Scammed by KIA of Clermont
 

On March 1st around 9am my wife and I arrived at KIA of Clermont to look and possibly buy a Kia Telluride SX Prestige X-Line (referred to as car). Mike was assigned to me as the sales person After hours of haggling with him and some of his bosses we made a deal for the car purchase.

While we were waiting for my credit to unfreeze, Mike sat me down in the car and sold me a theft package that he said the sales people were allowed to sell this for a little extra money. He then took out an ultraviolet flashlight and shined it on the headliner and showed me where he said the theft ID should be. We saw nothing on the headliner. Mike said they must have put the ID somewhere else. I then asked Mike to make sure it was installed before I left. Mike said no problem.

For the next three months 5 or 6 different times I asked Mike where is the theft id. I never received an answer from Mike.

On May 30th, I texted him “Please call me”. NO REPLY from Mike.
On June 3rd I texted “Could you please find where they placed then etching/ultraviolet theft deterrent on my Telluride. Please text info.” Again, NO REPLY from Mike.
On June 5th I texted “I will be there Saturday morning for someone to show me where the anti- theft/ultraviolet etching was done.”
On Jun 5th Mike texted back “OK you can speak to the manager.”
On June 5th I texted back “It amazes me that NO one knows where its installed.”

On June 7th, around 9am, my wife and I arrived at KIA of Clermont. We were sent to John the finance manager. We told John the problem that Mike avoided answering me for over 3 months of where the theft ID was installed. We also told him how disappointed we were with Mike. John informed us he was one of the best salesmen. (GOD Help them).

John came out to the car with us. I took out my ultra violet flashlight and asked where it was installed. John then informed us that the theft ID was not installed and Ultra Violet was not even used by the dealership. John also stated nothing had to be done and the warranty would still be valid even if they didn’t install the theft ID. However, the theft contract clearly states “THE AUTHORIZED DEALER/DEALERSHIP MUST INSTALL THE ANTI-THEFT PROTECTION THEFT DETERRENT SYSTEM FOR YOU TO RECEIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE AGREEMENT.”

John then offered have someone install it immediately. My response was that I wanted my money back. John said no it was part of the sale. I informed John that since it wasn’t installed at delivery and now its 4 months later, I want my money back and John agreed. It’s now 6 months later no refund.

Kia of Clermont is owned by the Morgan Auto Group. On August 18th, we sent two certified return receipt letters, one to the president Larry Morgan and one to the CEO Brett Morgan of Morgan Auto Group. The letters were received and signed for on Aug 22nd. It is now 3 weeks later and I have still not received a response. Obviously, they couldn’t care less that their Clermont KIA dealer is scamming me.

I wonder how many other customers of KIA of Clermont has not installed the ID protection and has scammed. In the 60 years that I have bought cars I have never had an out and out scam done to me except by KIA of Clermont.

If you have been scammed by Kia of Clermont or any other Morgan Auto Group owned dealership, please comment back.

There is more dealer malfeasance by Kia of Clermont. When I have a chance, I will post it later to show the horrendous actions they have done.

NO AUTO DEALER HAS EVER TREATED ME THIS WAY. I WAS ALWAYS TREATED AS A VALUED CUSTOMER EVERYWHERE. NOT AT KIA OF CLERMONT.

IMO, every auto dealer has probably treated you this way, they've just been better at hiding it. Upselling is standard practice in that realm. UpNorth, rustproofing used to be a common upsell that was implied to be sprayed on but was often never installed, all you were buying was an insurance policy against rust that had so many loopholes, almost no one could collect. And that's the new car dealers; used car salesmen, well, you know the reputation. Just below politicians.

You never did say how much your theft deterrent cost? I would never buy a new vehicle for this reason. I never understood the car haggling thing anyhow. You don’t go to Lowes and haggle the price of the lumber? The time you spent typing this and posting on this site should close the dealership soon, LOL. BTW, a lot of one stars.
Attention Required! | Cloudflare

I hate buying new cars now. Not that many years ago you worked out a price based on the MSRP of the car, the most they would try to get you for was undercoating. Now they tack on thousands of dollars worth of stuff that no one really wants. I bought my last car in 2024, the dealer had already added a GPS system, ceramic coating, mud flaps, pin stripes, and something else that I can't remember. When I figured out what I was willing to pay I reverted back to the old days and made my offer based on the true MSRP of the car. I advised that I would not have bought any of the extras on the car nor did I even want them. They said they would give me the extras at their cost which I rejected. Before leaving I told them you have my phone number if you change your mind before I find one at another dealership call me. I didn't get out of the parking lot before they sent someone out to bring me back in and they sold it to me for my original offer. When I make an offer I don't try to skin them as they and the salesman need to make a living but I don't like being skinned either.

Can you simply order a car at the dealer and eliminate the extras they put on after it gets off the truck? Also, from another recent discussion like this one I think it’s better to buy online now?

You can actually do better than that. I ordered a Tesla via the Tesla app; took about 10 minutes. The exact price and what would be on the car was spelled out on the app. It took about 4 weeks to build the car and ship from Austin to Claremont. I was notified via the app when the car had arrived. I scheduled the pickup time and paid for it via a bank transfer directly on the Tesla app. Drove to Claremont and signed some papers and was out of there in 15 minutes as the car was ready at my appointment time. I'm pretty sure I will never set foot in a traditional dealership again.

You should do the following when you feel you have not been treated fairly at a franchised auto dealership.

1. Call in your case contact Kia customer relations ask them where you should submit in writing exactly what has happened to you at the dealership. Any franchised dealership hates it when the manufacture is contacted by an unhappy customer. The manufacture tracks customer complaints against dealerships. Kia's phone number is in your owner's manual.

2. Contact your Florida State representative and ask them what division of the state deals with auto dealer complaints.

If you want to try one more time to work this out with the dealership let them know that if this is not resolved to you satisfaction that the above is your next move. If you do contact the dealership again talk only to the General Manager.

I am retired from the automobile business after 35 years. The above are your best options.

lol… …. PT Barnum was right

That same KIA dealer had a used Mini Cooper that I wanted to buy.
We agreed on their asking price. After traveling down there the paper work showed an additional 2k in dealer add on profit.

I walked out and posted it on Google reviews.

Shady dealer I am surprised stays in business

I did 1 better than you buying your Tesla. I knew exactly what I wanted in a car and sent an email to over 40 dealers telling them to give me their best price out the door for what I was looking at. Every dealer responded and there was over a $5000 price difference between low to high offers. The last 3 dealers I wrote them back to tell them they were equal to 2 other dealers, so if they could better their price, let me know. I went with the lowest price dealer. This was less than 2 years ago.
Just over a month ago I did the same thing and while my new car was being transported from 1 dealer to my local dealer, I had 2 dealers offering me multiple $1000 discounts to go with them. I went with the local dealer but he had to come down in price $2500 from the day before, and that was still $500 more than what the other non-local dealer quoted me.

You never buy a car for msrp, same goes for a used house, and outside of the villages, you never pay lusting price

The dealer said they would make it right by installing the system, the OP should have let the dealer install it since they initially wanted it, and then report the incident of paying for something that was not installed, this is criminal

time to contact a local news station
 

You may want to consider contacting a news station. Once the wrong doing is aired you will be amazed at how FAST they will contact you to resolve the problem!

Kia
 

problem.

For the next three months 5 or 6 different times I asked Mike where is the theft id. I never received an answer from Mike.

On May 30th, I texted him “Please call me”. NO REPLY from Mike.
On June 3rd I texted “Could you please find where they placed then etching/ultraviolet theft deterrent on my Telluride. Please text info.” Again, NO REPLY from Mike.
On June 5th I texted “I will be there Saturday morning for someone to show me where the anti- theft/ultraviolet etching was done.”
On Jun 5th Mike texted back “OK you can speak to the manager.”
On June 5th I texted back “It amazes me that NO one knows where its installed.”

On June 7th, around 9am, my wife and I arrived at KIA of Clermont. We were sent to John the finance manager. We told John the problem that Mike avoided answering me for over 3 months of where the theft ID was installed. We also told him how disappointed we were with Mike. John informed us he was one of the best salesmen. (GOD Help them).

John came out to the car with us. I took out my ultra violet flashlight and asked where it was installed. John then informed us that the theft ID was not installed and Ultra Violet was not even used by the dealership. John also stated nothing had to be done and the warranty would still be valid even if they didn’t install the theft ID. However, the theft contract clearly states “THE AUTHORIZED DEALER/DEALERSHIP MUST INSTALL THE ANTI-THEFT PROTECTION THEFT DETERRENT SYSTEM FOR YOU TO RECEIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE AGREEMENT.”

John then offered have someone install it immediately. My response was that I wanted my money back. John said no it was part of the sale. I informed John that since it wasn’t installed at delivery and now its 4 months later, I want my money back and John agreed. It’s now 6 months later no refund.

Kia of Clermont is owned by the Morgan Auto Group. On August 18th, we sent two certified return receipt letters, one to the president Larry Morgan and one to the CEO Brett Morgan of Morgan Auto Group. The letters were received and signed for on Aug 22nd. It is now 3 weeks later and I have still not received a response. Obviously, they couldn’t care less that their Clermont KIA dealer is scamming me.

I wonder how many other customers of KIA of Clermont has not installed the ID protection and has scammed. In the 60 years that I have bought cars I have never had an out and out scam done to me except by KIA of Clermont.

If you have been scammed by Kia of Clermont or any other Morgan Auto Group owned dealership, please comment back.

There is more dealer malfeasance by Kia of Clermont. When I have a chance, I will post it later to show the horrendous actions they have done.

NO AUTO DEALER HAS EVER TREATED ME THIS WAY. I WAS ALWAYS TREATED AS A VALUED CUSTOMER EVERYWHERE. NOT AT KIA OF CLERMONT.[/QUOTE]

We just bought that exact model car a month ago , We went to Kia of Clemont but wound up buying from Kia of Wesley Chapel. We weren’t offered and No one mentioned the theft item you are referring to .i hope you get your money back.

I had a similar issue with Greenway Kia East in Orlando. They tried to sneak in an expensive extended warranty which I clearly stated I did not want. Also tried to sneak in a $1000.00 "Luxe" package which they said was installed on the vehicle after I clearly told them I did not want it. I signed the papers on an iPad-type device, and when I asked for my copies I was given a thumb-drive which they told me contained all the papers I had signed. As soon as I got home, I checked and quickly realized I was missing a lot of documents I had signed. There is enough of this story left to write a book, but I will spare you the long version. I called the dealer's general manager, called KIA's customer service and opened a case, I called the Central Florida Auto Dealers Association in Orlando, I emailed KIA's regional manager, and spoke with the actual owner of the dealership (he owns numerous dealerships in several states). In the end, I received full satisfaction and a lot more from the dealership but I still would never buy from them again. By the way, I called and emailed several of the Orlando television stations and not one returned my call. Lesson learned - if you purchase a vehicle and they give you a thumb drive with "your documents", insist on getting a "hard" copy of everything you signed before leaving the dealership. Good luck with your situation.