Go Kia West – Frustrating Car Lease Experience

Summary

A new immigrant recounts a troubling experience with Go Kia West in Coquitlam, BC, during the purchase of a Kia Niro EV. The transaction was marred by significant delays, unauthorized changes to lease terms, and aggressive dealership tactics, ultimately leading to multiple escalations and partial compensation. This case underscores the need for vigilance in vehicle transactions to avoid potential dealership malpractices.

Full Story (Translate by AI)

My Troublesome Experience with KIA West and the NIRO EV
I bought a NIRO EV from KIA West, and although I was excited about getting a new car, I didn’t expect the issues to begin right from the signing process.

Initial Delays

Because the $5,000 government rebate for EVs hadn’t been approved yet, I delayed signing the contract for a week. We booked an appointment at 5:30 PM to finalize everything, and my family arrived on time. Thinking it would be quick, we didn’t prepare snacks or toys for my child. However, we ended up waiting two hours while staff were just walking around, seemingly not doing much. I was ready to leave, but they offered a $200 credit as compensation, so we stayed. At 7:30 PM, they finally called us in.

The finance manager (FM) explained the lease terms and mentioned that the car qualified for $9,000 in government rebates. However, I noticed all the pricing details were handwritten. He also introduced a protection plan. We initially didn’t plan to buy it, but after he lowered the cost from $28/week to $12/week, we decided to add it. After signing stacks of documents (while my hungry and tired child was crying), we finished the process an hour later.

Contract Issues

Two days later, the salesperson called, saying there was an error in the paperwork, and I needed to come in and re-sign. Curious, I asked what the mistake was, thinking it might be a typo. He said I could also sign online. Comparing the old and new contracts, I discovered the lease term and interest rate had changed from 36 months to 48 months.

When I confronted the salesperson, he explained that the government rebate of $9,000 could only be applied to a 48-month lease, not 36 months, which would only qualify for $7,750. This was never explained upfront, and they had hoped I wouldn’t notice the changes. Feeling deceived, I refused to sign the new contract.

Aggressive Tactics

After my refusal, KIA Finance started bombarding me with calls and emails, pressuring me to choose one of three options:

• Sign the 48-month lease.
• Stick with the 36-month lease but pay an additional $1,250.
• Do nothing, and they would repossess the car.

Their tone was aggressive, and they refused to admit their mistake. I responded that I would only honor the original 36-month contract I had signed and would not agree to new terms. They continued calling and emailing daily, but I ignored them.

I escalated the matter to KIA Canada and the Vehicle Sales Authority (VSA), seeking third-party assistance. Unfortunately, neither provided much help.

Unauthorized Changes

On November 13, I noticed my first payment amount matched the 48-month lease terms, even though I never signed that contract. It turned out KIA West had unilaterally activated the 48-month lease without my consent. I immediately emailed them, asking why this happened and if it violated the original agreement.

After exchanging over 30 emails, they finally admitted their mistake and reverted the lease to 36 months. They also agreed to refund the protection plan, totaling $1,590. However, I calculated that I should have received $1,872 ($12/week × 52 weeks × 3 years). When I questioned the discrepancy, they claimed the difference was due to interest but eventually refunded the full amount after I insisted.

Ongoing Issues

Just when I thought everything was resolved, KIA Finance sent me an email stating I had overdue payments, which could negatively impact my credit score. I discovered that KIA West had failed to forward four months of prepayments to KIA Finance. On top of that, KIA Finance started billing me early, using the 48-month lease amount.

After multiple phone calls and emails, KIA West admitted their mistake again. Their senior management apologized, blaming their staff for poor handling. While they resolved the issue, it felt like they were trying to exploit customers who might not double-check their contracts or payments.

Unexpected Email from KIA Finance

Just when I thought everything with KIA West was finally resolved, the situation took an unexpected 360-degree turn.

Out of the blue, I received an email from KIA Finance titled “Correction.” They claimed that my lease account had an outstanding balance and warned that if I didn’t resolve it, my credit score would be affected. (A friend had already warned me that dealerships sometimes manipulate credit scores to pressure customers, so I wasn’t entirely surprised by this tactic.)

Anticipating trouble, I quickly demanded a complete payment and transaction history from KIA West’s finance manager. I also downloaded my bank transaction records as evidence to prove I had made all payments on time.

Discovering the Issue

Despite my payments being made through the bank—matching the exact amounts they requested—I couldn’t understand why they claimed I owed money. A friend from Hong Kong helped call KIA Finance, and after several back-and-forth phone calls, we uncovered the issue:

1. KIA West did not forward four months of prepayments to KIA Finance when I signed the contract.

2. KIA Finance had started billing me for the 48-month lease terms (which I never agreed to), causing discrepancies in the amounts.

Even though KIA Finance had already collected two extra payments, they still insisted I owed $340.

A Pattern of Chaos

It became clear that KIA West had completely mismanaged everything. The entire process—from altering contracts to mishandling payments—was a mess. I couldn’t help but feel this might be their strategy to pressure customers into compliance. Most people might just pay to avoid the hassle.

To add to the frustration, lower-level staff from KIA kept threatening me with:

• Sending my case to a collections agency.
• Repossessing the car.
• Damaging my credit score.

Together with my family, I relentlessly emailed, called, and messaged different departments at KIA. Eventually, senior management at both KIA West and KIA Finance got involved. After investigating, they admitted the mistakes were entirely their fault. Senior managers blamed their team for “poor handling” and sent a formal email apologizing for the errors.

Although I am a new immigrant, I refused to back down against their underhanded tactics. I even prepared a detailed table of all payments and discrepancies, something KIA West failed to do despite multiple requests. Finally, they apologized again and offered a small compensation amount (not much, but better than nothing).

Lingering Concerns

Even though the matter seems resolved now, I’m still monitoring my payment records. KIA Finance kept urging me to log in to their online account portal to view transaction details, but they had blocked my access. Once I regained access, I found the portal showed no records of any transactions. It’s absurdly unprofessional.

A Question of Integrity

I couldn’t help but wonder: is this how some businesses in Canada operate? Do they deliberately try to scam customers, hoping we won’t double-check payment and transaction records?
Looking back, KIA West’s actions were outright unacceptable:

• Altering contracts.
• Activating an unsigned agreement.
• Failing to forward payments.
• Threatening repossession and credit score damage.

Next time I buy a car, KIA is off the table.

I hope this is truly the end of my dealings with KIA, but it has been an incredibly draining process. Meanwhile, my lease for our first car is almost over, and I’ll soon need to go through the hassle of finding a new car again.

Considering Alternatives

I’m leaning towards the 2025 Nissan Kicks, as it’s slightly bigger and would be more convenient for my family. While my wife drives confidently in Maple Ridge, I don’t want a car that’s too big. The Kicks seems like the perfect size—but I’m mentally preparing for another round of negotiations.

Original story link:

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