Up until last week I was a satisfied owner of a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. It had 160,000 kilometers on it. It was regularly serviced and well maintained and we expected to drive it for several more years.
Last Thursday I was driving home from work and the engine light came on. When I left the highway a significant noise was heard, particularly when pressing the gas pedal.
On Friday February 7th we took the vehicle to Baytowne Hyundai in Barrie where we purchased it. The first thing that happens on arrival is you are made to sign a form that says you will pay $99 to have your car diagnosed. We signed. We expected some sort of repair would be required, the truck was 6 years old and things do wear out.
After a couple of days, we received the news that a new engine was required. No real diagnosis of the problem was provided, just a new engine would be required. This was quite unexpected news, who would have thought that a 6 year old vehicle could possibly need a new engine?
Now we were left with quite a dilemma. A new engine is too costly and not a good investment for a six year old car. A used engine comes with a 30 day guarantee so little comfort that we wouldn’t have this problem again in the future. Either way, to replace the engine we were told that it would take 15-20 hours of labor. So we are looking at a $3,000 to $5,000 repair on a six year old vehicle.
We respectfully declined this.
At no time was there any indication from any Hyundai employee that this shouldn’t have happened and a new engine should not be required on a six year old vehicle. No offer of any assistance to this problem was suggested. No suggestion was made that if we wished to trade the vehicle for a new one that allowances would be made on the price or the trade-in value to compensate us. No other vehicle was offered for loan while we sorted out what we were going to do.
I suppose that doesn’t particularly matter as we will never drive a Hyundai again given that an engine can need to be replaced after six years.
We have since purchased a brand new Honda CRV, known for its longevity and reliability.
The final insult to this story is that our engineless Santa Fe had no value and had to be towed to the auto wrecker where we received a nominal value for it. Before, Baytowne would release our valueless vehicle, they graciously reduced the $99 charge to $49. How kind of them. $49 to have our truck, which presumably had some value a week ago, towed away. We cannot believe that any corporation would have the nerve to charge anything to tell you your six year old vehicle needs a new engine and has no value. I hope that $49 is worth it to them.
I will be posting this letter on all of the social media that I can find, so that other potential Hyundai customers know what they can expect from a Hyundai product.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Dear Hyundai Canada and Baytowne Hyundai,
Up until last week I was a satisfied owner of a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. It had 160,000 kilometers on it. It was regularly serviced and well maintained and we expected to drive it for several more years. Last Thursday I was driving home from work and the engine light came on. When I left the highway a significant noise was heard, particularly when pressing the gas pedal. On Friday February 7th we took the vehicle to Baytowne Hyundai in Barrie where we purchased it. The first thing that happens on arrival is you are made to sign a form that says you will pay $99 to have your car diagnosed. We signed. We expected some sort of repair would be required, the truck was 6 years old and things do wear out. After a couple of days, we received the news that a new engine was required. No real diagnosis of the problem was provided, just a new engine would be required. This was quite unexpected news, who would have thought that a 6 year old vehicle could possibly need a new engine? Now we were left with quite a dilemma. A new engine is too costly and not a good investment for a six year old car. A used engine comes with a 30 day guarantee so little comfort that we wouldn’t have this problem again in the future. Either way, to replace the engine we were told that it would take 15-20 hours of labor. So we are looking at a $3,000 to $5,000 repair on a six year old vehicle. We respectfully declined this. At no time was there any indication from any Hyundai employee that this shouldn’t have happened and a new engine should not be required on a six year old vehicle. No offer of any assistance to this problem was suggested. No suggestion was made that if we wished to trade the vehicle for a new one that allowances would be made on the price or the trade-in value to compensate us. No other vehicle was offered for loan while we sorted out what we were going to do. I suppose that doesn’t particularly matter as we will never drive a Hyundai again given that an engine can need to be replaced after six years. We have since purchased a brand new Honda CRV, known for its longevity and reliability. The final insult to this story is that our engineless Santa Fe had no value and had to be towed to the auto wrecker where we received a nominal value for it. Before, Baytowne would release our valueless vehicle, they graciously reduced the $99 charge to $49. How kind of them. $49 to have our truck, which presumably had some value a week ago, towed away. We cannot believe that any corporation would have the nerve to charge anything to tell you your six year old vehicle needs a new engine and has no value. I hope that $49 is worth it to them. I will be posting this letter on all of the social media that I can find, so that other potential Hyundai customers know what they can expect from a Hyundai product.
- Laurie K., Barrie, Ontario, canada