Russ Darrow Kia of Madison

I just recently was into Russ Darrow about a month ago to buy a new car and trade in my G6. When I was in there they told me that they WILL pay off my G6 so I DO NOT have negative equity onto my next car. Of buy a new car and trade in my G6. When I was in there they told me that they WILL pay off my G6 so I DO NOT have negative equity onto my next car. Of 10,500 because my G6 basically gave out on me. Somehow I had a hard time believing that. They had also told my boy friend and parents that I WILL NOT have negative equity onto my new car. The car I bought price was 20,295 Kia Forte. First off, the Kia Forte was NOT what I wanted. They never listened to my needs in a car and never really seemed to help me in general to find the car I wanted. They just pushed this Kia stupid Forte on me. It came to signing the papers and as I was signing papers I saw that the actual final price was 26,995 (What the hell)! after signing many other papers. I got so upset I was not going to sign the papers. They told me that the price of the car was 25,000. So I really was not going to sign the papers when I found that out because that was out of my price range. With taxes and everything it came to 26,995! I was so mad! But I signed the papers anyways because they already switched my car over. One week later rolls around... I get phone call after phone call saying that we did not sign a couple lines and they missed a couple of things and forgot to tell us. They also said that there was a 300 dollar down payment that I had to make before the first two weeks, otherwise it was going to collections! And they NEVER told me this until a week or so later. I went in there again, told them that I will not pay the 300.00 dollars because they messed it up themselves and forgot about it... They starting wining because it was coming out of their pay checks (Apparently) after telling me that It was going to be sent to collections?! and they were begging me to make the 300 dollar down payment. I made them pay for it. THey told me that my payments every month would be 380 and my insurance would be at a much better rate.... Guess what? My payments ended up being 412 dollars a month and my insurance went up another 90 dollars. Over all, I am not happy with their work. They lied, they begged and they pretty much won. I reported these people to the Better Business Burrow. More

Heed the call of the prior review! Even dealers don't want to deal with Russ Darrow KIA! You as an individual should also stay away! Need more proof? Read on... There is no real sales staff here. I wa want to deal with Russ Darrow KIA! You as an individual should also stay away! Need more proof? Read on... There is no real sales staff here. I was told the longest tenured sales person was three weeks; that's why they had a temporary sales force in for a week. When I was pulling out of the lot onto Odana (because the amount offered for my trade-in wasn't acceptable/near blue book) some supposed manager, also a temp I now think, shouted for me to come back. Another day I did. I was here three times over the course of a week and spent 24 hours in the place over those days with what I would call hostage like tactics used. That includes the regular two staff people. I was there on Saturday from 3pm to 9pm. Then the car had NO GAS in it. It was beeping as soon as I pulled out onto the road. I went back because the gas station closest was actually closed. I was told they had no fuel. Finance will do what it can to jack the payment up. It must be a commission thing. Its all about whatever makes it easier on them! The paperwork never seems to be right, as evidenced by the time I was there and other potential customers walking out once presented with the paperwork! Service is a joke. The keyless remote went bad after two weeks. I bought a new battery and that did not solve the problem. I can only deduce they pass the bum remotes out to the customers. The car is one year old. I never had a keyless remote die in the past ever on cars that were older than 1! Two months into the purchase, my car just died one day. Went 200 feet and quit, full of good fuel, not due for oil, etc. Service guy answering the phone from where I called, on the side of the road, didn't care about me bringing the car in for service. In fact, he was insistent I didn't buy the car there because the car is not a KIA brand! When trying to find out when they could and what they would do about my new car having an issue, he told me they make sure the cars are safe and they don't check for anything else, so if the car went bad in some mechanism, its tough luck. There is no warranty. They do not stand behind the product. There is no interest in you as a future customer or doing business like professionals or any sort of reasonable good will. Clearly, they don't care about word of mouth either. Don't they know people talk and there are internet reviews? While I was at the shop down the road from Darrow getting that mechanical issue resolved I told EVERYONE there about the Darrow experience. I realize now the original instinct to leave without a purchase was the right one, and returning was an error. Learn from my mistake! Don't buy a car at Russ Darrow KIA. Got enemies? Send them to Russ Darrow KIA!!! More

I had a strange and frustrating experience in my effort to purchase a new Optima SX from Russ Darrow Kia of Madison, WI. I was trading in my 2010 GTI with 27,000 miles on a new Titanium Optima SX with to purchase a new Optima SX from Russ Darrow Kia of Madison, WI. I was trading in my 2010 GTI with 27,000 miles on a new Titanium Optima SX with all options. Ian Stokes, the sales manager, gave me the trade price - I agreed. The deal was written up with the VIN number of the new car and the agreed upon price, with Ian's signature. Ian would be doing a dealer trade and said the new car would arrive soon from a dealer in northern Illinois. I left with the paperwork Ian gave me. Six days later I called and was told the car would be in soon. Four days later I called again and Ian said the car would arrive soon. Four days later I called again and Ian said the Kia dealer he was getting the car from would not answer his calls, but he would keep trying. Two days after that I called and informed Ian that the car with the matching VIN number he promised me was at the Illinois dealer - he needed to go pick it up! He again stated they would not respond to his calls and he would expand his search for a Optima SX to Minnesota. Then Ian actually called me and said they found a BLACK Optima, and it would be in soon. But no, my car did not come in. Apparently Russ Darrow Kia is not able to obtain cars from other dealers! I finally wised-up and drove across town to Metro Kia of Madison -- made a deal and my new Optima SX was delivered via dealer trade the next day. What a difference in professionalism, integrity and honesty. I have purchased many new cars, my first was forty-seven years ago(1965) many times trading after only 1-3 years. I pay cash. Never before have I experienced a dealership that could not produce a promised new car - there is no shortage of cars on dealer lots. In over two weeks Russ Darrow Kia could not persuade another dealer to do a dealer trade with them. There are good and bad dealerships - these two exhibit the contrast. In this case Russ Darrow lost a sale on a deal that had been agreed upon by both parties. More

I bought a used vehicle from them in March of 2011. I was at the dealership for 5 hours doing paperwork to purchace the vehicle. I took it for a test drive and herd a clunking noise coming from the front dri at the dealership for 5 hours doing paperwork to purchace the vehicle. I took it for a test drive and herd a clunking noise coming from the front driverside. I told them about it and asked them to look and fix it. They came back to me and said that it was the sway bar links that were causing the noise. They were going to charge me 200.00 to fix it. I said no because my husband is a mechanic. They should of fixed it for nothing. Since then i have the same clunking noise. I took it to a differnt dealership and found out that the struts are bad. So now after spending over 300.00 to fix the problem. Now i have to spend another 200.00 to replace the struts in it. This is something they should of checked into the first two times i asked them to look at it and they said nothing was wrong. I will never purchase a car or any vehicle from Russ Darrow Kia ever again and have told the people I know not to purchace a car from them either. More

They recently promoted a sales event in Madison Wisconsin. The deal was that if you cross of 3 like addresses on the mail certificate they sent then you would be awarded. The smallest prize being a Wisconsin. The deal was that if you cross of 3 like addresses on the mail certificate they sent then you would be awarded. The smallest prize being a $50. 00 gift card for Wal-mart. I checked this several times. It sounded like a great deal. I went picked up my card. Heavenly, a sales women, offered to help me buy a car. Well I only make a $100 a month and was informed that her boss laughed at her when she presented him with my numbers. I also thought it was odd that they collected the mail informing me of what I won. I collected my gift card and went home. The next day I found out the gift card was only for $5.00, which explains why Russ Darrow collected the original mail informing me of my $50.00 prize. I called to complain and the receptionist informed me that the event was over and there was nothing she could do. I do need a car and will be able to buy one very soon. However, I will not consider any of Russ Darrows inventory just because of their deceptive business practices. If they have such good inventory they don't need to scam people into coming down there. More

Sales person treated me like my sale was not important. Sales person treated me like my sale was not important. I had an appointment and ended up sitting in the lobby for a hour to complete a used car sal Sales person treated me like my sale was not important. I had an appointment and ended up sitting in the lobby for a hour to complete a used car sale. Gave me a car with an empty tank of gas to test drive. Gave me all of two gallons to drive home after I purchased (I live 110 miles away). Clerical staff messed up the title paperwork. Caused me penalties to license locally. Mechanic miss-diagnosed issues with the vehicle. Definitely did not make me feel special. I ended up finding a new 2011 KIA on their show room floor that my wife loved. I ended up having another dealer acquire the same vehicle, form another dealership rather than do business with Russ Darrow. More

Do NOT trust what the window sticker says about the condition of any car you might buy from Russ Darrow Kia! I bought a used car from them only to find that there were several problems with items repre condition of any car you might buy from Russ Darrow Kia! I bought a used car from them only to find that there were several problems with items represented as not having problems by the sticker. When I called the sales rep back about these problems, I got the run-around for a couple of weeks before he finally told me that I was out of luck. I will not be going back to them for any reason. Caveat emptor! More

The dealership is centrally located off the beltline in Madison, WI. I had the best experience Ever there. My salesman Travis Stair was top notch. He worked through the paperwork and it was looking like we Madison, WI. I had the best experience Ever there. My salesman Travis Stair was top notch. He worked through the paperwork and it was looking like we would have to wait till after Christmas to get the Kia Sportage we were preapproved for. My truck would not make a 6 hour trip to get home to my family so things were looking pretty bleak for my family's Christmas when he just stood up and said let me get you a loaner! He gave me a great car to drive down and back and all I had to do was put the gas back in it to where it was! OMG he saved Christmas!! After a wonderful time with my family we returned home and went back to pick up our Kia. We had a bit of a wait while they finished the approval process and safety checks then we were out the door in our new car! I don't have the best of credit but they were able to get me Capital One financing with a great interest rate and even paid off my junk of a truck that I traded in! The wait wasn't so bad because their customer wait area is furnished with comfortable chairs and a big screen TV. I will refer everyone I know to Travis Stair and the people at Russ Darrow Kia! I promise you that if you go and ask for Travis you won't be disappointed... Nicole Ashton More

The story is far too long to get into but if I could rate them less than 1(very bad), I would rate my experience at Russ Darrow Kia of Madison at least -5 on a scale of 1 to 10. I was lied to from the momen them less than 1(very bad), I would rate my experience at Russ Darrow Kia of Madison at least -5 on a scale of 1 to 10. I was lied to from the moment I walked in the place. They are true "SALESMEN" in the worst sense of the word! I would like to hear from others who have been totally ripped off by Russ Darrow Kia of Madison; I do not believe their sales tactics are legal (according to my interpretations of the consumer protection laws, they are not legal). More

i was lied to about the purchase contract. they were very sneaky about the way they handle these. i told them i needed to go home and look everything over to make sure that i could afford the payments. turns sneaky about the way they handle these. i told them i needed to go home and look everything over to make sure that i could afford the payments. turns out i couldnt. they held on to my title and my down payment. i found a better deal in my price range somewhere else so when i went back there to get my title back they refused to give me back my down payment. this should be illegal . even if this legal, this proves that they dont give a crap about the customer only the money. they knew my wife didnt have a job and i have 2 kids and they still didnt mind taking my money. the finance guy said he didnt understand the problem. REALLY??? More