Shitty Hyundai Dealers In Texas

Long story or short story. Dang, my daughter is a senior in high school now and mommy's getting sick of driving her and her brother to school (oh crap, he's in high school now too). So shopping for new car for myself. I may let her drive the two door Jeep. Feeling the need for speed again, like when I had the Charger, which I sold (more what I bought it for) during the pandemic.

Cars in consideration: C8 Vette, Camaro SS with 1LE suspension, Civic Type R. Well, I don't think C8 is very available at this time, maybe $100K for a used one. With a kid heading to college next year and already astronomical auto insurance costs (teen drivers), I will have to hold off. Maybe forever because I'm pretty sure TMSC would rather make Apple M2 chips (and there is plenty of Apple M2 laptop availability - we bought x2 recently) than low-end chips for GM cars. In hindsight, maybe GM should not have called TMSC to cancel their orders and lose their place in line. Camaros are available. However, I wasn't too convinced because it feels very claustrophobic inside peering out the small windows. Great car though especially with the active suspension. I know Honda is coming out with a new Type R for 2023, but knowing Honda, they will not have any availability. Dealers are already marking up $10-$15k before we can even order. Honda sucked just as bad as GM with getting chips. Well, a few things make the current Type R horrible: 20" wheels not suitable for roads -anywhere- and $50k for a 2017 with 50k miles. Time to move past all this and really, I want to go cheap.

But wait. There's this company called Hyundai / Kia. A lot of their cars have caught my eye. I've driven a few of their lower end models. They feel like what Honda used to be. A hungry upstart. I think @Hands has a Stinger no? Genesis, great sedan. In retrospect, one wonders why Cadillac couldn't be like Hyundai, start over to go back up again to capture younger hearts. Bah, that's GM. GM can do some amazing things but much of the time, they are dumb (they don't realize the Cadillac name doesn't anywhere as much as it used to be - like in 1982)

Of course Veloster. It always looked like a cute hatch. The extra backseat door, only on the passenger side may seem odd, but it would work for me whenever I needed to pick up an extra kid or two. The thing that surprised me: since 2021, Hyundai started to offer the Veloster N with a DCT. Yup a dual clutch transmission. A bump to 275hp. The more I read about it, the cooler it sounded. A few years back, they fixed the rear suspension to be a multi-link. It's got active suspension and a fancy limited slip in the front that can control torque to the wheels to alleviate understeer while accelerating out of corners. (I would have considered a Mini JCW, but Mini's tech has really fallen by the wayside. It's got horrible understeer powering out of corners. Mini seems to be more of a car for Hollywood has-beens who drive under the influence of drugs). All this for about $35k. How the F did Hyundai cram all this tech into a $35k car? HTF did they cram a DCT into a FWD?

Also, plenty of availability at the Hyundai dealerships from Brownsville to Houston to San Antonio.

 

We got a Jeep at a really good price when we first moved here. I was shocked. I played two Jeep dealerships off each other and one caved. I bumped into the guy who sold me the Jeep at the local Jeep dealer in Corpus. Rodrigo was his name. He got promoted to be the guy in the finance office! You know, that jerk who keeps trying to sell you crap that you don't need. I congratulated him on his promotion. Now since he got bumped up, he goes by Rod. Haha. A couple of the sales guys at the local dealership gave him shit about that. I think I am still going to call him Rodrigo. Anyway, we know we can still get good prices from him. At least a good as the current situation will allow. Maybe $1000 markup for the only-car-on-the-lot kind of deal, which is actually very good pricing in today's environment. I just wanted to say this because I don't think all dealerships are bad in the area... well except Hyundai. I get the feeling that Hyundai corporate has poor control over their dealerships.

I went Internet shopping, found a car, filled out my paperwork online. When we were about to close the deal, I got this via email:



Yeah. Wow. That's almost $11k in add-ons. This did not look like anything I saw advertised on the Internet. I don't mind markups, but be upfront, this feels like bait and switch. I don't think Texas laws are very strong with respect to this. Lots of Rhett Butler / Scarlett O'hara scammer types.

After this, I totally ghosted this dealership. Almost - I did reply with a counteroffer of $500 over MSRP and delete all other shit. I don't have time for this. I still get calls from them but I put their number on my spam list. Here's the problem why dealerships act shitty like this: no one punishes them. I don't need a car that badly. Until I get an e-mail with reasonable pricing, they will continue to receive no response from me. I intend to never buy from them. If more people had this attitude, dealerships wouldn't act like this.

 

After this, I put out an alert via True Car that I was interested in a Veloster N. One dealership called and gave me a price that was somewhat more reasonable.



However, WTF is up with the Apex Protection Package for $1952? Oh great, it's another Rhett Butler / Scarlett O'hara scammy business (note the one star rating). Insurance is a scam. This is why Warren Buffet is rich and if he ever needed to pay you any kind of real money, he'd find a way to get out of it.

 

So finally, I did find a decent deal. One place in Houston as asking $2+k in extra "paint protection and interior protection". Not bad. No markup, just a bullshit add-on. I didn't go for it. The reason is that I am now worried, paranoid of the probability of bait and switch and eight hours of wasting my time was highly likely.

Oh, I forgot to mention that many other places called about cars in-transit. I asked about markups, and the reply I got was MSRP followed by when I could come in person. I said I would come in person if they could email me an MSRP price and that it would be a done deal. The usual answer: will need to check with sales manager and will then email you. This never happens.

In the end, I was only able to get three quotes from two dozen dealers, and all other dealers wanted me to come in person (to use old school tactics to wear me down so I would be willing to pay $5k over MSRP).

Screw this shit. I know Hyundai dealerships pull off this shit because people are dumb.

Which raises a thought: maybe it's time to get rid of the laws that protect car dealerships - laws that prohibit direct selling from car companies to buyers.

Anyway, the best deal I could find was on a 2021 N with DCT at Car Max. I'm having them ship the car to Corpus and will check out the mechanicals and condition in person. Car Max is usually slightly on the higher side, but the price they give you is the price you pay. No bullshit is good. My time is worth a lot of money these days.

 

I would have more seriously considered the Elantra N if it were not so fugly. Kudos to Hyundai for going with their own unique design instead of what they had done in the past, seemingly ripping off BMW, Toyota, etc. design elements and combobulating them together. Hyundai will only get better at this over time.

I'd add the Kia Stinger GT to the list if I wanted a four door. No as fast as the Chargers with the 392, but enormous tuning potential for $10k less. Also a lot better interior.


I not sure if the Veloster and Stinger will make it past this or the next. It's my understanding that they haven't been selling particularly well. Now the Kona N is a very interesting idea.



Haha. I noticed the car audio brand with the Hyundais is now JBL or HK. Samsung bought them for the win.

 

It's the same for most other states. However, Elon Musk being Elon Musk has already found way a round around this, although it involves sending a car to another state and back. Let's see if Elon eventually wins, whether he or the dealership cabal has more money to buy off the other in the state legislature.

The freedom in Texas is only as free as far the local yokels want it to be, the Boss Hogg's the Roscoe P. Coltrane's. Local cops have jurisdiction over highways here, so the cops of these little shit towns, at least the small towns large enough to have a police force, set up speed traps (they know all the best spots). At least the traffic tickets are cheap, even for going 20 over, and the standard is deferred prosecution, meaning the record goes away forever after not getting another in the next 90 to 180 days.

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I am bringing this issue up so citizens can be more aware when they elect their representatives. Direct purchase from automakers who wish to provide such an option should be on the table. From my experience, I'm convinced the dealerships collude. This not just in Texas, but everywhere.

I suspect my experience is combination of several factors:

1. Hyundai, being hungrier than their competition, is less punitive toward their leaders for predatory and overall shitty behavior.
2. Very financially irresponsible people in south Texas. I've overheard of people being $15k under with their trade-ins. But this could be happening everywhere.
3. COVID and the lack of supply tipping the things into the dealer's favor, normalizing their shitty behavior. One dealership which had four Veloster's available sold three in a week. A search tells me there are a total of eight vehicles within 200 miles, although many more are in-transit.
4. The is the Veloster N's last year. There will be no 2023 models, which means in another month of two, that's it. This could be just like what happened with the Evo IV. Although at least the dealerships put the darn markups on the sticker (I was in CA).

I don't mind paying more than sticker. It is what it is. However, I do not have time to play games and I'm nervous about setting foot in a dealership because I do not have time to waste.

 

Not only that. I publicly crapped on them, posted a review on Google maps with that exact screengrab.

I will only retract once I get fully signed paperwork for MSRP at this point. I am willing to pay more, but not to these guys. In the meantime, please punish them more by liking my review. I suspect many of the reviews are fake or urged by the owner given the number of replies from the owner.

 

• Civic R used is $50k for a 2017-18 with 50k miles.
• Civic R 2023 doesn't exist yet. Because it's limited, it will probably be $55k with a $10k markup in the first year.
• GR Corolla 2023 doesn't exist yet. Because it's limited it will be probably be $45k with a $10k markup in the first year.
• Golf R doesn't exist. Checked my ZIP and places I can get to or are close to my parents or work HQ in CA: 78418, 95120, 91502, 77701, 78015. Pretty sure Volkswagon was one of those car companies along with Honda, Toyota, and GM that got burned my TSMC telling them that screw off because Apple M2 chips were more profitable.

With respect to torque steer, I'm curious about that. These latest FWD cars (VW, Honda, Hyundai) have these fancy electronically LSDs that can vector torque that supposedly addresses torque steer. It only because of this that I would consider them. After all I wasn't a fan of how the Mini Cooper JCW, with way less power, understeered galore powering out of corners. The GR86 is really nice. I owned a BRZ the first year they came out with them. It's almost perfect. However 225hp is dumb. Camrys will pass the GR86 on the highway today.

P.S. These car companies have been extra annoying lately announcing new models when they are not even available. Wish they would be like Schiit and keep things under wraps. Shameful what GM has done with the C8 and Ford with the Bronco. As far as 2023 Type R and GR Corolla, I consider them vaporware given the current supply chain issues.

 

Looked into Civic Si. LOL, the 2 door Jeep is faster or at least feels that way. In general, I can't see the ride on any of these hot hatches (CTR and VN both have active suspension) being worse than the Jeep. I got the Willys with the stiffer Rubicon shocks, and of course the standard low-tech straight axles. People say that the ride on the Veloster on the Sports+ setting is very hard. Kind of curious because I had a tricked out Evo back in the day which if I drove over a dime on the road, I would feel it. FWIW, I did not like the ride on a Porsche Cayman circa 2014. Too much bounce while feeling too disconnected, although driving dynamics were great.