Carriage Kia

Reviews 3

JO

Johnny Weaver

I was considering upgrading my daughters entry level Nissan and had noticed an email from KIA advertising special rebates and financing so decided to stop by and have a look on Friday 2/17/2017. Walked the lot and found a new Sportage but never had anyone come out so went in. I was greeted friendly and whisked to the front to register for their "Upgrade Event." I was introduced to a salesman named Chris and we talked about what I was wanting to do and I told him that I didnt have a lot of time that we were headed to the movies and I just wanted to see some initial numbers. He takes my keys and has my car appraised for the trade in value and comes back and immediately asks me would I be comfortable going from a $250.00 payment to a $500.00 a month payment. I again asked him to see the numbers because from what I had researched that didnt seem remotely close. He goes back into the core office and a group keeps looking directly at us and laughing several times. At that point I started getting a bad feeling. The salesman then comes back and asks would I be good with a $400.00+ payment. I told him that this would be the third time that I asked him to see the numbers and it was looking like I had made a mistake. Back to the office he goes and more looking at us laughing and then he finally comes back with some numbers. His car price is $700.00 more than is on the sticker price and $850.00 more than the internet price. I asked him for my keys and he asks me where I needed to be on the numbers. I told him that he didnt even know the pricing on his own vehicles and his retort was "these are selling like hot cakes and that is the demanding price!" I informed him that I had owned 8 cars and had never ever paid the sticker price much less more than the sticker price and asked for my keys again. He comes back and is telling me about the financing rates and I let him know that he either get my keys or I will get them myself. I have read three other reviews where keys were held "hostage." I left and never intend to go back! On Saturday, 2/18/2017, I get a call from a very pleasant women from the dealership asking about my experience. She seemed troubled by my experience and I think had some real concern! An hour later, I got a message from a sales manager named Shane that said he wanted to make things "right". I called him back and left a message. That afternoon he called back and said that he felt bad about my experience and wanted the chance to make it "right" if I would just come back down there. I told him that he didnt need me to come back that they had seen my car and actually made a fair offer that I could live with. I explained the positive experience that I was having with KIA Mall of Georgia but told him that I would entertain his offer and he told me that he would offer 1% below invoice and that he would call me right back with the out the door price. In his defense it was late afternoon but he never called me back to this very moment. Conclusion: I have read about good experiences with this dealership but way too many horry stories for it to be isolated incidences. My opinion is to avoid this place like the plague!! Go somewhere that you are appreciated and can have a positive experience like buying a new car should be! Update: Just got a call from a very pleasant General Manager who was going to do his best to help me. Unfortunately, my car suddenly lost $1,000 in value in two days from when they appraised it and the out the door price was still $1,000 more than what another dealership offered for a car with a sticker price that was $1,000 more. I stand by my earlier conclusion, give them a try but be prepared to be screwed over maybe multiple tumes!

ER

Erika Wrigley

After my husband was in a car accident we were left without a vehicle. My father in law, an avid listener of 104.7 The Fish told us about Carriage Kia which was often advertised on the station. He drove us to Gainsville from Stone Mountain (after talking on the phone with Chris, who asked for us to come out Saturday and he would personally show us vehicles in our price range.) When we arrived we were greeted and told that Chris was busy and could not be of service to us. We waited. and waited. and waited. FINALLY an employee about 30-40 minutes later, was able to help us. This guy was friendly, however not real with it with what we were asking for. We had a $5,000 price range. After all, we were buying used! The first car he had us look at was a dump. We had told him that we needed a spacious vehicle as we have two children still in bulky car seats. The tiny dump would not do. After a series of dumpy cars that I could have found at any small, local used car place, he showed us a 2007 Kia Optima. Finally, it seemed as if we were getting somewhere. EVERY TIME we asked for the price, he could not offer one. He would simply say "Its in the same ballpark around $5,000." With that said, we were ready to make a purchase. The car seemed nice enough, and everything was in working order. We sat in the break room with our KIA employee to work out the price. His quote came to be $8,500! I asked him in what ballpark was he? That is closer to 10,000 than 5,000. The car certainly was NOT worth $8,500. We decided that we would just walk if he couldnt help us any further with the price. After jerking us around a few more times with unbelievably bad prices, he finally came out and said "No more games. $6,500, drive off the lot today." FINALLY. Why was that SO hard? I was so irritated and frustrated by the end of my experience. I did not spend 5 hours of my weekend for a car in the ballpark of five grand to become eight grand instead. Im glad he quit his games, because as badly as we needed a car, we would have walked. To top off my experience, halfway home my husband and I started hearing a rattling noise under our car. It sounds rough, and we still have no idea what the cause is. My husband pulled down his sun visor a few days later and it completely broke. The plastic that holds it up fell off. Upon inspection it looks as though it had been super glued up prior. I have no doubt that they rig these used cars to visibly look purchasable, but theyre just not. They tried to rip us off for sure. But what they didnt know is, this wasnt our first rodeo. My advice? dont let them get you! I cant believe The Fish endorse these people. I bought this car about a month ago and they STILL have not sent me my title and tag information. I had to go to the DMV and pay $25.00 for a tag extension. I feel I should be reimbursed!

JI

Jill Hendon

My son has been looking for his first car for college. With this said, he has a known budget. We saw a 100K- mile Volvo XC60 on the Kia website and messaged the dealership of our interest. We included our budget in the message. A number of Carriage Kia salespeople called me back. They were all polite and professional and impressive. Meagan was extremely professional and knowledgeable. I explained what we were looking for and our budget. I was extremely honest. Carriage Kia is in Gainsville and about an hour drive from our home. I wanted to make sure that the pricing was clear before we spent our time and theirs. I told her what our budget was and explained the top amount. The emailed quote came back high today. I explained to her that again, this was out of the budget. She said that she would talk to her manager and get back to me. She called me back and said he said that he would take care of you. Wow. I was obviously not intelligent to play this kind of game with Meagan and her manager. When we arrived, we test drove the vehicle. It was nice and showed a little wear as we expected with the mileage. It also needed a couple of new tires, which they said they would remedy. We had planned to take it to the Volvo dealer to get it checked out if we could get to an agreeable price. When we sat down to discuss price, Meagan brought back the quote with almost 100.00 off of it. Wow, is this what they called taking care of us? We would have even negotiated a little or even compromised in the middle of our budget and their price, but she said it was firm. I was proud of my son. He got up from the table and said, we are done here. Thank you. I was proud of him as he had learned to be wise with foul play. My son and I walked out and got in our car to make the long drive home. Meagan came out and said; we do not chase customers out like we use to. I should have said, well go back inside then, but I did not think it was kind. We contacted the manager and told him about the situation. He continued to say that their price was so good for that car. It may have been good, but it was not what we had discussed, and it was out of our price range. My son said that he would have appreciated it if Carriage Kia would have appreciated their customers time. This mismanagement of the situation was unfortunate as I was so impressed initially with Lizbeth, the receptionist, and Meagan, and the rest of the staff. I expected more from Kia. Moral of the story - Do not trust a word and do not waste time unless you have time to waste.