Lakeland Hyundai

by Holly Laughlin Falvey on 01/17/2024

I would give zero stars if I could. I had a routine (pre-scheduled) service appointment at 3:15PM for an oil change, tire rotation and for them to inspect a tire that had a slow leak. I was told they did the oil change, rotated the tires and replaced the tire with the slow leak and it would soon be ready. By about 4:15PM I was out the door. Rae, the service advisor, the assistant service manager and the technician all left at the same time. As I pulled out on to Memorial my car was wobbling. I drove it a bit, and ended up on the side of the road close to Victory. I immediately called the dealership back. A girl in sales answered the phone, and as I was talking to her I got out of the vehicle and saw the problem. The tire was not "popped" onto the rim properly. The girl on the phone told me that service was closed and that I needed to call roadside assistance. I called roadside and they said all they could do was tow me back to the dealership. I called the dealership back and spoke to someone else in sales, who told me to "find a tire and wheel center that was open and drive there so they can fix it". She also told me that they texted the service manager but there was no guarantee that they would get back to me. I hung up, and I sat there trying to figure out what I could do and not be without a vehicle. I called back and spoke to yet someone else in sales, who told me to get my vehicle towed to the dealership and then call an uber to get home - to Zephyrhills. I demanded to speak to a manager. That's when I got the experience with Andrew, a very rude and very disrespectful man. He spoke over me, yelled at me, and said "we're doing everything we can for you!". And "you need to get your vehicle towed here and then just call an uber to get home, and the service manager will deal with this on Monday". I explained to him that I used to work at a car dealership, and the way that HE as the dealership manager should have done was offer to help me get my vehicle towed there and then offer at the least a loaner vehicle. This was a safety issue and his dealership did not put the tire on correctly, which could have easily resulted in not only the tire blowing, but damage to my rim, and possibly a wreck. He wasn't concerned with this, only that it wasn't his job, and that it was service. So, after this I gave up on them. It would be a couple of hours before roadside could get to me, so I started calling around and came upon Pep Boys on N 98. I drove the 0.7 miles there, and they fixed the tire. I'm not giving their names in this review, but I will on theirs... The mechanic told me that if I drove home on that tire, chances are that it would have blown, and would have definitely ruined the rim, and there's a good chance it would have caused me to wreck or worse. And because they wanted to ensure my safety, they put the wheel/tire on the balancing machine. It wasn't balanced. Photos attached, before and after. 5 1/2 hours after my appointment time, I made it home safely. No one called, texted, or checked in. I was promised a phone call from the service manager first thing Monday morning when they opened at 7:30. Instead, it was crickets until shortly after 11:30AM when I got a call from Jim Hancock, the operations manager for Lakeland Automall. I told him everything as I have here, and he agreed with me on what should have been done. First, if you're a manager and you get notified that a customer is on the side of the road because of a safety issue that one of your mechanics caused, you call the customer and figure it out and at least attempt to help. As a dealership manager, the dealership is your responsibility, act like it and try and help. Jim agreed that a loaner vehicle and towing assistance should have been offered. I'm not sure who the mechanic/technician is but he needs much more training before touching a vehicle ever again. Then I was informed that the info on my paperwork wasn't even for my vehicle but another...it said it was driven 6 miles to ensure problem was fixed. I'll never go back.

Read more

by Ira on 10/07/2023

Friendly knowledgeable service department! Had some major work done to my car and not only was some of it covered under the warranty but the service was super fast!! I love this dealership and now have found a reliable shop for all my maintenance needs!!

Read more

by Brian French on 03/21/2023

Hyundai = Shockingly poor customer service... imagine your car losing paint within 2 years of being new and after thousands of complaints Hyundai finally admits a huge manufacturing mistake and issues a warranty extension and then abruptly deny warranty coverage after sending you a letter that "you are covered". My dreadful Hyundai story... The white paint started peeling on my 2017 Hyundai Elantra in May 2018. Visited Hyundai Lakeland 4/4/2019 and was denied paint (excuse given warranty over 35000 mileage). Received paint warranty extension notice from Hyundai Corporate in Feb 2023. Was denied warranty because it was out of warranty for 5 months. In summary, Hyundai issued a warranty extensions notice to a car owner 4 month after the warranty expired. Despite the fact of proof that the paint started peeling in 2018 a year after the car's new model year. Lakeland service department was useless booked an appointed for car repaint (went to dealership 3/7/2023). Was told "no problem, we will repaint it and we will give you a loaner car too". When I show up on 3/21/23 no loaner car, no warranty coverage and no one in management to talk too. (despite the fact that someone at the dealership made the decision). They gave me a 1800 Hyundai corporate number to call and said basically... "get lost". I peeled off the vinyl wrap (a 2 day job) at car dealers request and now have a car with exposed bare metal. The car has been a complete embarrassment to drive since 1 1/2 years of being new. Wife in tears... is this the way you want to be treated? Just shameful ! Car dealers spend millions of dollars on advertising but when they mess up and have an opportunity to make it right.... they have zero interest. Is this the way a car company should build brand loyalty?

Read more

by Less than Impressed on 11/16/2021

Stay away from Lakeland Hyundai ! This has been the worst dealership service experience I have ever had in my life. It took a month to get a service appointment (booked in early October to get an early November service date). Due to a key coding issue that only Hyundai could fix, I had a 4000lb paperweight in my driveway that I was paying insurance on, but could not use, due to their service backlog. I brought the car early and dropped it off, in case they had the chance to squeeze it in between jobs (dropped off on Wednesday for a Friday appt). They did not call to say they received the car, I had to chase them down to make sure they had the car and keys, and that everything was understood as to what I was asking. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday come and go without me hearing from the service advisor, despite four touch points during that time (supposedly the service advisor, Dalton, was going to call me back, which never happened). Saturday comes, and I have to call four more times to finally get connected with a service advisor, still no call back. Finally, Monday rolls around and I get Jessica, the service manager, on the line, since Dalton was out of the office that day. This is where it gets even more ridiculous. I took my car in for getting keys programmed and the service department tried hitting me up for over $1700 in parts/labor to program two keys. After determining that they had the wrong parts targeted (i.e. spending ~$1700 wouldn't have actually fixed my issue), we had to have a serious discussion. I explained that I just needed keys programmed to work with my key module (which the local locksmiths could not do) and they gave me this rigamorale about encrypted software and how not even Hyundai could apparently program a Hyundai key, but that if I bought a brand new key security module, that would fix the issue. I asked for a quote. They then tried to charge me ~$800 for a different part and labor. The part was almost $600 of the cost, but a cursory search found it for $386 at three other Hyundai dealers. The labor was quoted at 1.5 hours for a job I did in my driveway in 20 minutes while filming the process for YouTube (and that 20 minutes included setting up the camera and narrating the work performed. How are businesses like this allowed to prey on people?! Stay away from Lakeland Hyundai !

Read more

by Jme Ed on 09/27/2021

Visited a big city Hyundai Dealership, found ourselves at a smaller dealership in Lakeland. Ordered a 2022 Palisade through Mike (Michael Plociniak) at Lakeland Hyundai, Quick and easy process and he did an amazing job at keeping us up to date with our order. Even came in sooner than expected! We saved THOUSANDS of dollars, got the car we wanted with the exact color and options we wanted. Monthly payments are in our budget thanks to Elvis Sulfridge the finance manager. When we pulled up the beauty was sitting right up front for us. Super easy transaction, second vehicle we've purchased here. Thank you Lakeland Hyundai and especially Mike for the great customer service! P.s. The kids love the extra space they have now in the back, there's not been any "he touched me" hahaha or "his foots on my book bag"

Read more

by Araceli09 on 05/07/2017

My experience at Lakeland Hyundai was beyond amazing. I want to thank all of the staff who greeted and acknowledged me during my time there and a special thank you to my sales person Ramiro! I came there not really knowing what to buy since I was a first time buyer and Ramiro helped me out a lot. He took the time out to actually present my car to me and show me how to use all of the features on the car. Overall it was just a great experience and I'm very happy with my new car!!! Lakeland Hyundai Rocks!

Read more

by jwdonten on 06/27/2016

We had our challenges with getting a new vehicle but Duane Temple with Lakeland Hyundai worked with us and helped us get approved for a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. He went above and beyond to help us every step of the way and took a chance with us when everyone else said no. Thank you Duane!.

Read more

by jeanette14 on 06/06/2016

I highly recommend this dealership for your next car buying experience. Jason Knecht was beyond my expectations of a car salesman. Everything was ease, I was put at ease and left with my new car.

Read more

by Britters1504 on 03/04/2016

Jason Knecht was a lifesaver. I was so nervous going into the car buying process, and he set me to ease, and found the perfect car for me, a 2011 Tucson. I would absolutely recommend him to my friends, family, and anyone else who may be looking for a new car.

Read more

by Happy_Costumer on 11/30/2015

From the time my wife, daughter and i walked on the lot the experience was better than we could imagine. Like most people i dread dealing with the hassels of a major purchase such as a new vehicle. After meeting Kevin Bryan our sales associate and his no pressure approach, my wife and i were highly impressed on his knowledge and his willingness to answer any questions we had. To be honest, we had another appointment at a different dealership and never made it there. The entire staff at Lakeland Automall went beyond our expectations. Again i want to thank Kevin & Woody for turning what started off to be a stressful day, into a great experiance

Read more