This is going to be a long review, but I want to share my full experience so future customers understand what they may be walking into.
My first interaction with Jackson Kia started online after I received a Kelley Blue Book offer for my vehicle. Shortly after, I began receiving multiple calls from the dealership expressing strong interest in purchasing my car. During the first conversation, I was completely transparent that I was currently in a lease with Acura but was interested in potentially getting out of it and purchasing a Kia.
From the start, the experience felt pressured. A manager told me I needed to make an appointment and made a point to say that if I didn't come in, it would take away from other customers and the dealership. That immediately made me uncomfortable. That same week, I received at least five more calls from different salespeople asking when I was coming in. I explained multiple times that my fiancé was also purchasing a truck that day and that we would come in when we could. I was told they would be "ready" & "roll out the red carpet" for us.
When we arrived, it was clear they had no idea who I was.
A salesperson sat down with us, pulled up inventory, and took notes on all of the vehicles I was interested in. Once I mentioned my Acura lease, he brought over a manager who immediately began asking how much I owed. At that point, I simply wanted the offer on my vehicle that they had aggressively contacted me about. Instead, I was told Acura blocks dealerships and they couldn't help me get out of the lease. That was fine - I said I'd handle that myself and reiterated that I was still interested in purchasing a Kia, cash.
While there, my fiancé asked for an appraisal on his Toyota 4Runner to compare it to another dealership's offer. They were gone for less than five minutes and came back with "about $10,000," handed him the keys, closed the browser, shook our hands, and ushered us out. No breakdown, no effort. I wasn't even offered the chance to see a single vehicle I had come in for. For context, another dealership had already offered him $24,000, and the next one offered over $20,000. The offer from Kia was an obvious lowball & made it clear they had no interest in working with us once they realized the lease situation wasn't easy. We walked out stunned wondering if that actually just happened.
The next day, I received a text from a manager saying, "We're sorry we missed you yesterday." This showed a complete lack of communication, considering I had been physically in the dealership the day before. I explained what happened and commented that the "red carpet" they promised felt like a joke.
Trying to recover the situation, the manager told me there were "ways around" the lease and encouraged us to come back. After confirming details with Acura, we foolishly gave them another chance. During this visit, the same manager accidentally sent me a text clearly meant for another employee about an upset customer arriving--unprofessional, but consistent with the pattern.
He hyped up what he called an "insane, crazy deal" on a vehicle listed around $32,000, already over my stated $30,000 budget. He returned with a final number of $43,000 out the door, including nearly $11,000 in fees, one of which was an almost $5,000 mandatory warranty. If a fee is not optional, it should be included in the advertised price. These fees were significantly higher than every other dealership we visited.
We walked away. We went on to work with several other dealerships including Dodge, Toyota, Honda, Acura, etc., and I can confidently say this was the worst experience. One dealership even warned us not to go to Jackson Kia because of poor service and excessive fees.
Ironically, I did decide to purchase a Kia--just not from Jackson Kia. The lack of communication, aggressive pressure followed by dismissal, and outrageous fees made this one of the most stressful car-buying experiences I've ever had. I will absolutely be warning others to avoid this dealership, because I would hate for anyone else to go through what we did. read more