Stokes Kia

All around bad car buying experience & worse service center I am not one to write reviews, in fact this is my first. To start this is my 3rd Kia that I have owned. I loved my Kia Sorrento and my Kia Borrego. Bu I am not one to write reviews, in fact this is my first. To start this is my 3rd Kia that I have owned. I loved my Kia Sorrento and my Kia Borrego. But this experience is the worst I have ever had with any dealership. My step daughter fell in love with a 2013 Kia Forte about a year ago. For starters, the salesman (I don't remember which one anymore) told her that he could qualify her if she had a "co-signer". She of course called her dad and he decided to "co-sign" after a long debate with her and myself. He did not live close and did his part by phone and fax. After having to provide almost a years worth of income verification for my husband, they were approved. We also didn't find out that they way over priced the car. It wasn't until my step daughter went into default on her loan that we found out that he was the primary person on the loan done thru Stokes Kia. When we questioned the sales department they told us that it was the only way to approve the loan. This should have been our first clue that this place is full of nothing but crooks. We ended up having to refinance the car and found out that they had charged her almost $4000 over what it was worth. Less than two months after we resolved our problem above on our own, the step daughter took the car in for problems with the brakes. When you hit the brakes they had a tendency to "stick" to the point that you had to put your foot under the brake pedal to release the brakes. They had the car for a whole day and said there was nothing wrong with the brakes at all and that they could not reproduce the problem therefore they had nothing to look for. The problem continued. When I called them they suggested we change the brakes. We had the brakes changed completely (not at Stokes)- new pads, boots, everything. The problem continued. When I called them again they suggested that we have the brakes bled because there must be air in the line. We had this done (again not at Stokes). The problem continued. I took the car to a service center that specializes in brakes. After they had the car for less than 5 minutes, and this included the tech driving in the parking lot, they concluded it was something wrong with the brake pedal. He wrote up what was wrong, he could fix it for around $500, but suggested taking it back to the dealer as my step daughter had purchased an extended warranty (as I said earlier they took advantage of her at the sale of this vehicle). I took what the tech had written up, their past evaluation where they found nothing, and all the other brake repair receipts to Stokes Kia. Will checked me in around 9am and said he would call us soon to let us know what was wrong. Around 3 in the afternoon no phone call. I called Stokes Kia and Will told me they had not finished checking the brakes. I told him once more that the problem was with the pedal. He said he would check with the tech and call me back. At 5 still no phone call. I called back and was told they were VERY short staffed and that I would get a phone call back. I called another Kia dealership and talked to their service department. They told me to bring the car in and they would check the brake pedal because it does not sound like the brakes have issues. I called Stokes Kia back and told them to get my car ready so I can pick it up. When I got there around 7pm, I was told that they had not finished the diagnostics and they could not find a problem, nor could they reproduce the issue. I told Will to get my car because I had someone else that would fix the problem. As I watched him bring my car to us, I watched the car jerk as it did EXACTLY what I told him was the problem. When I got in the car I noticed that they had not even taken it for a test drive to see if they could reproduce the problem, not even 1/4 mile was added to the odometer. No wonder they could not reproduce the issue, they didn't even try! I strongly suggest not going to this service center! This is my 3rd Kia vehicle. It may be a little out of the way to go to the other dealership in town, but well worth it. When I had issues with my other Kia vehicles, they cared and fixed the problems without trying to get me to do other repairs. I will never step foot into Stokes Kia again and will tell everyone I know the same thing. More

Service department CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS I took my car into the service department for an appointment that I had previously made ( 1. My appointment was not in the system). After 5pm I receiv I took my car into the service department for an appointment that I had previously made ( 1. My appointment was not in the system). After 5pm I received a call letting me know what the issue was with the car (because I trusted the dealership I signed off on the repairs although the cost was pricey). My service provider, Will, told me that my car would be ready on Friday ( I took it in first thing Monday morning). Although that would put me out for a week- I went along with it. On Thursday, I called to check on the status of my car and was sent on a wild goose chase by Sheila. After being disconnected, I called back to inquire on a warranty that came with my car as I purchased it brand-new from the dealership. I was told that they could not help me with my warranty because the computer system went down and they would call me right back. I never received a phone call that day. The next day I called back speaking again with Sheila, who sent me on another wild goose chase which eventually led to a VM that wasn't set up. I called right back and asked to speak with Will, my service man. She told me he wasn't in and she would leave a msg. I told her that I had been transferred all over the place and that I wanted a update on my car. I didn't leave a msg and headed there. once I arrive in walking in the first face I see was Will's (he was assisting another customer). Heather and a new associate lady (both were very nice) offered to help me but to no avail. When speaking with them the only thing I inquired was "if I purchased a car brand new from the dealership, what warranty come with it". The new associate told Will I was there to see him- after helping the customer he comes to me and flops a paper down in front of me and says "ma'am your car is not under warranty I told you that over the phone and that's why I gave you the price that I did!" Taken aback I told him that was not why I was there. The only thing I wanted to know was what was the warranty. he continued to tell me how my car was not under warranty because of a front end collision causing damage to the vehicle. After he saw I was calm, he began to tell me that he was out of the office for a few day and the car would not be ready until Monday. I expressed my frustrations that no one had called me or returned calls to me in regard to my car not being ready when they told me it would. He apologized and said they would put a rush on the service and it would be ready Monday. on Monday, I called to make sure the car would be ready that is when I was told that the car would not be ready until Wednesday due to parts having to go out of the shop. He gave me a timeline of what was happening and that pacified me simply because it was more info that I had received the week prior. On Wednesday, I called to make sure my car would be ready. Once again I got the runaround and disconnects from Sheila. Finally, I was able to get a guy named Johnny. He told me that Will had already left for the day and he didn't know why I was told Wednesday because the car would not be ready until NEXT MONDAY OR TUESDAY! I am furious that I have been lied to and disrespected by a car dealerships service department! I have never experienced any thing like this and plan to post my rating on every single media outlet possible. More

Customer service is not good. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR TAXES BEFORE COMING HERE! I purchased a 2015 Optima and not living in SC, they had a challenge calculating the tax for GA. Ult MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR TAXES BEFORE COMING HERE! I purchased a 2015 Optima and not living in SC, they had a challenge calculating the tax for GA. Ultimately, they charged $200.00 more than should have and I cannot get a hold of anyone to help out. I keep leaving messages and nobody calls back and living 2.5 hours away, I cannot just drive there. KIA America is of no help either as they say the dealerships are independently owned. What a shame. More

A+ Experience from an A+ Dealership From the minute I walked into this Dealership I could tell all of the employees number 1 objective was to do what was necessary to gain my business. U From the minute I walked into this Dealership I could tell all of the employees number 1 objective was to do what was necessary to gain my business. Usually the car purchase procedure is like getting your wisdom teeth removed- constant haggling over price,vehicle and leaving either "worn out" or disgusted with high pressure salespeople. This is NOT the case at Stokes Kia! Never once was I pressured into accepting a vehicle I did not want or feeling like I was facing a rapid firing squad of sales, management, and finance personnel. Mark in Finance,Andre in Sales, Brooks the Sales Manager were great to deal with and offered the BEST buying experience I have encountered in over 50 years of auto ownership. Stokes has gained a customer for life. Ed Bishop Loris, SC More