Bob Utter Kia — Local services in Sherman

I deleted my previous review (of 1 star) to add context to my review.

I bought my '24 Kia Sportage in March 2024 and at the year mark, I began having issues with it. I made an appointment with Bob Utter while I was on a work trip, to get it looked at first thing Monday morning at 8:30AM. Once I came home, my car was unable to start. I had my car towed on Monday, March 24th at 7:30AM and called the service department that my car was on it's way but on a tow truck instead of me bringing it in myself. An hour after it arrived (per towing service), I called my service "advisor" (assigned when I called for the appointment) to ensure the vehicle was there. He told me "he was unsure where the vehicle was, as there was no papers in the drop box but he'd call me if he found it. " As you can imagine, that wasn't the most settling thing to hear.

To fast forward, he never called me. In fact, he never once provided an update without me having to reach out to him first. My car sat for TWO full days (despite having an appointment) before it was even pulled into the shop. The advisor, Ricky, told me "the technician looked at your car, but deemed it as not an easy fix so I'm afraid he sat it to the side."

Though I could go on about more issues I had, I will skip to when I picked up my vehicle on Wednesday, April 2nd. When getting the keys back, I was asked by the cashier if the loaner I had been using was in the Sherman hail storm the previous week. When she realized I lived in Oklahoma, she quickly retracted the question. Then said "I'm unsure if your car was inside or outside when that storm came through, but if your car has hail damage, you will need to call your insurance to file a claim."

Sure enough, my car most certainty had hail damage when I walked out to my car. Anthony Travis (another advisor) sat in the lot with me when I found this damage and awed that my car wasn't hit as bad as the others but again advised me to reach out to my insurance to file the claim.

I could go on and on about my experience I had at Bob Utter, but I'll save you the read and advise you to not take your vehicle to get serviced at Bob Utter. Your car may (or may not) receive hail damage that YOU will be responsible to pay and/or raising your insurance rate despite the dealership having possession of the vehicle, you may (or may not) get your car pulled into the shop on day two - regardless of a scheduled appointment and you may (or may not) get absolutely no updates on your vehicle. But unfortunately, I can almost guarantee that you will not get good service.

To add to this, I have reached out to both the service manager (David Pryor) and general manager (Brent Reed) through email and called Brent, but I have been unable to get a...

UPDATE:

Unfortunately I am having to amend my original review. What was originally a 5 Star experience has been soured by after the sale issues. I discovered a rather large door ding when I arrived home from the dealership. I took care of this out of pocket as the dealer is over an hour away from me and at the end of the day I should have checked the car better before purchase.

A few weeks later I noticed hail damage on the roof of the vehicle. As no hail or even any rain had fallend since purchase I knew this was from its time on the lot before I purchased. I did bring this to the attention of the dealer, and after a few weeks the options presented to me were not, in my opinion, good efforts to resolve my issue. I have since discovered even more damage that was not caused by me. I'm not even reaching out anymore as I already know they won't do the right thing because frankly, they don't have to.

The lesson here, which I know all to well but failed to remember at the time, is to take your time before signing on that line. This dealer is like all the rest in that if they don't have any real interest in concerns after the sale. I won't be going back and would advise others to look at the many other options for purchasing a Kia in the area.

Original Review:

This was my 27th (I think!) car purchase over the past 16 years. After that many transactions you start to notice which brands are more difficult to work with than others. Kia dealers in general have a reputation for being a frustrating buying experience. I can happily say that Bob Utter Kia does not fall into that category. Yes, they have the same silly dealer add-ons, but they were very transparent about the add's and the total adds were less than $400 which is low compared to other dealers. KC was great as we settled everyhting remotely, and even accommodated my crazy schedule to get us wrapped up on a busy Saturday. The next time I need a Kia, Bob Utter Kia will be...

PSA: By far the worst experience, do not do business here! I would give negative stars if I could.

Being this is my first time buying a car I did my research. I visited Bob Utter Ford Kia in Sherman, TX after driving over five hours, based on their reputation for integrity and customer service. I came prepared to make a purchase and provided my Social Security number with the understanding it would only be used if we agreed on a price. We did not!

Unfortunately, the dealership ran my credit without authorization, causing a drop in my score, and later whited out information on the original paperwork in a way that misrepresented our discussion. I attempted to resolve the issue and initially received a written confirmation that they would honor my offer, but they later stated they would not.

When I spoke with General Sales Manager Brent Reed, he stated that my actions could be considered extortion, which I found alarming. I understandably got upset after being accused of such an extreme claim. As I was defending myself he said "I'm going to make this short. We will never sale you a vehicle." This experience has been frustrating, caused stress, and negatively affected my credit score. It is unfortunate that these professionals didn't even try to resolve any further if they were so offended by my proposed resolution.

Dealerships like this should be held accountable and being from Texas I hold a high standard on actions matching your words.

PSA: If you encounter issues at this dealership, you can take action by filing complaints with the FTC, CFPB, and the Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, and disputing unauthorized credit inquiries with the...