New Kia Inventory at Plaza Kia: How Capital Region Buyers Can Shop a Downstate Dealer

Kia just had the best September and the best quarter in its American history, and two of its newest small SUVs are on sale as the first frost settles on the Capital Region: the redesigned Seltos is on dealer lots and its hybrid version arrives late this year, and the electric EV3 is now in showrooms. Demand like that can leave the exact trim and color you want missing from the lots on Central Avenue or Route 9, and some buyers in the 518 end up looking a few hours down the Thruway.

Shopping a downstate dealer is easier than it used to be. The new Kia inventory at Plaza Kia in Brooklyn, for example, can be browsed online car by car, which turns a long drive into a single planned trip rather than a gamble. The trick is settling everything you can before you leave home.

Kia America sold 77,009 vehicles in September, up 18 percent, and its hybrid sales jumped 152 percent from a year earlier. Two new arrivals matter most for Capital Region winters.

The all-new 2027 Seltos is a small SUV with three powertrains. The 1.6-liter turbo, rated at 190 horsepower, comes with all-wheel drive as standard, the 147-horsepower 2.0-liter offers it as an option, and a hybrid with available electric all-wheel drive is due late this year. Ground clearance rises to an available 8.1 inches, welcome on an unplowed side street in Troy.

The 2027 EV3 is Kia’s smallest electric SUV. Its EPA-estimated range runs from 221 miles on the base Light trim to 321 miles on front-drive Wind and Land models, or 280 miles with all-wheel drive. It has a native NACS port for Tesla Superchargers. Like any EV, it will deliver less than its rated range in a January cold snap, so plan around the lower number.

A checklist before the trip downstate

1. Lock down the car by VIN. Ask the dealer to confirm the exact vehicle is on the lot and to hold it in writing.
2. Get an out-the-door price in writing, including fees, so nothing changes at the desk.
3. Bring Form DTF-820 into the deal. Under New York tax rules, a resident buying from a dealer in another part of the state pays sales tax at the rate where they live, provided this form is filed at the sale. Without it, the dealer charges the rate where the car is delivered, and New York City’s 8.875 percent is higher than the rate in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady or Rensselaer counties.
4. Arrange financing before you go, so the loan isn’t negotiated on the spot.
5. Plan the drive home. For an EV, map fast chargers along the Thruway before you leave.

Take a typical Saratoga Springs couple who want an EV3 Land with all-wheel drive in a specific color and can’t find one nearby. They spot one online at a Brooklyn dealer, confirm it by VIN, agree on a written price and get pre-approved from home. On a Sunday they drive their old car down for the trade-in appraisal, sign with the DTF-820 in the paperwork, and head north on the Thruway in the new car the same afternoon.

Why some buyers make the trip

Plaza Kia is a family-owned dealership on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. Trade-in details are at www.plazakiany.com/trade-in, and appraisals are done the same day, with a cash offer and no purchase required, so the old car can be settled in the same visit. Financing pre-approval can start without a Social Security number or date of birth. The showroom is open Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the dealership has on-site EV charging for anyone starting the drive north in an EV3.

The takeaway

A dealer a few hours away is worth a look when the car you want isn’t nearby, as long as the trip is the last step and not the first. Confirm the car, the price and the financing from home, bring the DTF-820, and the drive down the Thruway is just the commute to your new car.