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Comments
Your grandparents are too nice. If they are in the USA, the first thing they should do is contact HyundaiUSA and get a case number. It would have also been good if they had documented all these dealer trips/contacts - with dealer employee names or titles. I keep a diary with my Santa Fe. EVERYTHING gets put in there.
The grandparent's dealer sees a nice old couple and the dealer is gonna blow 'em off. With this type of dealer, the old folks will have to match the dealer for meaness - or find another dealer ( and the next dealer may be an even bigger SOB ).
I had a recurring problem with my 2001 Sante Fe. Finally, my dealer's service manager contacted the Regional service manager. He reviewed the case and recomended to Hyundai USA that the car be replaced. I was then contacted by Hyundai USA for some details and paper work. They replaced my 18 month old 2001 with 16,000 miles with a new 2002 model. Hyundai USA was most anxious that I was satisfied. The only cost to me was the registration about $125.
Your dealer is trying to get your grandparents to do a trade in. Don't buy it. They want to turn this lemon into lemonade for themselves. Tell them you want to speak directly to the Hyundai USA representative that has authorized the new car. If they refuse then I would contact Hyundai USA anyway to see if the replacement promise is true or not. If not I would raise the roof.
Thanks
My opinion is that as long as you maintain your vehicle, have the service records to back it up and give it the appearance that you are maintaining it (i.e. keep it clean inside and out) you will never have to ask for good service, it will be automatic. I think (again, this is my opinion) that the better you take care of your car, the more the dealer is receptive to helping you. The manufacturer can't make any money if people are allowed to trash their car and then expect it to last 100,000 miles. When it is manufactured, it is assumed that the end user will take reasonably good care of the car. If I were a dealer and a customer came in with a problem on a car that had obviously not been maintained or cared for, I would be tempted to point a finger at the owner, not the manufacturer.
There are some cars that come from the factory with problems that are 'engineered' into them. These should be fixed without question or hesitation by the dealer. The problems that are caused by abuse and/or neglect of the owner should and often are subject to scrutiny.
By the way, warranty work performed by a dealership is charged to and paid for by the manufacturer. So the dealership isn't out anything for performing it. The only reason I can think of why they would not want to perform warranty work is that it is recordable and affects the car's reliability 'ratings'.
Adjustments dont help. I went to the dealer and the salesperson confirmed other drivers had similar complaints. She said that one guy had the seat redone with extra padding costing $100.
I'll tell you right now, I'm taking this to Hyundai USA here in Fountain Valley, Ca. Its a bunch of BS that they cant provide a comfortable seat. This is a design flaw! I will write to consumer reports, every reporting agency in the world, I will never give up until they fix my seat at their cost ----Anyone else have this problem?
Problem #1: I have had the "Check Engine" light problem about 5 times in the past 2 months. Alexandria, VA, Hyundai replaced the sensor on the CAM and also replaced a connector on the EGR valve on 2 separate occasions. This excellent work was done free under warranty.
Pohanka Hyundai in MD, where I had originally purchased the vehicle, initially reset the "Check Engine" for free, but wanted to charge $69.00 each time thereafter, which is why I chose not to return to them.
Problem#2: I noticed last Summer that the wheels on the left side of the vehicle were making unusual sounds. Waldorf, MD, and Pohanka Hyundai shops could not identify the problem. Alexandria Hyundai identified the problem as bad brake pads. I chose to get lifetime pads from Midas because the Hyundai pads should not have worn out after only 30K miles.
Based of the poor performance of the Hyundai shops near me and the recurrence of the "Check Engine" problem and the unusual wear of the brakes, I would not buy another Hyundai.
Dennis
I am going to bring it into the dealer but wanted to know if anyone has experienced the same problem and has a remedy for it.
Thank you,
Christina
Also, how long did it take for the new one to start doing this? It's sounds engine/fuel related at first glance, w/o more info.
It has never stalled at any other time. I'm going to take it in to the dealer, but wanted to know if anyone had similar problems and whether it ever was corrected?
Thanks!
Christina
P.S. By the way, I live in the U.S., not Albania (I've changed the profile, but it won't update it!)
Sounds like you lose power as the engine warms up, too?? Well, I certainly won't pretend I can diagnose it based on what you've said. On the other hand, is it perhaps shifting sooner than you'd like? I mean, that's what it sounds like to me, now that you've described the loss of "oomph".
For myself, I have only noticed a occasional bump sensation when the tranny can't seem to decide what gear to be in, but that's rare. I would suggest you use the Shiftronic option, and "train" the tranny to shift at points you prefer by manually shifting where you think it should.
Christina,
As for your issue with stalling...haven't had that problem. When you say it stalls after filling up with gas, I'll assume the engine is off while you're gassing it up and it stalls when you start it up and shift into Drive?
This is why I suggested you use the Shiftronic for a while, to "train" the transmission when you prefer it to shift. In standard automatic mode, it will also learn, but you have to be consistent in your driving. In other words, if you and your husband have different driving styles and you switch back and forth without a lot of driving done on either part, it will be harder for the tranny to figure your "style" out.
Another thought occurred to me... are you driving in wet/rainy weather? If you accelerate too fast in these conditions, the traction control (if yours has it) will kick in sometimes. It would feel similar to a brake tap.
I like the adaptive transmission, for the most part, but in cases like yours, I think Hyundai would've been better off to program standard shifts and forget the adaptive feature.
The car will lurch noticeably while decelerating. There isn’t a noise like the transmission is slamming into gear, but the car will lurch, like I have just manually downshifted from third to first gear while doing 40 mph, except this is an automatic transmission. The technicians have had various responses from this is normal to they can’t duplicate it, but when I have demonstrated this, I have been told it may be a sensor of some sort. Inevitably the paperwork says the computer reports nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the car continues to lurch.
On occasion the car will become stuck in gear. This will happen while I am driving on surface streets, traveling between 45 and 55 mph. A car will enter the roadway several hundred yards ahead of me. Rather than braking, I will take my foot off the accelerator. When the entering vehicle has gained speed and I attempt to accelerate, nothing will happen. The rpms will rise, but the transmission seemingly has disengaged itself. The only way to correct this to allow the car to coast until the rpms have dropped to idle, approximately 750 rpms, and then begin to accelerate. The transmission will then reengage with a loud thud. Only once has this method not worked initially and I had to duplicate it a second time. This is clearly a safety issue if the transmission won’t reengage while moving. Thankfully this has only happened while traveling surface roads, but I am quite cautious while entering highways hoping it doesn’t happen while I attempt to enter traffic traveling at 70 mph. I cannot duplicate this at will, but it has happened approximately a half dozen times. Again, the technicians have repeatedly said the problem can’t be duplicated.
On two occasions the key has been entirely removed from the ignition, but the car continues to beep as if I left the key in the ignition. Just reinserting the key does nothing. The key must be reinserted, the engine restarted, turn off the car and then remove the key a second time. Only then will the noise stop. It is almost like the electrical circuit remains open. Only reenergizing the entire circuit and then cutting off power closes the circuit.
The interior cargo light area may or may not work if the entire rear hatch is opened. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern. I have duplicated this for the service manager at Hyundai. He was able to duplicate it himself in front of the technician and me. The manager double-checked that the door button was depressed on the interior roof panel. It was. But when I went to pick up the car, the paperwork said the button was incorrectly set. It was not. Again, the problem still exists.
The air conditioner grinds at idle. This can happen at the height of the day or the middle of the night. It only happens at idle though. The sound is coming from immediately on the other side of the firewall, just right of center of the dashboard. I have duplicated this for one technician on yet another demonstration ride. He thought he knew what it was. But again, the inevitable response, the computer didn’t identify any problems. Still the noise continues.
When the car is put in reverse, there is a loud thud, a metal on metal sound with each revolution of the tire. Initially this sound would go away when the car was driven for more than a few miles, but that is no longer the case. Each time I put the car in reverse, the noise occurs. The dealer has attempted to fix this on four separate occasions. They have called Hyundai’s tech support line. They have ground down the brakes. The problem still exists.
I left the car at the dealer for the Hyundai Area Representative to look at it at the end of September for this problem. I was unable to attend this review, but I was told he heard nothing. When I came to retrieve the car an hour later, I was able to duplicate the problem at will for the service technician.
When accelerating or decelerating from a cold start, there is an occasional slight squeak coming from the front wheels while turning. Initially I thought it was the brakes, but this gets faster as the tire revolution increases and slower as the tire revolutions slow. After the car has been driven for several miles, the sound stops.
There is a popping noise from the driver side. I don’t know exactly where the sound is coming from, but it happens when I am making a hard deceleration. Not slamming on the brakes, but decelerating hard. It sounds like a plastic panel is buckling. I have investigated both the underside and all around the vehicle. There is no damage, the car has never been in an accident, but the sound continues intermittently.
On three occasions, the car sputters like it is going to stall. This only happens at idle. The first time the fuel gage reflected a tank level of approximately an eighth of a tank. The subsequent times, the fuel level was well above half and the third time, yesterday, I had just filled the tank. I get gas at various places so this isn’t a problem of bad gas. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern, but it was bad enough yesterday, that I pulled out of traffic into a parking lot and turned off the car. When I restarted the car, the problem was gone.
There is a grinding noise when the car idles now. The heater may or may not be on, but the engine makes a grinding noise. I can’t identify exactly where the noise is coming from, but it exists.
All of these problems have been submitted to Hyundai and the Florida State Attorneys Office. I'll let you all know how it goes.
I can't rid of this car fast enough. Hyundai has made no effort to contact me after calling and leaving messages with their customer service center, no effort at follow-up from their area rep and no response to an initial certified letter sent last month offering them to settle this without the potential of a branded title.
While I love the car and it was everything I wanted, Hyundai's complete lack of customer support has completely turned me away from this brand.
I'll keep you updated as things progress.
Leighsah
MAN! after reading all these posts in this forum, and esp that last one by leighsah, I'm ready to stop looking at Hyundai .... like one of the other posts said, "what good is the 100,000 mile warranty if its in the shop every week" ... looks like I may just wait for the Chevy "nox" after all.
(wonder Is there any way to get a Hyundai Tech involved in this forum?)
I'm sorry you've had a bad experience. It always disheartens me when I see these kinds of reports about any new vehicle. While I have yet to have an issue that wasn't correctly and promptly resolved by my current dealer, it appears Hyundai does need to continue to work on improving customer relations "after the sale". I am convinced they are working to make the necessary changes, but just a few unresponsive/irresponsible dealers and support personnel can ruin the experience for any number of customers.
On the other hand, look how Toyota treated the first batch of customers with the oil sludge problem in the Sienna V6. Those people were stuck with paying for engine rebuilds/replacements until the problem became widespread enough to force Toyota to admit it had a design problem.
Simply put, all corporations care about the immediate bottom line. Not all are savvy enough to look at the long term bottom line in their dealings with customers.
UNABLE TO DUPLICAT CALL TECHLINE, THIS A A NORMAL CONDITION THAT IS UNDER INVESTIGATION ON HOW LESSEN THE FEEL. IT IS THE ECM STARTING A SEFT TEST, CAUSING THE "BUMP" FEEL. IT IS NOT ABNORMAL, AND WILL NOT HAVE ANY ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THE CAR. REALLY HOW ABOUT HAVING A ACCIDENT BECAUSE OF A SUDDEN BUMP FEELING, SOMEONE BETTER GET TO REALLY CHECH THIS ONE OUT.
MINNESOTA EMAIL AT: mrzipp55379@hotmail.com
I don't recall any bump posts in here off-hand, but I didn't Search This Discussion either.
Steve, Host
I think you're being a bit unrealistic. Hyundai basically told you, as will any honest car manufacturer, that it's impossible to accurately predict gas mileage on a particular vehicle. This is because there are too many variables that ou have to consider, such as pasenger weight, driving styles, cargo weight, road conditions, etc.
In your case, I think price was a factor as well as mileage, or you salesman would have pushed you towards the V6. The reason being, the Santa Fe is not a light vehicle at 3800 lbs. A four cylinder has to work harder to move the same weight, so mileage suffers. I agree, if mileage was your primary concern, you should've bought a smaller SUV like the CRV. However, you'd give up the ride height, cargo capaciy and other advantages.
Too late to complain now, I'd say.
I think you hit the nail on the head about the salesman. I wish more of them took the time to get to know the vehicles they sell. That not usually being the case, experiences like yours are educational for other buyers, but only if they take the time to research before they buy.
We regularly get 22 mpg or better on my wife's Santa Fe LX AWD with 2.7 liter V6. That's after 5,000 miles and switching to full synthetic oil. She drives 60 miles every day, mostly highway. This is pretty much what the EPA estimate was for HWY, so we're happy.
I was first advised of this fix after printing out one of your messages and having the service department call the factory. Seems that I was the only one to ever report this (last July). Now the regional service manager owns a Sante Fe with the same problem (karma?).
Have you heard of any progress on this "fix" which is supposed to LESSEN the bump (mine is pretty severe) but will not be able to FIX it.
will the complete switch to synthetics interfere with the warranty? It shouldn't, but i want to know ahead of time.
help!
Are you filling your Santy with the motor running or the ignition in the ACC mode? If so, the system is trying to build up a specified pressure in the fuel system while the cap is off and you may be overheating the fuel pump.
Thanks