I bought the a brand new (model) Santa fe in 2006 . The model was just out and I was one of the first to purchase this model in Ireland -Spent over 32,000 euro on it.
Kept it serviced with reputable garage. Service history log kept with the car.
While cost of regular service was high I figured I would have vehicle for long time and it would be worth it in the long run.Out of the blue in June 2012 , RED oil light came on. Car was just over 5 years old.This was within 2 weeks of last service which cost 1200 euro.I pulled over and got car towed to local garage that had carried out services.
I went back to (reputable !) garage to be informed that engine needed to be replaced and would cost a minimum of 10,000 euro. I could not believe what I was hearing. The garage suggested that I had driven too far with red light on even though I had not. I contacted Hyundai HQ in Dublin to complain. Hyundai said the car was out of warranty and they had no obligation to me . The guy on the phone also said that it was very unusual but that from time to time one gets a " dud " car !
I researched value of equivalent Sante fe and it was about 10,000 so it did not seem worthwhile fixing as this was effectively a write off situation without an insurance payout. I did not feel that pouring another 10 k in to the car. I felt I could not not do anything else and just accepted it as a bad expensive experience and accepted a 2k payment for a car that I purchased 5 years earlier (with a 30,000 euro loss)
Very recently I have found out that this is a very common problems with the new Sante fe - My car in fact was not a "dud". I asked about to find out that most Hyundai Sante fe owners NOW seem to be aware of this serious deficit and this is taken into account at the regular service.
Now it seems I feel I have taken the hit for Hyundai where they learned of this serious deficit.
It took considerable time to recover from this financial hit with no support from Hyundai.
Just wondering have I any come back at this stage ????
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I bought the a brand new (model) Santa fe in 2006 . The model was just out and I was one of the first to purchase this model in Ireland -Spent over 32,000 euro on it.
Kept it serviced with reputable garage. Service history log kept with the car. While cost of regular service was high I figured I would have vehicle for long time and it would be worth it in the long run.Out of the blue in June 2012 , RED oil light came on. Car was just over 5 years old.This was within 2 weeks of last service which cost 1200 euro.I pulled over and got car towed to local garage that had carried out services.
I went back to (reputable !) garage to be informed that engine needed to be replaced and would cost a minimum of 10,000 euro. I could not believe what I was hearing. The garage suggested that I had driven too far with red light on even though I had not. I contacted Hyundai HQ in Dublin to complain. Hyundai said the car was out of warranty and they had no obligation to me . The guy on the phone also said that it was very unusual but that from time to time one gets a " dud " car !
I researched value of equivalent Sante fe and it was about 10,000 so it did not seem worthwhile fixing as this was effectively a write off situation without an insurance payout. I did not feel that pouring another 10 k in to the car. I felt I could not not do anything else and just accepted it as a bad expensive experience and accepted a 2k payment for a car that I purchased 5 years earlier (with a 30,000 euro loss)
Very recently I have found out that this is a very common problems with the new Sante fe - My car in fact was not a "dud". I asked about to find out that most Hyundai Sante fe owners NOW seem to be aware of this serious deficit and this is taken into account at the regular service.
Now it seems I feel I have taken the hit for Hyundai where they learned of this serious deficit. It took considerable time to recover from this financial hit with no support from Hyundai.
Just wondering have I any come back at this stage ????
- Sean C., Naas, Ireland