent to our website provider and third part listing sites, it can take a day or two to get it all resolved. As you mentioned this should have been relayed to you over the phone but the representative was not aware of the back end pricing issue we were having with the Stinger when she confirmed the appointment with you. Again this is our fault and we own it, but I felt the explanation would help you understand why it happened. I can assure you we are taking your feedback and will attempt to improve how we do things. We know the first buyers of the Stinger would be very demanding as to the vehicle they purchase but it seems like we took things a little too far in the wrong direction and basically made the car not feel accessible to be test-driven which was not the goal. If you are still interested in test-driving the Stinger and if you like it purchasing one, you can work with me directly. Just shoot me and email chris@choosecarriage.com and we can discuss next steps. Thank you

 

[Kia Stinger]

My name is Christopher Basha I am one of the Executive Managers at Carriage Auto Group and I just wanted to reach out and apologize about some of the pricing concerns you had with the Stingers we had listed online as well as the way you feel you were treated when you came in. We had an automatic pricing issue when the vehicles were first stocked in and due to the way vehicle feeds are sent to our website provider and third part listing sites, it can take a day or two to get it all resolved. As you mentioned this should have been relayed to you over the phone but the representative was not aware of the back end pricing issue we were having with the Stinger when she confirmed the appointment with you. Again this is our fault and we own it, but I felt the explanation would help you understand why it happened. I can assure you we are taking your feedback and will attempt to improve how we do things. We know the first buyers of the Stinger would be very demanding as to the vehicle they purchase but it seems like we took things a little too far in the wrong direction and basically made the car not feel accessible to be test-driven which was not the goal. If you are still interested in test-driving the Stinger and if you like it purchasing one, you can work with me directly. Just shoot me and email chris@choosecarriage.com and we can discuss next steps. Thank you

Welcome, Chris. Thank you for the explanation.