Review: Langdale Honda/Kia of Valdosta, GA

Well, it's been more than 3 months now, so I guess it's about time for a review of our experience purchasing our new van.

For several months leading up to March 2010, Amanda and I had been discussing the possibilities of purchasing either a house or a new vehicle.  Financial issues put the house out of our reach.  But my car (Amanda's first car) was falling apart.  And since I don't know enough about vehicles to properly maintain or fix whatever issues there was, we were worried that at any moment it would stop working--hopefully not killing me and anyone nearby.  So we decided it was time for a new vehicle.  And as youth pastors at a church that doesn't have a working church van, we were constantly having to borrow or trade vehicles to cart around teenagers.  So, we decided that our new car should be a minivan (insert jokes here...).

So, I began the process of getting pre-approved for a car loan.  I chose Central Credit Union of Florida because I had a loan with them before, they were good to me, and gave me a good rate.

Next, we did our research, and found that used minivans at local dealers were in short supply.  We first went to Hyundai of Valdosta.  After a few days of negotiating, we decided that they were unwilling to give us a reasonable price on a minivan that we had done our research on and knew that it wasn't worth what they were asking.

Our next stop was at Langdale Honda/Kia of Valdosta.  By the time of night we arrived (6:30-ish), we expected them to be closed.  To our surprise, they didn't close till 8.  We were first greeted by a salesman named Jeff.  Jeff at first seemed every bit a normal salesman (you know the kind...), but he treated us fairly and wasn't particularly pushy, which, as you probably know, is unusual for a salesman.

We knew that they didn't have any minivans listed online, but Jeff told us that they had one that hadn't been posted yet, because it had just been traded in and cleaned-up.  It was a 2005 Nissan Quest.  So, within minutes of our arrival, we were test-driving a minivan.

The Quest had one previous owner.  It was 5 years old, but only had 29,000 miles on it.  It was in excellent condition, but it was missing the two rear-seat headrests.  It drove well, and Amanda liked it, but I didn't at first.  It is a funny-looking van!  Everyone who sees it likes it, but agrees that it's a bit funny looking!  The dashboard is especially unique; the general consensus is that it looks like an airplane cockpit (SPOILER--This is the van we ended up purchasing, and I really like it now for the same reasons that at first I didn't like it: it doesn't look like a regular minivan).  But as soon as we arrived back at the dealership, Jeff started asking for the sale.  He wasn't pushy, but he did ask for the sale (as any good salesperson should do).  A purchase like that isn't one that I was ready to just jump right into without sleeping on it and praying about it.

Soon though, Jeff realized that we were about to walk, so he got his manager involved.  He asked us about our pre-approval for financing and asked for a chance to beat the rate.  Amanda and I decided that if they could beat the rate we had already gotten, throw in 4 brand-new tires, replace the two missing headrests for the back seat, give us a minimum of $800 for our car (we didn't even believe it was worth $300), and still be less than $12,000, we would take it.

Surprisingly enough to us, they did all of that and more.  They gave us $1000 for the car, 4.9% with a good local credit union (beating our pre-approval by an entire percentage), and agreed to all the rest.  So, we agreed and began the paperwork.  Soon, we were out of there with our new van.  Of course, since I am ignorant with motors, we also purchased the extended warranty.

Overall, we were very happy with the transaction.  Jeff went out of his way to help us.  So, major kudos to Jeff.

However, Jeff had some personal issues (not work related I am told), so he is no longer with the company I am sad to say.  So the follow-up fell to his manager.  The follow-up consisted of the replacing of the tires with the 4 new ones they promised, and the new headrests.  The new tires weren't a problem.  Within a few days, they had them ordered and installed and everything was good.  However, the headrests were a completely different matter.  According to the manager, they first tried to recover the original headrests from the original owners, but they couldn't find them.  So after a few weeks of waiting and no calls from the dealership, I called and pressed him into ordering some brand new headrests from Nissan.  He promised they would and that they would be here in a week, and that he had my name and number written down right in front of him and would take care of it right away.  It was about 3 weeks later before I got them.

So, my overall experience with Langdale Honda/Kia of Valdosta was pleasant.  They met and exceeded our financial expectations.  The service was great, with the notable exception of the follow-up.  I feel that after I left, they were pretty much done with me, and the only reason I got any follow-up at all was because I initiated it.

I would recommend anyone that asks to Langdale, but would recommend that they deal a little more shrewdly than I am capable of with the manager to get the service and follow-up they deserve.  If Jeff, our original salesman were still there, I would send folks his way without hesitation.