Pohanka Hyundai

I had a great experience buying a 2011 Sonata at Pohanka. The salesman and other staff I dealt with were friendly, knowledgeable and straightforward, and the price was almost precisely what I had expected to The salesman and other staff I dealt with were friendly, knowledgeable and straightforward, and the price was almost precisely what I had expected to pay. I have to comment especially on the fact that this dealer did not attempt in the least to add on any extras that I wouldn't want. I had been to another the day before, and it added $3,000 worth of useless stuff, including door edge strips, pin stripes (on a car with those lines?), etc., to every 2011 Sonata. I had only a single question about dealer add-ons at Pohanka, and that was from the finance manager, who asked before we did the signatures whether I wanted to buy anything else. I really appreciated the absence of this frequent source of car-buying friction. I can't emphasize this enough: There was no funny business at this dealership. I was in by 5:30 and out before 9 with a new car. A good experience overall. More

First off, let me say that this has been the WORST, I repeat WORST car buying experience that I have ever had! This was my first new car purchase ever, and I have owned almost 10 vehicles, and have never repeat WORST car buying experience that I have ever had! This was my first new car purchase ever, and I have owned almost 10 vehicles, and have never had such shotty service or reliability in my life. What drew me to this dealership was that my mom bought a 2007 Accord (DEMO) in Sep. 07 from the affiliated Honda across the street from Hyundai. She got an excellent deal on her car, and to this day has had NO problems with her car, aside from general maintenance. So, naturally I put in a request to look at a 2009 Hyundai Sonata at the close of the 09 year, expecting to get an excellent deal. Pohanka was the first dealer that called m e in regards to the online request. The salesman, NH, told me to come on in to look at their inventory. I explained to him the situation that I was having with trading my 2006 Explorer for more cost efficiency. He assured me that if I gave them a try, I would have a memorable experience. Let me say that it has truly been MEMORABLE, and not for good reason. I work in DC and I live in Waldorf, so I told him that it takes a long time for me to travel, and that my time is money and valuable. Well, I arrived to their dealership around 7pm and was greeted by the salesman I spoke with on the phone. We go inside and start the process. Well to begin, much to my discomfort I was told that there were NO 2009 Sonata's in their inventory, mind you this is after I talked to him around 5 and was told there were plenty. xxx!! Stupidly I stayed and listened on to what he was talking about....BIG MISTAKE. He kept telling me (and Mom) of how imperative it was to trade out the gas-guzzling, value-depleting Explorer and into one of the Hyundai's. So, there was this incentive offered only to 2009 Hyundai's, minus the Genesis (figures right), and that the only 2009 he had on his lot was a DEMO 2009 Hyundai Azera Limited. This car had 6000 miles on it, mind you my mom’s demo 2 yrs earlier from Honda had 1200, so I was a little skeptical. But I figured what the xxxx?? Test drove the car and loved it. We worked the numbers and the Sales Manager, KD, was offering little to no room for negotiation, in spite of the high miles and tarnished Hyundai depreciation. In the past I always bought "nused" top-of-the-line vehicles, so I figured 6000 miles isn’t that bad, plus I was getting the full 10 year/100k warranty, which would have changed to 5 year/60k had the car been deemed used. This in my opinion, given the situation now, IS. The purchase took place 12/30/2009 and the car was delivered to my house 12/31/2009. A new car, for the New Year! Or, so I thought. Not even a week later (3 days actually), the vehicle was brought back to the service shop to have an AIRBAG sensor reset. No biggie right? WRONG! They fixed it, (yeah rite) and again that Friday the car was rite back in the shop. Not to mention that the day of the first incident I was at the service shop all morning and they had the nerve to call me back to the dealership that evening to put more money down on the car, like xxx, I was just there!! Now bringing the total down payment to over 5k! So Friday, I was a little concerned with the swift return to the service dept., so I asked for a print out of the vehicle history, and sadly a new car had one! 1 page at first, but the printer had jammed, once fixed, 6 more come out!!! OMG! One record which is actually for the same problem that I’m experiencing, which arose 4 months before I walked onto their lot! So, I didn’t look rite away because I was already running late for work. So when I got to work I was looking thru the pages and come to find out the car has had 2 steering column replacements, a new tire, and no oil change with 6k miles! And come to find out, the person that was "DEMO-ing" the car was their loan officer, VS, who did all my paperwork and had me come back for more money, yet failed to mention any of the problems that he himself was well aware of. Are they kidding me! Then the Sales Manager has the nerve to tell me that the sales dept. doesn't liaise with the service dept on vehicle histories, and even told me that I should/could have asked for the history prior to purchase. Excuse ME!! Who in TF asks for a CARFAX on a NEW VEHICLE? Whether it’s a Demo or Not. Food for thought: MAYBE YOU SHOULD. At that point I was more than pissed. And the Friday date for the 2nd return was 01/11/2010. Please note that this review is being written on 01/28/2010, and the car has been in the shop ever since the 11th. They claim that the part it needs is in Korea and they don't even have an ETA for it to the US. Shall I mention that my car note is due in 2 weeks? Then they keep giving me loaner cars (number 3 now), that are nowhere near comparable to my purchase. The most recent loaner is a 2008 Azera that reeks of xxxx (I think), and wobbles, and has 47k on it. This is after they had given a 2010 base Azera, and I just so happened to call in and ask the status of my car and was given the "usual" we don't have an ETA yet. The Sales Manager then goes onto say don't worry you have ours and we have yours, and don't worry about the miles. Well, I just wanted to throw out there that the car has almost 4oo miiles on it and he says oh, ok. Not even an hour later I get a phone call from Pohanka saying that they have sold the 2010 Azera to somone and need it back. Are you serious? More than ironic rite? Meanwhile, the car that I own and will be paying for, sits in the shop until God knows when. I didn’t even call them about the deficiencies of the 08 Azera b/c at this point I have realized that they are shady Money-hungry SOB's that could give a **** about their customers. Talking about we can't do anything b/c by law my car is considered un-drivable. Oh, really? But VS was driving it all over the planet, but now that I purchased it, it’s unsafe? Better believe that I have contacted Hyundai Motor Company and the owner of Pohanka (got his assistant) and made them aware of this unjust treatment, and if I need to go any higher then dammit I will! I cannot stress enough that you REALLY THINK IT THRU B4 YOU BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE PLEASE! This has been and continues to be a nightmare. More