Are USA Kia dealers screwing all potential Niro EV buyers?

B

Bonita Mike

New Member
I live in San Diego, CA and since January 2019 (six months ago) I have contacted several local Kia Dealers asking to be informed when I can get one, or at least put a deposit down to get one. The experience has been awful and a rip-off.

The first dealer i asked told me that there would be no Niro EVs available until 2020 (the year 2020, not the model year 2020) and keeps contacting me to get a Niro Hybrid. They eventually told me the did get ONE a couple months ago, but sold it to one of their salesmen.

The other dealers in the San Diego area say they have gotten one or two since February but have hundreds of potential buyers and , in spite of the fact that I got on their lists six months ago, they couldn't predict when one might become available.

The latest was a dealer who said they could get me one "soon" if I gave a deposit, but it has to be the premium model (an additional $5,500) and there would be a $5,000-$10,000 "dealer markup." When I pointed out that the markup was basically giving them the Federal and State owner incentives, they said "If you don't like it, maybe you could go buy one out in the Midwest (where they are presumably easier to get.)" I would point out that San Diego is in California one of the States that Kia said the Niro EV would become available back in February 2019.
 
I had a similar experience. I'm in the L.A. area. I emailed around to a bunch of dealers that showed inventory for about a month, and they all had $5k markups over MSRP. I finally found a dealer that wasn't trying to gouge. I ended up getting an EX Premium (I originally was going to get the regular EX) for about $2,500 below MSRP, $1,200 below invoice from a local dealer. So, I guess I would say to keep trying - eventually you will find a dealer that is not trying to rip you off.

I made it a point to check the online inventory about every other day, and when I saw any showing in stock at a dealer I hadn't contacted yet, I reached out right away.
 
After I got past the trainee that originally worked my deal, my deal at Southwest Kia Round Rock went pretty smooth. I pretty much broke even on the trade in of my 2018Leaf. I picked up a Niro EV EX Premium with the Launch Edition option.

The dealer was offering about $1,200 off MSRP. I did some digging around the Southwest Kia website and found out that a $9,100 incentive was also available on a 36 month lease. Kia also gave me a 0.00199 money factor on a lease which was a lot better than the 0.00267 money factor Nissan was offering me on a Leaf Plus.

I guess the deal depends on the dealer and how committed they are to sell the Niro EV. Southwest Kia really wanted to sell the Niro EV and was able to take delivery on about a dozen of them. Don’t expect to get the deal like mine on a Niro EV from Southwest Kia at least not anytime soon, all the Niro EVs for sale in Texas are gone and there is no telling when will get any more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top