Don Franklin Somerset Kia
reviews and complaints

We bought a 2016 Kia Sorento from them, certified and all. But guess what? It started overheating just two days later. We took it back to them not once, but twice for maintenance, and guess what? The issue still wasn't fixed. So, we had to take it back a third time, and finally, they decided it needs a whole new motor. Can you believe it?

Now, here's where it gets even more frustrating. We tried to trade it back in, thinking they would understand our situation. But no, all they wanted to do was pay off the loan and finance the full amount for a new vehicle. Seriously? We already paid a lot down and even traded in another car. Do they really think we're a bunch of idiots who would agree to losing $11,500?

To make matters worse, they still haven't given me a car to drive in the meantime. It's been two days since I brought it in, and all I have is a car with no AC. And to top it off, I have a toddler with me. This is just unacceptable.

Let me tell you, do not, I repeat, do not go to this dealer! I had a similar experience with Toyota a few years ago, and you know what? They actually traded the vehicle out for one that was the same price. I should have gone back to Toyota.

And you know what's really frustrating? If the car was truly certified, they would have known about this issue. It would overheat when you turned the heat on. But of course, we didn't think to check the heat because it was a scorching 90 degrees the day we bought it. Ugh, I wish we had thought about it.

So, take my advice and steer clear of this place. They don't care about their customers and their so-called "certified" cars are nothing but trouble. Save yourself the headache and find a better dealer. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

My experience with this business wasn't good. We found a car online on 5/29 and called the dealer. We never visited the dealer in person, it was all over the phone. There were many calls and we received several purchase agreements or prices, both typed and handwritten. There were differences in the figures, two MSRP's, and confusion on the salesman's and our part as he went back and forth to the finance people. They used different figures on different papers. We only talked to the salesman. He sent a driver with the car and to pick up our trade with papers to sign, which we did on the hood of the car without reading. We were supposed to receive our check by overnight FED EX on 6/1. That never happened and after several excuses and various mailing dates, we finally received our check by regular mail. During that time, Don Franklin had no problem selling my truck before paying me. They didn't pay me as they said and changed the MSRP on me by adding a powertrain warranty for $1490 (KIA provides a 10-year warranty/100,000 free with the car), which was my biggest complaint. I think it's deceptive to put an MSRP on the internet and then have the dealer change the MSRP. The dealer never made crap, it should have said DFRP. This will be the last vehicle I buy from Don Franklin. I recommend consumers to avoid any dealings with them. The bottom line is we made some big mistakes ourselves in this deal, especially by signing papers we never read and making this deal without thinking clearly. I spent two days trying to figure out where the change in prices came from. I call it the Don Franklin shuffle. I give it a one-star rating because there is no zero.

I bought a car from Don Franklin Somerset Kia on August 13, and got GAP and warranty. My wife changed jobs and messed up the initial deal, so we had to redo it. They said everything was the same, except the interest dropped on the new loan. I looked through the deal and saw that GAP was included, and I even had a gap addendum paper as proof.

Less than a year later, the car got totaled, but it was the other person's fault, thankfully. When I asked for the pro-rated amount, they told me it had been canceled on the same day it was purchased. The irony is that the first deal, which would be canceled more than a week later due to my wife's job switch, was also canceled on the same day it was purchased. We weren't aware of either cancellation.

I understand that the first loan was canceled, so it wasn't a big deal. But it's still ironic that it was canceled on the same day it was purchased, not a week later when they found out the bank rejected the loan. So my wife went back to sign the new agreement, and they told her everything was the same, except the interest rate dropped. I double-checked everything, and it all looked the same. The $850 gap was applied to the total loan amount, and I had the gap addendum certificate.

However, when it was time to get the pro-rated amount, they informed me that it was canceled on September 8, the same day the second loan offer was signed. When I asked how it was canceled, they told me there was another deal that I had no knowledge of, which lowered the loan amount by $6000. I asked to see it, and when I went to the dealership, they handed me a contract with my wife's signature, but our last name was spelled wrong. Someone had forged her signature and misspelled our last name, and they removed the gap from the purchase order by forging her signature.

I can't stress enough how important it is to double-check and triple-check your documents. Luckily, I didn't need to use the gap, or it could have been really bad.

I went to Don Franklin Somerset Kia to find a new or slightly used vehicle with more space than our current one. I'm going through a CH13 and had all the necessary paperwork from the trustee, along with 5 grand in cash for the down payment. Instead of being upfront about not having a vehicle within our price range, two salesmen said they could get us approved for more money from another bank. I thought it was just one bank, but they ended up running our credit through multiple banks, which lowered my credit score. After I asked them to stop, I got upset and left. The salesman called and said, "We've got you approved." I went back and test drove a couple of different vehicles, but my Experian app kept notifying me of a hard inquiry on my credit. I asked the salesmen why they were still running my credit if I was already approved. They said it was to get me approved for the vehicle I was test driving. Eventually, we chose a Nissan Quest minivan, signed the paperwork, and left, thinking we were done. However, a week later, we received a phone call saying the bank wouldn't approve the loan due to a bad carfax report. The van had been in an accident and had frame damage, so we returned it. The salesman told us they had tried to get carfax to remove the report, but they couldn't. They then offered us a new loan for a 2020 Kia Sedona that we had picked out, claiming it was approved. We drove off, thinking the ordeal was finally over. But after 2 weeks, we received another phone call saying the bank wouldn't approve this loan either, citing the price, interest, and failure to follow the CH13 guidelines. So after a month of going back and forth, almost ruining my already limited credit, we were back to square one. They returned our down payment and apologized for not having anything within our budget or price range.

Bought a 2015 ram from Don Franklin in November . Thought about trading it off and come to Pinnicle Ford in Nicholasville only to find out there had been an odometer rollback and the truck was involved in a traffic accident In 2016, that I was not made aware of when I purchased the truck.

Kia of Somerset put a recall warranty on my 2015 Kia Sorento on May 31, 2022. When I left Kia with my Sorento, the motor had a knock on it. I reached out to Kia, and they brought it back in on June 29, 2022. They are refusing to repair my Sorento, stating that the motor was already faulty on May 31st, which is not accurate. The motor has a recall, and they issued the warranty, but now they won't fix it.

08/14. We bought a Kia Sorento. 2 days later it started overheating. We took it to the dealer 2 times they weren't able to resolve the issue so we tried to get them to give us another vehicle. We paid 5000.00 down and traded another car valuing 6500.00. All they wanted to do was pay off the loan which is around 10,000 and finance pretty much the whole amount of another vehicle. We decided to just let them fix the vehicle. They decided it needed a new motor, they haven't even offered us a car to drive in the mean time while it's being fixed. Not happy I do not recommend this dealer. They must think we have no brain to pretty much give away 11,500.

I bought a 2020 KIA Sportage from Don Franklin in Somerset on 3/21. 6 weeks later they told me to bring the car back. I bought a car from Don Franklin on March 21. I was financed through *** Consumer Finance. I paid 1,000 down and had the first month payment taken out. They made me return the vehicle today and gave me another one 1 year older, and they lied to me about the warranty on the vehicle. I have been threatened and lied to. I have messages and emails of everything. When I asked them about the warranty transferring over to the trade they gave me, they said it would still have the same warranty. However, when I got home, I found a piece of paper under the passenger seat saying "no warranty, as is". I have been bullied, lied to, and tricked into returning a car and taking a lesser vehicle at a higher interest rate. I am very upset right now.

I bought a car from Kia. They didn't show me the carfax and it's not worth half of what I financed it for. I went to Kia on 7/13 to finance a car because I was in a recent wreck and my other car was totaled. We test drove a 2014 Toyota Corolla and ended up financing it. I realized later that I hadn't seen the carfax. I financed it for $13,000. The carfax shows that it's been in 3 wrecks and the airbags have been deployed. The car is only worth around $6,000. I'm upset that they didn't tell me this and I want to lower the amount I have to pay. I'm 19 years old and just starting out, so this really surprised me. I don't want to pay almost double of what the car is worth.

Promis not fulfilled to close a deal, a mistake the finance department made, and a major hit to our credit due to their mistakes. We have three major issues with this dealership. We have tried to resolve them with the general manager, it's been 8 months and we are still waiting. To close the sale, the salesman promised a remote start be installed on our vehicle. This was going to make or break the deal for us. Approximately 2 months after the promise and sale we were notified that they couldn't do it. They offered us $650 to do it ourselves, we did not accept. 8 months later they still have not made good on their promise with a remote start or money. They also screwed up when they paid off our trade with our bank. They over paid our bank. This was of no fault of our own, totally their fault. We were told by the general manager they would resolve it themselves but instead they keep sending us PAST DUE invoices for the overpayment they made. Finally, when we agreed to purchase the vehicle, we told them that we wanted to finance through our bank. Salesman said that was no problem, they work with our bank very often. They ran our credit through 11 different financial agencies and caused a huge hit to our credit score. We were told that this would be resolved and it hasn't. We have reached out to their General Manager multiple times to try and get these issues resolved to no avail. He ignores our emails. He will tell us to our face he will work on resolving our issues and reach back out to us but not once has he followed through with this.

I went to the KIA car lot on Saturday, May 14, 2022, to buy a 2019 Jeep Wrangler at 12:30 PM. I chose the Jeep and got approved for the loan through Don Franklin manager. I left the lot and on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, the Jeep started jerking and wouldn't shift out of reverse without shaking the dashboard. I called Kia and they told me to bring the Jeep to the Jeep/Chevron lot on Thursday morning. I took the Jeep in on Thursday morning and within 5 minutes, the repair guy said the transmission was out and they needed to order a new one. They said it could take a few weeks to get the parts and they also told me I would have a vehicle to drive during this time. However, the Kia manager at that point lied and didn't try to help. He kept avoiding the situation and when my mother called, he was rude to her. He told her it was my responsibility to find my own transportation and that I shouldn't have come in at 6:30 PM on that Saturday expecting to leave with the Jeep in 30 minutes. He never told me that I had to be 25 to get a rental and he didn't speak to me respectfully. Brian Abbott tried to fix the situation but couldn't. They told him I had to contact the Jeep lot. Today at 8:30 AM, I contacted *** at the Jeep lot and he treated me with respect the whole time. He even went to the KIA lot with me to fix the paperwork for the new vehicle I got from him. All I wanted was a vehicle to drive during the repair, but the Kia manager had to be rude, dishonest, and lie to our faces the whole time. I think I should be reimbursed with a check for $1500 for my time and the stress of this situation. I had to miss work just so *** could fix the mess that *** made. If he had just been truthful and tried to help, I wouldn't have filed this report. In my opinion, *** should be fired or removed from the manager position because he is not manager material if he treats customers this way.

We still ain't got no Registration or Title for the car we bought at the end of April, 2022. I called the finance guy a couple times and thought he gonna check with the title people 'bout it. Even though he clearly said it ain't his job. Turns out he didn't. Finance messed up the loan by sendin' in paperwork with our old address on it. We told 'em clearly that the address was wrong and needed fixin'. We thought they took care of it 'cause all our papers had the right address. But then we never got nothin' from the 2nd Loan Company where they changed the loan. I knew the payment was 'sposed to be due 'round the 15th of the month but I wasn't sure 'bout it and I had no account number or payment address to send my payment. I called finance at your place and he told me to call the loan company 'bout it. I told him 'bout the registration and title too. He never said it was the dealership's job to handle this part. He just said I gotta contact the Loan Company. So I did and that's when I found out they sent the wrong address on the paperwork. I sorted it all out with them on the phone, made my loan payment, and set up my monthly automatic draw from my bank account. But when I asked 'em 'bout my title and registration, they said it's the dealership's problem, not theirs. They told me to call the dealership and find out where them documents are at. So I did. Turns out nobody knows! I reached out to our Salesman. He said he gonna look into it. I told him to tell the GM 'bout the issue. Show the GM my text messages. But I ain't heard back from nobody at this dealership and I still ain't got no title or registration for the car I'm 'bout to make my 2nd payment on July 1, 2022. So I ain't got no proof of ownin' 'cept for the loan package.

We bought our car from Don Franklin Hyundai in Lexington, KY on Feb 14th, 2020. Two months later, we started hearing a noise from the back of the car. I kept telling the service department at the London, KY location during every oil change, but they never wrote down what I was saying until March. They sent my car to the Somerset location to be checked, but they said nothing was wrong. Moving on to August , I took the car myself to Somerset and had an employee drive it. He did hear a loud rubbing noise, so we went back to the service department and they said they would start the repair process. In September, I called because I hadn't heard anything, and they said the warranty company wanted them to do maintenance. I called the warranty company to confirm, but they hadn't received any reports. I also found out that the extended warranty we bought had expired by then. In October, I asked them to take my car back. We got a loaner from the London location, but the next business day, they called me and told me to come and get my car. Turns out, my car never left the dealership. They said they were ordering a new rear end because it was completely out. Fine, I thought. One month later, during Thanksgiving week, I called to check the status. Apparently, I had an appointment that no one notified me about. I dropped off the car and got another loaner, but the battery was dead when I tried to start it. I had my 4-year-old in the car seat, and it was 33 degrees outside. Two days later, I got my car back, but there was still a noise in the rear end. Now, when I turn the wheels at a slower speed to park, it sounds like my car has 4-wheel drive. I called again, but nothing was resolved. Two weeks passed, and I called again, but still nothing. So here I am, with a car that we still owe money on, but it's not roadworthy. I can't get anyone to listen to me or fix it. I really need some help or guidance with this issue.

We bought a Chevy Tahoe from Don Franklin Kia in Somerset in July. The Tahoe we wanted was there, but they couldn't sell it to us for the price listed online. So they brought a vehicle from Lexington for us. Before it arrived, everything was sorted out. They told me that the vehicle they were bringing would be exactly the same as the one we test drove and paid for. When the Tahoe finally arrived, it was already past closing time and almost dark. They hurried us in and got us going quickly, which was okay since they were already closed. The next day, we noticed a few differences. There were a couple of small paint chips on the front and the carpet in the back was taped over because it was torn. The mats were also different. It made me a little upset, but I didn't say anything. Fast forward three months, we ran over a nail and went to get the tire patched. That's when we found out that they never gave us the tools to remove the tire when we bought the vehicle. So now we can't take off any tires. We called a friend who works there, and he said to take it to the dealership in Corbin, where we're from, and have them remove it and replace it with regular lug nuts. The Corbin dealership told us they couldn't remove it. So we called the dealership we bought it from, and they transferred us from sales to parts to service. All they could say was, "You can bring it here, and we'll try to remove it," but they didn't even know if they could. And this is a problem. If we were to get a flat tire on the way there or if the tire with the nail blows out, we can't do anything because the wheel is locked. We traded both our vehicles with them and bought a 19 Tahoe and a brand new Kia. We spent over 80K with them, and they didn't even sell us a car with everything it should have, which is included with every vehicle. It's no different than selling a car without the actual keys. We just want them to remove the locked lug nuts so we can replace them with regular ones. This is an unethical way for a business to operate.