Napleton Hyundai Offering Azera's As Loaners To Genesis Owners

[Sal Collaziano]

My wife and I were shopping for a Crossover SUV until this afternoon. We checked out the Hyundai Veracruz and we were both VERY impressed. While we were there, the salesman told us that Genesis owners were receiving an Azera as a loaner when they brought their vehicle in for service. He also told me that they were the only dealership doing this.

In any event, the Veracruz is really a nice SUV. Anyone but the most picky of people would probably take this vehicle over a Lexus RX.. However, the 2010 RX is also a very, very nice vehicle - it certainly "one ups" the Veracruz - and we leased one today. Hyundai needs to get the v6 from the Genesis in this vehicle. The Lexus was more powerful, more visually appealing (to us) inside and out, has much better navigation, iPod connectivity even WITH navigation, much, much better service - and more...

At Hyundai, the sales experience was BAD. I'd have to rate it a 2 out of 10. The salesman did not listen. Nice guy, but he didn't listen - and that left a bad impression of the place in my wife's eyes. I couldn't blame her. At Lexus, everything was just the opposite. An excellent experience in the sales department - and we already know about the service. This is our third Lexus.

I personally believe that Hyundai is going to be the next Lexus - but I will never let them rest when it comes to the buying experience and treatment. If Hyundai wants to become a big player in the world of luxury automobiles, they need to learn how to treat their customers.

My favorite car company is Cadillac - and I've all but given up on them to ever make another vehicle that interests me. So it's not just Hyundai that I'm critical of. I want great automobiles, great dealer service and experiences, and I'm happy to pay for these extras. I'm sure many other people feel the same way. In fact, I'm 100% positive - they're all driving Mercedes, BMW, Lexus or a number of other top tier luxury brand automobiles...

 

[jwaters943]

My dealership while no-frills in nature, has been quite responsive to my needs. They gave me a rental while my Genesis was in their body shop to fix a small paint defect on the bumper. I was quite surprised as I hadn't even asked for a rental/loaner. I was also asked if the Regional Rep could meet w/ me to inspect the paint flaw and report back to Hyundai. Upon meeting him, he apologized profusely and stated that Hyundai is working really hard to keep Genesis owners satisfied w/ their purchase.

While there are bad dealers out there I do believe that Hyundai as a corporation cares about their customers. This belief was reaffirmed when I called about the trunk piece that comes standard on V8 model Genesis and was told all I had to do was purchase the part and send in my receipt in order to get reimbursement. Approx. 10-14 days later I had a check in my hand for the full amount of the part, including tax.

FWIW, I never received this kind of treatment with VW even when I was in for warranty work and parts were back-ordered. I sometimes had to wait 2 weeks for my car to be fixed and was flat out denied a rental/loaner vehicle.

I'm really hoping the Genesis holds up well as time goes on.....this economy is wreaking havoc on my finances, especially savings/retirement. I may well hold onto this car for 8-10 years!

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Some dealerships are great - some are not. If they want to compete with Lexus, they ALL have to be excellent.

 

[jwaters943]

I'm sure they will be once they launch a separate luxury brand.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I'm sure they will be once they launch a separate luxury brand.

Yeah, I'm still kinda crossing my fingers on that. I'm not 100% sure they necessarily need to do that right away. Just create a sub brand and only allow certain individuals to deal with customers interested in the Genesis vehicles. The sales people need to be patient, smart/knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with. This is so important and I really hope Hyundai gets on the ball with it...