2009 Hyundai Elantra purchased July 2014 with 21,423 miles on it....looking brand new. I thought I had gotten the deal of a life time! This car ran perfectly.....no jerking...no hesitation, no stalling, no ENGINE LIGHTS!!!! PERFECT.....except for the burn smell on one of these cold January days. It went away but the next cold day came back. Popped the hood...oil and smoke.
I take to my local mechanic......okay people....we all know you buy a USED CAR, you pretty much are taking you chances. He informs me the oil gasket needs to be replaced and that this car must of been sitting an awfully long time without being driven, because you just don't see this on a low mileage car. OKAY, used car, GO AHEAD FIX IT Jim.
Then the day I'm to pick it up, he calls and tells me he can't let me have the car back because on the test drive...there is more oil spraying out on the engine he just cleaned! Hmmmm...now it's the RECOVERY SYSTEM......switch was bad. OKAY, NOW RED FLAGS ARE GOING OUT EVERYWHERE BECAUSE HE IS INSISTENT THAT THIS JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN ON A LOW MILEAGE CAR that's been taken care of like this one.
So, I go back to the dealer I bought it from...a Honda Dealer. They agree with my mechanic. Tell me to get a hold of a Hyundai Dealer. I did, and they were so rude and basically said...it's out of warranty (5 year) and you aren't original owner. So your screwed lady...basically. I call the Honda dealer back and they couldn't believe that Hyundai Dealers response to me. They told me that if I had bought a Honda, warranty or no warranty.....first owner, 5th owner....clearly there was something wrong with that car from the get go and they would honor that 5 year warranty, because they would want me back as a satisfied customer.
Now I'm kicking myself!!!! Why didn't you give me that as a sales pitch to encourage me to buy a Honda??!!! Anyway, Honda Dealer tells me to contact another Hyundai dealer which I do who could not just give me the 800 number for Hyundai Customer Service. He calls back in 15 minutes with the number and I call it right then, I talked over an hour with a guy that made arrangements to have the car towed, agreed that this wasn't a common thing to happen to this kind of car with this kind of mileage.
He offered to tow it at Hyundai expense but I told him I would use my AAA. We get this all planned out for this dealership to look at the car AFTER the oil gasket and recovery system has been repaired by my mechanic. Jim had taken for test drive and upon return had oil all over the engine again. This is when he tells me he's afraid it's the head gasket and he didn't advise this car to be driven anymore because it's a matter of time before the engine catches fire. So, Hyundai has this all set up, right? I then ask, all the Hyundai Dealer is going to do is LOOK at this car to make sure what my mechanic is finding is verified, right??? I get....Well, you may have to pay a diagnosis charge......and there may be some labor costs incurred......WHAT!!!!!! Hello, I'm telling you what the problem is, I'm telling you I've been without a car for 3 weeks. I'm willing to tow my car in to your dealership on my AAA (not your expense) and you are going to throw added costs to me when we know what the problem is!!!!!!! What sense did that make!!!!
So I tell them after taking up over an hour of my time....FORGET IT!!! I then sit down and write Hyundai a letter of what's happened, happening, and what's needed to fix my car.
This CAR IS ONLY 2 MONTHS OUT OF THE 5,000 MILE WARRANTY AND CLEARLY IT HAS DEFECTIVE PARTS ON IT....SEND SOMEBODY OUT TO LOOK AT THE CAR AND PARTS. Or my next course of action would be Facebook, Twitter, local TV media, report to BBB, lemon law, and Attorney General. I stand by this now being a SAFETY ISSUE as well as the company not standing by their product. I bought this car in good faith in their product. This is what I get back from them in return????
I have never had a car manufacturer that didn't try to make some arrangements to meet on some sort of agreements for both parties. I get a quick response on that one people! They ask me to please give them 3-5 days to get my case to Rep to handle it. Okay, meanwhile, in the Sunday paper, a RECALL of 260,000 Hyundais are being recalled for power steering. After I wait time requested, I email as to what is going on with my case. DUE TO OVERWHELMING CALLS COMING IN....WE NEED MORE TIME. Okay, so on this past Friday, the Rep calls. Guess what? She now is going to tell me, that since I didn't let a Hyundai Dealership look at the car.....there is nothing they can do! Really????!!! Come on now!!! I asked her what did you expect me to do when even Hyundai sales dealers are saying that just doesn't happen to an Elantra!!! I have validation from just about everyone of the same. Even she agreed.
But now the issue is that I had my mechanic fix the car. Even though Jim took pictures, documented everything he did and has the BAD PARTS.....now she is saying my mechanic may NOT be reputable!!!!! WHAT???!!! The one person who has had my back thru this whole situation!!!!! I can't imagine the time and labor this man put into this car.........I know he cut me a BIG break on the cost to repair this car. If I had taken this car to Hyundai Dealer to fix on the pretense that MAYBE we will honor that warranty (2 months expired) because YES we know the problem was originally wrong with the car.......I might as well of bought a new car. So, she tells me that she will call me back this week because she has to check out whether there are any cases where Hyundai has honored car repairs from a private source.
WELL GUESS WHAT......how surprise is she going to be when I inform her that I FOUND THIS WEBSITE IN THE MEANTIME. That YES THERE ARE UNSATISFIED HYUANDI CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE WRONG BY THEIR COMPANY. Oh I can't wait for this car people.
Since I'm new to this site, I'm not sure if I can update what I put on here. Believe me, I can't wait to give you all her response to some things I've documented off of here and plan to present to her. And what's really, really sad is somebody could of gotten seriously hurt in cars that caught fire, etc. If anything, stand by your product and take these complaints seriously. Do a RECALL, help with the loss the consumer has experienced. Don't turn a blind's eye!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2009 Hyundai Elantra purchased July 2014 with 21,423 miles on it....looking brand new. I thought I had gotten the deal of a life time! This car ran perfectly.....no jerking...no hesitation, no stalling, no ENGINE LIGHTS!!!! PERFECT.....except for the burn smell on one of these cold January days. It went away but the next cold day came back. Popped the hood...oil and smoke.
I take to my local mechanic......okay people....we all know you buy a USED CAR, you pretty much are taking you chances. He informs me the oil gasket needs to be replaced and that this car must of been sitting an awfully long time without being driven, because you just don't see this on a low mileage car. OKAY, used car, GO AHEAD FIX IT Jim.
Then the day I'm to pick it up, he calls and tells me he can't let me have the car back because on the test drive...there is more oil spraying out on the engine he just cleaned! Hmmmm...now it's the RECOVERY SYSTEM......switch was bad. OKAY, NOW RED FLAGS ARE GOING OUT EVERYWHERE BECAUSE HE IS INSISTENT THAT THIS JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN ON A LOW MILEAGE CAR that's been taken care of like this one.
So, I go back to the dealer I bought it from...a Honda Dealer. They agree with my mechanic. Tell me to get a hold of a Hyundai Dealer. I did, and they were so rude and basically said...it's out of warranty (5 year) and you aren't original owner. So your screwed lady...basically. I call the Honda dealer back and they couldn't believe that Hyundai Dealers response to me. They told me that if I had bought a Honda, warranty or no warranty.....first owner, 5th owner....clearly there was something wrong with that car from the get go and they would honor that 5 year warranty, because they would want me back as a satisfied customer.
Now I'm kicking myself!!!! Why didn't you give me that as a sales pitch to encourage me to buy a Honda??!!! Anyway, Honda Dealer tells me to contact another Hyundai dealer which I do who could not just give me the 800 number for Hyundai Customer Service. He calls back in 15 minutes with the number and I call it right then, I talked over an hour with a guy that made arrangements to have the car towed, agreed that this wasn't a common thing to happen to this kind of car with this kind of mileage.
He offered to tow it at Hyundai expense but I told him I would use my AAA. We get this all planned out for this dealership to look at the car AFTER the oil gasket and recovery system has been repaired by my mechanic. Jim had taken for test drive and upon return had oil all over the engine again. This is when he tells me he's afraid it's the head gasket and he didn't advise this car to be driven anymore because it's a matter of time before the engine catches fire. So, Hyundai has this all set up, right? I then ask, all the Hyundai Dealer is going to do is LOOK at this car to make sure what my mechanic is finding is verified, right??? I get....Well, you may have to pay a diagnosis charge......and there may be some labor costs incurred......WHAT!!!!!! Hello, I'm telling you what the problem is, I'm telling you I've been without a car for 3 weeks. I'm willing to tow my car in to your dealership on my AAA (not your expense) and you are going to throw added costs to me when we know what the problem is!!!!!!! What sense did that make!!!!
So I tell them after taking up over an hour of my time....FORGET IT!!! I then sit down and write Hyundai a letter of what's happened, happening, and what's needed to fix my car.
This CAR IS ONLY 2 MONTHS OUT OF THE 5,000 MILE WARRANTY AND CLEARLY IT HAS DEFECTIVE PARTS ON IT....SEND SOMEBODY OUT TO LOOK AT THE CAR AND PARTS. Or my next course of action would be Facebook, Twitter, local TV media, report to BBB, lemon law, and Attorney General. I stand by this now being a SAFETY ISSUE as well as the company not standing by their product. I bought this car in good faith in their product. This is what I get back from them in return????
I have never had a car manufacturer that didn't try to make some arrangements to meet on some sort of agreements for both parties. I get a quick response on that one people! They ask me to please give them 3-5 days to get my case to Rep to handle it. Okay, meanwhile, in the Sunday paper, a RECALL of 260,000 Hyundais are being recalled for power steering. After I wait time requested, I email as to what is going on with my case. DUE TO OVERWHELMING CALLS COMING IN....WE NEED MORE TIME. Okay, so on this past Friday, the Rep calls. Guess what? She now is going to tell me, that since I didn't let a Hyundai Dealership look at the car.....there is nothing they can do! Really????!!! Come on now!!! I asked her what did you expect me to do when even Hyundai sales dealers are saying that just doesn't happen to an Elantra!!! I have validation from just about everyone of the same. Even she agreed.
But now the issue is that I had my mechanic fix the car. Even though Jim took pictures, documented everything he did and has the BAD PARTS.....now she is saying my mechanic may NOT be reputable!!!!! WHAT???!!! The one person who has had my back thru this whole situation!!!!! I can't imagine the time and labor this man put into this car.........I know he cut me a BIG break on the cost to repair this car. If I had taken this car to Hyundai Dealer to fix on the pretense that MAYBE we will honor that warranty (2 months expired) because YES we know the problem was originally wrong with the car.......I might as well of bought a new car. So, she tells me that she will call me back this week because she has to check out whether there are any cases where Hyundai has honored car repairs from a private source.
WELL GUESS WHAT......how surprise is she going to be when I inform her that I FOUND THIS WEBSITE IN THE MEANTIME. That YES THERE ARE UNSATISFIED HYUANDI CUSTOMERS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE WRONG BY THEIR COMPANY. Oh I can't wait for this car people.
Since I'm new to this site, I'm not sure if I can update what I put on here. Believe me, I can't wait to give you all her response to some things I've documented off of here and plan to present to her. And what's really, really sad is somebody could of gotten seriously hurt in cars that caught fire, etc. If anything, stand by your product and take these complaints seriously. Do a RECALL, help with the loss the consumer has experienced. Don't turn a blind's eye!
- Claudia C., Clairton, PA, US