Jim Ellis Kia of Kennesaw's Reviews

1.5

(11 Reviews)

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Recent Reviews

John D.

Cartersville, GA

02/12/2024

Don't waste your time.

Best dealerships pricesare a joke and service is terrible.

Ronnie C.

Atlanta, GA

12/05/2023

Terrible experience from the service dept

This has by far been the worst experience I have ever had dealing with any car dealership. I brought my car in almost 3 weeks ago for a dead battery. My car just sat for weeks before anyone even looked at it. I asked if I can be provided a loaner vehicle since it was taken them so long to get to it and was told by Misty that I was on a waitlist and that I was number 37 out of 38!!I called and called and nobody was ever able to give me an update. I finally received a text message yesterday, 12/4 telling me that they were going to replace the battery. I asked if I could pick the car up after the battery was put in since they sent the text around noon and they don’t close until 7. Nobody responded. I called Kia customer care and they advised that the dealership told them they put the battery in yesterday but gave me a promise date it 12/14 to pick up the car due to them needing to complete a safety recall on my rear windows. No one gave me a commit date of anything!!!! Nor did they mention to me they were working on a safety recall. I didn’t ask for anything to be done but the battery to be replaced. I can never get in touch with anyone when trying to call. I just want my vehicle back and I feel like it’s being held hostage at this point! If you have the option, never ever take your vehicle to them! Taking a whole month just for a battery replacement is absolutely unacceptable and the lack of communication from the advisors made the experience even worse.

MIKE O.

Marietta, GA

07/23/2023

Poor Management offering no Customer Support

I would urge anyone looking to purchase a vehicle from Jim Ellis Kia of Kennesaw to look elsewhere. I purchased two vehicles in January 2023, and was initially satisfied with my dealings. However, in May I had an interaction with the finance manager where I was given false information leading to me losing + $300. This incorrect information was repeated several times over the past two months. To correct the matter the finance manager, Brandon Pond, asked the general manager, Michael Johnson, to make me whole for his error. The GM refused. in my way of thinking if management will not correct a falsehood that cost the customer money they should not be trusted. There are better alternatives

MIKE O.

Marietta, GA

07/23/2023

Poor Management offering no Customer Support

I would urge anyone looking to purchase a vehicle from Jim Ellis Kia of Kennesaw to look elsewhere. I purchased two vehicles in January 2023, and was initially satisfied with my dealings. However, in May I had an interaction with the finance manager where I was giving false information leading to me losing + $300. This incorrect information was repeated several times over the past two months. To correct the matter the finance manager, Brandon Pond, asked the general manager, Michael Johnson, to make me whole for his error. The GM refused. in my way of thinking if management will not correct a falsehood that cost the customer money they should not be trusted. There are better alternatives

Mike O.

Marietta, GA

07/22/2023

Poor Management offering no Customer Support

I would urge anyone looking to purchase a vehicle from Jim Ellis Kia of Kennesaw to look elsewhere. I purchased two vehicles in January 2023, and was initially satisfied with my dealings. However, in May I had an interaction with the finance manager where I was giving false information leading to me losing + $300. This incorrect information was repeated several times over the past two months. To correct the matter the finance manager, Brandon Pond, asked the general manager, Michael Johnson, to make me whole for his error. The GM refused. in my way of thinking if management will not correct a falsehood that cost the customer money they should not be trusted. There are better alternatives.

Kristy B.

Marietta, GA

08/04/2022

Service department is unorganized with a lack of communication

I can't speak to the quality of the sales department, but the service department should be avoided at all costs. They have proven to be unreliable and disorganized with a severe lack of communication. It has been three solid months since they began working on my wife's AC and it still isn't fixed despite the fact that they already took her money, roughly $5k, months ago (and misplaced her keys forcing her to wait an hour while they looked for them). They don't respond to voicemails or messages left over the phone or even left in person (I left well over a dozen that were never answered). The messages may not even be being delivered, by voicemail or by employees as I've gotten multiple claims of never having received my messages. They have forgotten to order parts then forgot to let us know when those parts finally came in. They have misdiagnosed the problem with the AC four times so far and some of the parts they replaced that were not the cause of issue were quite expensive (this is in addition to what we already paid for). Only one employee we dealt with (Lavar, who was very nice) actually kept us up to date with what was going on with the car without my having to ask first. Until I finally got a hold of the manager, David, everyone else we spoke to seemed to have no information at all on the car or had no idea what I was even talking about. And when Lavar or David were each out with covid, we were left hanging as no one in the building could tell us anything. We have repeatedly been told the car was almost ready, but but then no one contacted us to let us know when it wasn't, leaving me scrambling to find a way to work multiple times because we planned on having her car back. David claims in one instance to have left a voicemail saying the car would not be ready by a day we were told, but either he lied about leaving the voicemail (as this was directly after he told me he preferred communicating via email) or left a voicemail on the wrong number without following up and did not apologize when I told him my phone records show I had no calls from him at all, let alone a message. MULTIPLE times over the course of the past several months, an entire week would go by without anyone even touching the car or communicating with us until I reached out for an update again (and frequently had to reach out multiple times as no one answered messages or had any information). And after I told David all these things were happening, we still haven't had the remainder of this repair prioritized. For example, the most recent repair attempt in question included a part that wasn't ordered until a week after we gave the confirmation to order it and then we were told it would take 10 days to arrive, but that has now turned into 14 days. Was expedited shipping not available in Canada? Each of these errors I could understand and forgive individually, but not all together and not as repeatedly as they have occurred. I could even have forgiven them if they'd shown any effort to try and make up for these mistakes, but no such effort has been made. We have now paid insurance for a vehicle that has not seen a road for a whole quarter of this year. We chose going to the dealership over another mechanic despite knowing that it would cost more because we thought we would be paying for better knowledge and service. I feel we have gotten neither. I would never EVER trust them with my vehicle again and my wife, who has been happy with her car for the past 14 years, refuses to even consider any Kia in the future because of how poorly we have been treated by this service department.

Joseph L.

Charlotte, NC

05/18/2022

Won't sell a car

I've been working with a sales representative at Kennesaw Kia for a few months, waiting for a vehicle to come on. I've held off on searching anywhere else. As an out of state buyer, I was assured this wouldn't be a problem, and they could do all the paperwork either online, or at time of pick-up.

Today, I receive a notice that they would no longer sell me a vehicle as they will no longer sell to out of state buyers. This goes against the whole fundamentals of interstate commerce. After pushing, I received confirmation that this is their policy, not Kia, and as such, my review is targeted towards this dealer.

SHERRY J.

Canton, GA

08/18/2021

RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am only giving 2 stars because the car we did like. However, that is where it STOPS! First, you call to try to see if you can get a simple oil change. No answer. If you leave a message it is 3 days to get a call back & then you are told to bring it in. For scheduled maintenance like 25,000 miles they tell you the next appointment is in Oct. (we were having tire problems & need it looked at-keep reading-that's addressed later). Now, I have tire problems, by Oct. they may blow out, how is this helpful?
So, we took it to another Kia dealership (I won't mention who because they have done nothing wrong to us & I understand their stance). They told us that the tires are cupping. The rating is 65,000 miles & we have 32,000 on the car. The other dealership (who got us in 2 days). They told us that they could do nothing but sell us tires. We explained that ALL of our service was done at Jim Ellis. He stated that because they sold us the vehicle and they had done all servicing that they would need to be the ones to address this. SO we called back & the guy in parts at Jim Ellis told us that they do not stand behind the tires on a new vehicle? HUH? They are warrantied for 65,000 miles & have not gotten quite 1/2 of that, they are cupping, which you did not realize when servicing the tires and so now we have to pay $800 for new tires?
COME ON! RUN FOLKS RUN! THEY WILL SELL YOU A CAR THEN DO NOTHING TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU, CANNOT SERVICE YOUR CAR PROPERLY AND DO NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS. You wonder why their rating on here is low-RUN!

Nicholas B.

Acworth, GA

05/13/2021

Do not buy a car here

DO NOT BUY A CAR HERE.way over priced and customer service is the worst.

This is the third time my car has been here and has yet to be be fixed. I even showed videos and proof and they were unable to fix the vehicle. They also sold me a car without disclosing that there was a recall on the car. I am filing a complaint with the Ga Consumer law and lemon law and bbb and with Kia consumer. I am unable to ever get in touch with anyone who has any power. The have shady practices. Their paint protection plan is supposed to be optional via Allstate and they FORCE you to buy it or hide it in your package. It’s for 36 months and covers NOTHING. Buy a car elsewhere. Biggest headache ever!

Original: Horrible service and shady tactics with a clueless general manager named Mike. Bought a 2021 K5 GT Line. This review is NOT reflective of my sales agent Katie.

First, beware. Nothing technology wise works on the vehicles. Apple CarPlay and Android auto both fail to connect and disconnect randomly. What’s even better is they sold it to me, didn’t disclose that they KNEW it didn’t work and then the GM told me it probably just needed an update, a week after I buy it. When I show up to my appointment to have it fixed as well as my AC and Transmission, I’m told that it’s a known issue that Apple didn’t tell them about an update and now it doesn’t work. They had a fix for it but can only be installed on on lot vehicles. I call Kia consumer to complain and they were at a loss as they released the update to ALL CUSTOMERS. Not to mention my car was on lot.

Then when my sports pedals come in, that I paid extra for, I get an unfortunate accusation that I have to pay for it that it’s unpaid for. I paid for it already and the guy said well we don’t have anyone to confirm it because sales is closed still. You have to pay or you might be held liable. He talks to someone and they decide to install it. I ask about how long did he think it would take, I was told maybe an hour. It’s the first time he’s ever installed them!!! DO WHAT!!!! Don’t tell your customers that.

I should have just said give me my money back the night I got home and the entire engine was smoking. Still smells horrible and on occasion smokes. Best part is I’m still battling to get my AC and Apple car play fixed, I have it recorded now with the issues. I even have Firestone and others saying there is a clear issue with the Transmission and the gear shifter whines and whistles and even violent shakes at higher rpm and higher gear changes. We will see how they respond in the morning about getting this all fixed.

Not Recommended

Nicholas B.

Acworth, GA

05/13/2021

Do not buy a car here

Not Recommended

Carol B.

Kennesaw, GA

02/09/2021

Honest and professional!

I purchased my 2017 Sorento new through what was then Cobb County Kia. At that time (with some pressure about how great it was), I purchased a “tires for life,” policy that would supposedly keep the tires in good repair and allow for replacement of worn tires as needed.

Long story short, that dealership went out of business and I was left holding the bag on a $2k purchase on top of the vehicle price. After going back-and-forth with Jim Ellis, I contacted the previous owner of the dealership, Scott Smith, in hopes that he would make things right. I personally spoke to Mr. Smith, who promised he would check into it and get back with me...a year later, I have yet to hear from him. Repeated calls to his dealership (Nissan Union City), have gone unanswered.

In checking with Better Business Bureau, I found numerous complaints regarding Smith and his business practices with many of the same problems I experienced.

I finally contacted Mr. Mike Boyd, General Mgr. of Jim Ellis Kia. Mr. Boyd reached out to me and made arrangements to assist me, even though his dealership had nothing to do with the worthless bill of goods warranty sold to me by Cobb County Kia.

The action Mr. Boyd and Jim Ellis took meant the world to me, as it showed me there are still good, honest, reliable people in the world. They have gained a lifetime customer by doing the right thing.

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