Kia of Streetsboro — Attraction in Streetsboro

Beware shady and dealership tactics here! My wife and I had an appointment at the Streetsboro Kia dealership to potentially lease a new Telluride. Previously, we always purchased our automobiles, so leasing was a new experience for us. What we found at Streetsboro Kia was appalling and extremely unprofessional. Our appointment was with Ethan, a sales representative. We informed him that we were familiar with the Telluride from Consumer Report ratings and other positive reviews but had never driven one. He offered us to drive one, handed us the keys then sent us on our way without even showing us the car and making sure we were familiar with its basic features. He did not go with us while we completed our test drive. After returning to the dealership and asking questions, it was apparent that he lacked basic knowledge and seemed to know nothing about the process of leasing a car. He had to continually go to others to get answers. Eventually the sales manager, Tony, came over and answered our questions. He is the one who gave us a quote for leasing a new Telluride. We told both salespeople, early on, that we had just started our search and had other dealerships to evaluate yet liked the figures we had agreed upon at Streetsboro. As we were leaving, Tony followed us saying he spoke with his general manager and had been given permission to get us an even lower figure if we signed papers today. We said we would check with the other dealerships and probably be back to the Streetsboro store that day to make the deal. A few hours later, we did go back to Streetsboro, ready to make the deal. We had only one more question about a “Wear and Tear” package as an add on option. Neither Ethan, Tony nor the finance officer could explain how that worked. They continued to point at the form yet could not explain anything about the package. We finally gave up on the “Wear and Tear” package deciding to go with the original offer. When the new quotes were presented to us, they were nothing like the previous quotes we received regarding the monthly payments, lease duration and trade in vehicle values. They were not even close. When questioned about these changes, Ethan had no clue (as usual) and had to check with Tony. Ethan relayed to us that Tony said he didn’t have to honor his offer because it wasn’t in writing. We promptly left and drove straight to the Preston Kia dealership in Burton. We were greeted and treated with professionalism and honesty. Our sales rep (Todd) reviewed basics regarding the Telluride and went with us for the test drive to answer any questions and point out instrument panel details. We received a better trade in value and a lower monthly payment, all within 65 minutes. In addition, the finance officer (Josh) at Burton Kia explained the “Wear and Tear” package easily to us (since it is the normal Kia Corp. policy!) and we added that to our payment. Our experience with Preston Kia in Burton gave us knowledgeable and professional treatment and a lower cost than we would have received from the clowns at the Streetsboro dealership. Buyer beware, don’t waste your time at the Streetsboro Kia dealership. Also look at the yelp reviews...

I took my youngest daughter to Kia of Streetsboro to test drive and potentially buy her first car. We live an hour away, so she called (twice) to confirm the car she saw online was still available. And she was told on both occasions it was available for purchase. However, when we arrived at the dealership, we learned that the car was suddenly "unavailable" and could not be sold because of an open repair ticket... the old bait and switch trick. Fortunately, there were other vehicles of the same make and model on the lot, but none were as good of a deal as the one we came to see. Nevertheless, we test drove a similar car, she liked it, and we agreed to purchase it. Sticker price and the price posted online was ~$18,400k. That's when things started to go south.

The monthly payments and terms they kept presenting me with did not match my own calculations. All I wanted to see was a simple cost break-down (e.g., cost of vehicle, doc fees, registration & title, taxes, etc.) but all the sales manager kept giving me was a table/template showing the monthly payments based on various terms and a range of interest rate options. Finally, and only after multiple requests, I finally received a line-item cost break-down and that's when I found a line item for ~2k for "accessories". When I questioned the expense, we were told it was (allegedly) for paint and fabric protection and it was showing as an addendum because they treated the car right before we drove it and it was not yet updated in their system. The sales rep said it was optional, so I told him to take it out and draft the papers. However, when we went into the finance manager's office to sign papers, the cost was back in, but approximately $1k less than originally stated. After pressing, we were told that after further review, one of the services (fabric etching) had not been completed, so they took a thousand dollars off... what a kind and noble gesture. Had I not pressed, would they have charged me for it? Most likely yes. Moreover, I'm quite certain that the $895 ceramic coating (allegedly) applied immediately before we test drove the car was also a lie because there was tar and bugs stuck on the surface in multiple places. Not something you would expect if they had just buffed the car and applied a ceramic coating.

At the end of the day, my daughter really liked the car, and the final price was reasonable, so we did end up purchasing the vehicle. But the overall process was straight out of the 1970's and left me feeling dirty. Complete lack of transparency and questionable integrity from the moment we stepped foot on property. Personally, I would've walked out twice, but my daughter really liked the car and I didn't want her first experience to be a bad one, so I kept the questionable tactics to myself.

I thought about asking to see the work orders for the original car, and/or the alleged ceramic coating, but I'm sure they would have ignored me, or made something up.

Would love to talk to senior management and/or ownership. In the meantime, buyer beware! Ask to see the numbers up front and validate what you are...

Purchased a vehicle from kia of streetboro, everything started off great with Cleo, he was very helpful and takes pride in his job.. until finance forgot to have me sign all of the paperwork. I was getting ready to leave and they asked me to come back in to finish unfinished paper work on their behalf , during this time my daughter was in the backseat of the vehicle I just purchased, and fiance was there with me as well. When I was finished signing papers after being there for 8 hours, which I was only supposed to go there to pick up the specific car I purchased and waited a month for, I came back out to a damaged vehicle that was hit by Marquis, an employee here at Kia of streetsboro whom did not seem to show concern that he just hit my car. I have been given the run around since this happened, and when they finally fixed my car on their behalf of the incidents , and returning to get my already damaged vehicle, they had put more damage to the vehicle inside and out. I was treated very poorly by Steve DeFranco, the branch manager and many other sales reps as well. I have been ignored by all staff, and am still waiting to here from the dealership. I requested compensation or a new vehicle only to receive a 500$ voucher for service at this kia, and I already am paying for a warranty on the car anyways which is bumper to bumper. This dealership has the worst communication I have ever dealt with from a dealership, and they will not deal with anything or answer any of my questions because they know they are in the wrong here. They also did not file a car fax on the car which is illegal, and they are not being compliant with my request of services and copies of part’s ordered to fix the vehicle after taking a month to even get the car into service which they said was not their fault. None of the employees or managers have a clue who’s doing what or what’s going on including Mr DeFranco who is supposed to be the General manager of kia of streetsboro. I feel at a loss, and I’m still waiting to be helped and taken care of and still have no answers, paying for a car that’s worth $50k and is damaged inside and out. 10 out of 10 do not recommend this place at all. Sadly they have a couple good car salesmen that are undermined by bad managers and sales reps.

Note: in the post these are not all the photos due to damage, the detailer had also damaged my car as well as the employee hitting my car prior to the second...