Complaint / Review
Bob Lanphere's Beaverton Kia
Lied about traction devices

I bought a 2010 Kia Soul special edition from Beaverton Kia.in the salesroom, while looking at the car, I asked about the low profile tires and fitting tire chains to them. I stated that I ski a lot and that there are a lot of mountain passes between me and my frequent destinations. I said I needed a car that I could fit chains to. I mentioned that I had heard that low profile tires could be problematic. The salesman said that fitting chains to this car would not be a problem at all. Well, it is a problem because the car does not fit standard cable chains, it only fits low clearance chains. That means there are fewer options available for me, and none of them are as good as the chains that were available for my old car. If I had known this, I would have gotten a cheaper car with standard tires that I could fit normal cable chains to. Now I have a new car that has less utility for me than the old car.

I called the dealership and the first thing the manager did was transfer me to parts. When they didn't have an answer they transferred me back to the sales guy. He then told me he'd call me back, and when he did he said he'd checked a couple of tire places about getting cable chains for my car. He didn't address the limited availability of chains options for this model. I didn't need him to call tire shops, I had already done that leg work. One tire shop that I called had nothing, and the other tire shop had only one option available. They are old style straight link chains that require tensioners and are very difficult to install and remove. The dealership (who does nothing but work with cars, mind you) should have told me about these special traction device circumstances.instead, they told me I should have done my research about this before going to the dealership. What is a dealership good for if I have to do all the research myself? I would think that it is the dealership's job to inform me of these things.instead their primary objective seems to be moving as many cars as possible without regard for customer concerns.