HGreg Nissan Kendall — Attraction in Palmetto Bay

I am a United States Service Member whom is currently stationed in Key West. I am currently in the market for a new vehicle to add to our family and with Key West being so small we expanded out to the Miami area to search for cars and came across this Nissan dealership of HGreg.

From the start I should have known that these people were shady and not very reputable to deal with for we were lured in on the promise of their year end savings and sales only to later be told that they were not participating in such activities. Our salesman was friendly and patient with us but did presume to waste our time even though we were clear and upfront with our expectations and desires of purchasing a vehicle as well as our financial cap one said purchase. But we did have to get a bit firm with him and really stress our standing of multiple things due to his failure to comprehensively listen to what we were saying. But once we attained common ground and all parties were on the same page we were then able to proceed smoothly to the selection, and test driving of a desired vehicle. We then came to an agreement on a price, signed the paperwork and then we left to finalize our financing with our personal bank whom had already been pre-approved with.

Unfortunately this is where things turn for the worse. We go to our bank and submit to them our buyers order and they then cut us our check. During that process communication was established with HGreg Nissan and the particular worker was trying to convince us to essentially write blank check and return it to the dealership. Knowing better than this, we kindly denied that request and then properly cut a cashiers check paid to the order of HGreg Nissan for the previous agreed upon amount. Thankfully the rest of our bank and insurance process goes very smoothly. We get the cashiers check in hand and then head back to the dealership. We had called the dealership and notified them that we had the check in hand and to please get the vehicle ready for us to pickup for it was very dirty and required a proper wash. Around halfway through our trip we then get notified that they had decided to change the purchase price and write us up a new buyer’s offer to redeliver to our bank. Obviously upset we inquire as to why the sudden change in price and claimed to have been a clerical error on their part and even tried to state that it didn’t properly reflect the web posting of the vehicle. However said web posting was altered from its previous price of what it was when we had agreed upon at the time of drafting and signing the buyers order and getting the cashiers check from the bank. Frustratingly we proceed to the dealership in hopes that we could talk it out and finish up our deal since we did have cash in hand. Unfortunately they were not willing to honor their word or written agreement at all and stood on the stance of they have no obligation to sell us a vehicle whatsoever regardless of any agreement we had previously made with each other. They claimed that there was a grave clerical error was made and that the could in no way sell the vehicle for the agreed upon price. I then questioned their reasoning seeing as how not one, but several people are involved in a deal and there are multiple checks to ensure that a favorable deal was had and they had seen it as being very favorable until strangely enough money was in hand. They then tried to argue that we wouldn’t have made the deal if they would have tried to sale it for thousands more than what they were trying to get us to now buy it at and I replied to them I definitely would have if we had agreed upon that price, but had not and had agreed upon a lower price instead and they were more than happy with the lower price. Sadly, a standstill remained and we decided to part ways and not conduct any further business with HGreg Nissan.

Please save yourself time and heartache and do not partake in business with...

Update (2 Months Later): Just found out something completely unacceptable — despite the dealership telling me they had properly registered the vehicle and transferred my plate, they never did. When I went to renew the registration, I was told the plate was still in a “pending” status and had never been officially assigned to the vehicle.

That means for the last three months, I’ve unknowingly been driving with an unregistered vehicle, which is illegal. I’ve taken my family — including my 2-year-old son — on multiple trips in this Jeep, all while completely unaware that we were at risk of being pulled over, fined, or worse. Had we been involved in an accident, insurance could have denied coverage due to this registration issue.

This isn’t a simple clerical error — this is gross negligence that put my family’s safety and legal standing at risk. After everything else — the seized brakes, the engine issues, the drug paraphernalia left in the vehicle, and the threatening messages — this just proves how careless and unprofessional this dealership truly is.

Original Review:

Initially, I was optimistic about my experience at this dealership. I worked mainly with Christian and did most of the prep remotely to avoid wasting a 6-hour drive from Tampa to Miami. Communication before the sale was solid, and the in-house process was relatively quick (about 4 hours), considering how busy it was.

That said, the experience quickly soured once I got the vehicle home.

Here’s a breakdown:

Trade-in & Pricing: My Grand Cherokee’s trade-in value came in lower than originally quoted, which I understood was an estimate. What I didn’t expect was a bogus $1,000 “convenience fee” tacked on — supposedly for things like inspections and detailing.

Mechanical Issues: Within 3 days, my Wrangler was nearly undriveable. The front driver-side brake caliper was completely seized and overheating to the point of almost catching fire. Rotors were warped, calipers were aged, and clearly no proper inspection had been done — or whoever inspected it needs to be fired. A day after replacing the entire brake system (at my own expense), the check engine light came on. Thermostat needed replacing. Another bill.

Condition of the Vehicle: When I finally had a chance to clean the interior myself, I realized it had never truly been detailed. Trash under the seats, cigarette butts, and even drug paraphernalia were still inside. That’s unacceptable by any standard, let alone a professional dealership charging a "convenience fee" for this very thing.

Post-Sale Communication: Things really went downhill here. I wasn’t given basic loan info — not even which bank I was approved through — and was never told I needed to complete a welcome call for financing to be finalized. Instead, I got a text at 11 PM a week after taking the vehicle, saying I had til 9am to return their call or they’d cancel the plate and send a tow truck. Threatening texts and voicemails followed — all of which I’ve saved.

Final Thoughts:

The fast paperwork and okay pricing weren’t worth the stress and cost that followed. If you’re buying used here, expect to pay out-of-pocket for things a dealership should’ve already addressed — like brakes, engine codes, and even basic cleaning. The customer service after the sale was disrespectful and borderline threatening.

Save yourself the trouble — look elsewhere or at least bring a mechanic and...

Will not recommend.

It has taken me 5 years to be back in the market for a car.

I did my due diligence and researched what I liked, what fit my budget, and I went back to where I had been: Nissan Kendall (then AUTONATION, now HGREG).

The only manager, from 5 years ago, was ALEJANDRO CAMBLOR, finance. Couldn't believe I saved his card for 5 years.

Called and spoke to Kamila, told her what I wanted, and was informed my 3 car choices were available.

I went yesterday, met Kamila and was referred to ERIK MARTINEZ.

As I am a previous car sales professional, I pulled out my printouts and started with the $6798.00 2017 SENTRA ($1200 below market per printout). told him my budget, plus, plus, plus, I was looking at $8000 (plus insurance $8500) cash.

(the +++ is: plus tax, $490; plus tag, $450; plus title transfer, $60 = $1000 on top of the $6700. It is required by Florida). That's $7700, plus dealer fee.

Took a 20 block test drive. Decided to overlook the loose rear door seal, and the cut-up driver armrest. I told Erik I was ready to sign.

5 minutes later Erik comes back with the manager's printout: $12,700.00. $1200 "inspection fee" was the big number caught my eye. For "inspecting the vehicle before selling it". $757 tax, and another 5 or 6 more lines. TWICE the listed website price

By now I was at the customer counter, about 10 feet from the manager's desk. Told him what my budget was, showed him my atm receipt, gave me a new printout: $10k+, almost $11K. Straight up told me would not sell it below $10K.

I decided to hard pass, and walked.

Here are my ratings for the people I talked to: Kamila, 5* Erik, 5* Alejandro, 5* Natalia (reception), 5* Guys gave me coffee, 5* sales mgr, -0*

My message to HGREG leadership:

From my 5 years experience selling cars for CHRYSLER and Gulfstream, cash buyers are the best customers: they know what they want and realistically know where the money needs to be.

I did plenty of sales for OCEAN REEF snowbirds. Easiest 45 minutes of paperwork.

Cash buyers put a car on the board, and commissions get made.

Your sales manager got in the way of a done deal. If your expected sales are off-the-mark, consider this review the reason why, and fire the sales manager.

Feel free to review the video. I was in the store 6/23 by 1230p, wearing shorts and backpack.

in summary: liked the car, liked the people I met, hated the sales manager attitude.

1-star. I will...