Eric Gates
Eric Gates at Columbia Ford Kia

Eric Gates | Page 7

General Manager

Columbia Ford Kia

234 Willimantic Road, Route 6
Columbia, CT 06237

Contact Me
5.0
586 Reviews

Eric is happily married to his wife, Katharine and lives in Stonington with their 2 children Ollie and Bella. His motivation to help people buy, trade, sell, fix, repair, maintain and improve their automotive situations shines through and is proven by the thousands of people he has affected. He is an avid athlete and sports fan. Eric is a hometown fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox, and he will certainly let you know about it. Eric has been around the business for his entire life, and he has been playing with cars since he could touch the pedals. He has been certified in 8 different car manufacturers, so he certainly knows his stuff. Come in and meet him, he will always go above and beyond, no matter who you are!

Dealership Experience

11 yrs, 9 mos

Industry Experience

41 yrs, 8 mos

Specialties & Trainings

NADA Graduate

5.0

586 Reviews

Write a Review

586 Reviews of Eric Gates

December 30, 2022

Dealership Rating
Employee Rating

Great sales crew and an excellent dealership! Made my buying experience effortless and enjoyable. Will buy here again More

by Tdalexander93
Sales Price Transparency
Trade-in Experience
Purchase Time
Finance Experience
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Jake Gurzler, Bobby Eskey, Jimmie Bletsch, Mike Pahlas , Noah Calovis, John Senick

December 18, 2022

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Employee Rating

Easy to work with. Know what you're supposed to be getting and make sure they know too because they are still salesman at heart. More

by tamcrss
Sales Price Transparency
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Jake Gurzler, Jimmie Bletsch, Ilya "Eli" Belyi , John Senick

December 14, 2022

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Employee Rating

The process with Columbia Ford and especially Dave Munkelt was quick and painless. Columbia and Dave updated me at every status change with the vehicle. Paperwork and terms were completed quickly. More

by lake_tom
Sales Price Transparency
Purchase Time
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Joe Brochu, Dave Munkelt , Ryan McLeod

November 29, 2022

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While the sales department experience was pleasant, the service department experience was something all-together different. Multiple long trips back and forth to the shop for things that should have been t More

by speedyj302
Service Price Transparency
Workmanship
Service Time
Service Communication
Recommend Dealer
No

October 29, 2022

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The best dealer ever! Best trucks ,good people! Tony my salesman great man I recommend him to everyone I know! More

by Edi
Customer Service
Friendliness
Price
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Jake Gurzler , Tony Mauro

October 29, 2022

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Great experience as usual from the crew at Columbia Ford. In and out no pressure sales. More

by Matt.papp
Customer Service
Friendliness
Price
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Tony Mauro, Alisa Velasquez

September 17, 2022

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By far the easiest and best dealer car buying experience that I have ever encountered. I will be making future purchases at Columbia Ford. More

by brbattista
Customer Service
Friendliness
Price
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Tony Mauro

September 12, 2022

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Employee Rating

I recently purchased a Sorento Plug-in hybrid. My experience at Columbia Kia was remarkably terrible. For starters, I didn’t appreciate the sales “games”. I just don’t like to be lied to and I More

by hevans
Customer Service
Friendliness
Price
Recommend Dealer
No

August 29, 2022

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DO NOT BUY A VEHICLE FROM THIS PLACE! Bought a 2016 certified Explorer and the thing is a piece of crap! I bought it in May(4months ago) and I’ve had to bring it back three times for thi More

by Brian
Customer Service
Friendliness
Price
Recommend Dealer
No

Other Employees Tagged: Dave Munkelt

Sep 01, 2022

Columbia Ford Kia responded

Brian- Thank you very much for your candid review. If you remember correctly, when you were standing in my showroom you were cursing at me and using demeaning language toward me when I explained I simply did not have a loaner available for you to use to drive to New York. All while we were going to take an hour to diagnose your concern on the 2016 NON CERTIFIED AS-IS 106,000 mile Explorer you purchased from us 5 months ago. That is exactly when you stated why can't I be a "normal salesman" and that's when I asked why can't you be a "normal, courteous customer" that asks for a favor (i.e. Loaner) vs. using threats, foul language and demeaning the careers that we work extremely hard to support our families with. No one ever lied to you, we DID have to perform the appropriate safety work prior to you taking delivery of the vehicle which is why we needed to delay the final delivery to you, and you knew that. We have ALWAYS been a company that has done what we say and say what we do. Please do not come back to our facility, it's an embarrassment to have an adult act the way you do anytime you come here. Thank you very much- Eric

August 29, 2022

Dealership Rating
Employee Rating

I'd like to send a shout out to Noah, I know he's just a lot guy but he was very helpful in answering a couple questions I had about a vehicle I had purchased to be exact the bright yellow Jeep Wrangler. I More

by birmingham724
Customer Service
Friendliness
Price
Recommend Dealer
Yes

Other Employees Tagged: Diane Bardol, Noah Calovis

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