Kia Of West Nyack

The last time I bought a car (from Honda Cars of Boston, 5 years ago), I was spoiled by the internet sales experience. I got an unbeatable quote within minutes of submitting my query, locked everything in w 5 years ago), I was spoiled by the internet sales experience. I got an unbeatable quote within minutes of submitting my query, locked everything in with a deposit, and spent very little time inside the dealership to complete my payment and sign the paperwork. Though I experienced the obligatory walk-through of additional options at the table before finalizing the paperwork, there was no pressure to buy a bunch of extra stuff. The finance manager made it clear he was just covering his bases and moved on when I said I didn’t want any add-ones. And then I was done. My experience with Kia of West Nyack wasn’t *quite* this easy, but it’s about as close as I could imagine, based on how much legwork I put into securing an EV6 that met my desired specs at a price that I was resolved to pay. I had been in contact with over a dozen dealerships, over half of whom were selling the car with a market adjustment of $7,000 to $10,000 (including Kia of West Nyack). The experience started at the Bridgewater Kia, when I first test drove the car and enjoyed the swift, quiet, smooth ride. When it was clear there was no budging off the $7k markup, I put the car out of my mind for a while. As the EV demand grew further over the next few weeks, I started getting itchy about getting one of these before it got even more difficult (I’m anticipating doubling my annual miles driven this fall), especially since any other model of EV I might be interested wasn’t scheduled to debut until next year, and who knows what kind of wait lists there would be (I was already on Fisker’s list for the Ocean). So my wife, son, and I spent over an hour exploring the inside and outside of the EV6 (Wind, eAwD, with Technology Package) at Sansone Kia. As this car ended up pricing out more than double what we paid for our Honda CR-V EX, it was important to us that we didn’t buy it based on features, looks, and all the great reviews. We determined this was a car we could see ourselves driving for the next few years after the great experience we had with the CR-V. But Sansone adds options to their cars in lieu of the infamous “market adjustment,” which (granted) at least gives you something extra for your money, even if you don’t need or want it, and it seems that a car equipped this way would still have been slightly less than what we paid at Kia of West Nyack. Certainly my experience with Bri was great; she handed me the fob and left me alone for an entire hour to explore the car, and I couldn’t have been happier about that. However, over the 2 weeks I spent searching for this trim in the right color and haggling to get a sense of what price I could expect to pay, they never received any color besides Glacier, which… didn’t move us. Certainly not for the price. Out of all the other Kias in New Jersey I contacted, many of the sales consultants and managers admittedly were fortunately quite willing to work with me entirely by phone, email, and/or text, including Kia of West Nyack, whose sales manager, Letitia nearly sold me the car on our first phone call by getting to within $100 of what I was looking to spend, initially, I mainly held off due to timing, and kept Kia of West Nyack as a “finalist” in my search while I did more due diligence until I sold my Honda CR-V and was ready to make a deposit on the EV6. The majority of these dealers who were willing to work with me remotely had at least one color we were considering, but only a handful were willing to quote numbers in writing upfront, as Kia of West Nyack already had. Many of those who didn’t negotiate were basically rigid about their market adjustment (and it seems quite likely that, if they hold out, *someone* will spend the extra $7-10k at some point). These included Bridgewater Kia, Kia of Riverdale (they didn’t have one with the Tech Package anyway), Global Kia, Jack Daniels Kia, and Kia of Englewood. Paul Sansone III at Sansone Jr Rt 66 Auto Mall did negotiate somewhat with me, but wouldn’t budge below $3995 over the MSRP of $53,845, so that was never competitive. Similarly, I was able to negotiate a bit with Chris Prado over at Fette Kia, but they were never going to get down the the price I was willing to pay, given the other quotes I already had in hand. Before I continue on with the Kia of West Nyack story, since that is where I ended up, and that is who I am reviewing (I feel like this story is important for anyone considering buying an EV6 any time in the near future), I want to give Rob at Manahawkin Kia xxxxxxfor being in touch via text even on the weekends and for working with his manager to adjust their markup down to only $1k, which was going be better even than Sansone in Rahway. Sure, Sansone “gives” you stuff along with their markup, but it does bring up the price of the car higher than a $1k market adjustment, and it’s not stuff I really wanted anyway, so if Manahawkin hadn’t sold their Runway Red before we were ready to buy a couple days ago, it would likely have been the best deal on the table. Similarly, Simon at DiFeo was always accessible by text and phone and, though he never was willing to get down to brass tacks until the very end, he kept assuring me they would deal when the time came, and they did. Over the phone, I got a quote that was the next offer by a small amount. The only problem was that it was for a Steel Gray car, and that was our least favorite color of the ones we might have been willing to buy), Also in this club I want to include Steve at Motion Kia, who was outstanding to work with by phone and text, but when I was ready to buy they had no inventory that matched our wants. Even still, he offered $500 less than Kia of West Nyack for the same trim and package on an Interstellar Gray EV6 they had coming in on the truck in the next few days. Honestly, if we hadn’t wanted to get the car right away (I had already sold the CR-V and wanted another SUV/CUV before going on road trip to New England), I probably would have taken that deal, and I will definitely call Steve (and Rob and Simon) again if I we end up interested in a model they sell to replace our aging Prius c. Raceway Kia deserves special mention. On one hand, they wouldn’t talk terms at all over the phone, so it was the one dealer I actually went in to see, but only because I was ready to make the decision, they had our favorite color, and they *seemed* willing to deal. Of course, when I showed up, the sticker showed $10k over MSRP, but Dan Jenkins made it clear that it was worth discussing because at the end of the day “they’re there to sell cars” (the usual line). And, amazingly, after sitting in a chair at his desk, in the typical awful dealership situation, having him go back and forth to his sales manager while I tried to keep my 3 year-old entertained, they actually got the number down thousands off of that markup, and very close to the only quote I had from Kia of West Nyack in writing (though about $533 higher than Letitia, the sales manager at West Nyack, had agreed to on the phone as I was parking at Raceway). Had Raceway matched my bank’s financing offer or allowed me to use my bank loan to get the lower APR without bringing the price of the car up again, they really would have had a sale. From their point of view, they came down a lot from a high markup, and the APR was only 1.66% higher, but when you add the $533 over the offer from West Nyack to several hundred dollars more in interest over 60 months (in case we don’t pay it off earlier), and when you add that an aggressive and pushy sales manager who did the whole boxing-in thing at the desk with Dan sitting off to the side, they lost the sale. I might have been able to see my way into that deal and my wife might have even agreed, but the strong-arming and lack of listening (supposedly I was the one who wasn’t listening, but I was just cutting off all the avenues of trying to twist my arm) turned me off so much that, when I talked to my wife about it, we both agreed we’d rather pay a few hundred bucks less for Runway Red instead of Raceway’s Gravity Blue, even if we weren’t going to get the same terms or use our bank loan. So, back to Kia of West Nyack. Without even leaving Raceway’s parking lot, I went out to my car, called Victoria at West Nyack to have Letitia’s verbal quote sent to me for review, and within moments I had it and a link to make the deposit, which I did. Victoria did a great job of staying in touch with me that afternoon, for the most part, despite traffic in the dealership. That said, once they had my deposit, it was a bit harder prying attention away from prospective customers to answer questions about their confusing online credit application, and questions about accessories, which were to be discussed on a call at 6pm, never got answered, because Victoria was still with the customers at the dealership. Fair enough, but it was a bit frustrating, and left some deal points hanging in the air that had me second-guessing walking away from Raceway. That all said, they got the DMV done before closing and printed out the paperwork, and we were set to come out the next morning and sign everything and put down the cash we were bringing to the deal. Victoria was attentive and aware of our timing—my wife was taking time off work to drive nearly 60 miles with me—and greeted us upon arrival. By this time, the car in question had somehow managed to avoid being sold for about roughly a week and a half from when I first called and spoke to Letitia, which may partly account for my being able to make the deal we did, especially since the initial call with Letitia was in March, and the deal was finalized on April 4th. There were some negatives attached to this, compared to those cars that are bought prior to delivery or almost as soon as they are delivered: For one, there was a not insignificant scratch on the exterior paint near the rear right passenger door that went deep, about a cm long (Victoria is having touch-up paint sent to me free of charge), the odometer reading on the quote had never changed from 11 miles to the current mileage of 153, which was a bit of a surprise, and kinda took the new car excitement off of the transaction a bit. Plus, the only one of the accessories we talked about was actually available onsite, and though Letitia had said on our very first call that they would sell the accessories we wanted (7 of them, all told) at cost, supposedly 30-40% off the parts department price, Victoria informed me that our price would be only 2% off “wholesale” price. And, honestly, looking at my receipt, that’s what I got. Same as on the Kia website. So maybe it’s 2% more expensive if you just walk in and ask for the accessories some time after purchasing the car. We ended up buying the all-weather floor mats on the spot, since they had them, and I swear by those (especially with a small child as my constant companion), as well as the cargo tray and cover, both of which I consider essential and which wouldn’t take long to deliver for free to our house, so it was worth just ordering them then and there. The rest we will probably go after-market, since there was no benefit to buying from Kia, and hopefully we’ll save some money that way, since the roughly $800 in savings I had been led to expect had evaporated by the time I got there. I’m going to avoid cynicism here, since this is small potatoes compared to the car itself, but I wanted to make sure others are aware of this in their negotiations, to avoid surprises. It did take quite a bit longer to get out of the dealership than planned, though for me it seemed quicker than for my wife and son, who spent most of their time waiting while we foraged around at the parts department and took too long to get my info in for the shipment and to pay, but fairly quickly we were all set up to go to the finance desk to finalize the transaction. That went pretty smoothly. One huge plus is that, because they were not able to match our bank’s APR offer on a 60-month auto loan, they accepted our loan without trying to renegotiate the deal, which means they lost a little something without making a thing about it the way Raceway did (well, they wouldn’t make the deal at that price unless I financed with HCA). Anyway, as is standard, we were presented during this process with some options to add, and while I don’t like this part of buying cars, it was about as mellow and non-pushy as it gets, and the process did not take long. In fact, it really did just feel like an informational tour of the options we would not have known about if he hadn’t mentioned them, and a seemingly candid assessment of whether the mentioned option might make sense for us, all without any pressure or salesmanship; just a friendly discussion. And we actually did end up buying the 60 months wheel/tire protection. Assuming we don’t get tripped up by any fine print on this little add-on, it is quite likely we will come out ahead on this (besides, the loan interest savings they gave us by keeping our deal despite going with our bank instead of Hyundai’s credit arm easily paid for this), based on our experience with the CR-V over the past 5 years (plenty of flats, replaced tires, damaged rims, all of which are covered by this). So, we surprised ourselves there by actually buying a protection plan! And once we got to reviewing documents and signing them,, much of it was digital, so we only had a few sheets of paper to sign, tapped a bunch of boxes on some screens, and we were on our way back home relatively quickly. Victoria was on hand throughout to make sure we were being taken care of and we knew where to go. She made sure the accessories we wanted were ordered and would be sent to us at home at no extra cost. She had some sort of cleaning fluid residue from the bottom of a bottle of some sort of interior cleaner removed from the back seat, and generally set the car up to go for us. There wasn’t really much of a walk-through of the features, but I had done a fair amount of research already and prefer to do a lot of this stuff without someone hovering over me, so it was great that she offered to answer any questions on the spot, and asked me to message her if I think of any questions later. It was low-key and helped make a big purchase less stressful. So, while I hadn’t anticipated buying a car out-of-state, concerned it would be more effort than it was worth, Letitia and Victoria made it all happen in a way that seemed pretty seamless to me (if we put aside the accessories snag). I wouldn’t necessarily *want* to go that far out of my way to buy a car again, but given my experience, I would definitely reach out to Kia of West Nyack the next time we consider buying a new Kia, because they could well make it worth our while again. If you live even closer than we do (anywhere within 50 miles), I’d say you should definitely give them a call and ask for Victoria, and hopefully you can cut out the countless hours of extra work I did between my first call with her sales manager, Letitia, and this final purchase, as I called, texted, emailed and visited other dealers for almost two weeks to try to find a better deal. (Though I did have a couple of slightly better offers on two other cars, they were not the preferred color, and if I knew at the beginning what I knew by the end, I wouldn’t have bothered even trying to get those other deals, since the car we wanted—at the price we wanted—was waiting for us at Kia of West Nyack.) More

DECEPTIVE and FRAUDULENT: I saw a 2019 Kia Forte LXS listed on Cars.com for $19,000 when I arrived at dealership I took the vehicle for a test drive with Einstein who I asked if the vehicle had any repo listed on Cars.com for $19,000 when I arrived at dealership I took the vehicle for a test drive with Einstein who I asked if the vehicle had any reported accidents and if it came with a 2nd remote key fob. Einstein response was he THOUGHT the car had no accidents and that it SHOULD come with a second key fob but never gave me a true answer to either my questions. Finance Manager John informed me that they had replaced all four tires, brake pads, disks, air n cabin filters with a complete 4 wheel alignment at the dealership totaling $1900. Which cost I had to incur on top of the $19K advertised price bring the total to $20,900. Upon further investigation I found the vehicle listed on Autotrader which showed a Carfax report with a reported accident a year prior. STAY AWAY from this UNSCRUPULOUS dealership. From sales person on up to upper management they all learn and use the same sales tactics. PLEASE STAY AWAY from this dealership More

I dealt with Ronald in the service department. I was always happy with the service I received in the past. It appears under this new management the service is outstanding. It is shown by the peop I was always happy with the service I received in the past. It appears under this new management the service is outstanding. It is shown by the people they hire. I could not be happier with the way Ronald treated me and the way he represented Kia. Over the years my family purchased over six vehicles from this dealership and I will be purchasing another in the coming months. More

Very friendly and helpful Luis Joel was very helpful and very helpful with all aspects very helpful with all aspects More

Dealer is a reflection of the amazing treatment from Michael. He is more than professional knowledgeable and extremely pleasant. It’s Michael that keeps my contact with your dealership Michael. He is more than professional knowledgeable and extremely pleasant. It’s Michael that keeps my contact with your dealership More

I found Ronald to be a total gentleman from beginning to the end. Outstanding employee that Kia should be very proud of for his professionalism, courtesy & kindness. the end. Outstanding employee that Kia should be very proud of for his professionalism, courtesy & kindness. More

Everyone was friendly , courteous, and attentive, offering refreshments while I waited . Michael kept me informed about everything happening with my vehicle the waiting area was clean with seating we offering refreshments while I waited . Michael kept me informed about everything happening with my vehicle the waiting area was clean with seating well spaced More

Kevin at KIA of West Nyack was very informative and friendly. He made the process simple. We are now the happy owners of a brand new Sportage! friendly. He made the process simple. We are now the happy owners of a brand new Sportage! More

Levi and the finance team are the best!! Definitely recommend levi for a salesman. Levi and his team never gave up words can’t describe truly the best recommend levi for a salesman. Levi and his team never gave up words can’t describe truly the best More

It was an awesome experience. Victoria and Mikaela were very professional and attentive. They allowed us to test drive the vehicles we wanted and NEVER pressured us into any sale. They made us feel comfo very professional and attentive. They allowed us to test drive the vehicles we wanted and NEVER pressured us into any sale. They made us feel comfortable and made the process easy and stress free. They gave us a variety of options based on what we wanted to pay. We were very happy with the experience and walked away with out new leased car. We highly recommend, if you are going to shop for a car at Kia, ask for Victoria or Mikaela. They will make you feel welcomed and will do their best to get you a deal without pressure. More