Jake Sweeney Kia

Avoid Like the Plague Went into dealership doing leg work for my wife who was very busy at work but in need of a new car. She was interested in driving the Optima but didn' Went into dealership doing leg work for my wife who was very busy at work but in need of a new car. She was interested in driving the Optima but didn't have time to get away from work. So I told her I would go visit Jake Sweeny Kia since it was close to us and see if I could test drive the car and take it to her for a test drive. I arrived at the dealership and it started just fine. Explained to my salesman that I would want to take the car to where my wife was, (5 miles away) so she could test drive it. The salesman was nice and helpful and completely understanding about my wanting to take the car to her. He went in and got me the key for a test drive and basically told me to take my time and he would be waiting for me when I got back. A little back story before continuing: we had been driving many cars in the Optima's class for the better part of 6 months and just couldn't really land on anything that she was 100% comfortable with. Although the Buick Regal and Ford Fusion had stood out as the highest on our list. After driving the car she had ultimately decided that she would be OK with the Optima provided the price was no higher than $28.5k otherwise we would go with Buick or Ford which we felt were better all around cars. Now to be fair, we were driving the Turbo model with the tech package which stickered at $34k and we were going in asking for $5.5k off sticker and that it may not happen which she was perfectly OK with. But being as that we were there on August 31st and we were looking at a 2015 I figured they might be open to move the 15's off the lot and go with our offer. When I arrived back at the dealership I told my salesman that we wouldn't pay any more than 28.5k for the car. Which coincidently happen to mirror their online price for the car. (Which of course included a pile of rebates that no one human could possibly qualify for. Typical web BS pricing) But again, year end, figured they would move on the price and at the end of the day we felt it was only worth $28.5K. I also informed my salesman that we would be paying cash for the car. So in typical fashion the salesman scampers off to present the offer to his manager. Within mere moments of his disappearance, another guy, not the manager, shows up and starts giving me every reason in the world why buying the Kia was the only sane choice. He knew, presumably from the salesman, that I was buying the car for my wife and was trying every angle he could to convince me that if I didn't come home with that pretty blue colored Kia how disappointed the wife would be especially after I told him about Buick being his competitor (he launched into what is a very fair assessment about Buick's boring colors) and then debated a little too long with me when I said how in my opinion the Buick was a better drivers car. (Which it is.) Eventually the Kia up-talker middle guy leaves, with his psych evaluation presumably, and within mere minutes enters the "closer" the dealership manager. At this point I am a little aggravated having to have been exposed to this middleman jibber jabber tactic, but whatever, back to the closer. He comes in, introduces himself and starts his sales pitch. To which I immediately cut him short and told him, look, either you can do $28.5K or you can't. If you can then let's get this over with or you can't and I leave. This is where the fun began. He replies with, "Oh, I'm going to do the $28.5k but I want you to understand how I am getting there so as to build a "relationship" versus just a sale." I said OK, and then thought to myself I'll sit and listen to him as long as he is hitting my price point because apparently this is important to him although I simply didn't care. He starts talking about this rebate and that rebate and how the invoice is X and how the only way he could get there would be if I financed through Kia financing and even then they are losing money by making this deal and he could show me the invoice to prove it, blah, blah... At this point I stopped him and said I am paying cash for the car. He then says, "This is the first I'm hearing about this... Did you tell anyone else this?" To which I responded I told the salesman two things; one, $28.5k and not a penny more and two, paying cash. At which point he ask, “Why go through a credit union when we can give you financing?” I’m thinking to myself what? I didn’t say anything about a credit union. So I asked, “What are you talking about?” He continues on saying you can pay it off with your first payment, blah, blah and if I don’t finance through Kia he can’t get to my price. To which I tried to speak, couldn’t get the words out since I was being over-talked but started to stand up which told him all he needed to know. And that was this conversation is over. To which he launches into yet another rant about how my financing with a credit union is stupid. Finally I jumped in and over-talked him and said, “Who said anything about a credit union? I am paying cash.” His response, “Where are you getting the money then?” I respond, “You know, it’s called a bank account? Savings? Ever hear of it?” Perhaps being a Kia dealer the notion that someone could actually have saved up enough money to buy a car outright is a foreign concept, I don’t know… Then he starts in again with this combative attitude about how I am essentially being unreasonable and asked why do I keep saying you (Him) when discussing these matters. As if I should be saying what exactly? The Jake Sweeny family of dealerships? I said, “Well you are the one here in front of me, the dealership representative, and you are the one I’m talking to so I say you because that’s how a ******* conversation works.” To which he says, “You aren’t going to swear at me, get out of my showroom!” A welcomed statement to be sure because I had been trying to leave but he kept after me. But now I was leaving on his terms not mine. So I guess that made him feel good about himself. And as I was getting up to leave he pops off with “Go buy a Buick then.” All that did was just confirmed what I already knew that this tandem sales tactic by middleman and closer is their game. It was like being transported back in time to a 1970’s used car lot. Now you would think this is where our story ends… But wait, there’s more. About 5 hours later that day I get a voicemail from my salesperson. He proceeds to apologize for the treatment I received while at the dealership and that he called his general manager and Jake Sweeney himself and explained the events from his perspective and they agreed to sell me the car for the $28.5k without having to finance though Kia for my troubles. He went on further to explain how the manager I dealt with was dealing with a sick mother on her death bed and was not himself. If true, I can empathize with that, but of course I can’t be sure that wasn’t made up. And if true, this man should have been aware enough about how this was affecting him and taken some time off instead of allowing himself to let a car negotiation turn into this personal issue for him. For someone who does this sort of stuff for a living it was the most unprofessional display I have ever witnessed. But at the end of the day the trifecta of salesmen approach deployed by this dealership is so annoying and unnecessary even if it had ended better. So I returned the salesman’s call and in a nutshell told him the only way I would consider buying from them would be that they would have to throw me a MUCH bigger bone on the price so I could be 100% certain that the two guys above him wouldn’t see one red cent in commission. And that is where our little story ends. On the upside for me, walked into a Ford dealership just down the road, made a 6K offer below invoice on a Titanium trim level 2015 Fusion which was accepted without incident and was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. And at the end of the day, we got a better car and the wife is completely satisfied. The moral of this story is to beware of this dealership and their 70’s used car lot dealer tactics. You have been warned. More