Kia of St. Cloud

When called by Jesse the service advisor I was informed that the latch was replaced. I asked if the tail light was also replaced. Jesse stated he wasn't aware that the tail light was being replaced. When I asked if the tail light was getting repaired I was placed on hold. When Jesse returned I was told that the tail light wasn't getting replaced because they put a $700 latch in. I was told that I would have to pay for a replacement tail light. I appreciate the latch them being fixed and pray I don't run into any other issues. Thankfully, I have family and friends who have offered to help replace the tail light. Lesson learned. I will never be doing business with Kia of St. Cloud ever again and won't recommend you guys to anyone after this experience.

Kia of St. Cloud must not appreciate educated customers who do their research, because after a few phone calls to the Attorney General's Office, Better Business Bureau and Kia Corporate-(which the salesman recommended we contact Corporate), we learned what we already knew - the fact that we weren't required to purchase this "rust-proofing". When presented with these initial findings, the salesman stated "honestly, if I were you guys, I would just go get a different vehicle somewhere else then". We requested to meet with the salesperson in person the following night to review and discuss further in an attempt to come to some sort of agreement or understanding.

Upon our arrival, we noted the presence of 2 large sales-type looking personnel, who just so happened to be precariously "hanging out" at the front reception desk, near where our salesman's desk was, even though the receptionist and her two kids were also situated at the front desk as well. An intimidation tactic no-doubt (ah yes, the trained psychologist in me recognizes this behavior). The salesperson stated "so where are we at, I know things got a little heated the other night..." - (heated on his part, not ours). We responded and requested they honor the price we agreed to back in October 2021 and stated we were declining the rust-proofing. The salesperson stated "if that's the case, then we have no deal" and "I can't sell you the vehicle then without the rust-proofing".

We requested our money back, to which the salesperson responded by attempting to just regurgitate the same pricing and information that he had previously given us which was substantially higher. We requested our money be refunded and that we would be going elsewhere. Not once was an apology offered, nor was there any accountability taken for their actions and miscommunications. Our tactful interactions and requests for fairness were met with rigidity, hostility, arrogance and sarcasm. Out of all of the vehicles we've purchased in our lives, we've never been treated so poorly and will never recommend them to anyone.

**Do yourself a favor and read the responses to these reviews written by the owners/managers of Kia of St. Cloud (they speak volumes) - you will definitely note a few underlying themes: 1. Making excuses and justifying their poor customer service and horrendous business practices, 2. Lack of ownership/accountability for their actions, dismissive of any role they may have played, 3. Arrogance and a condescending attitude toward their "customers" (some responses even make fun of the customer), 4. Rigidity and a general refusal to be flexible in order to best serve their "customers" and find a common ground.

I'm glad we were able to get out while we still could. With all the hostility we faced with just attempting to purchase a vehicle from them, I couldn't even fathom having to interact with them if something went wrong with the vehicle and we were needing service to it etc... My advice... RUN!!!

January 27th, Carnival is dead again. Roadside comes, it won’t even jump. Wait 4 hours for a tow. Tow arrives, Carnivals do not have a shift lock release so a jump is attempted again to get it on the tow bed. Vehicle starts. Is brought to service, service finds nothing wrong and returns the vehicle two days later. February 3rd, dead again. Won’t start with a jump. Roadside even attempts to charge it with their tow truck with no success. Vehicle is towed in, services finds the battery dead and battery test shows it needs to be replaced. New battery, that’s it. Car was in the shop from 2/3 to 2/11. February 18th, guess what? You guessed it! It’s dead. Oddly enough, the reason I was trying to leave the house on the 18th was to go test drive another vehicle. February 18th and 19th I sat with my two kids (1&2 yo) at the dealership from open to close trying to get a resolution.

I’m told ordering is off for new Carnivals to get a replacement, and orders from last July still are not fulfilled. I can’t play roulette with this van for another 6-8 months (at minimum). Can’t order one, the dealership is unwilling to assist with getting an incoming Carnival from the only dealership (which was at a dealership 8 hours from here, the closest one with an identical van available) and ended up bringing over a used 2020 Palisade from Hyundai with 30,000 miles on it. Leave with the Palisade on loan on the night of the 18th to keep overnight and show to my fiancé. Come back the morning of the 19th and they offer it to me for $50,000 (which is 5k over fair KBB pricing and 5k over MSRP when the vehicle was brand new), $37,000 on the trade with a payment of $50 more a month for an extended year on the loan term. Can’t do it.

Scotty comes back with new numbers, payment stays the same, still extended a year. Same price on the Palisade and the trade. I don’t have a loaner at this point and the kids and all our stuff is loaded in the Palisade. I try to go see if Hyundai would work with me or see how long it would take a new Palisade (which would be cheaper than buying this used one), I get told if I bring it over to Hyundai this deal is dead and they will refuse to sell it to me. I can’t afford to go over there, not get a better deal, and continue to be trapped in this Carnival which they said service would keep it for at least a week this time.

After a long day of deliberating, I agree to purchase the Palisade. Except the van is in my fiancé's name, he’s at work and has been all day for the past two days without having spoken to Kia once while they shotgunned his credit 9 times trying to get financing. I drive him the paperwork to him at work, he signs at my request, and I drive it back. I can’t wait for this entire nightmare to be over. 2/22 the Carnival is SOLD by Kia of St. Cloud to some poor unsuspecting new owner. Chances it was fixed within 3 days when after weeks of prior attempts they were unable to? Slim to none.

So, if this is your new vehicle, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t contact corporate sooner, or file under MN Lemon Law, and I’m sorry that they passed it onto you (for $44,999). If you want to reach me, you can at **. If I could give this negative starts, I would. NEVER purchase a vehicle at Kia of St. Cloud. The Carnival was nice, but the real ride came from the dealership themselves.

Here it is, a few months later and the EXACT same issue started up again today!! I called and spoke to the manager Jesse and asked if they warranty their work. He said it would be a $100 diagnostic charge and if the problem is related to the work they did then the diagnostic fee would be waived! What a joke!! How stupid do they think people are? Of course they would come out and blame the problem on something else so they can screw me over again!! So done with these crooks!! I don't know how these people can sleep at night!

Jeff was super patient and explained everything over and over again until he and I felt confident that I could go home and actually use all of the neat stuff in my car. I've only had the car one day, but I'm loving it. We did test drive a Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and Hyundai Santa Fe. Honestly the Honda felt a little roomier, but not 10K roomier, and the Highlander and the Sorento looked and felt pretty much the same (the Highlander was 8K more), and I really didn't like the interior of the Santa Fe. I was leery to step outside of my Toyota comfort zone, but Kia offered me bumper to bumper coverage for 6 years or 60K, powertrain for 20 years or 2000K, and free roadside assistance for 100k (I believe?). So, I figure if the car ends up being a dud, I'm totally covered.

At the end of my lease if I don't like the Sorento they will take it back, or I can buy it outright if I love it. Also, oil changes there are only $23 and they rotate your tires at that time as well and I can make the appointment from my phone or my UVO. I felt like the whole thing was a win-win situation and I got really good service to boot. Oh ya, the finance guy (can't remember his name, but he used to be a RN) also spent a lot of extra time with us that he didn't have to. He gave us all of this information regarding how credit scores are calculated, etc. and I left the office feeling like I learned how to take advantage of "the system", so-to-speak. Great guy. My only complaint is that there were no cold beverages in the waiting area.