America’s Worst Warranty – Why I Will Never Buy Another Hyundai
Posted by jefferson on Oct 8, 2012 in Saving Money | 92 comments
When a company wrongs a customer, they typically have two alternatives:
- Attempt to make the customer happy. It may take a small investment to do so, but in the end, companies that take care of their customers typically achieve greater success.
- Ignore the customer’s complaint, and deal with the consequences.
This is the story of a company that chose the second option.
After graduating from college over a dozen years ago, one of the first things that I wanted to do was to purchase a car. At the time, my car had nearly 200,000 miles and a myriad of issues, I needed something reliable to get me to and from work. I test drove a number of different vehicles, but my finances really limited my options. With my down payment and anticipated car payment, I limited my options to purchasing a used model from Toyota or Honda, or instead opting for a brand new model from one of the discount brands. There was something appealing about owning a brand new car, and having a blank canvas of sorts to take pride in, and take care of. Of the discount brands, Hyundai caught my eye and quickly became the favorite. Their new line of cars had slick styling, were well reviewed, and were very affordable. More importantly, all of their marketing materials boasted of how all of their cars came with “America’s Best Warranty” , which covered the engine for 10-years and 100,000 miles, and the rest of the vehicle for 5-years and 60,000 miles. This warranty was a huge selling point for me, and I ended up selecting a brand new Hyundai as my first vehicle out of college.
Over the course of the next few years, the car performed fairly well. It got decent gas mileage, and handled the needs of a 21 year-old young professional fairly well. I did my part by getting regular oil changes and following the recommended maintenance plan. The car didn’t have any issues at all for the first 60,000 miles, and fortunately I didn’t need to put (the supposed) America’s Best Warranty to the test. That all changed shortly after the odometer passed mile 61,000. One day after visiting a friend, I was driving on the highway when the car started to rapidly decelerate. I quickly pulled off to the side of the road, and smoke began to billow out from underneath the hood. The issue seemed to come out of nowhere, as the car had given no indications of trouble. There had been no service engine lights, no leaks in the driveway, and I had actually had my fluids checked just a few weeks before. Regardless, the car wasn’t driveable, and I had it towed to the nearest dealership.
Later that day, the service department called me with the skinny. The temperature gauge that determines when anti-freeze needs to be injected into the engine had malfunctioned and stopped injecting coolant. Without any way to cool itself, the engine block had massively overheated, and was a total loss. When I asked about why there hadn’t been a service engine light, and they told me that the monitors also had apparently failed, and didn’t detect the issue. At this point, I was grateful that I had bought a Hyundai. If I had gone with a different brand without such a great warranty, I would be in trouble. I mentioned this to the service manager, and asked how long it would take them to fix the engine. He told me that he would get back with me later that day with an answer.
The call that I received that evening knocked my socks off. It wasn’t from the dealership’s service department, but instead was a regional Hyundai corporate representative. He said that while the 100,000 mile warranty did cover the engine and all its components, the coolant temperature gauge was not considered part of this assembly. Since my vehicle’s engine issues were caused by a failure in this gauge, none of the repairs would be covered by the warranty. I was floored. I explained that the whole reason that I bought a Hyundai in the first place was because of this warranty, and that if the entire basis of their American marketing campaign revolved around this warranty, it wasn’t ethical for them not to honor their promises. The injection of fluid was a critical part of the operation of the power-train, and didn’t make any sense for them to push that part outside of the warranty coverage. Even still, I told them that I could understand if they didn’t want to cover the cost of replacing the temperature gauge, but that the engine itself should absolutely be covered. He disregarded my comments and told me that a replacement engine could be ordered for several thousands dollars (not including the cost of installation) if I would like, but it wouldn’t be covered under the warranty.
I was furious. I spent the next several weeks calling the service departments at the local dealerships and trying to work my way up the corporate chain to get some resolution. I diligently collected copies of my maintenance records and presented them to anyone and everyone. I wrote letters and even got several Hyundai employees to admit that there was nothing that I could have done to prevent this issue, and that it was dumb luck. The response that I got from Hyundai corporate was consistent. They had no intention of honoring their warranty, and were more than willing to disregard the little guy and lose a customer for life, if it saved them a few thousand dollars in the short-term. I went so far as to take my case to a local attorney, who agreed that I had a decent case, but it could take years to fight this in the court system. I had to find a way to get to work and needed something that I could drive right away.
I had taken out a five year loan upon purchasing the vehicle, and now found myself still owing two years worth of payments for a car that I couldn’t use. After a few weeks, a friend of ours ended up finding a replacement engine at a local junkyard, and fixed the car for half of what the dealership would have charged. I had to borrow the money from friends and family to pay for the repairs, but was able to drive the car for a few more years until it was paid off (I traded it in immediately after).
I suppose that trying to get out of paying for repairs is part of the business model for Hyundai, as this is actually fairly typical behavior from warranty companies. What puzzles me is that Hyundai still to this day is featuring their warranty as the major selling point of their vehicles. In the time since this all went down (almost a decade ago), I have told this story to hundreds of people. There were a few friends who were actually considering purchasing a Hyundai, who decided against it upon hearing how the company handled my situation. By sharing this story with the readers of See Debt Run, the truth about “America’s Worst Warranty” is being shared with even more people.
If there is a lesson to be learned from all of this, it is for the business owners of the world. If you make promises to your customers, you have to be willing to back those promises up. When you create unhappy customers, you must realize that they will share their story with the rest of the world, and that the impact to your long-term sales and goodwill can extend far beyond the initial situation. When my car broke down, I wasn’t trying to take advantage of the company. I was just trying get the warranty coverage that I was promised when I made the purchase. I was a loyal customer who choose their company above everyone else in a very competitive market. The way that they choose to respond to this loyalty, surprises me even to this day. But rest assured, I will never stop sharing this story to anyone who will listen.
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Yikes sorry to hear that. My parents as well as a couple friends have just recently purchased a Hyundai, and I hope they don’t run into the same issues though I’m not optimistic after reading your story. It’s unsustainable for a company to treat customers like that, and I hope that they change their strategy.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..What are Health Insurance Exchanges and How Do They Work?
Indeed.. As long as their car works properly.. They will be fine. And hopefully their build quality has improved in the years since this happened..
Sounds like a longer term of warranty, but they refused to cover when I had a repair on my 2009 Sonata.
No way! I for one will avoid Hyundai for my next car purchase. That is totally misleading and completely unacceptable! Basically the engine may never fail because of the engine itself and would almost always be caused by some other outside factor.
Adam Hathaway recently posted..How I Am Generating Passive Income by Dumping My Savings Account and How You Can Too
Exactly, Adam… The engine by itself will probably never just punk itself.. It will always be a related part that triggers the issues, therefore keeping the company from ever having to pay a claim. It is nonsense.
That completely stinks. But you’re absolutely right that companies should stand behind their promises. Not only have you stopped many Hyundai’s from being sold – they lost the opportunity to have you actively marketing for them as well. Had Hyundai honored their warranty to you, you would have told people far and wide that they should buy Hyundais because they are such great cars.
Stuff breaks, everyone knows that. And the companies that own up to it quickly and directly and FIX the problem are amazing. For example, I started using Ultimate Direction water bottles for my running almost a year ago. Over the summer, one of the caps broke. I called their office, they got my name and address and sent me a replacement that I received in the mail a few days later. I’ll probably recommend them for years because of that type of interaction.
Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted..Rewards Cards And Holiday Money
Great point, and you are absolutely right. There are a ton of products that I regularly use and love that I am a walking “advocate” of .. This word-of-mouth advertising is far more valuable than any billboard, any television spot, anything else.
Wow. That stinks. It really does not surprise me though as many companies will look for ways to get out of taking care of what they’re obligated to do. When we bought our last car a few years ago, we looked seriously at a Hyundai and are glad we went with another car. I’ve heard other bad things about them and have heard they can start running into issues right after the first 100K, like they build them to only run that long.
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Yeah.. I have since heard similar things.. Their newer models are still reviewed fairly well.. It’s a shame they aren’t willing to back their cars up.
That is terrible!! I have owned 2 Hyandai’s….my 1st one they replaced the transmission at 30,000 miles with no issues and fixed one of my windows. I really liked the customer service I received, so I ended up purchasing another Hyandai a few years later. The only issue with truck is the 02 sensor kept failing and I could’t pass inspection one year. My warranty was almost up with my truck, so they fixed it. Then it failed again and I was over warranty so we cut the cost, they paid 75% of the second repair and I paid 25%. My truck was totaled last November due to a terrible accident I had on the highway. I no longer own a Hyandai. I wanted to try something different. And I honestly really love the car I currently I have.
Jessica, it sounds like their cars just tend to have issues. At least they offered to pay for some of your repairs.. We weren’t so lucky. Of course, they should have been willing to pay all of the repairs, and re-repairs.. You can’t spend million of dollars advertising “America’s Best Warranty”, and then not put your money where your mouth is..
ooooh! This article makes me SO mad I’m going to share it with everyone. And to think I almost bought a Hyundai when I first moved from NYC to Atlanta.
Lauren @ LBee and the Money Tree recently posted..On Money and Sex
Alright! Power to the people!.. Thanks for helping, Lauren!
That is horrible. I am glad I read this story. I considered a Hyundai sonata for my first car but I am now glad I ended up with my civic. My full warranty expired at 36k miles but my drivetrain has until 60k miles and I actually had to use it to replace a wheel bearing about a month ago.
Lance @ Money Life and More recently posted..3 Steps to Win Free Stuff on Radio Contests and Giveaways
Lance.. I think you made the right call, man. Our current vehicles are a Nissan and a Toyota, and they have had a fraction of the issues that I had to deal with… Our Toyota passed 100,000 miles recently and is still going strong.
Wow that really stinks! I can’t believe they did that to you. I haven’t heard anything this terrible about Hyundais before, but I’m glad I read this because now I’ll think twice about buying one. Companies really do need to stand by their product (and their warranty). At least you’re able to get the word out!
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Thanks Rebecca!!.. Without a doubt, companies need to stand by their promises. If you don’t have your word, you have nothing..
That’s awful and seems like a loophole that they probably have in place to cover more of these than just the issue you had. Sounds shady. I’ll definitely share this in a roundup and on Twitter.
Money Beagle recently posted..If Something Looks Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is
Thanks Beagle!.. I really appreciate you spreading the word. You are right, they build in loopholes to avoid having to spend any money in the long run. It is a shady practice, and everyone should know about it..
Wow, that’s a scary story. I owned a Hyundai Elantra for a few years. Worked well for me and cost only $12k new (a low enough price to induce me to make an exception to my ‘never buy new’ rule). Your story makes me think that perhaps I was fortunate that the car got wrecked before any ostensible warranty work came up!
Kurt @ Money Counselor recently posted..Charitable Contributions and Taxes
Hilarious, Kurt! I am not sure the term “fortunate the car got wrecked” is stated very often
.. But, you are probably right!
I’ve never liked Hyundai, and this is just another reason. Really sorry to hear about your troubles with this, and I can’t believe corporate would strongarm their decision and not just let it be handled at the local level. Too bad they didn’t know you ran a popular blog
Jacob @ iheartbudgets recently posted..Monday Money Tip
This all went down a few years back, Jacob.. and I didn’t run a popular blog at the time.. But rest assured, it feels good to share the story now!
I hope you tweet them this article! I’m sure they will ignore it, but maybe it will burn for a minute at least =)
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..Why People Aren’t Buying Life Insurance
We did Tweet it to them earlier.. And we got quite a few visits via Twitter today.. So somebody’s watching!..
Wow, that is quite a magic act they pulled on you! I can’t believe no one would help you out the more you complained – usually most companies will try to silence you by giving in. Hopefully this teaches them to ever mess with a personal finance blogger again!
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Honestly, I complained for months and months, MMD.. I wasn’t a blogger at the time that this happened.. But I am glad that I have platform to share this story today!
Sorry to hear that they wouldn’t honor your warranty. This happened to my dad back in the 90′s with his Chevy Pickup. The warranty for the engine was for 80k miles and his engine crapped the bed at 80,500 miles. After a ton of complaining and phone calls they finally replaced it for free and kept a customer.
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Oh.. Hyundai had every chance to do this.. I 100% believe that it was totally their obligation to replace the engine.. And they 100% disputed this claim, in spite of their heavy, heaving marketing of the warranty.
I am not alone in my issues with Hyundai sleazily trying to escape warranty payments. Googling “Hyundai Warranty problems” shows tons of issues..
You should have gotten a different attorney. That one just sounds lazy. It wouldn’t have taken years. Maybe a couple months and Hyundai would have settled.
I think you are right, Patrick.. I didn’t want to settle tho.. I wanted what I was due, which was a new engine.
I meant it in the legal sense. They would have paid for it and your court costs. Next time you have an issue like this, give me a call.
I really like the look of the Hyundai Sonatas but I’m not sure I could go with them now. Although…don’t you think other manufacturer’s would try and pull the same thing? I can understand their point but I probably would also expect them to have replaced the engine.
Warranties are a sham!
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The sad part is (for Hyundai) I almost surely would have bought a Santa Fe as our family vehicle, if all of this hadn’t gone down.. Oh well, their loss.
And while other companies may attempt similar weaseling.. No other company markets their warranties as heavily as Hyundai
Love it! There’s no better way to get back at a company then to spread the word about how horribly they operate, and to urge everyone you know to never give them business. Eventually if enough people experience problems like this (I would have been so mad!) they can lose a lot of customers and potential business. Surprised you didn’t write this post before now!
Kelly@Financial-Lessons recently posted..7 Ways to Make More Money off of Your Yard Sale
My hope in writing this post was to shed a little bit of light on the way this company has handled my warranty claim.. I do hope that our readers thoroughly research car companies when making their next purchase.
I’ve just thought of a new tactic for negotiating these types of situations (and motivation for investing in your blog’s success). Should something like this happen in the future, you could say “you know, I author a rather popular blog that gets thousands of page views each day, and I will be writing about this incident in the near future.”
Gen Y Finance Journey recently posted..When a Deal is Not a Deal
It might run them the wrong way.. But yeah, if you are being wronged– You shouldn’t be afraid to bust out all of the tactics..
You have got to be kidding me! Well the good thing is at least you can spread the word and maybe help the company lose more money in sales than you had to dole out to repair a car you 100% should not have had to. They deserve it for having completely shady practices when it comes to warranties. Sorry to hear about your luck with the car.
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I am confident that the folks that I have already talked to (prior to writing this post) have resulted in enough lost sales to make up for the money that they refused to pay for the repairs on my car..
Wow, what a shitty situation. I’m really sorry to hear you had to go through that. Trust me, I’ve had a ton of problems the likes of yours that cost me thousands of dollars over the years. I suspect this is typical of any company not just Hyundai, but completely support your post on calling them out.
These companies tend to forget that we, the consumers, have the power and not them. Spread the word, post about it, heck I might make it a series of posts on my auto problems and the run ins with very particular companies. Let’s make them all accountable! If you are reading this I dare you to write about your own run ins with so called bumper to bumper warranties.
They think they can get away screwing 1 person by providing one fix? Think again… this is a new age of social media, viral content and more choices and we’ll be sure to use our voices to let them know we won’t be buying their crap. Hyundai is off my list, who’s next?
On a lighter note that has nothing to do with protesting, I’d like to point out that my own run ins with old cars have lead me to become a person who will always trade in her car before it gets to 60,000 mile mark. I find that you’re situation is not one of a kind and that many problems do arise specifically after that mileage mark. Anything 60k+ is not worth keeping, unless you’re okay putting up with headaches and sleepless nights.
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Veronica.. Thanks for this comment.. And I absolutely agree. In this new digital era of social media, everyone has a voice, and the power is with the people. Stepping on your customers and turning your back on them can and will often come back to haunt you.
I second your request for other people who have been wronged by companies in a similar fashion, to share your stories! Let’s hold shady businesses accountable!
Power!
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Ugh. The whole point of buying a brand new car is to avoid those maintenance issues.
That said, I can’t ever say I’ve had a particularly good impression of Hyundai. At least in NZ, Toyotas and Hondas and Mazdas (maybe Fords?) seem to be the way to go.
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I learned my lesson, EE.. It is the same way here in the States.. Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all tend to hold up much better, and tend to be more reputable companies.. Ford and GM are certainly on the up and up, however..
I wish I had read this before. I would have STRONGLY advised my sister against buying a brand new Hyundai!
You might want to warn her that others have had trouble filing warranty claims with the company. If something goes wrong, she might be in trouble.
First thing I have to say is that using the blog as almost a bargaining chip is an awesome idea. I bet you would absolutely change someone’s point of view if how they treat you isn’t going to just stay between the two of you. Awesome! Sorry to hear about your experience though. I really do agree with the moral of the post though – as even bloggers, all businesses can’t afford not to honor their promises. Especially when those promises are supposed to be aligned with your value or mission.
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Absolutely Nunzio… If you build your business around the claim of a great warranty, you certainly can’t run for the hills as soon as the warranty is needed.
That is, unless you don’t mind creating a ton of ill will.
That whole point about making the customer happy goes a long way. They could have taken care of you , but chose not to and now how many people have heard you story?
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Probably thousands before all is said and done. It certainly would have been much cheaper for Hyundai to have just handled the problem appropriately at the time. Oh well, it is their loss.
I assume the regional manager got a nicer bonus that year for denying yet another claim..
Wow I am so sad to hear this happened to you. Yuck! I similarly needed a reliable car out of school. I bought a 2008 used Honda that is still going strong. I have been really impressed with the Honda service centers too. So far they have been great. However, I have been eyeing many of the newly remodeled Hyundai’s lately. I will consider this in the future if I trade in or move up at some point.
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Many I know have had similar experiences with Honda and their maintenance programs..
I’d be interested in seeing how this would play out today. With the common people like you and me now having the ability to reach millions of people through blogs, twitter and facebook, companies now seem more interested in resolving any problems. Case in point, I’ve had two issues where I called customer service for my credit card and a travel website. That got me no where. I go and tweet about my experience and within 5 minutes I have a reply and they are calling me to resolve. With technology, businesses are learning quickly that one upset customer can influence the masses.
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I think today, I would have a bit more leverage and confidence to challenge them. I did make an honest effort at the time however, and got nowhere.
That’s terrible and I thought my warranty issues were bad in the past, but this one takes the cake. I’m certain now that I will never ever buy a Hyundai.
Thanks for the write up… I wonder how many potential Hyundai buyers will read this article over the years and change directions.
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It is important that those who have been wronged shared their stories… One of the greatest things about the internet is that you can learn from the experiences of others.
Even if it wasn’t a part of the warranty, it’s horrible that they wouldn’t cover that part. Clearly it was installed by them and created the problem. Sometimes following the “letter of the law” gets companies into more trouble than if they just recognize the actual problem.
AverageJoe recently posted..7 Things Guys Should Not Say At Work
See Joe.. I think that it was part of the warranty. Hyundai saying that this particular part of the engine was “excluded” is just a shell game.
This sounds very typical. In school I learned that an unhappy customer is six times more likely to share their story than a happy customer, so it makes sense for companies to try and minimize bad experiences. I work in a small business that offers warranties and I always advocate trying to be as fair and honest as possible with what we pay out in warranties. Our policy is to never decline a fair claim, only the ones where there is clearly something fishy going on (which happens a lot!) otherwise stuff like this happens, and a company gets a bad reputation.
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You are right, Jordan.. Although in this space we have mentioned in the past companies who have treated us well when the times got tough.
That said, this move on Hyundai’s part cost me thousands of dollars and made as a result my life very challenging for a couple of years.
Ugh, that’s terrible. That’s the kind of thing that always worries me with a warranty! I like to see the public shaming and making people aware of this sort of thing. Sometimes the companies show up to comment and attempt to fix things, like the internet company that SoOverThis has to deal with!
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We will see, Anne. I have my doubts..
Yikes! I just test drove a new Elantra, and this is definitely adding to my food for thought :s
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The boyfriend had a Hyundai and absolutely loved it. Never had any problems with the warranty…same reason he bought it. But I guess if you don’t have a specific problem arise, you never have to face the distress that goes along with it. He’d totally buy one again….I have a feeling even if I showed him this article. He was that happy with his experience…until, I kid you not, a cop car without its lights or sirens on was going 80 on a city street and crashed into him, totaling the vehicle. I wish they would have done something for you. That’s so not right.
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I know that they have happy customers.. They have had some degree of success over the years. To a car company that operates on the fringes (as they do), brand loyalty is essential. They made the decision to toss all of that aside to save themselves a few dollars in the near term.
We have a Hyundai Sonata and absolutely love it. We have not had a problem with it yet (knock on wood.) I do remember they were horrible cars back in the 90s when they were built in Korea, but I think they are built better today here in America and are a great alternative to Toyotas and Hondas which are several thousand dollars more expensive. I’m all for calling out poor customer service and companies that suck, but shouldn’t there be a statute of limitations on complaining?
A statute of limitations on complaining?.. Give me a break. I didn’t have this platform available to me when all of this went down, and now that I do- I won’t be afraid to use it. This didn’t happen in the 1990′s, but in the 2000′s– well into the company’s “revival”.
As I mentioned in the article, the warranty was my #1 reason for purchasing the vehicle, as I am sure it also factored into your choice. Like you, I loved my car, until I needed the company to keep their word. It was then that they turned their back on me. I do hope that you don’t have a similar experience when all is said and done..
Wow, I remembered how bad it was while I was reading the post. This should have been one of your first posts. Like remembering your first love, you will always remember the first time HYUNDAI screws you. Shout it out, and hopefully save some other person the trouble you had. Good read.
Hello MIL.. thanks for stopping by! And yeah, the whole reason to share this story with the world is so that others who are looking for this information can find it..
Ugh, what a painful situation!
When I was buying a new car out of college, my dad (who works in car insurance and therefore knows a lot about the types of issues cars tend to have) advised me against Hyundai. I can’t remember specifically why, but I’m glad I didn’t end up with one!
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Wow, that’s terrible. I agree with your tactics – whenever I’ve had a terrible customer service experience, I tell the world. One more offended consumer is one less consumer for a bad company.
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Sorry to hear about your story! I, on the other hand, can only say positive about Hyundai cars and their warranty.
I drive an Accent and only used the warranty once. The accent now has 150,000 miles.
Just my 2 cents… mike
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The dealership played with you. The person who handled the warranty has no idea what was going on. You should be able to do the fix for free.
Just shared this on my social network channels. 15,000-20,000+ people now know not to choose Hyundai.
Thank you for spreading the word, Curtis. Power to the people!
I am original owner of a still running 2002 Elantra, with 141K miles. A few “repairs under warranty” went OK, and I got a loaner each time, which is nice. The “scheduled maintenance” as the miles grew became overly expensive, and I quit going to the dealer a few years back.
I am now looking to finally dump (or bury) the Elantra, – needs bearings and brakes etc – and was considering a 2013 Accent. But your article, despite my limited satisfaction, makes me think again! Sorry and thanks.
Last year I went with my brother to find a new car and he bought an Elantra touring model. They didn’t have one in stock with the options he wanted and ordered one in. He did not test drive the one he eventual bought. We didn’t think that would be an issue because you would think they would all drive the same. Consumer Reports also approved of this vehicle.
My brother picks up his new car 10 days later and goes to drive it home. He gets it on the highway and several times the steering wheel would abruptly pull to the right aggressively almost putting him in the ditch. He immediately turns around and takes it back to the dealership telling them what happened.
He leaves it with them – goes back 3 days later. They said they tweaked the alignment and tell him to take it home. It happens again. Dealership and head office take a position that they can not find anything wrong and that they will not take the car back. Long story short – it’s the electronic steering sensor and my brother wasn’t the only one to have this complaint. It took a letter from my lawyer and the threat of legal action to get my brother out of that deal. Very bad warranty / customer service at the dealer and corporate level. Not a reputable company to throw your money at. Run away.
I currently own a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer. I am the original owner and it has been trouble free for 140,000 miles. I have started looking around for a replacement and have been attracted to Hyundai. First because of the warrant and second by styling.
That is why I have started Googling about the warranty. I just crossed Hyundai off my list.
Thanks for sharing!
If you think that Hyundai is not a good product and the warranty is no good you have no reason buying a car. Stick to a bicycle. Don’t blame one delearship for the whole product. If half you people believe this bs then I feel very sorry for you. Have fun purchasing a half assed vehicle.
He is not speaking about the dealership and neither am I, as their hands are tied by the Corporate “procedures.” Honestly, I feel fortunate that the managers at the dealerships where I take my car have walked outside with me and stated what i say below- it is Not right for a large corporation to just ignore issues with their product. Also, they should stick by their marketing campaign promises, such as I do in my marketing job. Hyundai seemingly does not care and if you look around there a lots of other customers who have had similar issues. For me, the tone of voice that the woman in PR used yesterday was completely unacceptable. After all, their first and second line phone centers in Phoenix have reps have at least expressed to me that my issues are valid and should be covered.
Thanks for the story. I was considering Hyundai, but after learning of their deceptive practices (which considering their false claims of mileage for the Elantra recently isn’t very surprising now) my wife and I will both steer clear of them and stick with Hondas and Toyotas.
I bought my son a 2010 Sonata. The first time I cleaned the car, I discovered a defective floor mat was installed. It had come apart and jammed up under the accelerator pedal. The dealer and the factory said tough luck, not covered. I learned quickly their warranty was BS. I was going to buy a Tucson! I quickly got rid of the Sonata and considered myself fortunate to learn never to purchase a Hyundai or Kia again. An excellent $5000 lesson. Stick with an American company.
Wow and I thought I was one of only a few that is currently having a similar story with my new 2013 Accent GLS. Like you, this is the first new car I purchased in my life. I am however not in my 20′s but it has taken me this long to finally “think” that buying a new car was a good investment. I had a great job until a short time ago and was driven by the BS “Best Warranty” but mostly by the guestimated 30/40 MPG. I can not go on and on here, but the bottom line is that my MPG’s were getting steadily better in both City and Highway until late november when It suddenly dropped to , are you ready??? a- 16 MPG City and for the most part, below 25 on the Freeway. It has been at the dealership 4 times now and they say “nothing is wrong with the car and we will not buy it back.” Really Hyundai? Well, the thing is that beyond some annoyances I love the Accent, so i also asked if they could please just take it back and give me a new one. I am in touch with a woman who is apparently the Regional PR Manager from Irvine for the West Coast and let’s just say I really wish I recorded her call yesterday , as I cannot believe how rude and inconsiderate she was to me. I clearly explained to her that there is absolutely no reason why a brand-new, 4 cyl car that my sticker says should get around 30-40 MPG is getting roughly Half. Again she told me sorry, you have your ATM card (pennies is what they give you) and that I need to bring it in again for my 2nd “Fuel Consumption Test.” The first test showed them that according to the dash and the fill-up that my car does indeed have a major problem. I too contacted Lemon Law Attorneys who said it would take a long time, etc. After reading a few Business articles about the fact that the president of Hyundai USA does indeed speak with customers, I asked her if I could please speak with him. Her response was a big NO ! She then remarked about my angry Tweets and even complained about Twitter Private messages I sent. I did Tweet my frustration since this has been going on and on and on and I feel like Hyundai will do anything to not satisfy the customer. Sad indeed and I am not done fighting. If by chance anyone has a better way to get in touch with John K or someone other than the useless, insensitive PR department, Please, Please contact me as I am now Livid. I surely learned a lesson here that buying a new car is Not the way to go, especially from Hyundai. I am also working with a few State Agencies about other options regarding the “Sales Fraud” issue. The EPA estimates are only estimates but every mechanic and even the manager at Hyundai dealership agrees that I “this is not right.” Hyundai, if god-forbid you see this post please know that you have surely lost a bunch of credibility with me, as well as many other perspective Hyundai owners and you still have time to make things RIGHT with me, but time is running out !
I am having similar problems with my Elantra warranty. My transmission failed at 61000 miles, was replaced with a remanufactured one which also failed at 92000 miles. Now they want to replace it with another remanufactured one but I objected arguing that they own me a new one since the warranty is about to run out and if the transmission fails again I would be left high and dry. Mind you that in the warranty booklets it states that repairs can be made with NEW or remanufactured parts. A CV Joint also cracked and must be replaced. I am not giving up, I am going to appeal it all the way to the president and if that fails I will sue them for breech of contract. However one thing is for sure, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HYNDAY again, my next car will be a FORD!
Similar experience here. We own 6 Hyundai cars over the years and currently have 4 in the family. Our 2007 Tucson sudden started making engine noise and losing power at 90,000 miles. Now we must say this has been a great car to this point. We took it into our local dealer as this Hyundai had been purchased used (40K miles) it was a CPO (certified pre-owned) vehicle. Therefore it had the 100K warranty on drive train. The dealer inspected the car and notified us that the engine had failed, reason unknown, and they would review the CPO for replacement. Next day they informed us that they would not honor the CPO due to some “sludge” they found when inspecting the car. Really?? Sludge in an engine with 90,000 miles on it? Very rare I’m sure. They said that was caused by not changing the oil so we offered to provide the receipts for oil changes over the years that were done between 3-5K miles. Factory says every 7.5 miles. Answer- Didn’t matter if we proved servicing they were not going to honor the CPO. We contacted Hyundai Corporate Customer service and they took 4 days to agree with the dealer. Really?? Bottom line is even though we followed all the rules they bailed. This will make all family future car purchases easy…NO HYUNDAIS in our future. We repaired the car for $4,600.00 with a used engine. Makes no sense as Hyundai could have probably fixed it for~$3,000 their cost and have lost much more than that in future sales. Go figure???
I read these comments and it is really sad that you people think act this way. I run a Hyundai Dealership and can verify these comments are BS. I can guarantee that you never changed the oil at a dealership, probably JIFFY LUBE with idiots as wannabe mechanics, and you probably have not changed the oil on time. Hyundai covers every engine or transmission even with some receipts that are bogus. If you actually maintained the vehicle correctly you would have had the engine replaced at no cost to you. Start taking responsibility for yourself. These comments are false and you should be ashamed of yourselves for writing these things.
I just bought a 2013 Hyundai veloster and as u may know there low to the ground now I paid for $3000 of gap and also 10year 100,000 mile and 5 year bumper to bumper warranty well my bumper clip broke and now the passenger side just hangs a little I took it to my dealership and they say oh its not covered for that kind of repair and insisted I pay $800 to order a bumper paint it and install it plus labor this is ridiculous
The problem you have with the bumper is not the fault of the car or Hyundai. Bumpers don’t just fall off they are hit into stuff or most likely you went to far forward when you were parking and when you backed up the clips on the bumper broke. NO MANUFACTURER covers this. Ask Around and even call you insurance company that’s why you have one. Learn how to drive first.
I have a 2011 sonata and it has gone to complete crap recently. The sound on the nav system doesn’t work and they want to charge 3000 to repair it. The system is only a year and a half yrs old. Also we can’t fill our car with gas because that malfunctioned as well. Customer service has been horrible. We are actually going to start looking for a lawyer cause it has been such a hassle to get them to work with us. Wish I had read this article before we bought it.
Yes this is a very common thing not only with Hyundai but with all insurance company’s. Its pure profit and that’s what drives a salesman to push it so hard. DON’T FALL FOR IT! Your better off throwing the money you spend on an extended warranty. Into a savings account name it “repair fund” and use it when you need it. At local repair shops, Never at a dealership. I strongly believe these company’s are thieves and are masters at what they do. We need to unite as one to spread the word out about this, there is very strong power behind the people standing together with purpose. Because I to have had similar problems like yours and I would like to try to prevent this to happen to others. spread the word.
Whoa!! Thanks for speaking out. I was on my way to the
Hyundai dealership but with hesitation. After reading all these post, I’m going to pay the extra cash for a Toyota.