Anyway, nearly 5000 miles on the Santa Fe and haven't seen any rust yet, but live in So. California, so maybe there's a salt corrosion component? Had the rotten egg smell come wafting through on the first weekend trip (less than 2000 miles) but it hasn't happened since . My guess would have to do with the catalytic converter, cause I had one go out on an old car and that's the smell, but since it hasn't happened in the last 3000 miles, I'm not too worried. The gas mileage is improving, and it hasn't given me any trouble yet.
And, just as an idle question, are car buyers really so stupid that they'd look at the numbers of posts without reading them and assume that it reflects the number of actual problems? I'm not tracking that reasoning. After all, there are, what, probably 50 of each of the other SUVs sold for every one Santa Fe, so there'd be a 50:1 ratio for problems posts if they were exactly equal. Give the car buyer *some* credit for brains, eh?
Just bought a new 2WD GLS. Was parked in the garage and went out to get the newspaper. When I looked back at rear of the Santa Fe, it appeared that the right side sat a little higher than the left. Got out a level and confired this to be true. Figured either left tire was low, right was overinflated, garage was sinking to the west, or Santa Fe was simply crooked. Took to dealer because "check engine" light was on, and asked curiously about the tilt. They confirmed that one side was about 1/2 to 1/4 inch higher than the other, and that up to a whole inch was acceptable! No good explanation was provided, other than it is (according to them) a common problem with SUVs and light trucks. Anybody ever heard of such a thing? Oh, by the way, the check engine light was on because my gas cap wasn't on tight enough.
Last winter I decided to purchase either a 4WD or AWD SUV or Outback vehicle to traverse some steep hills and switchbacks in wet snow/icey roads of rural Maine.
Decided to investigate the Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda Tribute/Ford Escape V-6, 2002 Ford Explorer, and the Subaru Outback Wagon with 2.5 4 cylinder engine, automatic transmission. These vehicles were selected because of decent reviews, price and value to some extent, capacity, handling, cruising at 65 to 80mph, quality and opinions offered by many on various net sites, and last in importance trailering or towing ability. I currently own a Toyota Avalon and an 18+ year old 4 x 4 3/4 ton pickup rusty which is hardly used but operable.
My wife and I drove each "test" vehicle at least twice in different weather conditions. Here are our biased opinions.
My wife thought the 2002 Ford Explorer had no real styling as compared to the Santa Fe at the other end of the spectrum, for example. The Explorer she thought looks like a box. She thought it lacked power and its mass above 70mph makes the engine work to maintain that speed or a greater speed. We also thought the interior was okay but nothing special and that the coin holder was basically unusable while driving. Fit and finish seemed good; however the vehicle handled like a big lumbering oaf. We decided it was too large for us, got fairly poor gas mileage, lacked styling inside and out and probably would have difficulty getting out of its own way in an emergency handling situation and had Ford "reliability" or lack thereof. Lastly, the Explorer XLT (2001 version in this instance)is a 4WD vehicle not an AWD vehicle and the Subaru Outback Wagon beats ALL in the snow. NO CONTEST. Last winter I test drove the 2001 Outback in an empty mall parking lot which was basically sheet ice and hard packed wet snow. I COULD NOT GET THE OUTBACK TO GO INTO AN UNCONTROLLED SPIN NO MATTER HOW I TRIED TO ABUSE THIS VEHICLE. I MEAN IT! TALK ABOUT GIVING A PERSON CONFIDENCE!
We then drove the 4WD Mazda Tribute V6 and Ford Escape V6. We both were impressed with the power. It is a lively vehicle to say the least. However it is NOT an AWD but a 4WD vehicle and will not perform as well as an Outback in the snow. It emits a fair amount of engine and road noise. As all SUV it does not give us the feeling of safety or confidence in an emergency handing situation with the center of gravity significantly high. Perhaps a great view of the road in a SUV but I don't want to flip if I have to perform an emergency swerve. In additon to the powerplant another strong point is the Tribute's/Escape's 3500 lb. towing capacity compared to the Subaru's 2000 pound capacity. Gas mileage fairly decent, interior straightforward and plain vanilla. The Tribute's/Escape's doors seems to lack any heft and felt rather "tinny" which probably added to the road noise.
The Santa Fe AWD in our view wins the exterior and interior design award. We drove 2 different AWD Santa Fes. We were very impressed. The ride was excellent and was similar to the ride we experience in our Toyota Avalon. The fit and finish were excellent. For an SUV there was a minimum of lateral swaying. The engine could use more power and it supposedly doesn't tow over 1500 pounds in the AWD model. It is VERY WELL EQUIPPED. However, the down side is that there was a noticeable smell similar to something burning when we existed one of the 2 vehicles. The salesperson tried to blow it off but we found similar comments re the Santa Fe on the net. Further we decided against it because of few dealers and limited dealer support, very limited numbers of Santa Fes for the marketplace and in many cases a premium of $1000 added to the MSRP. NO THANK YOU. I AM NOT A FOOL. However, I do believe that Hyundai is a real comer in the global quality marketplace.
All in all, the Subaru Outback looks and feels like a quality vehicle. It rides and handles superbly. The interior is tasteful and appealing, bordering on plush, 2 tone dash with complimentary tan/creme colors and nice tan fabric seats. Fit and finish are excellent thoroughout. The specs are great. The OUTBACK is 14 inches longer (& more stable) than the Tribute/Escape and 10 inches longer than the Santa Fe. The 2002 Ford Explorer is only 2" longer than the Outback, hard to believe. The Outback has 4 wheel disc brakes and the Tribute/Escape do not. Pickup and accleration are certainly decent. The Subaru Outback can cruise better and handle the road better and has a better top end than the other vehicles in this comparison plus it gets far superior gas mileage and is the clear winner in snow/ice conditions. Thus we chose the 2002 Subaru Outback, tried and true 2.5H 4 cylinder engine, auto transmission, All weather package (including heated seats), comfortable rear seats, a nice heavy duty cupped rubber mat for the rear cargo area. I feel I am getting the same vehicle for around $23k that would cost over 30k if I ordered the leather seats and 6 cylinder engine. In my mind, a great vehicle and even better value.
Perhaps this evaluation will help a few folks decide.
I do not think 1000$ over MSRP is the going price.I bought my V6 AWD GLS for about 500$ under MSRP. Make the dealer know that you are serious about buying their car and negotiate with them would help a lot.
I also test drove the outback. The biggest drawback is that the outback is way too narrow for me.
I am contemplating buying either a Tacoma Pick up (Toyota) or the Sante Fe by Hyundai. I like what I have seen and read about the Hyundai and the SUV is more likable to me. However, I would like to hear from those owners that have done some towing of loads in and around the #3000 gross weight, boat and trailer and gas etc. aboard. Does it perform OK even tho I know it will not be a very quick vehicle which I am prepared to put up with for the occasional towing duties it will perform.
This is my second Hyundai vehicle and I can tell you that it seems to be a smell consistent with all their new cars, but it does go away after a few thousand miles. I think it's manufacturing debris or something which simply needs to burn off the engine. You all made a great choice in buying a Hyundai. I love both of mine!
I have them and a HUGE dent, both caused by construction trash I have to drive through to get to my office. So, I doubt it's a paint issue, though, I got to tell you, my repair job could have been better. I think the air flow over the hood might add to this issue. They do have those front end things to stop the issue, but, it's ugly and I'm shallow, so, I just keep paying for paint
Has anyone towed a boat or a load that is approximately 3000# with the V6 SUV??? I know that it is rated for less, however, in my past experience, this rating is usually understated for most vehicles considerably. Comments please.
The towing will basically be on flat ground and not ever be over 150 miles each way. Comments and experiences please??????
I tow a 14.5 SeaDoo Jet boat, about 1600 lbs, with a 2.7 AWD GLS. It does well on level highways at 70 mph. It slows and downshifts on hills. I would be a little hesitant to pull over 2k with it, and would be interested to hear from anyone who has.
My wife and I have had our 2X2 Santa Fe GLS for two months now, with a bit over 4k miles on it, and love it to death. The only nits are the fact that the battery went dead several weeks ago and we put a charger on the battery, and got the vehicle working again, and when we took it in for its 3k oil change, and told the dealer about the dead battery, he checked the battery and told us it had a dead cell. They replaced the battery.
We've had quite a few occurances where the cruise control kicks off. Some of these are on flat ground, and some are while the vehicle is climbing a hill.. We plan to bring the vehicle in and have the dealer check this out.
We're seeing the problem with filling the tank full.. We just came back from a 650 mile trip and got an average of 24 mpg for the trip... Not too bad..
I have driven the Ford Escape and also the Jeep Liberty. Drove the Hyundai Santa Fe today and I loved it! I think it feels roomier than both of the other SUV's. Warranty is alot better too. The dealership that offers this Santa Fe has a wonderful reputation for service. The only problem is my husband. He says a Hyundai is a joke. That's the only reason they give huge warranty is because nobody wants them.. What can I say to him to change his mind. I think their great. Only $20,200 sticker priced too. Think I shoulld pay around 18,500-19,000 on X plan.
When we first got our SF (LX, FWD w/ABS) I had some problems with the cruise kicking off, also. I finally figured out that there seemed to be two causes. Most of the time I was bumping the "cancel" button accidentally - it's quite sensitive, and close enough to the steering wheel rim that it's easy to do without noticing. The times I was sure I was nowhere near the button, I had the shifter in "manual" mode, and was going up a hill. I think it kicks off the cruise in that situation to keep from lugging the engine. Now that I keep track of those two things, I haven't had a problem.
Cindy- I, too, was an anti-Hyundai bigot. My wife convinced me by showing me the prices of an Escape, Liberty, and Rav4 with the same options as the SF. That did the trick! No regrets at all. It's a great car for what we need.
Cindy, I too was an anti Hyundai bigot, ASE certified mechanic, quite successful NHRA drag racer (in the old supercar days), and knew Hyundai excel was bad news. In 1990 I came home one day to find an 87 Excel in my drive way and my wife pleased with what she had done and grinning ear to ear. I reacted in a very insensitive way. She had, on her own, cleaned out her personal savings, and bought the 87 Hyundai Excel with 67,000 miles on it, as a "carrot" to entice our then 15 year old daughter to stay in school. I then informed her what a horrendous thing she had done. <shouldn't have done that!>
Daughter beat that car for three years. All I had to do to it was brakes and tires. After she graduated, got married and got a new car, her little brother got the 87 Excel. He finished high school, went in the Army, and beat that thing some more. Finally, at 137,00 miles, another set of Brakes, and rebuilding the carburetor and other routine stuff, he oil-starved the engine, so it died because of youthful neglect.
Since then we have enjoyed three Excels, an Elantra, and I am now enjoying retirement in my 2001 Elantra. I have NEVER owned a car any better than these. Cheap? no! Low Cost? Yes, but quality is there, too!
And I could give you some stories about Altima, BMW 328I, Sentra and Camry owners that have re-thought what they paid and what they got for it.
But if you husband is more concerned with "what the neighbors will think" or his beer buddies will think, you don't have a prayer of winning the argument. Pride and Ego is a powerful force.
My wife and I are in the process of buying a 2002 Sante FE GLS FWD. The dealer we are buying from is a Honda/Hyundai/Mazda dealer. We test drove the CRV and Tribute. I liked the styling and looks of the tribue, the presumed reliablity of the CRV, but the Sante Fe just had the perfect match of everything and the price was cheaper.
For $22,400 out the door we got a 2002 Sante Fe GLS FWD V6 with the following options: abs/traction control, floor mats, cross rails, storgage containters, mud flaps, and tie down net. Not to mention the great warranty. The car drives very smoothly, has excellent acceleration, tons of cargo room, baby seat tethers (wife is pregnant), easy to use controls, dark tinted windows (have to get high level packages on CRV and Tribute to get that), heated side mirrors, remote entry w/alarm, cd/cassette & 6 speakers, and IMHO the best designed tailgate out of the three.
We test drove 3 Sante Fe's and they all felt very well put together. No rattles or loose pieces. We were originally looking at the Focus wagon but that message board is almost all horror stories AND the ZTS wagon with traction control and abs is only a couple of thousand less than the Sante Fe with a bare minimum warranty and weak engine. All of these things helped to sell me on Hyundai but it was the Sante Fe itself that eliminated all my hyundai prejudices.
Thanks for all the rahs and hoorays! I think he might break down and buy a Santa Fe. We drove one and he actually liked it. But you know, what the neighbors think and those beer buddies are really important! HAHA. I just want something that is an SUV and that gets decent gas mileage and rides good. Thanks for the support!
I think there's just more interest in the Santa Fe than the RAV4 in general. Try a board search for "Santa Fe" and then one for "RAV4". There's way more messages about the Hyundai in the general topic, owner's clubs, etc. than the RAV4 (maybe those guys need an owner's club?). Steve Host Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I just got my front bumper replaced on my SF. And I had washed it about 5 days prior to taking it in. When the dealership was thru with it, they mentioned that there was some tree sap on it. I thought nothing of it and told the guy "ok." Well, when I went home to wash off the tree sap, it wouldn't not come off. It looked white (the so-called tree sap). When I continued to try and scrape it with my nail it would come off, but it would leave little pin holes thru the clear coat as if it has etched itself into the clear coat. I don't know if they burned the sap onto the clear coat when they dried the newly painted front bumper. I have more tree sap on my car except they come off when I wipe it down.
Could it be a defect in the paint? or could they have mistakenly baked my whole car when replaced my bumper? They won't seem to give me a straight answer. They claim they don't bake the whole car for a bumper and the guy claims that I left the tree sap on for too long before I washed it, except that I washed it 5 days prior to dropping it off to them and the paint was flawless.
I know I need to ask a professional, but how can I when i can't even get a straight answer from the dealer's paint and body shop.
I thought maybe someone might have had a similar problem or heard of something about tree sap etching itself thru the clear coat. I know it's thru the clear coat cause I took it to a professional paint and body shop elsewhere and when they tried to do a same color buffing to see if it's repairable that way it didn't help either.
I too have just had to take my SF in to have the entire hood repainted. Bird droppings have really pitted/cracked the clear coat in about 3 spots.The service manager said that the new paints they are using are water based and not quite as durable as the older paints.He also said that this is not uncommon to alot of other models that they sell and they have been seeing alot of this type of problem lately.Now wether i believe this or not is another story, but this is what I was told anyway.I have had My SF since early Dec and other than the bent door cables that would cause the door locks to freeze up and a leaky washer fluid tank everything else has been great till this clear coat problem.
Thanks for your input, lemurphy... I too have cracked and chipped paint on the roof of my SF. But the pitting is really bad. I hope I'm able to convince my local dealership that there is a problem with the clear coat. They want me to wait until their marketing service guy comes by (which is once a month). I had to leave my name and they said that they would call me when they know when he's coming. You know how some dealerships are, they want to claim that it's the buyer's fault.
I've seen discussion here on the SF where it's difficult to get a complete fillup on the fuel tank. In all cases, the pump shuts off long before the tank is completely full, and if you want to get a completely full tank, you have to keep clicking past the shutoff for quite a few clicks...Is there ANY fix for this by Hyundai or do we have to live with the problem?
After 2 posts with masked profanity (my apologies to our gracious host) I have cooled down somewhat and will post my ordeal.
First, I still love my Santa Fe and after driving a lovely 2000 Geo Metro from Enterprise I REALLY WANT MY SF BACK!
Okay, back to the story...
My wife and I decided to drive to Crested Butte, Colorado a few weekends back to view the changing colors of the Aspens. It was beautiful and we ended up having a great time. The trip home, however, was another tale. Driving off of the mountain into Carbondale I noticed my steering getting tighter and tighter. Not wanting to alarm my wife that I was having trouble driving I just kep pointing out the windows going "oooohh" and "aaaahh" trying to distract her from the fact that I was driving down a steep mountain pass with no guard rails or pavement. I own a 2001 2wd GLS. The road was dirt and very hard-packed. Plenty of old couples driving their luxury sedans up and down the pass so I was NOT off-roading by any means. Knowing the road-side assistance policy I needed to get to pavement. When we finally hit black-top I pulled over and noticed there was no more power steering fluid in the reservoir. I did not have the confidence in the road-side assistance people to just stay put so I drove into Carbondale and stopped at the nearest gas station. The mechanic there told me not to drive anymore since I might lose my breaks, steering and GOD knows what else. So I called Hyundai's road-side assistance people (Cross Country Motor Club in my area). They sucked worse than Dracula. They had no idea what Hyundai's policy was. It took 2.5 hours for the tow truck to arrive and I spent most of that time on my cell phone trying to find out why Cross Country was only authorizing $300 towards the towing when I was cleary more than 150 miles from home and exactly 154 miles from the nearest dealership (in Golden, CO) or service facility. They were DUMB. The tow driver hauled the SF and our butts to Golden (3 hours at least) and got us to the dealership, which by the way was the same dealership we purchased the SF from, and proceeded to drop the SF off. It was now 8:30pm, the dealership closed at 9 and the service department wasn't even open on Saturdays (another problem). Planet Hyundai in Golden Colorado was just as DUMB as Cross Country. Everyone had a different understanding of what was covered by Hyundai's road-side assistance program. We ended up paying $100 out of pocket for the tow. Not one single sales person helped us and one dope even had the nerve to say that if we had purchased the car from them this would have been a different scenario. I told him I did buy the SF from them and all he said was, "Oh". and walked away. Their service department rocks. I don't want those guys to get a bad rap. That department is the only thing saving them right now.
The power steering fluid return hose had completely ruptured. According to the Hyundai service guys the old part is now obsolete (meaning no more single hose to replace the one that blew) and that there is now 3 parts to the very same return hose. The last of the three parts was released on Oct 4th and so far my dealership doesn't have the new part to fix my problem. It has been 2 weeks and add that to the 9 hour road-side assistance fiasco I am NOT happy with that particular service. I called Hyundai directly and 2 different people told me that the tow should have covered by them without question and I should have never had to pay any money out my pocket. I will get a refund. The dealership knows they owe me BIG since I told them I lodged a complaint with Hyundai regarding Cross Country and their dealership. On top of all of this, the dealership closed it's doors at 9pm and left my wife and out in the parking lot trying to get a ride home. We finally arrived at our front door at 11:30pm. Carbondale is 3 hours away from my door and this whole thing started at 2:30pm.
I will not go back to Planet Hyundai to buy anything ever again. I am considering adding towing back onto my insurance in case Cross Country screws this up again. I'm just glad this all happened in my home state rather than on my summer road-trip to California (which was sooo much fun and added 3500 miles to the SF).
I would ask about the power steering problem. It looks like Hyundai is aware of it.
I still want to know who will pay for my roaming charges on my cell phone since I spent about 1.5 hours on hold (total) out of 3 phone calls to the road-side assistance people.
Still love the SF and our new 2001 Tiburon purchased about 2 months ago but I dislike my old dealership. Fortunately the Tib was purchased at a new Hyundai dealership in Boulder and it happens to be closer to my home and they have a service department open on Saturdays (gasp).
~v
p.s. - The service department at PH asked all the right questions. After 1 week without my SF or a rental I spoke with our mechanic and he asked if we had purchased the extended warranty. We did and he informed us that it would pay for a rental car. Nice of the sales guys to sell us the warranty but not ask about it when I was screaming at them to help us. That is how I ended up with the Metro (ugh). The department set everything up for me and I can at least get to and from home and work. Thanks guys. Service Dept. - 1, Sales guys - less than zero.
Visage, sorry to hear about the Hyundai non-performance when you had a minor mechanical breakdown.
And I guess it's minor when it happens to someone else!
Discussions by Hyundai owners and wannabe owners on several Town Hall boards always point to Hyundai's 5 year and 10-year warranty provisions as being the ultimate back-up should newer Hyundai models have the reliability problems of the older generations.
This point needs to be reinforced - that warranty (or anybody's warranty) is just a piece of paper.
It's only as good as the factory technical support personnel, the servicing dealer personnel, the parts support from factory and dealer, the Roadside Assistance personnel down to the tow truck driver, etc. etc.
And the cruel part is that just when you need all the support you can get, you're usually on a trip where dealers and parts are hard to find.
So, as ol' GTMustang would say - "Just buy a RX300 and don't worry about it." At least I think it was GT that said that...
Hey GT - where are you these days? -- the RX board misses you. Of course, now we have gimpyRX with an oil sludge problem after 25k miles and one oil change, so maybe we can get by without GT.
Like Drew said paper don't mean much. I had a similar type of problem with a HONDA CRV while on vacation. And guess what? The Honda Dealership though an authorized Honda Dealership (could sell Honda's) wasn't an authorized Warranty repair center... and even though the dealership represented themselves as a authorized Honda warranty repair center... Honda would only cover $400 of the cost(after the fact)... of a $1300 bill. Which got billed to me since it was a weekend and the Honda Authorization Center was not open. So things happen and it comes down to the people working on your vehicle and the dealership that is behind them or not... Vehicle make doesn't mean a whole lot. BTW the fix had to be re done when I got back home because the service dept was inept and it broke again.
When I graduated college (many moons ago), my friend and I went on a cross country trip for a month before heading into the work world (forever). Since neither of us owned a car that could make it out of town, we rented a NEW Dodge Aspen wagon (remember those awful things?). We had numerous opportunities to check out the Chrysler service departments across the country like Sioux Falls, West Yellowtone and Las Vegas. They were all very accommodating and got us on the way. A good thing since the rental company (Avis) was useless (ahead of their time).
Fast forward to 1998. I bought a Caravan (used 1995). The salesman told me there would be lifetime road assistance within a 50 mile radius as long as I owned the car. Should have gotten that in writing! I got a flat tire in my home town one day and being the non-mechanical female that I am, hadn't a clue how to work the spare. I was stuck with my toddler in the car too. I called the dealership and they REFUSED to come help because the mileage was 2000 miles more than their cut-off of 36,000 for this service. When I told them about my agreement at time of purchase, they just ignored it. It wasn't like they had to drive 10 miles to get to me. I was literally 2 miles from their door. I ended calling a tire shop and they came out, put on the spare so I could drive (and NO CHARGE!!). Naturally I went to their shop to purchase a new tire. I will never do business with that dealership again! This is called progress, give me "the good old days." I'm sure EVERYONE was similar horror stories. Now I drive a Kia Sedona with the same warranty as Hyandai. Therefore your story worries me.
Moral of the story: I'm glad this didn't happen on the highway or somewhere far from home. I include towing in my insurance policy (the extra $4 per payment is worth the piece of mind) AND I have AAA, just in case!
I have a 2001 Santa Fe with 3,000 miles ,just recently a yellow light(check engine picture) appeared on the dashboard(under the temp. gauge). Has anyone had this problem or knows what it could be?
Not that I have direct exp on this item... but in other cars it means one of two things. A built in service milestone has been reached or some sensor told the computer something is amiss... and you should see your authorized service center... In either case I would be taking it in to have it serviced.
I think there are old threads in here that describe this. One cause may be the gas cap is not tight. You should tighten so you hear at least 3 clicks. It states this in your owner's manual. After you have tightened the cap, I think it takes a few engine starts to clear the light. I believe this is more common with new cars. There are tighter emissions guidelines and vapour recovery is what this is trying to improve. Call your dealer to verify this.
I went to the dealer today "they cleared the warning light" and as Mastry stated the gas cap has to be on tight and also they highly recommend that while re-fueling the car be shut off. thank you
I've got a new 2wd Santa Fe. About 5,000 miles. Recently started hearing a popping and thumping noise in the front suspension area. Can make it happen by placing my hand on the steering wheel at 12 o'clock and while accelerating slowly on a smooth quiet surface (like my asphalt driveway), rocking the steering wheel back and forth abruptly between 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock.
Just took it to the dealer. Mechanic says that noise is coming from inside the steering rack. They are ordering the rack and will be replacing it. I'm hopeful that that is the problem. However, I'm not 100% confident. Reason being that on occasion I hear a similar popping noise in the front suspension, although not as noticeable as described in first paragraph, when I travel over bumps, RR tracks, or just generally bumpy roads. To repeat, this popping is not as dramatic as it is when I make it happen by rocking the steering wheel. Nonetheless, it makes me wonder if there is a problem in the front suspension somewhere. Anyone else with similar experiences? Or thoughts?
BTW--I've consistently got 20mpg in city and 24 highway.
Last thing--I've always thought there is a fair amount of road noise with the SF. I'm thinking of getting it undercoated at the dealer ($100), hoping that this cuts down on the road noise. Thoughts road noise/undercoating?
I bought my Sante Fe in December 2000 and for several months sang the praises of our new car to anyone who would listen, including on the Edmunds site. Then in September, the bottom fell out - almost literally! In short, the engine completely stopped and had to be totally replaced - a $3,500 dollar expense, fortunately fully covered under the warranty. However, the bubble has burst and it will take a long time to trust the car again. We were told by the dealership that our experience was a "first". I hope they are right. Either way, I have changed my mind about replacing my second car with an Elantra. One Hyundai is enough - at least for now.
kennyh2, please provide details so that others can learn. You say the engine completely stopped? Please tell us all you can...like what the dealer told you. Since you already had the work done, the repair order should state exactly what was done and the reasons.
Yes...it would be helpful if you mentioned what type engine and what happened. Did the timing belt slip/tear? What damaged occured to warrant a new engine? Did it happen while you where driving or sitting idle, on startup, pulling out from a dead stop? Where there any strange signs before hand i.e. noises, irregular idle?
Just purchased our first Hyundai and so far I love it! I wanted to share my experience in order to help people out, just like all the posts helped me out. I firmly believe the motto "Driving is Believing".
We looked at the only Hyundai dealer in Colorado Springs (two locations, but same dealer) and noticed that they had an item on their sticker labeled "Regional Price Adjustment". When I asked them about it I was told it was because the SUV was in demand and hard to come by. This adjustment added $2000 to the sticker price. We also learned from experience with many dealers that Colorado Springs marks up their cars (no matter the make) and they don't like to negotiate. So we went to Denver. I guess the Regional Line ends somewhere between the Springs and Denver because their dealers do not have this mark-up. We went to two different Hyundai dealerships. One being Planet Hyundai where our experience with the sales people were similar to a previous post. They were not willing to negotiate more than $300 off of the sticker price (is that even a negotiation?) and the saleswoman kept trying to convince me she had been dealing with my husband for weeks. He finally asked her when she had been calling him so frequently because he didn't remember any of it.
We returned to McDonald Auto Group/Hyundai on S. Broadway where we dealt with Jeff and Chasity. They were great! We were taken seriously from the moment we stepped on the lot. They let us take the car out alone to test drive it. And the negotiations were good. We finally ended up at $1500 under invoice for a 2002 Santa Fe LX with a clear bra on it and the hood deflector (we like the sportiness it adds), mud guards, roof rack with cross rails, and carpet floor mats. Final cost $23,519. I would highly recommend them for the sales experience. They were upfront with us on how low they would go for the best deal. Not alot of back and forth to the sales manager's office.
We test drove almost everything on the market (RX300, Tribute, Escape, Outbacks, etc) and finally found that Hyundai had what we wanted. A solid riding, quiet SUV that comes with a lot of extras as standard at a reasonable cost.
I look forward to a happy, positive experience with my Santa Fe and a possible second Hyundai in the future.
Here is a little more info on the #185 posting: My wife was driving the car when she heard a knock, the engine completely stopped ... and shortly thereafter, so did the car. The engine never turned-over again, and so it had to be towed 40 miles to the dealership. There was evidently a problem in a cylinder that broke a piston. An entirely new engine was placed in the car. Hope this further explanation helps.
kennyh2, is that what the dealer told you? When a piston has a problem, you won't hear just a knock. If it is a hole in the piston or piston chamber, the engine will make a LOT of noise. In fact, my brother had an old Volvo clunker and when it's engine died (I was in the car with him), it started making a noise and half an hour later, a valve broke through the top of the engine. For a car to stop completely as you describe it's more likely an electrical problem. If it's an electrical problem, the engine usually doesn't need to be replaced unless the engine kept turning and the valves interfered with the pistons. The Santa Fe engine is an "intereference" engine. A large number of cars/engines today have interference engines. This is due to efficiencies and the high compression ratios. This could also happen if the timing belt broke. This would happen as it would in any car! But, you would hear loud expensive noises when the pieces contact. It even mentions interference engines here:
ALL the Porsche, Honda and Volvo cars/engines listed have interference engines too.
I would go back to the dealer or the repair order and see exactly what happened...It's important to be well informed. BUT, as you say, they replaced the engine under warranty and you should be OK now. If it was not under warranty, you might not have to replace the engine completely. It could still be repairable depending on if any damage was done and how much damage was done.
When I start my 2001 LX V-6 in the morning, I hear a high metallic pitch or sound. The sound/pitch will disappear after I put my LX in gear. If you had this problem, what was done to get it fixed or get the dealership to hear the sound/pitch?
I own a 2001 Santa Fe 2fwd automatic.After 4000 miles I checked transmission fluid and noticed it was low.I tried to find the brand that was in the owners manual but couldn,t find it so I put about 1 quart of AC Delco Dexron III .Will this fluid damage my vehicle.I already drove about 350 miles.
I have an automatic Canadian GLS AWD v6 which is similar to the US LX AWD v6 model. I checked my owner's manual and it said:
Diamond ATF SP-III or SK ATF SP-III
I don't know if Dexron III is compatible but the owner's manual also said that "Damage caused by a nonspecified fluid is not covered by your new vehicle warranty." You should check as soon as you can with your dealer/service center and take any action they suggest.
Our LX was bought in February and now has 21,000 as my wife drives the legs off it. Suddenly when the transmission would not shift we took it in and they found a bad electronic sender (transmission shifting is electrical) and also found rear differential leaking due to a bad bearing. The electrical fix was cheap but the bad bearing required $800 in parts. Now all of this was covered by warranty. We were the pioneers with these problems-the dealer had never seen these issues before. One lesson here, the oil and lube jobs were done by Jiffy lube and such and none of them ever mentioned the leak which had to be there for awhile. All said and done, we still love the car
Hello ! dennisp1216 I live in Taiwan, I got my GLS 4WD Santa Fe for about 6 weeks. I had the same problem like yours the popping and thumping noise from the steering wheel was noted since 4 weeks ago. The mechanic also says that noise is coming from inside the steering rack (a connection join). They replaced it in last week, after that the noise was gone. That was very pleasure to me, but the noise coming again in yesterday. But this time the noise not in rocking the steering wheel back and forth abruptly between 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. The noise happen when turning the steering wheel to right end and slowly moving front or back. I supposed the replacing part was made in the same time so they had the same problem. I well try to ask my dealer to order a new one. If any thing improved I well let you know .
My Mitsubishi Galant required the same fluid as my 2002 Santa Fe. Since I replaced it often I found that the Quaker State ATF+3 was the same as that listed for my car. It even listed Mitsu and Hyundai on the bottle. So this may help you to find what you need.
#188 spoke of paying $1500 UNDER invoice!? Is this typical as I go to negotiate a price on a 2002???? What have the rest of you paid relative to invoice?
Any comments or comparisons between the Honda CR-V and the Hyundai 4WD Santa Fe GLS V6?? I need to make up my mind soon and they both have some really strong points. It does appear that the CR-V may be easier to find & purchase in the next couple of months. Anyways, let me know what you think about these to SUVs.
I have just bought a 2002 SF GLX AWD V6 and paid $21200 out the door. So far I am delighted with the car although it is early days yet (350 miles). I too looked at the competition but for the price you can not beat the whole SF package (great looks, great spec and warranty etc).
I have read with interest the postings on the subject of SF problems and it seems to me that while there are a few genuine issues, a lot of the postings are from owners who, given the level of intelligence shown, should not be allowed to drive let alone own a vehicle.
Anyway, the point that I wanted to make was this:-
My first ever new car was a 1999 Toyota Corolla and I bought it based mainly on the supposed reliability of Toyota products. While it is basically a good little car, it had several problems at the time I took delivery and has so far been back to the dealer 4 times in two years. To date it has had 1 new power steering pump, 3 drive belt tensioners, a weather strip replaced, a cup holder replaced and a new set of tires (not covered under the warrenty) at 17k miles. The point of my ranting is that if this had been a Hyundai, people would have been telling me that this was to be expected and that it served me right for buying it. Because it is a Toyota, people tend to have a short memory. I have owned many cars with supposed bad reputations and have found that most of the time problems are either caused out of ignorance on the part of the owner or that the problems are little different than those suffered by owners of so called reliable makes.
So my advice is drive and enjoy your Santa Fe with a smug grin that comes from knowing you have a great car at a bargin price.
Does anybody else have permanent water spot damage in your black paint? It is only visible in low light conditions, such as an overcast day. I bought my SF in July and noticed the spots when I got home. There was "paint sealant" already applied when I bought it. The service manager told me that the paint sealant was only to "protect the shine". I think that it was applied on top of acid rain spots and sealed them into the paint. I have been back to the dealer several times and am still waiting to hear from the regional Hyundai rep to see what they think about the problem. They have talked about repainting both fenders and the hood, but the paint shop manager also said that the roof is affected too. In the meantime the dealer repaired a small area on the right rear door post that was hit with a rock and they did a terrible job and they admitted that it never should have gone out of the shop like that. It looks nasty! I am not bashing Hyundai and I really love my SF. I am disabled and I find that it is the best for me as I can easily get in and out and it has more room of any that I have looked at. The ride is great, it is really solid. It weighs about 1K lbs more that the Rav4. If you have a black SF check it out for water spots.
I love my car, but I think it's been back to the dealership too many times. The first thing that broke was the exhaust fan on the passenger side. It went "clunk, clunk, clunk." That was replaced.
Then one night a few weeks ago, my car wouldn't start. I had to turn the key twice for a rather long time before the engine started. I didn't think much of it til it happened again the week before Thanksgiving. This time the car would sputter when I went from first to second gear. Plus the rpms were very high. I took the car in, and they said that the crankshaft had gone off center and that affected the spark plug too. Those got replaced. But I don't think my engine or automatic transmission is back to normal. It takes too long to speed up and the car sorta shakes when I'm changing gears. The gear shifts are painfully slow too.
Should I take the car back in? I'd appreciate any help or feedback Thanks!
Comments
Anyway, nearly 5000 miles on the Santa Fe and haven't seen any rust yet, but live in So. California, so maybe there's a salt corrosion component? Had the rotten egg smell come wafting through on the first weekend trip (less than 2000 miles) but it hasn't happened since . My guess would have to do with the catalytic converter, cause I had one go out on an old car and that's the smell, but since it hasn't happened in the last 3000 miles, I'm not too worried. The gas mileage is improving, and it hasn't given me any trouble yet.
And, just as an idle question, are car buyers really so stupid that they'd look at the numbers of posts without reading them and assume that it reflects the number of actual problems? I'm not tracking that reasoning. After all, there are, what, probably 50 of each of the other SUVs sold for every one Santa Fe, so there'd be a 50:1 ratio for problems posts if they were exactly equal. Give the car buyer *some* credit for brains, eh?
Decided to investigate the Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda Tribute/Ford Escape V-6, 2002 Ford Explorer, and the Subaru Outback Wagon with 2.5 4 cylinder engine, automatic transmission. These vehicles were selected because of decent reviews, price and value to some extent, capacity, handling, cruising at 65 to 80mph, quality and opinions offered by many on various net sites, and last in importance trailering or towing ability. I currently own a Toyota Avalon and an 18+ year old 4 x 4 3/4 ton pickup rusty which is hardly used but operable.
My wife and I drove each "test" vehicle at least twice in different weather conditions. Here are our biased opinions.
My wife thought the 2002 Ford Explorer had no real styling as compared to the Santa Fe at the other end of the spectrum, for example. The Explorer she thought looks like a box. She thought it lacked power and its mass above 70mph makes the engine work to maintain that speed or a greater speed. We also thought the interior was okay but nothing special and that the coin holder was basically unusable while driving. Fit and finish seemed good; however the vehicle handled like a big lumbering oaf. We decided it was too large for us, got fairly poor gas mileage, lacked styling inside and out and probably would have difficulty getting out of its own way in an emergency handling situation and had Ford "reliability" or lack thereof. Lastly, the Explorer XLT (2001 version in this instance)is a 4WD vehicle not an AWD vehicle and the Subaru Outback Wagon beats ALL in the snow. NO CONTEST. Last winter I test drove the 2001 Outback in an empty mall parking lot which was basically sheet ice and hard packed wet snow. I COULD NOT GET THE OUTBACK TO GO INTO AN UNCONTROLLED SPIN NO MATTER HOW I TRIED TO ABUSE THIS VEHICLE. I MEAN IT! TALK ABOUT GIVING A PERSON CONFIDENCE!
We then drove the 4WD Mazda Tribute V6 and Ford Escape V6. We both were impressed with the power. It is a lively vehicle to say the least. However it is NOT an AWD but a 4WD vehicle and will not perform as well as an Outback in the snow. It emits a fair amount of engine and road noise. As all SUV it does not give us the feeling of safety or confidence in an emergency handing situation with the center of gravity significantly high. Perhaps a great view of the road in a SUV but I don't want to flip if I have to perform an emergency swerve. In additon to the powerplant another strong point is the Tribute's/Escape's 3500 lb. towing capacity compared to the Subaru's 2000 pound capacity. Gas mileage fairly decent, interior straightforward and plain vanilla. The Tribute's/Escape's doors seems to lack any heft and felt rather "tinny" which probably added to the road noise.
The Santa Fe AWD in our view wins the exterior and interior design award. We drove 2 different AWD Santa Fes. We were very impressed. The ride was excellent and was similar to the ride we experience in our Toyota Avalon. The fit and finish were excellent. For an SUV there was a minimum of lateral swaying. The engine could use more power and it supposedly doesn't tow over 1500 pounds in the AWD model. It is VERY WELL EQUIPPED. However, the down side is that there was a noticeable smell similar to something burning when we existed one of the 2 vehicles. The salesperson tried to blow it off but we found similar comments re the Santa Fe on the net. Further we decided against it because of few dealers and limited dealer support, very limited numbers of Santa Fes for the marketplace and in many cases a premium of $1000 added to the MSRP. NO THANK YOU. I AM NOT A FOOL. However, I do believe that Hyundai is a real comer in the global quality marketplace.
All in all, the Subaru Outback looks and feels like a quality vehicle. It rides and handles superbly. The interior is tasteful and appealing, bordering on plush, 2 tone dash with complimentary tan/creme colors and nice tan fabric seats. Fit and finish are excellent thoroughout. The specs are great. The OUTBACK is 14 inches longer (& more stable) than the Tribute/Escape and 10 inches longer than the Santa Fe. The 2002 Ford Explorer is only 2" longer than the Outback, hard to believe. The Outback has 4 wheel disc brakes and the Tribute/Escape do not. Pickup and accleration are certainly decent. The Subaru Outback can cruise better and handle the road better and has a better top end than the other vehicles in this comparison plus it gets far superior gas mileage and is the clear winner in snow/ice conditions. Thus we chose the 2002 Subaru Outback, tried and true 2.5H 4 cylinder engine, auto transmission, All weather package (including heated seats), comfortable rear seats, a nice heavy duty cupped rubber mat for the rear cargo area. I feel I am getting the same vehicle for around $23k that would cost over 30k if I ordered the leather seats and 6 cylinder engine. In my mind, a great vehicle and even better value.
Perhaps this evaluation will help a few folks decide.
under MSRP. Make the dealer know that you are
serious about buying their car and negotiate with
them would help a lot.
I also test drove the outback. The biggest
drawback is that the outback is way
too narrow for me.
gross weight, boat and trailer and gas etc. aboard. Does it perform OK even tho I know it will not be a very quick vehicle which I am prepared to put up with for the occasional towing
duties it will perform.
The towing will basically be on flat ground and not ever be over 150 miles each way. Comments and experiences please??????
I tow a 14.5 SeaDoo Jet boat, about 1600 lbs, with a 2.7 AWD GLS. It does well on level highways at 70 mph. It slows and downshifts on hills. I would be a little hesitant to pull over 2k with it, and would be interested to hear from anyone who has.
fact that the battery went dead several weeks ago and we put a charger on the battery, and got the vehicle working again, and when we took it in for its 3k oil change, and told the dealer about the
dead battery, he checked the battery and told us it had a dead cell. They replaced the battery.
We've had quite a few occurances where the cruise control kicks off. Some of these are on flat ground, and some are while the vehicle is climbing a hill.. We plan to bring the vehicle in and have the dealer check this out.
We're seeing the problem with filling the tank full.. We just came back from a 650 mile trip and got an average of 24 mpg for the trip... Not too bad..
Still a very nice vehicle...
Dave & Pat Frandin
dfrandin@lvcm.com
When we first got our SF (LX, FWD w/ABS) I had some problems with the cruise kicking off, also. I finally figured out that there seemed to be two causes. Most of the time I was bumping the "cancel" button accidentally - it's quite sensitive, and close enough to the steering wheel rim that it's easy to do without noticing. The times I was sure I was nowhere near the button, I had the shifter in "manual" mode, and was going up a hill. I think it kicks off the cruise in that situation to keep from lugging the engine. Now that I keep track of those two things, I haven't had a problem.
Cindy-
I, too, was an anti-Hyundai bigot. My wife convinced me by showing me the prices of an Escape, Liberty, and Rav4 with the same options as the SF. That did the trick! No regrets at all. It's a great car for what we need.
-Jason
Daughter beat that car for three years. All I had to do to it was brakes and tires. After she graduated, got married and got a new car, her little brother got the 87 Excel. He finished high school, went in the Army, and beat that thing some more. Finally, at 137,00 miles, another set of Brakes, and rebuilding the carburetor and other routine stuff, he oil-starved the engine, so it died because of youthful neglect.
Since then we have enjoyed three Excels, an Elantra, and I am now enjoying retirement in my 2001 Elantra. I have NEVER owned a car any better than these. Cheap? no! Low Cost? Yes, but quality is there, too!
And I could give you some stories about Altima, BMW 328I, Sentra and Camry owners that have re-thought what they paid and what they got for it.
But if you husband is more concerned with "what the neighbors will think" or his beer buddies will think, you don't have a prayer of winning the argument. Pride and Ego is a powerful force.
Carl http://www.rnc3.com/misc/misc_photos.htm
For $22,400 out the door we got a 2002 Sante Fe GLS FWD V6 with the following options: abs/traction control, floor mats, cross rails, storgage containters, mud flaps, and tie down net. Not to mention the great warranty. The car drives very smoothly, has excellent acceleration, tons of cargo room, baby seat tethers (wife is pregnant), easy to use controls, dark tinted windows (have to get high level packages on CRV and Tribute to get that), heated side mirrors, remote entry w/alarm, cd/cassette & 6 speakers, and IMHO the best designed tailgate out of the three.
We test drove 3 Sante Fe's and they all felt very well put together. No rattles or loose pieces. We were originally looking at the Focus wagon but that message board is almost all horror stories AND the ZTS wagon with traction control and abs is only a couple of thousand less than the Sante Fe with a bare minimum warranty and weak engine. All of these things helped to sell me on Hyundai but it was the Sante Fe itself that eliminated all my hyundai prejudices.
Why aren't there are a RAV 4 problems forum?
Who decided to make this forum?
Are you saying that the Santa Fe is so horrible that it needed a forum just listing it's problems?
I think there's just more interest in the Santa Fe than the RAV4 in general. Try a board search for "Santa Fe" and then one for "RAV4". There's way more messages about the Hyundai in the general topic, owner's clubs, etc. than the RAV4 (maybe those guys need an owner's club?).
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Could it be a defect in the paint? or could they have mistakenly baked my whole car when replaced my bumper? They won't seem to give me a straight answer. They claim they don't bake the whole car for a bumper and the guy claims that I left the tree sap on for too long before I washed it, except that I washed it 5 days prior to dropping it off to them and the paint was flawless.
I know I need to ask a professional, but how can I when i can't even get a straight answer from the dealer's paint and body shop.
I thought maybe someone might have had a similar problem or heard of something about tree sap etching itself thru the clear coat. I know it's thru the clear coat cause I took it to a professional paint and body shop elsewhere and when they tried to do a same color buffing to see if it's repairable that way it didn't help either.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
AM
Thanks again.
Anybody else have any paint problems?
AM
to get a complete fillup on the fuel tank. In all cases,
the pump shuts off long before the tank is completely full,
and if you want to get a completely full tank, you have to keep clicking past the shutoff for quite a few clicks...Is there ANY fix for this by Hyundai or do we have to live with the problem?
Dave Frandin
First, I still love my Santa Fe and after driving a lovely 2000 Geo Metro from Enterprise I REALLY WANT MY SF BACK!
Okay, back to the story...
My wife and I decided to drive to Crested Butte, Colorado a few weekends back to view the changing colors of the Aspens. It was beautiful and we ended up having a great time. The trip home, however, was another tale. Driving off of the mountain into Carbondale I noticed my steering getting tighter and tighter. Not wanting to alarm my wife that I was having trouble driving I just kep pointing out the windows going "oooohh" and "aaaahh" trying to distract her from the fact that I was driving down a steep mountain pass with no guard rails or pavement. I own a 2001 2wd GLS. The road was dirt and very hard-packed. Plenty of old couples driving their luxury sedans up and down the pass so I was NOT off-roading by any means. Knowing the road-side assistance policy I needed to get to pavement. When we finally hit black-top I pulled over and noticed there was no more power steering fluid in the reservoir. I did not have the confidence in the road-side assistance people to just stay put so I drove into Carbondale and stopped at the nearest gas station. The mechanic there told me not to drive anymore since I might lose my breaks, steering and GOD knows what else. So I called Hyundai's road-side assistance people (Cross Country Motor Club in my area). They sucked worse than Dracula. They had no idea what Hyundai's policy was. It took 2.5 hours for the tow truck to arrive and I spent most of that time on my cell phone trying to find out why Cross Country was only authorizing $300 towards the towing when I was cleary more than 150 miles from home and exactly 154 miles from the nearest dealership (in Golden, CO) or service facility. They were DUMB. The tow driver hauled the SF and our butts to Golden (3 hours at least) and got us to the dealership, which by the way was the same dealership we purchased the SF from, and proceeded to drop the SF off. It was now 8:30pm, the dealership closed at 9 and the service department wasn't even open on Saturdays (another problem). Planet Hyundai in Golden Colorado was just as DUMB as Cross Country. Everyone had a different understanding of what was covered by Hyundai's road-side assistance program. We ended up paying $100 out of pocket for the tow. Not one single sales person helped us and one dope even had the nerve to say that if we had purchased the car from them this would have been a different scenario. I told him I did buy the SF from them and all he said was, "Oh". and walked away. Their service department rocks. I don't want those guys to get a bad rap. That department is the only thing saving them right now.
The power steering fluid return hose had completely ruptured. According to the Hyundai service guys the old part is now obsolete (meaning no more single hose to replace the one that blew) and that there is now 3 parts to the very same return hose. The last of the three parts was released on Oct 4th and so far my dealership doesn't have the new part to fix my problem. It has been 2 weeks and add that to the 9 hour road-side assistance fiasco I am NOT happy with that particular service. I called Hyundai directly and 2 different people told me that the tow should have covered by them without question and I should have never had to pay any money out my pocket. I will get a refund. The dealership knows they owe me BIG since I told them I lodged a complaint with Hyundai regarding Cross Country and their dealership. On top of all of this, the dealership closed it's doors at 9pm and left my wife and out in the parking lot trying to get a ride home. We finally arrived at our front door at 11:30pm. Carbondale is 3 hours away from my door and this whole thing started at 2:30pm.
I will not go back to Planet Hyundai to buy anything ever again. I am considering adding towing back onto my insurance in case Cross Country screws this up again. I'm just glad this all happened in my home state rather than on my summer road-trip to California (which was sooo much fun and added 3500 miles to the SF).
I would ask about the power steering problem. It looks like Hyundai is aware of it.
I still want to know who will pay for my roaming charges on my cell phone since I spent about 1.5 hours on hold (total) out of 3 phone calls to the road-side assistance people.
Still love the SF and our new 2001 Tiburon purchased about 2 months ago but I dislike my old dealership. Fortunately the Tib was purchased at a new Hyundai dealership in Boulder and it happens to be closer to my home and they have a service department open on Saturdays (gasp).
~v
p.s. - The service department at PH asked all the right questions. After 1 week without my SF or a rental I spoke with our mechanic and he asked if we had purchased the extended warranty. We did and he informed us that it would pay for a rental car. Nice of the sales guys to sell us the warranty but not ask about it when I was screaming at them to help us. That is how I ended up with the Metro (ugh). The department set everything up for me and I can at least get to and from home and work. Thanks guys. Service Dept. - 1, Sales guys - less than zero.
And I guess it's minor when it happens to someone else!
Discussions by Hyundai owners and wannabe owners on several Town Hall boards always point to Hyundai's 5 year and 10-year warranty provisions as being the ultimate back-up should newer Hyundai models have the reliability problems of the older generations.
This point needs to be reinforced - that warranty (or anybody's warranty) is just a piece of paper.
It's only as good as the factory technical support personnel, the servicing dealer personnel, the parts support from factory and dealer, the Roadside Assistance personnel down to the tow truck driver, etc. etc.
And the cruel part is that just when you need all the support you can get, you're usually on a trip where dealers and parts are hard to find.
So, as ol' GTMustang would say - "Just buy a RX300 and don't worry about it." At least I think it was GT that said that...
Hey GT - where are you these days? -- the RX board misses you. Of course, now we have gimpyRX with an oil sludge problem after 25k miles and one oil change, so maybe we can get by without GT.
a SUV. Does anyone have such a unpleasure experience of Santa Fe?
How stable is it on high way and on turning?
Fast forward to 1998. I bought a Caravan (used 1995). The salesman told me there would be lifetime road assistance within a 50 mile radius as long as I owned the car. Should have gotten that in writing! I got a flat tire in my home town one day and being the non-mechanical female that I am, hadn't a clue how to work the spare. I was stuck with my toddler in the car too. I called the dealership and they REFUSED to come help because the mileage was 2000 miles more than their cut-off of 36,000 for this service. When I told them about my agreement at time of purchase, they just ignored it. It wasn't like they had to drive 10 miles to get to me. I was literally 2 miles from their door. I ended calling a tire shop and they came out, put on the spare so I could drive (and NO CHARGE!!). Naturally I went to their shop to purchase a new tire. I will never do business with that dealership again! This is called progress, give me "the good old days." I'm sure EVERYONE was similar horror stories. Now I drive a Kia Sedona with the same warranty as Hyandai. Therefore your story worries me.
Moral of the story: I'm glad this didn't happen on the highway or somewhere far from home. I include towing in my insurance policy (the extra $4 per payment is worth the piece of mind) AND I have AAA, just in case!
thank you
Just took it to the dealer. Mechanic says that noise is coming from inside the steering rack. They are ordering the rack and will be replacing it. I'm hopeful that that is the problem. However, I'm not 100% confident. Reason being that on occasion I hear a similar popping noise in the front suspension, although not as noticeable as described in first paragraph, when I travel over bumps, RR tracks, or just generally bumpy roads. To repeat, this popping is not as dramatic as it is when I make it happen by rocking the steering wheel. Nonetheless, it makes me wonder if there is a problem in the front suspension somewhere. Anyone else with similar experiences? Or thoughts?
BTW--I've consistently got 20mpg in city and 24 highway.
Last thing--I've always thought there is a fair amount of road noise with the SF. I'm thinking of getting it undercoated at the dealer ($100), hoping that this cuts down on the road noise. Thoughts road noise/undercoating?
Please give details!
Thanks!
We looked at the only Hyundai dealer in Colorado Springs (two locations, but same dealer) and noticed that they had an item on their sticker labeled "Regional Price Adjustment". When I asked them about it I was told it was because the SUV was in demand and hard to come by. This adjustment added $2000 to the sticker price. We also learned from experience with many dealers that Colorado Springs marks up their cars (no matter the make) and they don't like to negotiate. So we went to Denver. I guess the Regional Line ends somewhere between the Springs and Denver because their dealers do not have this mark-up. We went to two different Hyundai dealerships. One being Planet Hyundai where our experience with the sales people were similar to a previous post. They were not willing to negotiate more than $300 off of the sticker price (is that even a negotiation?) and the saleswoman kept trying to convince me she had been dealing with my husband for weeks. He finally asked her when she had been calling him so frequently because he didn't remember any of it.
We returned to McDonald Auto Group/Hyundai on S. Broadway where we dealt with Jeff and Chasity. They were great! We were taken seriously from the moment we stepped on the lot. They let us take the car out alone to test drive it. And the negotiations were good. We finally ended up at $1500 under invoice for a 2002 Santa Fe LX with a clear bra on it and the hood deflector (we like the sportiness it adds), mud guards, roof rack with cross rails, and carpet floor mats. Final cost $23,519. I would highly recommend them for the sales experience. They were upfront with us on how low they would go for the best deal. Not alot of back and forth to the sales manager's office.
We test drove almost everything on the market (RX300, Tribute, Escape, Outbacks, etc) and finally found that Hyundai had what we wanted. A solid riding, quiet SUV that comes with a lot of extras as standard at a reasonable cost.
I look forward to a happy, positive experience with my Santa Fe and a possible second Hyundai in the future.
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/maintenance/articles/43781/article.html
The following site about timing belts has information about the interference engines and lists some in the PDF on this page:
http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=981&location_id=540
ALL the Porsche, Honda and Volvo cars/engines listed have interference engines too.
I would go back to the dealer or the repair order and see exactly what happened...It's important to be well informed. BUT, as you say, they replaced the engine under warranty and you should be OK now. If it was not under warranty, you might not have to replace the engine completely. It could still be repairable depending on if any damage was done and how much damage was done.
Diamond ATF SP-III or SK ATF SP-III
I don't know if Dexron III is compatible but the owner's manual also said that "Damage caused by a nonspecified fluid is not covered by your new vehicle warranty." You should check as soon as you can with your dealer/service center and take any action they suggest.
I live in Taiwan, I got my GLS 4WD Santa Fe for about 6 weeks. I had the same problem like yours the popping and thumping noise from the steering wheel was noted since 4 weeks ago. The mechanic also says that noise is coming from inside the steering rack (a connection join).
They replaced it in last week, after that the noise was gone. That was very pleasure to me, but the noise coming again in yesterday. But this time the noise not in rocking the steering wheel back and forth abruptly between 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. The noise happen when turning the steering wheel to right end and slowly moving front or back. I supposed the replacing part was made in the same time so they had the same problem. I well try to ask my dealer to order a new one. If any thing improved I well let you know .
Thanks!!!
I have read with interest the postings on the subject of SF problems and it seems to me that while there are a few genuine issues, a lot of the postings are from owners who, given the level of intelligence shown, should not be allowed to drive let alone own a vehicle.
Anyway, the point that I wanted to make was this:-
My first ever new car was a 1999 Toyota Corolla and I bought it based mainly on the supposed reliability of Toyota products. While it is basically a good little car, it had several problems at the time I took delivery and has so far been back to the dealer 4 times in two years. To date it has had 1 new power steering pump, 3 drive belt tensioners, a weather strip replaced, a cup holder replaced and a new set of tires (not covered under the warrenty) at 17k miles. The point of my ranting is that if this had been a Hyundai, people would have been telling me that this was to be expected and that it served me right for buying it. Because it is a Toyota, people tend to have a short memory. I have owned many cars with supposed bad reputations and have found that most of the time problems are either caused out of ignorance on the part of the owner or that the problems are little different than those suffered by owners of so called reliable makes.
So my advice is drive and enjoy your Santa Fe with a smug grin that comes from knowing you have a great car at a bargin price.
End of diatribe.
I am not bashing Hyundai and I really love my SF. I am disabled and I find that it is the best for me as I can easily get in and out and it has more room of any that I have looked at. The ride is great, it is really solid. It weighs about 1K lbs more that the Rav4.
If you have a black SF check it out for water spots.
Then one night a few weeks ago, my car wouldn't start. I had to turn the key twice for a rather long time before the engine started. I didn't think much of it til it happened again the week before Thanksgiving. This time the car would sputter when I went from first to second gear. Plus the rpms were very high. I took the car in, and they said that the crankshaft had gone off center and that affected the spark plug too. Those got replaced. But I don't think my engine or automatic transmission is back to normal. It takes too long to speed up and the car sorta shakes when I'm changing gears. The gear shifts are painfully slow too.
Should I take the car back in? I'd appreciate any help or feedback