Bad Kia of Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

scharn

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So I may be in the market for a Stinger, decided I'd go to the dealership near where i work in downtown LA, since there is none close to where i live. Whoa, talk about a low class experience. That place is something else. Look I've had BMWs, mercedes, audi, acura, vw etc etc etc; this was the worst i've ever seen.

First the place is a joke, must've been 30 sales guys standing around with nothing to do. So when you're a guy with nothing to do, you talk to the other dudes with nothing to do... and the conversations lets say politely aren't stuff you'd say around family. I'm a guy, I say a lot of crazy stuff, so whatever, I can see my way past that I think. I pull up to the group because they are in the parking spots for the guests; the look I received attempting to park while none of them moved...

Next I get a vulture who jumps in front of my car before I even have a chance to park. This guy sounded like he has trouble spelling his own name, no joke. I say I'm looking at stingers; and he immediately goes into a script they must teach about the car; only he isn't a car guy so it sounds completely unnatural. I'll never forget we're walking over to one and he says "well the ceo of porsche designed this car"

Ok whatever, i've learned over the years to have very low expectations with sales people. Doesn't mean they're not good ones out there, but goddamn the mass of idiocy is real.

Next I start explaining to him how the car works (i'm a car guy, i do my research on everything), pretty soon I've got a gaggle of his partners kind of listening while they're smoking and talking trash. They must've had like 15 stingers, at least 10 GTs. I start looking at the paint, and I swear as god as my witness they've scratched the hell out of the 3 I looked closely at. I point them out to the guys and they just laugh "it doesn't matter who looks at these things?". Whoever was detailing them (hate to use that term given the damage they'd been doing) or removing the plastic wrap on them, truly should be taken out in public and fed the sponge and towel they used. Biggest regret to the whole experience was not taking photos. I'm not just saying swirl marks, legitimate scratches where you peel the plastic covering wrap.

Finally I'm ending up at the manager level trying to test drive the car. He tosses me the keys and says "just take it, whatever" I go and the car literally has zero gas, it won't even start hahaha. I go back and now he wants to talk numbers (in my head i'm thinking interesting tactic) and won't stop bringing up how much i want for my car that I drove in... Its a 2016 Golf R, he's never heard of it. Fine, whatever. Finally I get to drive the car.

I like the stinger. I wasn't enamored, but I really do like it. I was hoping for more oomph, and a couple of the fit and finish pieces weren't stellar (can say that about most cars), was stunned the center arm rest is not padded... such an overall wonderful interior why skip that last detail is beyond me. Regardless still an great machine.

Finally asked for the dudes card who looks absolutely stunned, as if he had never heard anyone ever request that. I only asked out of politeness, had zero intention of actually dealing with him. He goes over to a desk, grabs a piece of paper, rips it, rights down his phone number (illegibly) and says bye. Colorful experience to say the least.

Now I've been treated like crap before (trying to get my hands on an R that didn't have 8-10k markup was a true test of patience) but that was officially a special introduction to the KIA dealership experience. I've got some friends over at galpin where i got my last car, I pray the experience there is a better (you don't even want to hear about how the inside this dealership looked like). Just buyer beware of that dealer; go over that car with a fine toothed comb before purchasing.
 
What you need to do is contact Kia and file this report with them -- if they don't have people monitoring these forums. Sounds like the script for a new reality comedy show. Kia corporate needs to know about that dealership!

I agree that most salespersons are both hyperactive and lazy. They sell, and selling is money. So many of them move from job to job selling cell phones one week and cars the next. They fail to learn the details of their products, fail to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors, and fail to impress those of us who know their product far better than they do when we want to shop.
 
Yet another reason not to live in California lol. Great report though on a terrible business.
 
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What you need to do is contact Kia and file this report with them -- if they don't have people monitoring these forums. Sounds like the script for a new reality comedy show. Kia corporate needs to know about that dealership!

I agree that most salespersons are both hyperactive and lazy. They sell, and selling is money. So many of them move from job to job selling cell phones one week and cars the next. They fail to learn the details of their products, fail to learn the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors, and fail to impress those of us who know their product far better than they do when we want to shop.
I can't believe I left out the part where I watched the dude who got assigned to drill holes in the bumpers for the license plates... they were doing that while I was there to their stingers. He must've hit something behind it (not surprising as the dude was using one of the longest drill bits i've ever seen, because he looked perplexed at something and a bunch of "mechanic" looking folks all looked concerned and started trying to feel underneath the bumper to reach in behind where he was drilling.

When I got my R, i tracked its arrival while it was still on the ship, explained to the dealer/sales manager what I wanted done to it, which was nothing. I couldn't pick the car up for a week as I was out of town, explained to them they could just park it somewhere undercover and don't even look at it. No i don't want it detailed before I pick it up, please don't drill the bumpers, etc. Some people think you must be crazy or neurotic; but after seeing some of the crap i've seen done to these cars while they're "new," call me whatever you want.

Just a shame to see such beautiful cars get treated so poorly.
 
Neither crazy nor neurotic, @scharn. I asked to be present during the PDI for that very reason. Worked out great. 4 miles on the odometer so I knew it hadn't been hot-rodded by some dumb salesman or customer.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
Neither crazy nor neurotic, @scharn. I asked to be present during the PDI for that very reason. Worked out great. 4 miles on the odometer so I knew it hadn't been hot-rodded by some dumb salesman or customer.
Also you have great taste, those are some of the best pontiac's. The G8 GT one of the greatest sleeper cars that never got nearly the love and attention it should have. Had a magnum SRT during that time, and got really close to turning it in for G8.
 
Also you have great taste, those are some of the best pontiac's. The G8 GT one of the greatest sleeper cars that never got nearly the love and attention it should have. Had a magnum SRT during that time, and got really close to turning it in for G8.

Single best car I ever owned and had a real problem between my GTO and G8 on which to trade-in. Both are totally trouble-free, repair-free. Had 200,000 on the G8 and only 97,000 on the GTO so kept the 6-speed for the fun of driving a real car. Never had a single repair on the G8, still had factory brakes. Probably should have kept it, but got Stung.
 
I never went to DTLA Kia, but contacted them through their website and later talked to a "salesman" on the phone. He really knew nothing about the car, and since he didn't have my trim/color in stock and I told him I wouldn't come in until he did, he got bored and found an excuse to hang up. A full two months after I'd bought my car elsewhere, he called me again to let me know he had "my" car in. I'm pretty sure they'd had my choice in stock for at least 7 weeks. Not the brightest bulbs in the headlight.
 
Man....the tears are streaming down my face from all of the laughter! We sell Golf R's as well so reading this makes this post that much more enjoyable. If I can help you in anyway please let me know. Great story and unfortunately if KIA dealers want to compete with the big dogs they must act like they sell a premium product. 50% of the battle is over. We have the vehicle. We just need to communicate with the customer properly. Sorry for your experience. All of us KIA dealers are not like this! Promise.
 
Man....the tears are streaming down my face from all of the laughter! We sell Golf R's as well so reading this makes this post that much more enjoyable. If I can help you in anyway please let me know. Great story and unfortunately if KIA dealers want to compete with the big dogs they must act like they sell a premium product. 50% of the battle is over. We have the vehicle. We just need to communicate with the customer properly. Sorry for your experience. All of us KIA dealers are not like this! Promise.
Hah you guys are a bit of a ways away from my neck of the woods but I appreciate it. Been at this game long enough where I don't judge a brand solely off a dealership. That being said doesn't make the experience any less distasteful.

Few months ago I convinced my brother to get an F-Pace Jag. In his price range, and feature set he desired it was what worked for him. We walk into the dealer and its empty, not so much as a single person looked up at us from their desk to ask if we needed anything. Normally I wouldn't mind that but this dude was ready to buy haha. So finally after looking at the show models, girl comes up to us asking us interrogation style questions. Immediately off putting to say the least. Within 10 seconds I realized she was new to this stuff, she couldn't say anything about the car except that it was great... Now granted jaguar's modeling names for those cars are hard to understand but this is your job, she couldn't answer a single question. That coupled with her reluctance to go for a test drive with us...

Long story short it was so bad my brother and I left. He has no desire for a jaguar and has not bought new car yet. So moral of the story even "luxury" brands are not exempt from this stuff.
 
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From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
I think sometimes it sounds like we only have bad experiences, but maybe that's because it's so much more fun to tell the horror stories. I mean, what kind of story can you make out of everything going well? "Nice dealership, great salesperson, got a good deal, no scratches on the paint!"
 
Yet another reason not to live in California lol. Great report though on a terrible business.
The OP's report indicates that the LA dealer runs a reprehensible business. That's useful information for people shopping for a Stinger in SoCal. However, it's an oversimplification to slam an entire state based on one crummy KIA dealer. There are good, mediocre and bad auto dealers in Washington (where I live), California, Texas, Alabama or any other state.
 
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I think sometimes it sounds like we only have bad experiences, but maybe that's because it's so much more fun to tell the horror stories. I mean, what kind of story can you make out of everything going well? "Nice dealership, great salesperson, got a good deal, no scratches on the paint!"
Sure, a good experience is often less colorful; but I would also suggest that the reason we see so many negative reviews is because the number of bad dealerships is significantly higher than the number good ones. I make it a point to try and work with only good dealerships because I think you should attempt to reward them. If more people did the same, bad dealers wouldn't be nearly as prevalent.
 
Neither crazy nor neurotic, @scharn. I asked to be present during the PDI for that very reason. Worked out great. 4 miles on the odometer so I knew it hadn't been hot-rodded by some dumb salesman or customer.
Being present for the PDI sounds like a good idea. Every salesperson I have ever taken a ride with has encouraged me to flog the car. Typically, the car is cold and not at operating temp and well within the break-in period. I certainly don't want one that has hundreds of miles on it.
 
Being present for the PDI sounds like a good idea. Every salesperson I have ever taken a ride with has encouraged me to flog the car. Typically, the car is cold and not at operating temp and well within the break-in period. I certainly don't want one that has hundreds of miles on it.
Absolutely true!! The car i drove at 30 miles on it, and he kept telling me to go faster and harder... like I can't bring myself to do that to a new car. Besides you can get plenty of feel for how it is without having to drive like you stole it.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
My salesman (actually the sales manager) asked me not to exceed 3,000 RPM on the test drive. Smart guy, and I wouldn't have done that anyway because I sure wouldn't want to buy one of the demos from another dealer where they don't care.
 
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Absolutely true!! The car i drove at 30 miles on it, and he kept telling me to go faster and harder... like I can't bring myself to do that to a new car. Besides you can get plenty of feel for how it is without having to drive like you stole it.

The 1st dealer I went to, when hunting for my Sunset Yellow began, was Kia of Greenville in Greenville, SC. They had just gotten in their SY7 GT2 RWD and I got 1st right of refusal because no other customer even asked about it. I get to the dealership about 90 min later and they still have it in the shop doing the initial PDI, car has 8 miles on it. About 10 minutes later they pull it around and some sales joke hops out of the drivers seat and the 1st thing out of his mouth "Want me to set it in launch control mode for ya?" Seriously dude, the car JUST ROLLED OFF THE TRUCK not even 2 hours ago and has barely warmed up.......

I won't even get into the fact that their 'sales manager' was legitimately telling some preggo, foul-mouthed redneck chick, who was smoking a dam cigarette right at the car, that worked in the office "If he doesn't buy it, we'll slap a tag on it and you can take it for a demo until we sell it"............. So yeah, if you are looking for one, DONT get that one.

I seriously feel sorry for some of these cars. Jason, from Kia of Muncie above, was very open about how they treated the car and sent pics of the odometer. They didn't even take it for gas until I picked it up, and I have driven it from then on. :geek::geek::cool::cool:
 
So is every buying from Kia of Muncie? They're tearing it up on this forum.
 
So is every buying from Kia of Muncie? They're tearing it up on this forum.

Lol everyone should! I've told every single person I know, people I don't know, and I still have the license plate frame from them on my car in my home state of SC.

I firmly believe the great dealers deserve our business, and the bad ones don't deserve one penny. Whenever my wife needs a car, we'll be driving the 500+ miles back to Indiana to buy from Kia of Muncie again.
 
Lol everyone should! I've told every single person I know, people I don't know, and I still have the license plate frame from them on my car in my home state of SC.

I firmly believe the great dealers deserve our business, and the bad ones don't deserve one penny. Whenever my wife needs a car, we'll be driving the 500+ miles back to Indiana to buy from Kia of Muncie again.
I agree wholeheartedly... ofcourse muncie kia is like 2,000 miles away for me haha.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
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