2007 Elantra Alignment Issues.

neversummer75

I just returned from getting my car serviced at the Hyundai dealership. It was supposed to be just a service A which is a simple oil change. The dealership is now claiming that my 2007 Elantra is out of alignment and that it could not be adjusted unless aftermarket parts were used. Apparently, Hyundai, in their infinite wisdom, designed this car so that it could not be aligned properly.

So, now the dealership is attempting to charge me 700 bucks to get these aftermarket parts to adjust and align my vehicle. They lifted the car and showed me just how bad my tires were worn out, or “cupped” as they referred to it. The tires are only a year old and upon further inspection, I could clearly see that they were in fact worn out very unevenly towards in inside of the tires.

My question is, are these guys being honest with me? Not only do I need to pay for these parts, but now I need to pay for new tires. That’s 1000 bucks that I DO NOT have. It's going to break the bank for me. Any suggestions? Thanks so much for the help!

backy

Since this is not a warranty repair, you might check with a shop that specializes in alignments and see if they can do the job for less. Also, you should only have to replace 2 tires, since they are only a year old. You can get 2 tires for a lot less than $300 at a tire shop like Discount Tire. There's some decent tires for Elantras in the $60-70 range.

Five years ago my wife ran hard into a curb during a blizzard, shredded an alloy wheel on our 2004 Elantra, and damaged the front end and a tire. The dealership said they didn't have the right equipment to do the front end alignment, so I went to another shop to get that done. Because the damage was caused by an accident, my auto insurance covered it (less deductible). Because the OEM Michelin tires had 18,000 miles on them, I decided to get 4 new ones, which I was able to do for under $300 including lifetime warranty, rotations, and balancing (from a tire shop--and NOT the OEM Michelins, but they've gone over 40k miles and I expect to get nearly 50k out of them).

neversummer75

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post….it’s always nice to fine someone that cares what a “stranger” is going through.
I purchased these tires a year ago from Discount Tire. I had the tires rotated 2 months ago. What I don’t understand is why they did not catch this problem and inform me what was going on. You would think that they would have noticed that the tires were wearing unevenly and informed me that there was a potential problem. At least I could have got the alignment done and saved the tires. Do you think they warranty for tire tires would cover this issues. If not, do you think this is a valid complaint I could bring to management and get the tires replaced free of charge?

I’m pretty pissed at Hyundai right now. Why the heck would they make a car that cannot be aligned properly unless you purchase aftermarket parts? It makes no sense to me at all.

backy

If you bought the tire warranty from Discount Tire, I'd definitely go back to them and complain, and see what they can do for you... especially if you had the tires inspected there at regular intervals.

Are you sure it's "aftermarket parts", or that the dealer doesn't have the right equipment to do the alignment? That was what my dealer told me back in 2006: "We don't have the right equipment." But I have an older generation Elantra than yours. I hope they are not trying to get you to pay for alignment equipment they don't happen to have. Anyway, your best bet might be to go to an alignment shop--to make sure the job is done right, and to not give the Hyundai dealer your money for the job.

neversummer75

They told me that they can align the car in their shop, but that the only way they can do it with the 2007 Elantra is buy purchasing aftermarket parts. He showed me that the "arm" is not adjustable and that they would have to replace the arms with adjustable ones. He said that Hyundia does not make them for that car. Why the hell would Hyundia do that? Did they not think that cars get nocked out of alignment from time-to-time?

backy

Does your car have less than 60k miles on it? If so, I'd push to have this covered under the bumper-to-bumper warranty. It's clear the original parts have a design defect, which is "fixed" via an aftermarket part recommended by a Hyundai dealer. So I think you have a case. Doesn't hurt to try. You can take it "up the chain" if the dealer balks.

neversummer75

Thank you for the advice...I will let you know how it goes.

td52

hi had the same problem with my ellantra. live in cullman alabama ,after3years wearing out tires mcgriff tire. finally got a specilty parts parts book in .got it fixed but cost about 500.00 to 600.00 dollars. i belive it was a flaw in design of the car. got over a 118000 miles on the 07 now. only problem now is wild animals keep running in front of me in the dark.watch out for them. the front end of the cars all plasdtic under there.