Quirk Kia Manchester — Local services in Manchester

To get right to the point, my buying experience at Quirk Kia, and with salesman Matthew Schoech really could not have been better.

I purchased a 2022 Kia EV6 from Quirk Kia in July 2022.

At the beginning of July, after many months of research and study, my wife and I decided to initiate the purchase of an EV6. I had been studying websites and emailing dealers for months across New Hampshire and the entire eastern half of Massachusetts to understand their real stock availability and their pricing structure. In other words, how many of those 15 EV6s on your website were actually unsold and how much were they ADDING to MSRP for these rare cars in the automobile economics of 2022. I then knew to focus my efforts on Quirk Kia, Gervais Kia in Lowell, MA, Pride Kia in Lynn, MA, Nucar Kia in Tilton NH, and Wagner Kia in Shrewsbury, MA. I avoided like the plague dealerships like Dan O’Brien Kia who not only charges $10,000 over MSRP for Wind trim but also requires you to agree to a price before he’ll let you UNLOCK THE DOOR TO SIT IN THE CAR IN THE SHOWROOM. We are in the USA and operating in a free market, but I hope Dan chokes on those cars.

Two of those 5 dealerships actually had the trim level and color I wanted (Pride and Wagner) but neither would come down on their Market Adjustments to a point below my pain threshold. And let’s not forget Dealer Doc Fees on top of the Market Adjustments. Pride, for example, charges (a non-negotiable) $704 for Dealer Doc and Title fees and another $349 for dealer-installed Pulse Braking Technology. I was told that the dealer installed option could be deleted if it was a deal breaker but that’s over $1000 in hidden cost of your new car. I asked the other dealerships to please reach out to me if their allocation included the trim and color I wanted in the future. I spoke to Matthew Schoech at Quirk at that time and he recorded my information. Matthew actually had the exact trim/color combination I wanted on his lot, but it had a deposit on it. I asked him if we could come look at it so my wife could at least see it and decide if she loved it, hated it, or something in between. We couldn’t drive it but Matthew let us look at it to get an idea if we definitely wanted one.

As luck would have it, Matthew Schoech called me about a week later and said that the deal on the car we looked at the weekend before had fallen thru and it was mine if I wanted it. He sent me a price on the car with a reasonable (for automobile economics of 2022) market adjustment and $456 total fees added on. I put down the deposit and started the purchase process.

During the remaining process, this is what Matthew did do: 1.) He supported my ‘closing’ date of about a week out to let me move some funds around so I could bring him the final check. 2.) He kept me in the loop of when he’d be around to pick up the car. 3.) He had the car prepped very well for delivery and met every one of my expectations for test driving beforehand as well as setup and some lessons on how to use and drive. 4.) He had all the paperwork in place so after the test drive and lessons, paperwork and handing over the check took about 15 minutes. 5.) He helped me get setup with the appropriate iPhone apps for monitoring the car as well as my free charging at Electrify America. 6.) He answered every question we had on the process and the car.

During the remaining process, this is what Matthew DIDN’T do: 1.) He didn’t surprise me with delays or unannounced fees. 2.) He didn’t pressure me with add-ons and warranties. 3.) He didn’t send me in to talk to ‘the finance manager’ to pressure me into financing the car. 4.) He didn’t focus solely on me and totally ignore my wife. 5.) He didn’t give me the ‘buddy’ act – he was fair, professional, matter-of-fact thru the whole process.

As I said in the beginning, I was very impressed and satisfied with the whole experience at Quirk, with Matthew, and with everyone there that supported us. I would buy there again and would recommend them to anyone...

This place has almost cost me my wife and son due to their EXTREME LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE! After they tried blaming 2 quarts of oil down on a head gasket leak(not one drop of oil to be found on the engine, drive shaft, or undercarriage) the motor blew while my wife was on the highway. It almost got her killed due to not being able to get over from the fast lane, and there was no breakdown lane in the fast lane. Got it towed back in and low and behold the motor was faulty and part of a recall. After the motor was replaced, we noticed the exhaust was loud and we had an intermittent power issue. My wife went to merge on the highway and had no power and almost got hit. After they diagnosed it, I was told that the muffler was causing the noise and power issue. 🤔 A muffler causing power to stop for a couple of seconds..... ? We took the car home and had the muffler replaced against my better judgment. A day later, my son was driving it and almost got hit merging on to the highway because the power problem was still there! When I called and talked to a lady, she asked if we had replaced the battery and that may be the cause! At that point, I knew they didn't have a clue about how a car functions! The battery is charging when in motion, and the electrical system is running off the alternator! A few days later I get a call and they tell me that a cylinder was down due to a rusty spark plug, and water was in the cylinder...remember, they replaced the motor a month or so back. They wanted to charge me to replace the plugs at an astronomical price. I told them I would be paying nothing as THEY were the last to touch the motor/cylinders. The guy then tells me that the water could have come from the air intake.... once again, the old tactic of blaming the customer. My response was, "Is the air filter wet?". His response was, "I didn't check!" Why would he say that if it was a guess? After freaking out, they ended up changing the plugs. Drove it home, and the next day, the check engine light comes back on!! Fool me once.... I brought the car to Capitol Kia in Concord, and within minutes, the service writer Ed told me that all the symptoms sounded like a catalytic converter issue....which made sense to me. He then explained that due to the faulty motor burning quarts of oil, that would pretty much destroy the catalytic converter.....in the end, it cost me $500 to replace a muffler that was fine and weeks of my car being a paper weight. Never mind almost KILLING my wife and son multiple times. Do yourself a favor and STAY FAR AWAY FROM NOT ONLY QUIRK KIA BUT QUIRK GMC AS WELL! Check my other review on how Quirk gmc cost me a transmission and $4,000 extra in repairs because they don't know how to diagnose a truck when I told them what was wrong!! Seeing a pattern of HORRIBLE TECHS AND SERVICE...

UPDATE: After calling the dealership in the days following that initial interaction, my fiancé was told by the service manager that I should have called before booking an online appointment. Then why do you have the option to book an appointment with them, especially with the ability to notate what issue you're coming in with? They effectively told me it was my fault. I took my business elsewhere and, to no surprise, the shop I took it to for the airbag wire repair said that they had heard stories about Quirk Kia's lack of customer service and argumentative and defensive attitude towards getting their wrongs pointed out to them in an effort to have them fixed. Do not go here for anything more than an oil change. Their response to my review was laughable, absurd and did not address the issues I brought forth in my review.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 9/12/2024: I scheduled an appointment for last Saturday to have the airbag light issue that popped up last Wednesday in my Forte. I knew I was approaching the end of my warranty in addition which is why I wanted to get in as soon as I was able to. On Saturday when I went in to get my car looked at, I was told that they don't do diagnostic services like that on Saturday. They also pointed out my warranty expires that day. Of course it did, which is why I scheduled an appointment that day on a day that was convenient for me but as soon as possible. I asked if there was any way they could look at my car since, with the airbag light on, it could be potentially unsafe to drive. The gentleman I spoke to simply shrugged, said he was sorry and that there was nothing he could do about it. I'm beyond frustrated and disappointed by how the situation was handled. I worked for an auto dealer for 2 years. Service should be looking ahead at upcoming appointments to ensure good customer service and to screen for these kind of appointments. There was nothing on the website that said they didn't do those kinds of appointments on Saturdays. There was 3 days between the day I booked and the day I had the appointment that they could have called me and told me that they didn't do those kinds of appointments on Saturday. Now I'm stuck with a car I have to try to make time for to have it get checked out, pay out of pocket for the issue instead of potentially having my warranty cover it and figure out an alternative way of getting to work in the meantime since I do not feel safe driving it. I don't have a lot of hope that the service department will solve this issue judging by their track record on previous reviews. At the very least, I hope they start checking their appointments ahead of time so no one has to go through this like I did. I would definitely go to a different Kia dealership in the future for service or any...