Kia bait and switch on CBC. Or was it?

[rage2]

Heard this on the radio this morning.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/car-...auga-1.4626419

What the article doesn't tell you is that the couple was shown the 2019 Kia Sorento brochures as the 2019's are available early this year with the fancy LED lights. MY2019 Sorento is a mid year refresh, which gets the updated LED headlights and taillight clusters along with a whole bunch of other stuff. Instead of picking up a 2019, they decided to cheap out and buy the 2018 Sorento which is being cleared out with huge incentives and 0% financing because the 2019's are already available. Of course, the 2018 doesn't come with said LED tail lamps even with the upgraded packages. Whine and moan, and get $1000 back from Kia after getting on the news.

Kia's response also doesn't make sense, but probably just a canned response from someone once pressed for more info. Sometimes I wish reporters would do a little more fact checking before writing shit like this.

[heavyD]

Eric Kim and Yondy Lam are speaking out about a loophole they say marred the purchase of their dream car.

It's a Kia Sorento.

They paid an extra $2,500 for upgrades on their new SUV based on what was in a Kia ad brochure.

What exactly were these upgrades based on the brochure? Was this some sort of top of the line package but on a 2018 that didn't come with LED tails? At the end of the day it does fall on the buyer to do their homework when buying a new car. If you are looking at a 2019 brochure but decide to get a discounted 2018 you better take a look at the 2018 brochure to see what you get as these things change annually.

[dj_rice]

Canada Goose Jackets...buying Kia Sorrento

[heavyD]

Talk about coincidence. I just saw this come up on the TV in the lunch room. The story discussed the "fine print". If the bill of sale showed a 2018 model and the brochure they were looking at was for a 2019 I fail to see what was hidden in fine print?

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

What exactly were these upgrades based on the brochure? Was this some sort of top of the line package but on a 2018 that didn't come with LED tails? At the end of the day it does fall on the buyer to do their homework when buying a new car. If you are looking at a 2019 brochure but decide to get a discounted 2018 you better take a look at the 2018 brochure to see what you get as these things change annually.

Trim upgrade. The base 2019 Sorento comes with standard tail lamps, while EX and higher trims get the LEDs. 2018's and earlier never came with LED tail lamps at all in North America, period.

Serves me right for cruising the Kia forums because of the Stinger and knowing way too much about Kias.

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Talk about coincidence. I just saw this come up on the TV in the lunch room. The story discussed the "fine print". If the bill of sale showed a 2018 model and the brochure they were looking at was for a 2019 I fail to see what was hidden in fine print?

Oh I've never seen the video. I picked up on what happened from the written article and radio and put 2 and 2 together.

Stupid journalists.

[lilmira]

What’s the difference? They likely won’t use either the headlight or taillight.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Xtrema]

Thanks for the context. Something about that story rubs me the wrong way. It's stupid buyers. Can't believe that warranted an on air segment.

Kia should have simply said the wrong brochure is shown instead of these fine print BS.

[Tik-Tok]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Don't most places offer a 7 or 10 day period where if you want to return the vehicle for something else you can? If they really wanted LED lights, they could have taken the car back and just ordered a 2019 MY.

Well yeah, but then they wouldn't get 0% financing or $5g off the sticker price.

[spikerS]

I would place the blame squarely on the dealership and salesman (no surprise...). The salesman knew they were looking at the new 2019 catalogue, and was showing them a 2018, and it is a big part of his job to know the differences, especially with a mid year refresh. There is probably better incentives to the sales floor to get the 2018s off the lot and have an increased commission. I wouldn't necessarily expect a customer to know that difference, if they are not well informed or car enthusiasts, but the salesman should have explained it once the MY18 was being discussed.

[heavyD]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Trim upgrade. The base 2019 Sorento comes with standard tail lamps, while EX and higher trims get the LEDs. 2018's and earlier never came with LED tail lamps at all in North America, period.

Serves me right for cruising the Kia forums because of the Stinger and knowing way too much about Kias.

You looking at a Stinger?

[Xtrema]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Canada Goose Jackets...buying Kia Sorrento

Well, now they got extra $1K from dealer, hubby can afford one too and be accepted in the Asian community.

[Tik-Tok]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Well, now they got extra $1K from dealer, hubby can afford one too and be accepted in the Asian community.

But he doesn't own the newest Kia Sorrento, and everyone will be able to tell without the LED lights. He brings shame to his family that no Canada Goose jacket can repair.

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

You looking at a Stinger?

I'm not no. A couple of my friends are, and I was helping them out by reading Kia forums in my spare time.

[Disoblige]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

but he doesn't own the newest kia sorrento, and everyone will be able to tell without the led lights. He brings shame to his family that no canada goose jacket can repair.

lmao.

The only way I would side with the customer here is if the salesman told them that the '18 they were buying had the LEDs.
Otherwise yeah, customers should have done their DD.

[lilmira]

Disrespect the family, that's no good lol. Don't KIA'd on nobody.

[heavyD]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I would place the blame squarely on the dealership and salesman (no surprise...). The salesman knew they were looking at the new 2019 catalogue, and was showing them a 2018, and it is a big part of his job to know the differences, especially with a mid year refresh. There is probably better incentives to the sales floor to get the 2018s off the lot and have an increased commission. I wouldn't necessarily expect a customer to know that difference, if they are not well informed or car enthusiasts, but the salesman should have explained it once the MY18 was being discussed.

If they asked the saleseman if the car they were getting had the LED's and he said yes then I would blame the salesman but if they were looking in the brochure of the 2019 in his office and he says; "I have some 2018's left over that are heavily discounted if you are interested in that" then it's up to the buyer to ask what differences there may be. If the salesman told them the 2018 was identical to 2019 then again the blame falls on the salesman but if you are purchasing a 2018 model and there's 2019's on the lot its kind of your responsibility to look into what differences there may. The fact that they haven't brought up any light on the salesmen outright lying to them tells me they simply didn't do their homework and jumped on what they perceived as a great deal without comparing the 2018 to 2019.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Too little info to say who was at fault. It's entirely possible the salesdroid screwed up and told them the upgraded 2018 came with LED tails when it didn't, equally possible he was describing the 2019 and the buyers didn't understand.

[Brent.ff]

How do you get the thing home before noticing the taillights...? No walk around before accepting it? Sure sounds like they just wanted to go to the news with it off the bat