Genesis is good.... until it ISN'T...
Here is my true story of how I bought a brand new 2025 GV80 in June 2025, how it subsequently died, how it then took until November 2025 (5 MONTHS!) to have the BuyBack process completed, and how Genesis Corporate gets an “F” in my book. But my local Genesis dealer (Genesis of Mentor) gets an “A+”.
On June 28, 2025, I came to my Genesis dealer and picked up the brand new 2025 GV80 Prestige 3.5T. I loved it. In the second week of July, I took a trip from Cleveland to New York and then back. On my way back, I tried “spritzing” the back window and I noticed that the spray wasn’t working. I made a note to myself to stop at the dealer to get it looked at. Then… when I was about an hour away from my home, every single warning light lit up on the dash display, chimes and alarms ringing, and my GV80 went into “limp mode”. Luckily I was about 20 minutes from my dealer and brought it there.
They gave me a loaner and said they would call me the next day to let me know what happened. After two WEEKS, they figured out, with help from Genesis Corporate engineering, that the main wiring harnesses (all of them) that ran from the front of the engine to the rear of the vehicle were “bad”. Replacements were not readily available. By this time, a little over a month had gone by and it was determined that a BuyBack would be offered by Genesis.
This process took OVER 3 months! If Genesis Corporate moved any slower, they would have to speed up to stop! My calls to them fell upon deaf ears. My Case Manager from Corporate really could not care less about me, the customer. I felt as if he thought of me as just a “number”. A “cog in the wheel of Genesis’ as it were.
I can HONESTLY say my dealer (Genesis of Mentor) was there for me every step of the way. General Manager, AJ Kelly; Finance Manager, Zach Alicea; and my sales person, CJ Ughamba were the BEST. They “went to bat” for me and for that I am GREATLY appreciative.
Finally, on November 12, 2025, I returned to my Genesis dealer to sign BuyBack paperwork with the Notary employed by Genesis and my old, defective GV80 was out of my hands and back in Genesis Corporate’s hands. I drove out of the lot in my brand new 2025 GV80.
BUT…. I have a “bad taste” in my mouth regarding Genesis Corporate and they receive a “F grade” in my book. There are also questions that never were answered and situations that bothered me:
As for Genesis corporate…. DO BETTER!
— Why did I have to wait SO LONG for this BuyBack process to complete? 5 Months!!!!!
— WHY did I continue to pay my loan payments on the BROKEN GV80 for 3 MONTHS and get NO credit for the time I could NOT drive my own car?
— Why did *I* , the customer who was inconvenienced have to come up with $18k of MY money to complete the Buy Back transaction? I would have thought that a Billion dollar corporation such as Genesis North America, would have absorbed that $18k to please the customer and make things right. But, NO! Genesis Corporate could not care less about me, the inconvenienced customer!
Again, my dealer was THE BEST and they get an “A+ grade”.
You may be wondering what was wrong with my original GV80 with all the errors and things….. ALLEGEDLY , the problem was traced to the rear windshield washer fluid tube that ran from front to back of vehicle…. And this washer fluid tube ran THROUGH a junction box under the passenger side of vehicle…through the SAME junction box as the main wiring harnesses!! Supposedly/Allegedly a connector was missing that should have been installed and every time I “spritzed” the rear window, the tube worked its way loose and flooded the electrical connections that ran next to it. Do I know this as a 100% truth? No. Because I didn’t see it, therefore I can only take the word of the techs.
SO… if you are driving in your GV80 and go to spray the rear window and know that you have enough washer fluid and nothing sprays out the back, DON’T keep trying… you may wind up in my situation.
Finally… I really do LOVE the GV80! It’s a wonderful vehicle, I love driving the new one that I now have and I will look into buying another one when the time comes. As for Genesis Corporate and CEO, Randy Parker….. DO BETTER!! If it wasn’t for your customers, you would not be in business.