A New York car dealership, Family Nissan, has gifted a new car to a woman whose harrowing experience with a different dealership left her deeply shaken.
In early January, Makayla Starks discovered a racial slur on her oil change sticker after taking her car for service at Kunes Buick GMC in Oak Creek. According to her, she didn’t notice the offensive sticker until later that day.
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The 33-year-old told People, “While they were supposed to be servicing my car, apparently, an employee typed up a racial slur [the n-word] and put it in the comment section of my oil change sticker. They adhered that to my windshield.
“I sat in my car and cried for 20 minutes.”
After the incident, Kunes Buick GMC apologized to Starks in person, fired the employee responsible, and issued a public apology on Instagram. The company also conducted an internal investigation to determine if any other employees were involved.
However, Starks and activists from The People’s Revolution Milwaukee organized protests in front of the Kunes dealership, demanding further accountability.
She later revealed that a Kunes employee had tipped her off, warning her that the dealership attempted to retrieve the sticker under the false pretense of recovering a forgotten tool.
As her situation made headlines, it caught the attention of Ramzey Rizk, the owner of Family Nissan, who learned about the incident after watching a Fox 6 news segment featuring the protests outside Kunes Buick GMC.
He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “The team here got kind of fired up to add more support and add more voice to her voice and to her narrative and to push her message forward that this should’ve never happened.”
He explained that during a Saturday morning meeting, his staff discussed how they could help, and the idea to gift Starks a new car emerged.
He recounted, “And then you hear somebody say, ‘Let’s give her a free car.’ And then you hear somebody say, ‘Not just any car, an electric car.’ And then I ask, ‘Why an electric car?’ And they said, ‘Well, because she never has to get an oil change again.’”
Following that advice, Family Nissan officially presented Starks with a brand-new Nissan Leaf, an electric vehicle with a $38,000 MSRP.
Starks, who initially thought the call from her attorney was about another media interview, was stunned.
“I was in disbelief. I was like, ‘Seriously? For real?’ And he’s like, ‘Yes, very real,’” she recalled.
During her visit to Family Nissan, Starks, a published poet, was also surprised by an impromptu book signing.
She had released “A Painting Bird’s Whisper: Poetry & Prose” in 2024. When Rizk’s team learned about her work, they purchased multiple copies, turning the car gifting event into a celebration of her literary achievements.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Starks said, “After this incident with the Kunes dealership, I could absolutely walk around with the attitude that people are terrible and nobody likes me. [But instead], I’m just trying to focus on people who are supportive and any good that has come out of this.”
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