Used Car Buying Horror Stories, As Told By Jalopnik Readers

The one I’m dealing with currently.

In mid-January 2024, I flew from Oklahoma to Illinois to purchase a 2018 Genesis G90 5.0 Ultimate AWD from a newly opened Genesis store. The process seemed promising enough, so I was happy to hand over a certified check for the car. The first complication came when it was discovered that I’d have to pay tax at the time of purchase. While Oklahoma allows you to remit tax within 30 days, Illinois makes you pay tax upfront. And now that Illinois and Oklahoma reciprocate tax with each other, the dealer was required to collect tax and then use a third-party service to remit the tax to my state and apply for a title and plate on my behalf.

I also purchased an extended warranty while I was there.

When I got to the dealership, I noticed that the car only had one key and asked if they’d provide a second one. They agreed to do so. They also agreed to send me a new fuse box cover for the engine bay, since it was missing.

A couple of weeks later, in late January, I texted my salesperson and asked him where the key was. His response was that they were only ever going to give me the second key if they could procure it from the prior owner, and they couldn’t. I said, “No dice; it was on the We Owe, and you need to provide it.” That was an uphill battle, but I finally got them to pay my local dealer to make a key, which I just received the other day. I also received the fuse box cover pretty late, after they lied and said it was on backorder (it wasn’t).

The bigger issue is the title. I still don’t have the title, or plate. I just had to call them today to ask them to overnight me another temp tag, because mine officially expires today (three-month tag).

And, on top of that, the car has developed a noticeable shudder around the 1-2 upshift. I had my local Hyundai/Genesis dealership look at it, and try to engage the warranty. Since they had a similar issue on another G90, they know that it’s the transfer case. But the warranty company wants them to tear the transfer case down to the point of failure before they’ll approve a new one. Since the dealer doesn’t think they’ll be able to find a culprit part, they told me the best thing to do is just to wait for it to worsen.

I honestly want to sell the car and buy something else, but I haven’t got the fucking title. I have the Illinois Attorney General and the Secretary of State breathing down the Illinois Genesis store’s neck, because they have not given me a satisfactory answer for why I don’t yet have plates or a title, and my state doesn’t seem to know anything about the car. Whenever I call the third-party company that’s handling the interstate tax and title transfer, they tell me they can’t release information without the dealer’s consent, even though the dealer allegedly gave it to them.

To recap

– I purchased a six-year-old Genesis from a Genesis store out of state

– I had to pay tax at the time of purchase, to be sent to my state by a third-party company

– That store tried to renege on their written agreement to provide a second key

– I still don’t have a title or plates, three months later

– The car has a mechanical issue

Honestly, it’s the worst purchase I’ve ever experienced, and that includes my purchase of a V12 Jaguar wherein the car’s transmission promptly failed right after I bought it. I think that Genesis made a huge misstep in a) not spending the money to launch as a proper luxury brand at the outset, and b) allowing Hyundai stores to retail its cars after it did. Unfortunately, Genesis stores—even as they move to standalone operations—are still extensions of Hyundai franchises, so most of the dealerships are just moving their unprofessional Hyundai sales and management clowns over to the Genesis side, which means you get shit like this.