Folsom Lake Hyundai, CA

[Bytor]

Not off to a great start here... We had been looking into and researching the G70 for quite some time and experienced what most here in California (or maybe the entire U.S.) have - a complete lack of the car. We would love to have test driven or even just walked around one, but none were to be found. Add to that the baffling and ever changing Genesis website, which for a while, promised test drives delivered to your location and sales through the internet, then mearly promised to add you to a mailing list for breaking information, and then never delivered on even that. Oh, but then came the NFL marketing blitz and countless rave reviews on youtube (almost all Canadian locations of course). Then finally the website changed again to allow for the concierge to contact us and schedule a test drive and showing... which they did... sort of. The concierge who contacted me put in a request for a showing/test drive at our nearest Hyundai dealer (Genesis authorized? Contracted?) - Folsom Lake Hyundai.

Ok, so up to this point, this discussion has been about the "Genesis experience"... Now we get to the Folsom Lake Hyundai experience - because, make no mistake, you are dealing with Hyundai sales people and tactics at this point. Yes, they have some G70's on the lot (like unicorns!) and they have a banner hung above a door that says Genesis, but that's about the only "Genesis experience" we could sense.

We are barely into our experience with this dealer, but I guess I would sum it up for now as "lack of interest in service and detail". To begin with (and this may be more the fault of the concierge people) the concierge set me up with a day and time to visit the dealership and promised they would have a car available to see/drive. Weeks later, when I had heard nothing back from the dealership, I called to make sure we were indeed scheduled. James, who identified himself as the sales manager, had no information of our scheduled visit. Ok, chalk it up to a communication gap between dealer and concierge. We showed up at our scheduled time anyway and were able to take a test drive - we did in fact purchase a G70 Design, and the car itself has lived up to every expectation so far. But I believe our satisfaction is related solely to the quality of the car itself - the Genesis engineering division of Hyundai have done well with this car.

When we arrived at the dealership and parked, we started looking inside a used red G70 Sport Edition that had been somehow related to the Genesis Golf tournament, where the winners got to drive the cars for several months. We were noticed, and first approached by Harley, who I got the feeling was "the" Genesis salesman, as he wore a different colored shirt then all the rest. We were taken on a test drive of that red G70 and were really impressed with the car. We continued to go over general car information as well as package details with our assigned salesman Harley and an occasional appearance by James. Harley had a general level of knowledge about the car, but definitely lacked a complete familiarity with the "service" side of the Genesis deal. He also seemed anxious to be done with us and on to something else - pretty much showed a lack of interest in really seeing us as satisfied buyers (maybe just his personality?). We then walked the lot, looking at the G80's just to tick that box off, and noticed a Design Edition G70. We were very taken by the color and interested in taking a closer look at the interior. There was some strange dealership shiftiness in showing us the Design Edition model - first, "it's not show ready, just came off the truck" (though it was parked on the lot next to the rest and dusty), then it was "I can't get keys for that one since it's not ready", but then finally keys magically appeared and we were allowed to get in and check it out... then after some mumbling about gas in it, we were actually allowed a test drive. I assume they somehow had measured us by that point and determined we were actual buyers, which is why the keys appeared. Still, not what I would expect from the "Genesis Experience". As far as I understand, the contracted Hyundai dealerships are required to provide an elevated level of exclusion and customer care if they wanted the franchise to sell the cars. Is this not correct?

We were honestly there just to test drive, as we still wanted to compare Audi A5/S5 Sportbacks and Kia Stingers, but we had pretty much decided we wanted the car already - however, we still needed to drive the Stinger before making the jump. When we said we liked the car and would be back shortly after doing our due diligence of at least driving the Stingers down the street, James came running out with a discounted offer, only good if we didn't leave the lot. It was a fair deal, though a bit low-rent sales kind of thing - definitely not the "no hassle, buy online, luxury" Genesis experience... but whatever. We sat down with the finance guy and purchased the car, to take delivery the following weekend.

When we returned, we finalized the paperwork and then proceeded out to the car. Harley went over controls with us, though at a very uninterested level of energy and detail - he clearly was done with his portion and ready to move on to other sales. Any questions we had regarding service reminders, connected services, complimentary service valet, etc. went largely unanswered to our satisfaction. Lack of care of detail. Then, while he was explaining some of the systems, we noticed the current mileage on the car - it was at 25 miles when we first signed the contract the weekend before (which is also what is printed on the contract), and was now 36. Kind of shocked, my wife said "wow, someones been driving the car". Harley replied in a somewhat arrogant tone "well, it needed gas and detailing you know...". Fine, those items are logical. But the lot itself details the car right? And the gas station is hardly a quarter mile away... how did they manage to put 11 miles on the car? Again, not a big deal, but when you're paying $50k+ for a car that is supposed to come with some sort of "luxury experience", it's another mark. Finally, while looking around the body, we noticed a scratch and chip in the driver door which was not there before. Also baffling, as we had paid for the Autobutler protectant service which should have at best filled in and buffed out the scratch and chip, and at worse, the tech applying it should have notice this defect... or the detailer! What about the detailer right? Especially if they had to drive it 11 miles to this service. In any case, James, the "sales manager", was standing right there when we pointed out the scratch and said "no problem, I'll get so and so to buff it out - I'll have to get ahold of him and give you a call since he's not here today and I don't trust anyone here today to take a wheel to it". Fine, that sounded like an honest interest in our satisfaction and a respect for our investment. Well, been waiting for a call and calling the dealership asking for James and getting a complete run-around for the past couple days, so not happy about that. Again, "Genesis Experience".

Basically, there was a lack of detail after the sale and during delivery. There was still protective plastic stuck around the gas peddle and under the driver seat along the rail (which could have got caught up in the adjustment movement and surely would have caused some sort of malfunction. The inside of the windshield had a film on it as well as adhesive residue from some sort of sticker that had been in the window - it clearly was not washed... it was supposed to be detailed!!! That's not even detail, that's just the windshield.

It's early on, but just the feeling we got at this dealership makes us wary of our first maintenance. Do we have to take it here? How is that going to go? And we don't really have much choice, as all three Hyundai dealerships in the Sacramento region are owned and managed by the same people. I really hope Genesis installs an actual Genesis dealership and service center somewhere nearby soon. The "Genesis Experience" truly was a large part of our reasoning for purchasing the car. So far, we simply bought a REALLY expensive Hyundai.

 

[OMG70]

I had a similar experience with lack of detail at my dealer in Laguna Niguel. I have scratches on my rear passenger door and trunk hood. Additionally noticed the plastic protective layer on the pedals weren't taken off (though I appreciated that bit) and noticed the wash/detail was very hurried. Going to give the dealer a shot at correcting this (as they told me they would), but I'm already weary of it.

I think a big factor in this is that many of the employees are used to selling a Hyundai (and still do). They employ the same strategies because they haven't been trained the same way as the German competitors. Hopefully all this correct over time as the employees see the value of the brand

 

[ephone1]

The buying experience won't change until the stores are separate. These dealers see 99% Hyundai buyers every day, and the two guys at the store who go through the online Genesis training program (I assume that's how its done), are probably top producers who have been successful selling Hyundais.

As an aside, I called a dealer last weekend that got their first shipment of G70's. The sales guy said he didn't think they were prepped, but he would call me when they were. Naturally, I didn't expect him to call back, and of course, he didn't - I'm not even irritated because my expectations are low.

 

[Hueydriver]

I guess I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to my purchase experience here in South Florida! Most of my purchases have been at Rick Case Genesis in Weston and it just happen that I have known Paul, sales person, since our Viet Nam days. The man is as honest as can be and straight forward. He still calls me cappy!!

I have seen him with other customers as I wait for service to be done on the wife's Santa Fe as well as my G80, and the man is always smiling!

 

[Bytor]

Yep, that's pretty much how we interpreted it - couple top sellers get minimal training in order to satisfy the Genesis Branded franchise requirements, but are still Hyundai at heart, and are surrounded by the Hyundai staff and business practices. Something there needs to change, but I doubt it will any time soon.

We'd be willing to drive like down to the Bay area (couple hour drive) if we knew our car would be treated better for service. It feels like we bought an Aston Martin but now have to take it to the high school car wash... lol. Well, maybe that's extreme, but you get my point...

 

[Gen127]

So far, we simply bought a REALLY expensive Hyundai.

...and a Lexus IS a REALLY expensive Toyota. Truth in both of these statements.
However, Lexus has, over the years, successfully separated itself from the Toyota mothership as a stand-alone luxury brand. Hyundai is having a much more difficult time, it appears, in distinguishing itself from Genesis ( and vice-versa) and will continue to do so with shared dealerships.
That said, I hope your enjoy your new ride!

 

[Gen127]

We'd be willing to drive like down to the Bay area (couple hour drive) if we knew our car would be treated better for service. It feels like we bought an Aston Martin but now have to take it to the high school car wash... lol. Well, maybe that's extreme, but you get my point...

I’ve taken my car to Dublin Hyundai (also a Genesis dealer) as I live in the East bay area for occasional service and warranty work and I’ve felt I was treated courteously and with professionalism by the service department. Got a G80 as a loaner while I had work done in my 2015 Hyundai Genesis.

 

[TurtleBoy]

I really hope Genesis installs an actual Genesis dealership and service center somewhere nearby soon. The "Genesis Experience" truly was a large part of our reasoning for purchasing the car. So far, we simply bought a REALLY expensive Hyundai.

Genesis of Folsom is a franchised Genesis dealer. Highly unlikely there will be any others in your area in the future given the size. As far as I know, currently all Genesis dealers are co-located with a Hyundai dealer. Some have plans to build/acquire a separate building but Genesis dropped that as a requirement for a franchise.

Hopefully the service you receive will be much better than your sales experience.

Congratulations on the new car! Good luck, enjoy and be safe.

 

[TurtleBoy]

We'd be willing to drive like down to the Bay area (couple hour drive) if we knew our car would be treated better for service. It feels like we bought an Aston Martin but now have to take it to the high school car wash... lol. Well, maybe that's extreme, but you get my point...

Roseville and Sacramento have Genesis dealers, you might want to try them. They are both within the valet service area and you are free to take it to any Genesis dealer for service, you don't have to use the dealer you purchased from.

 

[Bytor]

Well, to be fair, we have yet to have to deal with service in any way - just cautious about the future, given the sales experience and staff so far. And also to be fair, I've had FAR worse sales experiences in the past, so I'm not saying we had a terrible sales experience - just "let down" given all the "Genesis Experience" hype.

Roseville and Sacto are also owned and managed by the same people as Folsom Lake, so unless their service departments are completely separate, I doubt there's too much difference between the three. We'll see in about 2500 miles - if in fact that is our service interval given our driving patterns - that part is still a little grey.

But it is a really decent car and we love it - those people who walk by it and say "what's that?!" and then snobbishly reply "oh that's just a Hyundai" clearly haven't done any research on the G70.

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[lou1119]

Well, to be fair, we have yet to have to deal with service in any way - just cautious about the future, given the sales experience and staff so far. And also to be fair, I've had FAR worse sales experiences in the past, so I'm not saying we had a terrible sales experience - just "let down" given all the "Genesis Experience" hype.

Roseville and Sacto are also owned and managed by the same people as Folsom Lake, so unless their service departments are completely separate, I doubt there's too much difference between the three. We'll see in about 2500 miles - if in fact that is our service interval given our driving patterns - that part is still a little grey.

But it is a really decent car and we love it - those people who walk by it and say "what's that?!" and then snobbishly reply "oh that's just a Hyundai" clearly haven't done any research on the G70.

I purchased my G90 from Hyundai of Roseville and have had a great experience with their service department. Prompt
, courteous and an overall excellent. A hell of a lot better than .Mercedes of Sacramento. I would highly recommend them for your future service.u

 

[Bald Eagle]

Bytor,
Thanks for taking the time for your well detailed report. I think I would blame the owner of the stores. I'm in Marin, and my wife had a couple of Lexus'. The local store was bought by a major chain, and while the surface of the store/experience was still glossy, you could sense pennys were being pinched & corners rounded underneath.

 

[Bytor]

... Back with an update...

Couple things here... We've been waiting and waiting for some kind of communication about dealing with the scratch and chip in the door... My wife had maybe one actual conversation with James, the supposed sales manager that was there when we pointed it out and was the one who promised to do something about it. This conversation was simply James saying he had to get a hold of so and so, his paint specialist, and would get back to her. Paint specialist?! What happened to buffing it out? Does that take a paint specialist? That's an honest question - I don't know, maybe it does. In any case, no further calls FROM the dealership regarding this - It's been about 2 weeks now. Is that reasonable? Maybe to get on a schedule - I'll buy that. But not even calling to discuss suggested resolutions - not acceptable. And it's not that we didn't try to get in touch with them... My wife has called back many times since that first conversation with James and has been redirected each time... "Oh, James stepped away..." or "One second, I'll get him... Hello, this is so and so, what are you calling for? Oh, I'll have to get a hold of James and have him get back to you..." Get the picture here?! Just plain and simple redirect tactics from a dishonest dealership. I wouldn't even be phased by any of this if... this was not supposed to be the "Genesis Experience"!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and like a couple days after we drove off the lot, we get an email form the dealership service department thanking us for choosing them to service our Genesis! Ha!

So ok - lack of communication and runaround from the "sales department". And it's just a small scratch - will probably buff out - not the end of the world. But we are invested in this "Genesis Experience" thing - like 50k invested. So, I reached out to the Genesis customer service...

Get's a little more interesting here. I started with just some general questions - things I wasn't clear on. First thing I find out, is that the "concierge" I originally talked to about test drive and such, was not "Genesis". The customer service person (Brittney) told me that was probably just the dealership. Huh. Interesting, since we pretty much got an immediate call from "Genesis" after buying asking us to rate our experience with the dealership... again, really just the dealership. Anyway, I then find out that Genesis doesn't cover "extreme conditions" driving, which is basically what anyone would realistically do according to the manual. I guess that means 7500 (6000?) miles / 12 months instead of the 3000 miles / 6 months that the manual points out that is needed for that kind of driving (hills, traffic, stop and go... pretty much normal driving around Sacramento). I'm still not clear what the interval is, or where to set it so that they actually cover it (is the onboard setting good enough? Do I need to set that option online? Do I just have to know to take it in at the correct mileage?), but in any case, that cuts the perceived "covered" services in half from what I understood when buying. I think this is probably covered in other threads in these forums, but with all the metric people posting, I'm completely confused! lol. Point here is that this information was only presented AFTER purchasing and signing up with a Genesis owner account. So every other service is on my dime - fine.

That gripe out of the way, the customer service person I spoke with was good (Brittney) and I felt like I was actually maybe getting some of that "Genesis Experience". She created a case number and said she would reach out to the dealership and see what was going on. She also relayed that California was pretty much the last state to get the franchises and that dealerships were slow to catch on to the "luxury experience" promise. She didn't sound shocked about the lack of care by the dealership. So, a day or so later, she called back and said she had talked to James and that he told her he had just talked to my wife the day before... Uhhhhh no. You didn't. He also told her his "tying to get ahold of the paint specialist" story and that he would call us by the end of the week. End of the week came and went, so I called customer care back. Speaking to a different agent each time, we have been doing a "well, wait to see if they call you today, and if not we will escalate". So finally, with zero communication from the dealership, customer care said they were escalating this case to "National" yesterday. Wait... what? National? Who was I talking to then? Whatever. I was told National would research this and get back to me within like 5-7 days with resolution options. Not holding my breath.

I'm not sure yet how to rate Genesis customer care - I hope it doesn't sound like I'm ranking on their service - that jury is still out. They did reply to me in timely manner though, which is all we really want and deserve. So, maybe there's hope.

 

[OMG70]

That is very frustrating. Please keep us posted. Going through a similar issue as you and I'm not sure if I need to take this issue to corporate just yet

 

[LD5050]

I’m dealing with issues right now on our new G80 Sport, but the local dealer has thankfully been as accommodating as they can. They have it now to fix a paint chip on the lower front fascia lip and the AC not blowing cold air (!)
They are opening an adjacent Genesis dealership to their current Hyundai lot, but until that’s ready we just deal with a select few at the current establishment.
I hope everything works out to your satisfaction. This is such a great car!

 

[TurtleBoy]

Thanks for the update even though it is not good news and a successful resolution yet. Hopefully that will come soon. Good luck and let us know.

 

[EdP]

... Back with an update...

Couple things here... We've been waiting and waiting for some kind of communication about dealing with the scratch and chip in the door... My wife had maybe one actual conversation with James, the supposed sales manager that was there when we pointed it out and was the one who promised to do something about it. This conversation was simply James saying he had to get a hold of so and so, his paint specialist, and would get back to her. Paint specialist?! What happened to buffing it out? Does that take a paint specialist?



Get's a little more interesting here. I started with just some general questions - things I wasn't clear on. First thing I find out, is that the "concierge" I originally talked to about test drive and such, was not "Genesis". The customer service person (Brittney) told me that was probably just the dealership. Huh. Interesting, since we pretty much got an immediate call from "Genesis" after buying asking us to rate our experience with the dealership... again, really just the dealership. Anyway, I then find out that Genesis doesn't cover "extreme conditions" driving, which is basically what anyone would realistically do according to the manual. I guess that means 7500 (6000?) miles / 12 months instead of the 3000 miles / 6 months that the manual points out that is needed for that kind of driving (hills, traffic, stop and go... pretty much normal driving around Sacramento). I'm still not clear what the interval is, or where to set it so that they actually cover it (is the onboard setting good enough? Do I need to set that option online? Do I just have to know to take it in at the correct mileage?), but in any case, that cuts the perceived "covered" services in half from what I understood when buying. I think this is probably covered in other threads in these forums, but with all the metric people posting, I'm completely confused! lol. Point here is that this information was only presented AFTER purchasing and signing up with a Genesis owner account. So every other service is on my dime - fine.

That gripe out of the way, the customer service person I spoke with was good (Brittney) and I felt like I was actually maybe getting some of that "Genesis Experience". She created a case number and said she would reach out to the dealership and see what was going on. She also relayed that California was pretty much the last state to get the franchises and that dealerships were slow to catch on to the "luxury experience" promise.

I'm not sure yet how to rate Genesis customer care - I hope it doesn't sound like I'm ranking on their service - that jury is still out. They did reply to me in timely manner though, which is all we really want and deserve. So, maybe there's hope.

With auto paint today there is no such thing as "buff it out". Metallic paints and clear coats add considerable complexity compared to the old acrylic enamels of years ago.

As for the "severe service" it seems some have had it done with no problem. I agree it should be standardized and made clear what is covered.

Seems like Genesis is trying, but many of the dealers are just typical car dealers. Some are treating customers well, others just plain suck. My personal experience has been good, much better than the Mercedes dealer I've dealt with but there are always exceptions on both sides.

As an aside on the paint. I had a very minor ding from a branch falling on my car. I figured it would be out of pocket on my $500 deductible. Body shop looked at it and said it is a $1200 job.

 

[Bytor]

Well, not a lot of good news at this point, but I think we can wrap up our first experience with the Folsom Lake dealership. Nothing got resolved by the dealership. We are moving on at this point, valuing our time and sanity over being "right" and getting any kind of accountability from the sales department at this dealership. So, here are the two important things we are taking away from out initial experience:

1.) The sales department at Folsom Hyundai is just that - Hyundai. There is no Genesis feeling at this dealership. Limited to the people we dealt with, Harley (salesman) was just ok, not entirely knowledgeable with the Genesis G70 (as I would think he should be if that's his designated product line), and not all that good with customer service (as ALL Genesis sales staff should be, considering the whole "Genesis Experience" promise, pitch, and marketing). James (sales manager?) on the other hand, seems to be exactly what I picture car salesmen to be - dishonest. After initially promising to take action on the scratch we noticed before taking possession of the car, James managed to stall, misdirect, and lie about calls and contacts made and received for an absurd amount of time, with absolutely no action taken as of this date. You can see the timeline of my posts above to make your own judgement, but we're going to have to just move on, as James apparently has no intention of following through with his word. We've only ever got an occasional "I need to check with so and so on Monday - I'll call you then to schedule..." and then no call... Crickets chirping... June 11th. No action. In our opinion, the scratch along with a mysterious 11 miles on the odometer appeared AFTER we signed the initial purchase agreement. We were told the car was going to be put away for us to pick up the following week. I don't understand how the car could end up with 11 additional miles on it during that week, but my guess is they actually test drove the car several times after that (which would account for the additional 11 miles and the rock scratch on the lower door panel. Their excuse was that they had to get it detailed and gassed up... both of which more than likely happened on the lot itself or a quarter mile away (gas station) at most. Dishonesty right off the bat. Failure to follow through with promises... typical.

2.) On the other hand, we had mixed results with Genesis Customer Service. I put in a good amount of time contacting the Genesis Customer Service people for several weeks about this dealer, and although they actually returned calls and worked with me for the most part - even filing an official complaint and opening a service case, in the end they closed the case stating that it was just a scheduling issue between us and the sales department at Folsom Lake and not any kind of manufacturing issue form Genesis. Well, On several occasions, the customer service reps said they reached out to James and that he had said he was calling us and scheduling things. Uh, no. He didn't make those calls. So we waited, and waited, and eventually called James again. And then we would get the usual "I need to talk to so and so... I'll call you Monday..." and then we would get no call. So yes, I guess it is a scheduling issue with the sales guy... but he's not helping us!! And he IS Genesis!!! You sell your cars through this dealer, and promised us a "Genesis Experience"!!!! Who else are we supposed to contact if not Genesis customer support about this?!!

So, I guess it's on to the next challenge with the local Hyundai dealerships... good god, we have the Auto-Butler service to schedule at some point, and then the first service appoinment... and we have to work with these same people?! I know this probably sounds petty, but it sure doesn't feel that way to us.