Kia of St. Cloud Reviews

The most alarming issue occurred when the vehicle lost power completely while I was driving 65 mph on the highway, leaving me without brakes or power steering, and resulting in a collision. Despite the gravity of this incident, the dealership showed no sympathy and even attempted to charge me for a new battery that should have been checked when they replaced the alternator. It was later determined that the wrong battery had been installed, causing the alternator to fail.

Lucas, the sales manager, exhibited unprofessional behavior throughout this ordeal, insisting that "a battery test isn't done after an alternator is replaced" and attempting to manipulate my words to avoid responsibility. He also admitted that the dealership does not perform safety checks after every service, which raises significant concerns about their overall commitment to customer safety. After much resistance, they finally replaced the battery, but the experience has left me with serious doubts about their service quality.

I strongly recommend considering other options before doing business with KIA of St. Cloud. The Better Business Bureau has multiple cases open against this dealership, and I am not alone in my experience—a friend who purchased a brand-new Kia Carnival from this dealership has faced ongoing issues as well. I urge you to thoroughly research this dealership's track record before making any purchase decisions.

After a week of no call I called and no one called me back. I called back again and finally talked to the sales manager Scott. He said I would need to bring it in there and I said there’s no way cause again I live 7 hours away. Which they knew that. Then he says he would look into it and call me back. Never called me back. Now I have called again to talk to someone else and they said they would call me back. Still no one has called me back. I called KIA HQ and filed a complaint so we will see where that gets me. I even told them I would take it to a local Kia and they can work out the payment between themselves and was told that’s not an option. I will be making a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I will also be leaving bad reviews wherever I can. Worst part was I gave them a great review a couple of days after cause I thought it went well until I find out all of this.

When called by Jesse the service advisor I was informed that the latch was replaced. I asked if the tail light was also replaced. Jesse stated he wasn't aware that the tail light was being replaced. When I asked if the tail light was getting repaired I was placed on hold. When Jesse returned I was told that the tail light wasn't getting replaced because they put a $700 latch in. I was told that I would have to pay for a replacement tail light. I appreciate the latch them being fixed and pray I don't run into any other issues. Thankfully, I have family and friends who have offered to help replace the tail light. Lesson learned. I will never be doing business with Kia of St. Cloud ever again and won't recommend you guys to anyone after this experience.

Kia of St. Cloud must not appreciate educated customers who do their research, because after a few phone calls to the Attorney General's Office, Better Business Bureau and Kia Corporate-(which the salesman recommended we contact Corporate), we learned what we already knew - the fact that we weren't required to purchase this "rust-proofing". When presented with these initial findings, the salesman stated "honestly, if I were you guys, I would just go get a different vehicle somewhere else then". We requested to meet with the salesperson in person the following night to review and discuss further in an attempt to come to some sort of agreement or understanding.

Upon our arrival, we noted the presence of 2 large sales-type looking personnel, who just so happened to be precariously "hanging out" at the front reception desk, near where our salesman's desk was, even though the receptionist and her two kids were also situated at the front desk as well. An intimidation tactic no-doubt (ah yes, the trained psychologist in me recognizes this behavior). The salesperson stated "so where are we at, I know things got a little heated the other night..." - (heated on his part, not ours). We responded and requested they honor the price we agreed to back in October 2021 and stated we were declining the rust-proofing. The salesperson stated "if that's the case, then we have no deal" and "I can't sell you the vehicle then without the rust-proofing".

We requested our money back, to which the salesperson responded by attempting to just regurgitate the same pricing and information that he had previously given us which was substantially higher. We requested our money be refunded and that we would be going elsewhere. Not once was an apology offered, nor was there any accountability taken for their actions and miscommunications. Our tactful interactions and requests for fairness were met with rigidity, hostility, arrogance and sarcasm. Out of all of the vehicles we've purchased in our lives, we've never been treated so poorly and will never recommend them to anyone.

**Do yourself a favor and read the responses to these reviews written by the owners/managers of Kia of St. Cloud (they speak volumes) - you will definitely note a few underlying themes: 1. Making excuses and justifying their poor customer service and horrendous business practices, 2. Lack of ownership/accountability for their actions, dismissive of any role they may have played, 3. Arrogance and a condescending attitude toward their "customers" (some responses even make fun of the customer), 4. Rigidity and a general refusal to be flexible in order to best serve their "customers" and find a common ground.

I'm glad we were able to get out while we still could. With all the hostility we faced with just attempting to purchase a vehicle from them, I couldn't even fathom having to interact with them if something went wrong with the vehicle and we were needing service to it etc... My advice... RUN!!!

January 27th, Carnival is dead again. Roadside comes, it won’t even jump. Wait 4 hours for a tow. Tow arrives, Carnivals do not have a shift lock release so a jump is attempted again to get it on the tow bed. Vehicle starts. Is brought to service, service finds nothing wrong and returns the vehicle two days later. February 3rd, dead again. Won’t start with a jump. Roadside even attempts to charge it with their tow truck with no success. Vehicle is towed in, services finds the battery dead and battery test shows it needs to be replaced. New battery, that’s it. Car was in the shop from 2/3 to 2/11. February 18th, guess what? You guessed it! It’s dead. Oddly enough, the reason I was trying to leave the house on the 18th was to go test drive another vehicle. February 18th and 19th I sat with my two kids (1&2 yo) at the dealership from open to close trying to get a resolution.

I’m told ordering is off for new Carnivals to get a replacement, and orders from last July still are not fulfilled. I can’t play roulette with this van for another 6-8 months (at minimum). Can’t order one, the dealership is unwilling to assist with getting an incoming Carnival from the only dealership (which was at a dealership 8 hours from here, the closest one with an identical van available) and ended up bringing over a used 2020 Palisade from Hyundai with 30,000 miles on it. Leave with the Palisade on loan on the night of the 18th to keep overnight and show to my fiancé. Come back the morning of the 19th and they offer it to me for $50,000 (which is 5k over fair KBB pricing and 5k over MSRP when the vehicle was brand new), $37,000 on the trade with a payment of $50 more a month for an extended year on the loan term. Can’t do it.

Scotty comes back with new numbers, payment stays the same, still extended a year. Same price on the Palisade and the trade. I don’t have a loaner at this point and the kids and all our stuff is loaded in the Palisade. I try to go see if Hyundai would work with me or see how long it would take a new Palisade (which would be cheaper than buying this used one), I get told if I bring it over to Hyundai this deal is dead and they will refuse to sell it to me. I can’t afford to go over there, not get a better deal, and continue to be trapped in this Carnival which they said service would keep it for at least a week this time.

After a long day of deliberating, I agree to purchase the Palisade. Except the van is in my fiancé's name, he’s at work and has been all day for the past two days without having spoken to Kia once while they shotgunned his credit 9 times trying to get financing. I drive him the paperwork to him at work, he signs at my request, and I drive it back. I can’t wait for this entire nightmare to be over. 2/22 the Carnival is SOLD by Kia of St. Cloud to some poor unsuspecting new owner. Chances it was fixed within 3 days when after weeks of prior attempts they were unable to? Slim to none.

So, if this is your new vehicle, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t contact corporate sooner, or file under MN Lemon Law, and I’m sorry that they passed it onto you (for $44,999). If you want to reach me, you can at **. If I could give this negative starts, I would. NEVER purchase a vehicle at Kia of St. Cloud. The Carnival was nice, but the real ride came from the dealership themselves.

Here it is, a few months later and the EXACT same issue started up again today!! I called and spoke to the manager Jesse and asked if they warranty their work. He said it would be a $100 diagnostic charge and if the problem is related to the work they did then the diagnostic fee would be waived! What a joke!! How stupid do they think people are? Of course they would come out and blame the problem on something else so they can screw me over again!! So done with these crooks!! I don't know how these people can sleep at night!