News and Events
Congratulations Kelowna Mercedes-Benz & Kelowna Infiniti Nissan! – July 2024
Both KMB and KIN have won the 2024 JD Power Dealer award! This award recognizes a small group of elite dealers from all across the U.S. & Canada who achieve & maintain the highest standards of customer satisfaction for their clients. We are TWO of only 39 dealers in all of Canada – to make the 2024 Trophy selections list. Congratulations team!
Congratulations Landon! – July 2024
Congratulations on your promotion, Landon!! We are thrilled for your recent promotion to Service Valet at Kelowna Mercedes-Benz, Landon! You bring hard work, dedication, and positive attitude to our team every day. We are confident that you will continue to thrive and make valuable contributions to our dealership, enhancing the overall customer experience. We are lucky to have you as part of our team, Landon!
BBQ Fun – July 2024
Congratulations team Kelowna Infiniti Nissan! – June 2024
Congratulations to Ben Godollei, Mark Samson, Carlos Monagas, Sara Shipley, Landon Demmers, and Michael Zeisman for being the 2023 Club Nissan Excellence winners! In the Club Excellence program, there are 3 levels of achievement – Gold, Silver, and Bronze – each with unique rewards. You all deserve it!
Congratulations team! – June 2024
Aaron Brown has been promoted from technician to shop foreman and Bryden Daniels has been promoted from apprentice to journeyman technician at Kelowna Mercedes-Benz.
Congratulations team! – June 2024
Jaskirat Singh has been promoted from apprentice to journeyman technician,
Hunter Fulkerson has been promoted from detailer to apprentice technician and Chris Marks has been promoted from apprentice to journeyman technician at Lexus of Kelowna.
Happy retirement, Denise! – June 2024
For the last 10 years, you have been more than just a staff member to us — you’ve been the heart and soul of our team. Your kindness, your thoughtful treats and flowers, your inspirational whiteboard notes, and most importantly, your warm and caring presence, have made Lexus such an amazing place to work. We will miss you dearly. We are immensely grateful for the way you have taken care of both our building and our team with such dedication and love. Your personal touches have brightened our days and made a difference in the lives of everyone at Lexus. Never forget that you’ll always be part of the Lexus family!
Adam Rich is driving change in Kelowna – May 2024
It is with absolute pleasure to inform you that our very own Adam Rich, Dealer Principal, has played an important part in encouraging 18 Kelowna auto dealers to raise over $500,000 to help enhance life-saving cancer care in the Interior. Unfortunately, many of us have connections to cancer but it is really motivating that 18 dealers put rivalry aside to raise money for BC Cancer. There is hope! In addition to leading the Kelowna Auto Dealers Association’s charitable efforts to fuel cancer research and care at BC Cancer – Kelowna, Adam is on the BC Cancer Foundation Interior Transformation Council and has rallied his larger community to support the cause. Sentes Automotive has also donated more than $150,000 to the BC Cancer Foundation to support PSMA-PET technology (advanced imaging that detects prostate cancer spread) and genomics.
Congratulations Jass! – May 2024
We are absolutely thrilled to congratulate Jass on achieving his certification as an Automotive Technician! This is a significant milestone in your career, Jass. You should be incredibly proud of yourself! “Your journey to certified technician is truly commendable. Throughout this process, you’ve shown remarkable dedication, perseverance, and a genuine passion. It’s clear that your hard work and commitment have paid off. As you embark on this new chapter as a certified technician, we have no doubt that you will continue to excel and make valuable contributions. Your skills and expertise will undoubtedly serve you well as you take on new challenges and opportunities.” – John Hughes, Service Manager.
Wing night! – May 2024
Fun at work and outside of work! Thank you, Kelowna Mercedes-Benz staff, for your tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to excellence. Your dedication not only contributes to our goals as a company but also ensures memorable experiences for our customers. Thank you, team, for making Kelowna Mercedes-Benz a place we can all be proud of.
2023 Sentes President’s Award WINNERS! – April 2024
It is with immense pride to announce the 2023 President’s Award Winners: Dean Anderson, Ben Godollei, Maggie Foun, and Mark Samson. The President’s Award recognizes the top volume sales consultant for each of our three stores. Your hard work and dedication is truly impressive and we look forward to many more successes and achievements together! Congratulations!
Congratulations on your promotion, Matt Broomham! – April 2024
Huge congratulations, Matt, on your well-deserved promotion to Detail Manager at Lexus of Kelowna! Your journey to this point has been remarkable. Through each challenge and opportunity, you have demonstrated exceptional leadership, quality work, and expertise. These are qualities that make you the perfect fit for this role. We have no doubt that you will continue to excel and help succeed the team. We look forward to achieving great things together. Congratulations Matt!
Happy retirement, Michelle Lindsay (controller)! – April 2024
Your dedication and hard work have left an incredible mark, and your absence will be felt by everyone who had the pleasure of working with you.
Congratulations on your promotions, Ben! – March 2024
“We’re proud to say we believe in growing our team for success. Such is the case with the most recent promotion: we are happy to announce that we have promoted Ben Godollei from sales consultant to sales manager for Kelowna Infiniti Nissan. Ben has shown passion for the brand with 10 years’ experience with service department right up to sales most recently. His excellent customer skills and understanding of the industry is invaluable and makes him a great success story for our team. He quickly has grown in his skillset for sales and we’re excited what his journey in his new role has in store for him! Congrats Ben.” -Elias Flores, General Manager
Congratulations on your promotion, Michael! – March 2024
“Michael is a key member of our service team who consistently delivers fantastic customer service, maintains a strong work ethic, keeps on top of things and is organized, and shows a willingness to learn new processes, and share ideas. These skills along with his calm, friendly, and approachable personality coupled with a great sense of humor make him a strong leader in our department. He has earned a much deserved promotion to assistant service manager of Kelowna Infiniti Nissan.” -John Hughes, Service Manager
Kelowna Mercedes-Benz marks International Women’s Day by celebrating women in the driver’s seat – March 2024
Kelowna Mercedes-Benz hosted the premiere screening of a new documentary about women in motorsport and welcomed one of the feature drivers: Nicole Havrda, a racer from B.C. who is currently competing in Formula 3 with the goal of one day racing for Formula 1. In addition to that, we welcomed young guests from the local ‘Big Brothers Big Sisters’ organization to meet Nicole. It was an absolutely incredible night!
Congratulations Brad! – March 2024
Bradley Chabot at KMB has transitioned from lot attendant to service washer.
Congratulations Diego! – March 2024
Diego Sanchez at KMB transitioned from sales consultant to product specialist.
Congratulations Ramneek! – March 2024
Ramneek Kaur in accounting has been promoted from assistant controller to controller.
Congratulations Shelby! – March 2024
Shelby Dulik at LOK has transitioned from service advisor to parts consultant.
Congratulations Lexus of Kelowna! – March 2024
Lexus of Kelowna has been awarded the 2023 Lexus Service Management Gold Certification Award! This is the culmination of everyone’s efforts to achieve the highest levels of dealer processes, guest experience and continuous improvement!
Hard work pays off! – March 2024
Marlon Blom and Cory Myraas (KMB Parts Consultants) received a $100.00 gift card each for putting in some hard work over the last 7 months and achieving the Mercedes Benz Online Digital Sales Target (%) for 2023. You two are amazing!
Kelowna Infiniti Nissan Fixed Operations Bowling Night – March 2024
The KIN Fixed Operations team had a great bowling night at McCurdy Bowling last month. It was so much fun to get together and enjoy some good food along with some spirited competition. We didn’t know that we have such good bowlers!
Welcome back, Ken! – February 2024
Ken first joined our Kelowna Mercedes-Benz team in February 2012 and worked with us almost for 7 years. Now, after 5 years has rejoined the team and is coming back to us stronger than ever! Ken is a highly experienced salesperson with an extensive knowledge of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Welcome back, Wayne! – February 2024
Wayne first joined us at Kelowna Infiniti Nissan in June 2017 as a Service Advisor after moving to the Okanagan from the Lower Mainland. Wayne has rejoined us now at Lexus of Kelowna as a Service Advisor and he is very excited to learn about the Lexus brand and work with David Cline again.
Lexus Service Night Out – February 2024
“We would like to shout out and thank all of our staff. A special shout out to our technicians who have been putting in endless hours of their time above and beyond the call of duty to help us get through our busiest time of year. Early mornings and late evenings have not gone unnoticed. Its been orchestrated chaos to put it in a nutshell. We are grateful that you have all been able to sacrifice your personal family time to contribute to our Sentes family time. Thanks to all of the extra efforts, we have been able to keep turning out cars and keeping our guests happy with all of their ownership and servicing needs.” -David Cline, Service Manager
Nissan Excellence Winners – February 2024
Congratulations to Mark Samson, Michael Zeisman, Ben Godollei, Carlos Monagas, and Sara Shipley for their excellent customer service! Each received a $500 gift card courtesy of Nissan Canada.
Happy retirement, Carol and Brian! – January 2024
We are so going to miss you both but we are happy for your next chapter. We hope you have the best time. Thank you for your many years of hard word and dedication!
Job Shadow – Kelowna Infiniti Nissan service team working in parts – January 2024
Sentes Automotive 2023 Length of Service Awards – December 2023
Special congratulations to all of you for the commitment and loyalty to us. Your exemplary commitment and integrity over the years has been pivotal to this company’s success. Cheers to many more years to come! At the Christmas party this past December 9th, our team received a few gift cards as a recognition for their loyalty to us and their hard work. Thank you for being an important part of our success and for choosing a career with us! *These awards are recognized in 5 years increments each year.
Kelowna Mercedes-Benz, one of the most important brands in the world! – December 2023
According to Interbrand, a US brand consulting company, Mercedes-Benz remains among the top ten most important brands in the world for the eighth time in a row. Mercedes-Benz is the most valuable luxury automobile brand in the world in the current “Best Global Brands 2023” ranking. After five years in a row at number eight, the star now shines as the seventh most important brand in the world. We are super proud to represent the Mercedes-Benz brand and follow what it stands for: “Desire for Iconic Luxury”. Another highlight for our store, it’s that we’ve been ranked 2nd in the country for sales CEI and also for service and parts like we have been all year. This is very well deserved, team! We appreciate the commitment and hard work you all put in. Cheers to an amazing and successful 2024!
Women in Trades at Kelowna Mercedes-Benz – December 2023
Kelowna Mercedes-Benz welcomed a few students from the Women in Trades program at the Okanagan College Thursday, November 30th to learn more about the automotive industry and the different career paths they could take. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped to say hi to them. They loved the facility tour and our brand new building! Hopefully, we will have some new apprentices coming our way!
2019 & 2023 signed KMB tile presentation – December 2023
The management team at Kelowna Mercedes-Benz presented a tile signed by everyone in the dealership to Adam Rich (Dealer Principal). What a thoughtful gift!
Sentes Automotive feeling festive! – December 2023
We hope you had fun at our 2023 Holiday Party! Thank you for all the hard work, commitment, loyalty, and excellence this year. We wouldn’t be who we are without all of you! We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy 2024! The best is yet to come.
Congratulations Kelowna Infiniti – November 2023
The Kelowna Infiniti team was treated to a night of bowling at BNA for being awarded with the 2022 BRONZE WINNER, in recognition of outstanding customer service. Thank you for the hard work team, it does not go unnoticed!
Congratulations Harry! – November 2023
Harry Dhillon received the 2022 Club Excellence Award in recognition of distinguished service achievement from Nissan Canada. It was presented by Morne Williams, the Fixed Operations Manager – Pacific Region Nissan Canada.
We are so lucky to have you, Danielle! – November 2023
CADA, The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, recognized Danielle Kruger, our Human Resources Manager as a proud member of the auto industry! Our company wouldn’t be what it is now without you, Danielle! #WOMENINAUTOMOTIVE
Congratulations Dionne! – November 2023
Dionne Tudor was promoted from Warranty Administrator to Warranty Manager
Congratulations Aidan! – November 2023
Aidan McGuinness was promoted from Delivery Specialist to Service Assistant
Bring Your Kids To Work Day – November 2023
On November 1st, we welcomed Grace at LOK, and Marcus and Carter at KIN. Both Marcus (Elias’ son) and Carter had a successful day of working in all departments at Nissan, and Grace had a lot of fun with mom (Rachel) helping out all customers walking into our Lexus showroom. Watch out! Alejandra will start recruiting!
Kelowna Mercedes-Benz Technicians Killin’ It As Always – November 2023
Keydon’s first engine replacement was an absolute success & Steve Bruckner working on a GT Black series
Congratulations Kelowna Infiniti Nissan – October 2023
Congratulations team for being the NISSAN Global Award Winner for the outstanding performance in 2022.
Congratulations John! – October 2023
John Hughes received the 2022 Club Excellence Award from Nissan Canada “In Recognition of Distinguished Service Achievement Silver Winner”. It was presented by Morne Williams our Fixed Operations Manager Pacific Region Nissan Canada.
BC Cancer – Inspired Leadership Series – October 2023
On Thursday September 7th, Adam Rich was the host speaker for the BC Cancer Inspired Leadership Series. Adam presented a history of Sentes Automotive and how leadership fueled the company’s growth. All members of BC Cancer – Kelowna were invited to attend this session which included a powerpoint presentation and talk along with an open question session. Adam was proud to share the many milestones and growth of our team and its member at Sentes Automotive and fielded many excellent questions from the crowd. He was honoured at the conclusion of the event with this crystal plaque. $100,000 was donated to BC Cancer, to help build their new Systemic Therapy Suite.
Congratulations Carlos & Ben! – October 2023
Big congratulations to the winners of the Quarter 1 Nissan Excellence Club!
Congratulations Ben! – September 2023
We are proud to congratulate our very own Ben Godollei on achieving Nissan Award of Excellence for the second year in a row – Silver status! This is evidence of his excellent customer service, sales targets and overall customer satisfaction. Well done Ben and congratulations!
Congratulations on your new vehicle, Olya and Zhenya! – September 2023
In May of 2022 Margot Sentes answered a Facebook post from a 32 year old woman wishing to flee the Ukrainian war and come to Canada. Margot and Rick decided they had the room and took in two young woman. Elena stayed with them for 6 months and Olya for 9 months. Olya became close to Margot and Rick joking that they were her second parents. However in February of this year Olya made the very difficult decision to return to Ukraine. She had married one month into the war and was desperately missing her husband. It took 6 months but finally Olya and Zhenya found a legal way to allow Zhenya, a man of conscription age, to leave Ukraine. After a tense 2 hours at the Ukraine border and another 3 at Polish customs they were granted entrance to Poland. It was 3 am in Poland when Olya phoned Margot to say they made it, they were safe. As soon as Margot knew they were in Poland she began the search for accommodation for the couple. This was right at the worst time of our summer fires. But fortunately Margot found a basement suite. She had saved certain pieces of furniture from the old Mercedes-Benz building. Margot worked on furnishings and preparing the suite for the arrival of Olya and Zhenya. Rick and Margot flew both of them to Kelowna and as a final aid to their start of a new life in Canada Rick and Margot gave them a car.
Goodbye, old Kelowna Mercedes-Benz! – September 2023
We officially say goodbye to the old Kelowna Mercedes-Benz building and the previous home of Kelowna Infiniti Nissan.
Women in Automotive – September 2023
CADA (Canadian Automobile Dealers Association) recognized our very own Director of Internal Operations, Pamela Pearson, as an inspiration in the industry that we all work in and love. “CADA is proud to highlight Pamela Pearson, an inspiration to all those in the automotive space. Pamela is the Director of Operations for Sentes Automotive in Kelowna, British Columbia. She has been a member of the automotive industry for over 15 years. She is extremely passionate about all things automotive and is an inspiration to all those within the automotive space. CADA is proud to support #WomenInAutomotive.”
Ice cream To Beat The Heat – September 2023
Lexus of Kelowna and Kelowna Infiniti Nissan were well-treated to ice cream from Scratch King/Dent King, Autobody & Paintless repair, to fight the heat!
Wishing you all the best, Amanda
This month we say goodbye to our Human Resources Administrator, Amanda Harris, who is moving to Calgary, AB. We are extremely grateful she spent 5+ years with us!
Kelowna Infiniti Nissan voted favourite dealership in town
Guess who was voted as one of the best New & Used Car dealerships in Kelowna? Congratulations team Kelowna Infiniti Nissan! Well-deserved for all your hard work! This competition was through communityvotes Kelowna 2023, where thousands of people in the community nominate and vote for their favourite business in town. Well-deserved! Keep up the great work team!
Talking about being cool!
Helen Eisle, our Accounting Administrative Assistant, is also our Lexus of Kelowna Saturday Receptionist and she certainly knows how to have fun!
