AutoMax Hyundai - Oklahoma City

[Gold Z]

AutoMax Hyundai in Oklahoma City is the worst Hyundai dealership in the world! At least I can't imagine any being worse. We had a signed agreement on price which was okayed by their sales manager. I did not have my trade with me so we agreed on a date and time to finalize the sale. When my wife and I returned to the stealership they refused to honor their own signed sales agreement. Unfortunately they had the exact car I wanted as far as color and options so I start over trying to buy the car. The car was at another of their four locations so I could not see what I was buying. I was told they had put a set of aftermarket wheels on the car. I finally reached an agreement on price, which was much higher than our original deal, and bought the car. The had a porter drive us to their dealership outside of Tulsa to pick up the car. The trip took four hours because the porter got lost. When we finally got the car it had not even been washed and the aftermarket wheels were not on the car. Dealer delivery consisted of a short ten minute introductory session to the car, which has the technology package with all the gizmos. The Oklahoma City dealership was closed when we returned. When I called the next day to complain, I was told they never said the car had aftermarket wheels and they would send me a check for $70 to get the car detailed since it hadn't been prepped for delivery. It has over two weeks now and the check has never arrived. I am not a kid. I am in my early 60's and have bought many dozens of new cars. My daily driver is an 08 Corvette. I have never seen a dealership that lies so much and treats their customers so badly. I wish now I had never bought my car from them but they had the exact car I wanted, an 09 Genesis 3.8 loaded with every option in white satin pearl with the cashmere interior. I really love the car but the dealer ship can go to hell!

 

[C6Shortimer]

This is a very sad story. Here on the East coast we have dealers that are just as bad, lots of high pressure to sell you a car. That said, I do enjoy doing battle with sales people. I've found you can't insult them and they all go to the same school to learn to sell cars. Namely, "What will it take to put you in that car today?" My answer is always the same, a low price and a fair price on my trade-in. I've never paid sticker price for any new car. Just my .02 cents.

 

[BaywayRic]

to the site Gold, despite your bad purchase experience, you will love this car. I might suggest you go here:

https://hyundaithinktank.com/external.svc?page=qualification&qualification_ticket=cowners

and complete the survey on "Dealership Experience." HQ needs to hear about the crap you went through.

You may also want to befriend a local dealer for service, tell them this story, and see if they will do the dealer prep phase for you. Depending on manufacture date, you may be missing some important TSBs on the car. Reset on the tire pressure, etc.

 

[EdVoylesHyundai]

Wow. PLEASE make sure you give HMA a piece of your mind on this. It's the only way we can weed out the "stealerships" from the "dealerships". That is insane. You, sir, have far more self control than I do. I can imagine this situation escalating until someone calls the cops if I am in your shoes.

Congrats on getting the exact car you wanted, though! Welcome and enjoy your new Genesis!

 

[BigElm]

First thing... once they've backed out on a signed agreed price, you should've walked away. Second, if the aftermarket wheels is in the agreement, get everybody and their mother involved in this. Call HMA, BBB, lawyer... do what you have to. Apart from it being a very nice car, it doesn't justify how you were treated.

 

[Gold Z]

Believe me, I'm not through with them. I'm a vengeful bastard..........

 

[garwal]

You go Gold Z. I also am 60 and not one to play with, if you read my post on Victorville Ca. Dealer you will see some of the same crap. I also am pushing to get dealers like this removed from the equation. I am finding that it is very hard to get the attention of the head of the snake, they make it so hard to get to the top almost looks like they planed it that way. Best of luck and I also will continue to put a light on these bastards. Now you can call me a grumpy old man
Gary

 

[C6Shortimer]

As Garwal points out, it's VERY hard to get the parent car company to do anything with a bad dealer if that dealer is moving their cars. A number of years ago I had a very bad experience with a dealer on the "infamous" Auto Mile here in Massachusetts and it would have come to blows if my wife and a young child weren't with me. I called to complain and got nothing more than lip service from the parent company's main office.
I'm hoping for a much better time with Hyundai in the Spring.

 

[jamfunkr]

Gold Z,
I live in Oklahoma City and am very familiar with the story that you tell. I bout my first Hyundai, a Tuscon which is my daily commuter from the AutoMax Dealership off of I-240. After the unpleasant experience I had with them I vowed I would never do business with that dealership again. I researched the Genesis for more than one year and when the 4.6 V-8 became available I went nuts! I had to have it but definitely not from the same place. I elected to purchase it from Edmond Hyundai hoping they would be more professional and trustworthy. For the most part things went well...though I did have to have a man-to-man talk with their sales manager about a couple of issues. I have found there service department to be just Great! I thank God my business is finished with the sales folks and all future dealings will be strictly with the service department. It will however be a bit difficult for me to recommend any of the local Oklahoma City/Edmond Hyundai dealerships as far as sales go. I do wish you the best and as previously mentioned, welcome to the world of Genesis. I think we all made an excellent vehicle choice!

 

[Gold Z]

Max Fairchild, the owner of the Automax chain of dealerships, called me a few days ago and we talked at length about my experience at his dealership. He had just learned of my experience when he recieved a copy of my Better Business Bureau complaint. He was genuinely upset about my whole ordeal. We talked for over an hour. He said the salesman and sales manager I dealt with had only been with the dealership for two days before I started dealing with them. I know that to be true because they had told me the same thing. Max impressed me with his sincerity. He wanted to make sure nobody else was ever treated as I was at any of his dealerships. He was very proud that his dealerships have been honored by the BBB each of the last three years. I told him my complaint was not about money as I had actually gotten a tremendous deal on my car. My car, a 3.8 with every option, had a msrp of $40,150 with no dealer add ons. I bought it outright for $36,767.21 which is a discount of $3382.79. Also, according to Edmunds.com, I got over $700 above high book for my trade-in. After talking to Max I am completely satisfied that my problems were caused by circumstances which were not normal. I plan on returning to his dealership when I am ready to trade in two years. The next day I recieved a check for $500 from him. Unnecessary but very nice.

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[BigElm]

Good.... As long as you're happy with the outcome, that's what matters. To have the owner of the dealership reach out to you speaks volumes. I'm glad it got his attention and hopefully it will help 'train' salespeople to be true to their words and come through on their agreements. I'll take the $500 if you don't want it

 

[Calvin]

Calling the BBB sure paid off! Congratulations!

 

[muisui]

I will just walk... why bother? And I am sure a lot of other dealers will try to get your business with respect.

 

[ctrcbob]

You made two errors.

1. You first made a deal with your trade in, however the dealer did not see your trade until after you returned to pick up the car. (I could have told you that the dealer would change the price when you returned with the trade as they just wanted to get you back).

2. Second, you "dickered" on the second car which was at another location. (Don't matter what dealer told you about the special wheels). You did not see and drive the car before you purchased it.

I never purchase a car sight unseen. Years ago, I used to Special Order cars. Give the dealer a deposit and they order. Well I got burned twice. Once when the car arrived without a piece of equipment that their brocures said comes with the car. (They have an out, because brocures always say that the specs can change). The other time was when the car had an "imperfection" in the interior. Dealer says they will fix it, but I always had problems with that imperfection. I now only purchase from dealer stock.

Dealers will always tell you that they will get the car you want in a dealer trade. Had my closest dealer tell me that, but as I said before, I no longer purchase sight unseen. I want to see and drive the car I'm buying, so I purchased from a dealer 25 miles away, as he had the car I wanted.

 

[Gold Z]

All valid points but in this part of the country Genesis are hard to come by. There was only one of the exact color, equipment, engine combo I wanted and it was only available at the Automax location near Tulsa. I wanted the car and didn't want to wait. I had driven about a half dozen Genesis and knew exactly what I wanted. I bought the car for almost $3400 below MSRP and got $700 over high book for my trade. It wasn't the deal I was promised but it was still an excellent buy. If it had had aftermarket wheels on it I would have had them switch them for a stock wheel/tire combo before I accepted the car. Since I bought the car I still haven't seen another white Genesis in any configuration for sale in the area so I'm really glad I bought the car when I had a chance.

 

[Mark_888]

I never purchase a car sight unseen. Years ago, I used to Special Order cars. Give the dealer a deposit and they order. Well I got burned twice. Once when the car arrived without a piece of equipment that their brocures said comes with the car. (They have an out, because brocures always say that the specs can change). The other time was when the car had an "imperfection" in the interior. Dealer says they will fix it, but I always had problems with that imperfection. I now only purchase from dealer stock.

Dealers will always tell you that they will get the car you want in a dealer trade. Had my closest dealer tell me that, but as I said before, I no longer purchase sight unseen. I want to see and drive the car I'm buying, so I purchased from a dealer 25 miles away, as he had the car I wanted.

I have done it three times and did it again with my Genesis (signed a deal for a car that had to be ordered or traded for with another dealer). But I always add wording to the contract that I have the right to inspect the car and reject it if there is a problem (including excess mileage) and have my deposit returned. I initial the changes and make the dealer initial the changes before I sign the contract. In two of the three cases I got some extra options that I did not pay for because they happened to be on the car they traded for (usually not significant, but I got a free cargo tray on the Genesis which was a $100 option).

The dealers usually want some sort of deposit since they incur an expense of trading vehicles. In the case of the Genesis, my dealer had to truck a car to a dealer 325 miles away and truck my car back. I am certain that dealers have learned this lesson the hard way and there probably have been customers who wanted a particular car, and the dealer incurred a fair amount of expense to trade for one, and then the buyer backed out for no good reason (such as they found the same car at a local dealer or found a better price).

 

[Tufast]

I hate to hear about stories like this & wish they were few & far between, but alas they are not. And it's across the board with different manufacturers & different parts of the country. I wish I could vouch for my sales dept, but can't due to the high turn over of employees up there not giving me a chance to get to know them & their character. There's only one guy who has been here as long as myself that I recommend to my customers.

You're all are right, it is hard to get to the "higher ups" of a corporation, & not necessarily just Hyundai. Me & my brother had a run in with Circuit City that took a lot of time & energy in order for us to finally work our way up the corporate latter 'til we reached someone of serious authority. But, it got handled properly after that & we were treated as VIP in the store from there on out. I usually let stuff slide because it's not worth it to me to expend the time & energy.

But, I would definately express my concern to Hyundai through that evaluation site:
https://hyundaithinktank.com/external.svc?page=qualification&qualification_ticket=cowners

IMO, Hyundai's weakest link is their dealerships at this point & in order to retain more customers they will need to improve upon this, esp considering the caliber of customers that they are now attracting.

 

[Boss Paco]

The man speaks truth about Max Fairchild. He's an upstanding member of our community and a great owner to work for. I've only worked for him about a year, most of my car sales career, and after speaking with many of the other sales staff he is one of the best people to work for.

A story like this only reinforces my belief that I work for a good company.

 

[mlusk]

Gold Z:

As the Customer Service Manager for AutoMax Hyundai Norman in Norman, Oklahoma, I just found this thread while doing my customary online reputation search. I want to start by apologizing for your poor dealership experience when you purchased your Genesis 3.8. I want to let you know that AutoMax Auto Group does care about customer service. I am very sorry that you did not receive premium treatment when you purchased your premium vehicle in 2008. I was happy to read your later post about your conversation with our owner, Max Fairchild. I am glad that Mr. Fairchild was able to contact you and give you some satisfaction with our organization. With the Genesis and now the launch of Equus and the consumers that vehicle is bringing in, Hyundai is refocusing on the dealership experience and so are we. Since your purchase experience, we have made numerous changes to ensure all our customers receive the best purchase experience we can deliver. That includes better training of our staff, better follow up, and making sure customers know who to contact after the sale if they need additional help. We don’t want you to have to contact the BBB before we take care of you. While we are not perfect and still have plenty of room for improvement, I believe we have made real progress in the area of customer satisfaction since your purchase.

I also recommend that consumers make DealerRater.com reviews part of their car-buying research. DealerRater.com has very strict rules about reviews, blocks known dealership IP addresses to prevent fraudulent reviews, and blacklists dealerships for posting fraudulent reviews. The result is reviews written by actual customers about their experience. The overall score, total number of reviews, and what customers say about the dealership can give you a good idea about how that dealership does things and will probably treat you. Also pay close attention to negative reviews. All dealerships get some negative reviews, and how they respond to criticism is a good indicator of how they will respond if you have an issue. I do hope that DealerRater can help you find a great dealership next time you are in the market.

Again, I am sorry that we did not better serve you when you purchased your Genesis 3.8. As our previous customer, if there is anything else that we can do to serve your vehicle needs, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,

Michal Lusk
Customer Service Manager
AutoMax of Norman

 

[Turanacus]

I am learning that Automax in Norman, OK really does care, in particular Michal Lusk. I'm happy with the care I'm receiving, and it is getting better. Hence - my loaner is a Genesis, that's a nice touch that is at a premium level.