Find Kia Dealers in Santa Rosa, California

Thought my experience might help. I am a traveling salesman, and after putting 188K on a 2003 Saab 9-3, which I really like, it was time for a change. I wanted better gas mileage, since gas is now $4.05 in my town, and a car that could still handle reasonably well. I wanted a manual transmission and liked the Optima since seeing it at the 2010 S.F. Auto Show. Mostly, manual transmissions are only offered on base models with many manufacturers, including on the Optima. I am O.K. with a non-turbo, relatively simple car with few frills (by current standards) because there are fewer components to break. I can also add my own alloys, pop-up sunroof, cc, intake and exhaust later to suit my own taste. After looking at 3 Optimas, driving 2 and putting an offer on 1 in No. Ca., which was refused, I felt that I was not being taken seriously. While travelling in SoCal, I saw an ad in the L.A. Times for an '11 LX, MSRP $19975, for only $15,995 at Kia Depot in Santa Ana. I went there the next day and test drove both a Suzuki Kizashi at one dealership and the Optima in Santa Ana. Although the Suzuki had a superior chassis & handling, I felt that the Kia had it beat in most other respects. I qualified for 2 of the 3 $500 rebates, the competitive & Kia Motors Finance, which brought the total to $16495. But the car had 2 extra dealer-installed options, tinting & an alarm upgrade, not disclosed in the L.A. Times, which brought the total to $17385 + tax, license & doc. Not quite the rippin' deal of the ad, but not bad. I was O.K. with the tinting, which was already on the car, but didn't especially want the alarm system. While working out the deal with the finance manager, Jorge Tejeda, I saw that I could refuse the alarm system. I said that I didn't want it, but he said that if I didn't take it, the deal was off. I thought about it for a moment and realized that it was the dealer attempting to get back some $ on this "loss leader," although I knew that the dealer didn't have that much into the tinting & alarm. But I decided that the deal was still solid enough, so I signed on and pick up the car tomorrow, and am looking forward to it. The salesman, Wade O'Loughlin was very patient. We test drove the car twice and he walked me through the contract while I was making sure it was correct; it was. Although I was coming back later to pick up the vehicle, Wade was adamant in following CA Law, which requires that a buyer take immediate possession of the vehicle, by having me literally drive it off the lot, then back on for storage. I contacted Wade again a couple of days ago to make sure that the vehicle did not have the "left pull" syndrome found on some Optimas. He made sure the service department rechecked the alignment and test drove it again, and assured me that it had no "left pull" issues. He also generously agreed to pick me up at LAX when flying in to pick up the car. I can recommend this dealer and salesman, but always be sure you know exactly what you want, or are willing to accept, when dealing with a dealer.