r/sandiego • u/SillyBerry844 • 7h ago
Photo gallery Avoid Kearny Mesa Hyundai!
I drive a Hyundai Ioniq 5 and received a "Check Electric Vehicle System" warning. I brought my vehicle to Kearny Mesa Hyundai for service, and it took them 10 days just for a technician to even look at the car. I was eventually told that the high-voltage battery needed to be replaced.
When my vehicle repair was completed and ready for pickup, I arrived at the dealership and was shocked by the condition of my car. It was completely covered in bird droppings. Several customers who walked by commented on how disgusting the vehicle looked. I pointed this out to the employee who brought out the vehicle, and I was told that they do not have covered parking and do not wash vehicles for customers. Luckily another employee overhead the situation and eventually helped to clean the vehicle.
The condition in which my vehicle was presented to me was unacceptable and highly unprofessional. Basic care and respect for a customer's property should be expected.
Based on my experience, I would strongly recommend avoiding this service center.
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u/tillybaler06 7h ago
I’m so happy to see this post so I can pile on.
I waited FOURTY days for my sunroof repair from them, with the first ten without a loaner car while they assessed if it was under warranty.
Second time I waited 12 days.
Absolutely avoid this dealership at all costs.
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u/caj_account 7h ago
All Kia Hyundai and Nissan dealerships suck. Change my mind.
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u/lostroadrunner22 6h ago
Kia dealerships basically killed the Stinger, which stinks, its fantastic car.
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u/Jeffsjunk 5h ago
El Cajon Hyundai is great. I wish my new car was a Hyundai because they took really good care of me, and now I'm stuck with a few Kia dealerships with people who dont seem to care.
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u/Baconfatty 5h ago
the Ford / Kia on CMB has been great. I have been shocked how decent they have been to be honest.
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u/Henona 6h ago edited 6h ago
I've had fine experiences with Nissan on Mile of cars National City. They even gave me free ubers to and from the dealership. It's unfortunate that it is pricey.
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u/caj_account 6h ago
Is that mile of cars in San Jose?
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u/Henona 6h ago
Mile of Cars National City.
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u/caj_account 4h ago
Thanks, I don't think I've ever been to Nat'l City
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u/EAinCA 2h ago
yet you thought someone posting on a San Diego sub would be referring to San Jose???
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u/theJOJeht 7h ago
Escondito is actually super solid. We would drive an extra 25 minutes just to go see them vs Kearny Mesa or Poway
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u/West_Coast_Buckeye 6h ago
No they aren't. Took my Elantra for an oil change and they did not replace the oil cap. Went back after driving it home because it stunk. They accused me of removing the oil cap to get a free engine cleaning. I had to go to Poway and they took care of it. Hyundai Escondido is awful
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u/theJOJeht 6h ago
Maybe I just got lucky. We always had way fewer issues at Escondido than Poway or Kearny Mesa for our ioniq.
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u/No_Fox9908 15m ago
I took my Nissan Leaf in because I needed the rear wiper changed, they returned it without changing it and said we didn't charge you! with a stupid smile on their face.
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u/SubBass49Tees 5h ago
Mossy Nissan El Cajon has always been great to me. Been going there since 2002.
Hit up my dude Oscar in service if you need anything. He's a class act. Never tries to hard-sell me on unnecessary stuff.
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u/ainsophur 5h ago
Been trying to find a KIA the past few weeks. We got so tired of the dealers and sales people crap we just ordered a Tesla.
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u/anonamouse187 7h ago
I’ve had a couple bad experiences at Kearny. Poway is the way to go. Much more professional and expedient.
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u/TuriGuiliano370 7h ago
Complete opposite for me. I switched to Kearny from Poway and really enjoyed my interactions with their staff
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u/Shington501 7h ago
I’ve never heard of a dealership not washing a car, that’s crazy
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u/Apart-Maize-5949 7h ago
Even when I tell them "No wash! ". It gets washed lol.
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u/covert_program 5h ago
BMW doesn’t do it anymore to “conserve water”
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u/HopefulWarning 5h ago
Is this select dealership across SD or a mandate from BMW themselves?
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u/covert_program 5h ago
I think it’s a local dealer-level mandate, but I’m not sure. They haven’t washed my car after service in a few years and there is an explanation on the maintenance paperwork about it.
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u/Sugar74527 7h ago
I had my car in for service and picked it up the next day. A few days later they called me to tell me that my car was ready for pickup. What would they have done if I had shown up asking for my car?
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u/sonic_syntax 7h ago
Years ago they tried to keep my car. It took 4 trips in for them to repair my car because they kept misdiagnosing it and making the wrong repair. They finally, correctly, identified it as some wheel bearing thing and the problem was solved. The car was new and fully under warranty. I had just bought it from them a few months prior, but they said they won’t give me the car until I pay for the repair since I was coming in too frequently. I reiterated the only reason I kept coming back is because they didn’t fix the problem (the clanky wheel). I had to stand there and call Hyundai, who then called the dealership and told them to give me my car.
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u/badskiier 7h ago
Avoid Kearny Mesa Hyundai!
TFTFY
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u/DigLeading9650 7h ago
I bought a Hyundai Azera in 2009 from Carmax with 3,000 miles on it. Never had one problem. Got rear ended in 2017 and the car was totaled. I would have driven it into the ground if not. Took the insurance payout and used it towards a 2015 Hyundai Genesis that I still have. Best cars I’ve ever owned
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u/kittykatmeowow 6h ago
I have a 2019 Hyundai Kona that has been super reliable, also purchased from Carmax. The only issue I've had with it was a faulty spark plug at 30k miles. However, dealing with the Hyundai dealership for service was a complete nightmare. I didn't realize it was just a spark plug and brought it to the dealership because I thought it might be an engine warranty problem (my car died on the highway and wouldn't start again). They kept my car for almost 3 weeks (for a job that takes 30 minutes) and charged me $250 for a bumper-to-bumper diagnostic that they told me would be free if it was a warranty issue. Apparently spark plugs that last for less than third of their estimated lifespan are not covered under the warranty.
Anyway, it's been a great car, but I recommend avoiding the Hyundai service department like the plague.
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u/gotothepark 6h ago
Remember your experience is the exception, not the rule.
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u/theJOJeht 6h ago
Why is what you're saying the rule?
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u/No-Communication4586 6h ago
I've never heard this claim by a hyundai owner before (that it's a great car) fwiw
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u/theJOJeht 6h ago
Genesis is 6 and Hyundai is 12
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u/No-Communication4586 6h ago
The people I know who've owned one regret it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Baconfatty 5h ago edited 5h ago
owned a Hyundai Sante Fe and loved it so we got the Kona EV in 2019 and love that car too. Planning on trading it in for a newer EV in a year or two
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u/sublliminali 7h ago
my santa fe has been amazing so far. but I've heard nothing but problems with the ioniq 5.
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u/HalfBlindPeach 6h ago
Our 2013 Hyundai looks about 10 years older than my 2013 Suzuki.
And it FEELS the same as the 20+ year old Nissan Bluebird I used to drive. Except the Hyundai is 13 years old and constantly falling apart already, with less than half the miles the Nissan did.
A couple of years ago a mechanic told me to get rid of the Hyundai ASAP because they're money pits. Should've listened!
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u/theJOJeht 6h ago
To be fair, hundai and kias were especially bad 12-15 years ago. In my experience they are much better now
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u/Nocockcarl 7h ago edited 5h ago
Any Hyundai dealer in San Diego is trash. I will never buy or lease a Hyundai again. Lesson learned. My Sonata was burning a liter of oil every 1,000 miles at 70k miles driven. Nightmare company
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u/Jeffsjunk 5h ago
Nah, the new Hyundai in El Cajon is actually excellent. I've had nothing but positive interactions.
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u/adhocnada 1h ago
I fully agree - that dealership in particular is awful and I legitimately have not had a single positive experience with their service or sales department. I get that it’s a for-profit business, but they especially try to extract every dollar they can out of you for the lowest tier of subpar service.
Since you have an Ioniq 5, I would caution you to scrutinize every estimate they give you.
For example:
- They charge just under $200 for a cabin air filter replacement, which is a task you can do yourself while blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back for a total cost of $20 - just need to order the part, open the frunk, pull the old one out, push the new one in. Spend $80 on celebratory tacos and drinks and you’ll still end up saving $100.
- The dealer-recommended 30K service packages combine 30K mile need-based services with 50K miles suggested services that may not be needed at the time to inflate the price to $1,300+ (that’s the price of the “value” package - if you want them to spray “Frigi-Fresh” sanitizer to kill odors as part of the “Preferred” package, that’ll cost you another $50.
I truly hope that reliable public transportation becomes a viable option in San Diego in our lifetimes.
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u/Pug-Padre-75 6h ago
Good customer service is a lost cause this day and age
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u/Fifty0ne5O 4h ago
It really is. At some point in the last 10 years it went from "the customer is always right" to "screw the customer". Corporations do not care about the customer experience anymore.
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u/Bubsy7979 6h ago
Yeah I have a KonaEV, I went to the dealership in National City to get a warranty repair as well.. it took them a week, I had to call them to find out the car was ready, I was commuting to work by bus to trolley paying for that myself. Then when I picked it up the 12v battery was completely dead so I had to jump start it every time I used it for another week.. and they took zero responsibility for killing my battery while it was in their possession. I asked around and no one had a replacement battery that size so I HAD to use the dealership, I argued with the manager to pay for the battery (which they didn’t, not even a discount) and they even charged me $20 just to swap the 12v battery. Horrible experience there too.
I miss Hines Mazda in mission valley, they had great customer service but the thing I really loved about them was they gave out free loaner cars to use while your car was in the shop. It’s great marketing for the dealership to entice customers to trade in for the newest model too… Hyundai sucks, first and last car I’m buying from the company.
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u/Baconfatty 5h ago
I had to replace my 12v for my Kona EV in a hurry and got one delivered from Walmart overnight. super easy, don’t fall for the Service Rep BS
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u/Bubsy7979 5h ago
I called around to Costco, Interstate Battery, and Autozone. None of them had the battery, I was soo pissed lol. I didn’t want to give another cent to that dealership. This was a couple years ago so hopefully businesses are stocking EV-sized batteries now.
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u/Baconfatty 3h ago
yeah mine was about 2 years ago, the KonaEV sub suggested Costco and Walmart and Costco was out. Walmart to the rescue lol
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u/Sowhatnut8 5h ago
Avoid the whole sunroad auto group. They own most of the lots in Kearny Mesa. Extremely predatory.
Doesn’t even treat their employees well. Word going around they cut employee pay by 70% this past weekend. Image getting paid minimum wage to sell cars.
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u/kittylikeskandi 6h ago
They damaged my car last time I took it in to get serviced and they won't call me back or acknowledge it. I've called them several times and sent pictures but no response. It's just a little bit of cosmetic damage but it's on the steering wheel, so I'm reminded of it every damn time I get in the car. One of the staff working the desk recommended going to Poway for better service/turnaround times lol. The thing that sucks is that KM Hyundai used to be good, but they've sucked ever since they moved to the new location.
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u/Putrid-Function5666 4h ago
Where I live my only other choice is Kia in El Cajon. I'll take KM Kia.
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u/MaximusCartavius 1h ago
I just want to pile on to say FUCK MOSSY NISSAN.
That's another dealership to avoid.
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u/SUCKSTOBEYOUNURD 50m ago
All car dealers are scum. There are more car dealerships on the Fortune 500 than car companies. They are the feudal lords of the 20th/21st century and I can’t wait for their demise
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u/gotothepark 6h ago
I mean... You bought a Hyundai.... You get Hyundai treatment....
It's like buying a turd and asking why it smells.
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u/KindCraft4676 5h ago
My Honda dealership always returns my car after servicing looking so beautiful.
The guy that washed it drives it right up to me . But then he stands there and starts polishing the side mirror.
I tell him the car looks so nice. He continues polishing the side mirror. Kind of blocking the driver side door. I’m thinking this guy is not gonna go away. Why is he hanging around for so long??
I give him a five dollar bill. And suddenly the side mirror no longer needs polishing. He opens the door for me. And thanks me.
We go through the same ritual every time. As I drive away I feel kind of annoyed at being forced to tip. Or am I being cheap? I’ll never know.
And is five dollars too much or too little?
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u/James-robinsontj 5h ago
I would rather tip and get great service than get the experience the OP got
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u/SubBass49Tees 5h ago
Yikes! That's wild.
Coming from a guy who has used Mossy Nissan in El Cajon for all my buys/services in the past 24 years, I've never had this sort of issue ever. They wash my car every time it comes in for a service. They've even done it when they've fixed minor issues free of charge, just because. Wild difference in customer treatment.
My wife had bad experiences with Kia of El Cajon though, and their service department, so maybe I've just been lucky?
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u/laluna_maria 5h ago
Same experience with my Hyundai Tucson at that place - started having oil consumption and engine issues at 55k miles. Was told it would be a week+ before they could run a diagnostic on it and mind you this was in 2024 I think.
Eventually they came back that my engine is inoperable and I need to come back 7 times to legitimately document the oil consumption issue to input an official request to Hyundai corporate to replace it but they could still deny it even if it’s their fault. Hard no and I needed to sell the car. Guess what they offered? $500 for the whole car. LOL they said $1k was their best offer. I said you really think I’m stupid.
Towed it to Carmax and got over $4k even with engine being in bad shape.
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u/bofadoze 5h ago
Honestly haven't had any issues there and between me and my mom we've purchased 3 new cars there.
My traction battery failed at about 89k miles in my ioniq 5 after a few service trips regarding the BMS. They ended up approving a new traction battery for me under warranty and it ended up taking a couple months to get the replacement in from Hyundai. About 1 month in i contacted corporate to request a buy back and the process has actually been really good. I ended up getting a LOT more for my car than I was expecting.
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u/comraderudy 4h ago
I tried to buy a car from them a couple years ago. I wanted a specific trim and color. They said I could come by once a week to see if they got it in. A different dealer said they'd call me when they got it. Guess which one I bought from.
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u/Lanky_Ad_8483 4h ago
Walked in there once trying to purchase a vehicle - nobody even acknowledged my existence while looking through the show floor. Just left
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u/Voiceofshit 4h ago
That's wild, I thought every dealership has a simple run through machine wash. Like they have to be able to keep those cars on the lot spotless somehow. And it costs them like pennies to run it.
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u/JoeDoe_90 4h ago
I've been avoiding Hyunday alltogether after the Kearny Mesa folks were arrogant about even answering questions about EVs during Covid.
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u/Smoked_Bear 3h ago
Hopefully they will take better care of the SD Lifeguard vehicles we are switching to. Hyundai will be taking over starting this summer, to the tune of 32 vehicles in a phased rollout:
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u/Objective-Claim1700 2h ago
I bought a lemon there and sued them - 2025 Ioniq 5 completely broke down after less than 3000 miles and needed a whole new battery system. They took over 90 days to fix. Never going back.
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u/lowkey_fosho619 2h ago
I went in and some younger guy named Abraham greeted me,everything was great until we sat down and he wouldn’t get off his Damm phone !I asked him and he said he was playing a video game which I ignored I tried to continue buying a car but these dude kept trying to upsell me every little thing possible I felt like I was being scammed so walked out ,not to mention he kept starring at my wife’s breasts, glad I didn’t buy lol
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u/MC-CREC 2h ago
My situation was better but not great, cosmetic issues they fixed in a couple days with a loaner (gas) I mean sucks but at least I got a car.
The one thing that makes me mad is the 1 day to review policy, I have a panel that when heated makes the door click, it's obvious with any sun, so they said they need a full day. I was like nah I'll just handle it myself, sanded it down a .5 of a mm and no more issues lol.
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u/No_Fox9908 16m ago
All Hyundai dealerships in San Diego are complete dog shit. I bought a 2018 Plugin Hybrid Ioniq and forget the cheapness of the car and the transmission going out at 50k and waiting 2 months for them to replace it, the dealerships are just crooks. Dropped off the car for a simple oil change and asked to do the services required. Keep in mind that I just finished reading the manual maintenance schedule. they guy quotes me $1800, just like that. I am never buying another Hyundai again.
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u/TofuttiKlein-ein-ein 7h ago
Kia and Hyundai blow in general. With a POS product you get shit service.
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u/wtfJoeDirt 7h ago
Your car was parked outside and birds pooped on it, clutch my pearls, how will you ever recover
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u/blueydsmoker 43m ago
The fact they don’t even have a wash bay is ridiculous in today’s car buying experience. Like so what your just gonna sell a dusty Hyundai that’s been sitting on the lot for 3 months? No one wants a dusty car. When I was at ford esco we had detailers on site who washed every car that was in service. Heck even with a simple oil change you could get a free wash. They didn’t touch the inside but hey it was clean on the outside
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u/SimplyCancerous 7h ago
The dealership might suck, but you sound entitled as all hell losing your shit over a few bird droppings. Swing by a car wash my dude, you're gonna be fine. All of us deal with it and manage to survive, so will you.
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u/DeadpoolVII 7h ago
Feel like that's just the icing on this crap cake. 10 days for a tech to even look at the car is absurd. Being displaced while trying to maintain your daily schedule (including work) whilst being out a car is a horrible and almost always costly experience.
10 days just to look at the car is unacceptable, and I'd be furious.
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u/wtfJoeDirt 7h ago
You assume the story is accurate. Person is acting as if it’s not common for cars to get bird poop on them and that their car is ruined.
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u/EVChargingStocks 7h ago
Bird poop can in fact ruin the clear coat and lead to premature paint issues my dude, that’s the problem.
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u/DeadpoolVII 7h ago
Yes, I'm assuming that what OP is saying is accurate because I have no other information to go off of. Why would I assume otherwise?
Also, any time I've been to a dealer for service, it's always been same-day service, or they tell me up front that there is going to be a delay. They also never return my vehicle to me looking like crap.
If I left my car at the dealership and paid their extremely overcosted fees, they kept the car for over a week before even looking at it, and then returned it to me looking like hell because they dragged their feet, and then told me "oh sorry we don't wash the cars" when it was their shit timeframe that caused the car to look like hell to begin with, I too would be furious. Okay, great, then YOU take the car to get it washed. The customer was just inconvenienced for over a week, why should they be further inconvenienced having to get their car washed?
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u/EVChargingStocks 7h ago
People who are conditioned to accept this is wild. I’m shocked we have to argue about it.
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u/DeadpoolVII 7h ago
People will argue over literally anything on Reddit. Common sense seems to be a rarity these days, especially online where you can hide behind anonymity.
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u/EVChargingStocks 7h ago
Entitled for wanting your property returned the same condition you dropped it off as is wild
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u/wtfJoeDirt 7h ago
Where did she said the car was spotless? Cars parked outside get dirty. It’s normal.
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u/EVChargingStocks 7h ago
It’s also normal for them to clean a car before they return it to you. If you’re not used to that I don’t know what to say.
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u/FuckMyParents420 7h ago
My piston broke while under warranty and I had a similar experience there. It took them months to even look at the car, and I was left without a loaner vehicle. They went back on their word telling me they wouldn’t reimburse the $7000 rental bill I racked up over several months so I took them to small claims and won. Real pieces of work