Part 1 – Introduction
I have written my Hyundai story because I think people deserve to know what my sad experience with Hyundai has been. It’s not pretty.
In May, 2014, I purchased a used Hyundai Santa Fe, VIN 5NMSGDAG1AH415594, from my local Hyundai dealer in Kitchener, Ontario.
It truly was a ‘nice’ car. It drove quietly, handled well, and was very comfortable and responsive. For a few months, we were very happy with it.
As time went on, we had two events happen which have totally disillusioned me, and turned my attitude towards the Hyundai company to be completely negative. I will no longer support them in any way … not one penny!
The first event was uncomfortable but not financially disastrous. The second was, in my opinion, totally unacceptable from a business relations and customer service perspective, and unjustifiably costly.
I will never own another Hyundai, and I will continue to warn and dissuade anyone I can from buying one, as I have already done in a couple of instances.
Part 2 – At the Dealership
In October, 2014, we were returning from a camping trip and stopped at a rest stop in Virginia, about mid-morning. When we came out of the building, we noticed a sizeable fresh oil slick below the car.
Upon looking more closely, we determined that, yes, the engine was leaking oil, and had been for a few miles. We were towed to the nearest Hyundai dealer, Bill Cole Hyundai, in Princeton, West Virginia.
Upon arrival there, a salesman came and introduced himself, and stated that theirs was just a quiet, little, friendly, no-pressure dealership. He went on to say, and repeat, and repeat, that if our engine problem could not be fixed, he had a good selection of vehicles we could choose from.
When I went into the service area, several men, presumably mechanics, were standing and staring at my car. In turn, each of them said, “Yep, I’ve seen this before. It’s finished. It’s done for.” When I was told directly that the car was terminally kaput, I mentioned that that was an interesting comment, considering that they had not even opened the hood yet!
A short time later another mechanic returned from lunch and, after a while, determined that the problem was a number of gaskets. Parts would need to be ordered and would take 3-4 days to arrive. (I don’t recall where they were ordered from but it was less than a 9-hour drive.)
At one point the service manager came up to me and asked if I was the original owner of the car. When I said no, he said, “The warranty only covers the original owner and is not transferrable.” I replied with “That’s a lie and you know it.” He became very quiet and went away.
A few minutes later he came back to me and said that the repair would not be covered by warranty because the mileage was 92,000 and the warranty only goes to 60,000. When I reminded him that this was a Canadian vehicle in kilometres and that this 92,000 was still well within warranty, his sad reply was, “Oh.”
While all of this was going on, the initial salesman was still pestering my wife outside repeatedly, about every 20 minutes, with “You know, we have a great selection of vehicles here and can get you on the road in no time!” His visits to her were so consistent, persistent, and high-pressured that she finally went and hid inside our camper simply to get away from him. (Yes, we were towing our small travel trailer, and, it was well within the towing weight limit specified in the owner’s manual.)
We were then in a situation that we needed to rent a car to come home for a week, then return to West Virginia solely for the purpose of picking up our car once the repairs were complete. (I offered to go to pick up the needed parts, and could have had them back within 2 days, but that was denied.)
When we went back to West Virginia to pick up the car a week later, I was shown, but not given, a copy of the Repair Order. I was told a copy would be sent. It wasn’t. I later needed this Order for warranty purposes and contacted the dealership again via a webchat. Again, it was promised and again, never delivered.
After waiting 2 more months, on January 6, 2015, I finally wrote a letter to the dealership’s owner, and it was only then that I finally received a response from the office manager, and eventually the requested copy of the Order was sent.
And, after all was said and done, the issue that was presented to me as “It’s done for” was, in fact, readily repairable, as well as under warranty. The repeated pressure from all sides to purchase a new car right then and there at the dealership was by no means necessary, rather simply an attempt to coerce us and to take advantage of a customer’s bad situation. Whatever happened to integrity and trustworthiness?
Part 3 – A Second Event
On our second camping trip, we were in southern Florida at the end of March, 2015, when the Santa Fe developed a clunking noise and shaking at the rear of the vehicle at slow speed. The severity of the problem increased over time.
Being homeward bound, we got into the vicinity of Orlando when we chose to go to the Cocoa Hyundai dealership. The mileage on the car was 105,461 km., or 65,530 miles, just slightly past warranty.
The problem was diagnosed as a faulty differential and coupler. Of course I had no choice, and the work was done quickly and efficiently. I wound up paying a bill of $3,705.48 (US).
Part 4 – Dealing with Hyundai
Upon returning home, I contacted the Lead Service Advisor at the Kitchener Hyundai dealership, with whom I had developed a good working relationship over time. I was advised of Hyundai’s ‘Good Will’ policy and, under these circumstances, was encouraged to apply. I was told that this policy allows the company, at their discretion, to extent the warranty if they feel a claim is valid. It was suggested by the service people that this certainly appeared to be a valid claim.
The request was submitted, and a week later I (along with the service people here) was in total shock that it was denied. The shock comes from a combination of factors:
- I have been told by several mechanics that there is no way that a differential and coupler should fail on a ‘reasonably new’ vehicle with such low mileage, if ever;
- The vehicle was only 5,461 km., or 3,393 miles, past warranty, and we are talking about a repair that never should have been needed;
- It absolutely appeared to me and the local service people that this was a valid claim if there ever was one.
Quite upset, on April 20, 2015, I wrote a letter to the President of Hyundai Canada, with a copy to the Vice-President of Customer Relations. I received no reply or even acknowledgement, from either of them. Apparently it also was never delegated nor responded to by anyone else.
Two months later, on June 27, I wrote a second letter, again to both, simply asking why the claim had been rejected. Again, absolutely no response nor acknowledgement. Again, nobody gave a hoot.
My conclusion? Of course … based on my experience, once your money is in their pockets, the good will and the caring comes to an abrupt halt. And, if they ignore you long enough, you will eventually go away and quit bugging them. They win, you lose. End of discussion. End of problem.
If I am wrong, I welcome them to prove it to me!
Part 5 – Conclusion
Of course, I got rid of this vehicle asap once I got home. I sold it privately but gave full disclosure of the history and problems to the buyer, along with a warning to never take it out of town as it appears to have a habit to self-destruct once you get 1,000 miles from home. And then come car rental costs, motel costs, and restaurant costs along with dealership delays, and days lost from work.
I think my conclusion is pretty obvious… in my opinion, once Hyundai gets paid, if they are not bound to service your needs, you may as well just go away. Their ‘good will’ policy, based on my dealings, is a fallacy.
To trust them to truly care about their customers and reasonable concerns is, in my experience, a mistake.
My concluding decision is that, unless they choose to make good on their ‘good will ‘policy, I will never again support this company in any way.
And I will continue to tell people about these experiences I have had, with the intent of preventing anyone else from becoming a Hyundai victim.
And again … if I am wrong, I welcome them to prove it to me.