Hyundai dealer woes...

[SpatiallyAware]

I have had TONS of bad experiences with dealership mechanics, 90% revolved around them treating sports/luxury cars poorly.

I have had paint jobs ruined by dealership car wash setups that had 3" of sand in the bottom of buckets, cars driven 20 miles and returned with 10mpg avg, seat bolsters creased, wheels damaged, stuff put back together missing fasteners/crooked/broken, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.


The best mechanics I've found are at reputable speed/performance shops. You pay 10-20% more, but it's well worth it.

 

[Atty]

Hyundai got back with her last night. The dealer is claiming everything in the car was perfect when they let it go and claims they did nothing wrong. The rep from Hyundai USA said they were extremely quick to defend themselves and he believes they are covering something up. I can't believe he actually said that to my girlfriend. Obviously something is up.

They've asked for pictures. I'll be taking pictures of the damage to the trim before they fixed it (I have a few I took before we dropped it off) and after they fixed it, the dents and scratches now in the panels, and all the debris that they haven't cleaned off yet. I may look into checking to see if the ECU has a record of airbag deployment.

Apparently, they fixed a recall on a headliner piece when they did the scratch fix too. We are now thinking this is when the dust or debris got released, they botched something during that repair. We aren't sure about the full details, the dealers records were only "General maintenance and repair done." No specifics.

I'm going to prepare all the pictures and summary of the issues this weekend and forward it to Hyundai USA. From there it goes to their regional rep.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Seriously....you bought a new car with paint blemishes and an incorrectly laminated windshield and you say, "What the heck"?

Really, I'd have gotten that windshield replaced before I took delivery or I wouldn't have bought it. If one small spot wasn't laminated properly, how long is the rest of that lamination going to last without clouding? And then you're going to be stuck with replacing it anyway, but you're going to have to pay for it yourself.

I could almost overlook the paint imperfections, but not a part of the car directly related to your safety.

Sheeeeesh. Never realized you're such a pushover at a dealer. They really must love you.

If I showed you the spot you'd laugh at what you just posted because it is exceedingly ridiculous. It's like a smudge and it is about the size of a quarter. I seriously doubt it is ever going to be a safety issue.

I'll take a picture of the paint and windshield spot this weekend and let you determine if it's something you'd make a fuss about or not.

 

[Tweak155]

Hyundai got back with her last night. The dealer is claiming everything in the car was perfect when they let it go and claims they did nothing wrong. The rep from Hyundai USA said they were extremely quick to defend themselves and he believes they are covering something up. I can't believe he actually said that to my girlfriend. Obviously something is up.

They've asked for pictures. I'll be taking pictures of the damage to the trim before they fixed it (I have a few I took before we dropped it off) and after they fixed it, the dents and scratches now in the panels, and all the debris that they haven't cleaned off yet. I may look into checking to see if the ECU has a record of airbag deployment.

Apparently, they fixed a recall on a headliner piece when they did the scratch fix too. We are now thinking this is when the dust or debris got released, they botched something during that repair. We aren't sure about the full details, the dealers records were only "General maintenance and repair done." No specifics.

I'm going to prepare all the pictures and summary of the issues this weekend and forward it to Hyundai USA. From there it goes to their regional rep.

Stick it to em'.

 

[Atty]

Update 11/20/13

Hyundai's interior "specialist" came out today to asses the damaged panels and clean the rest of the debris.

First, he got most of the debris but still left behind a few places. Ok, fine, but...

He damaged the paint even more on the center console panel (that runs from the shifter to the top of the dashboard), he used a solvent on the clock face and it started to eat away at the film on it which he decided he would fix by using CLEAR COAT SPRAY FROM A CAN ON THE INSIDE OF THE CAR TO COVER UP THE DAMAGE. /anger

After that he decided to continue using the solvent on part of the panel that had the paint/lettering for MP3/Aux/etc under the entertainment system and he ended up removing part of the lettering. Now it looks horrible.

I called Hyundai customer care again and voiced all these concerns. Our rep was unavailable, which is understandable, but I requested they come up with a plan to get all these pieces replaced as soon as possible. The holidays are coming up and we don't have time for these 1-2 week lead times for repair, which have only so far made things worse, and at this point it is becoming ridiculous and outright obnoxious with what we have to go through to get the damaged they caused fixed. It is a waste of our time and honestly, we don't want the car anymore in this condition. A 6 month old car purchased brand new should not have all this damage or hassle.

 

[Tweak155]

Geez man. They better do something.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I can't help but wonder if, given the OP's current situation, it was worth the effort in trying to get them to fix the original problem now.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

I think at this point, no matter what they try to do to fix it, it won't really be how it 'should be' and couple that with all the frustration of dealing with the dealer, I'm sure it's gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth for a good long time.

 

[nerp]

They should be kissing your butt. Even if they feel like you're being unreasonable about a scuff or two, the whole things has spiraled out of control now and the dealer is holding the bag.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Correct me if I'm wrong but every problem, so far, is purely cosmetic. If so, cut your losses and RUN from that dealership. If you have them replace trim panels your really going to be pissed at the screwdriver gashes, panel gaps, rattles, and god knows what else.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I completely disagree on everyone saying run, bend over for hyundai, etc


At this point you need to be telling hyundai north america what needs to be done, which is the problem fixed at another dealership of their choosing (IE leave responsibility on them), and tell your customer service person that it's nothing personal but this shit is about to viral; youtube, facebook, etc that you're beyond fed up.

 

[Meghan54]

Apparently, they fixed a recall on a headliner piece when they did the scratch fix too. We are now thinking this is when the dust or debris got released, they botched something during that repair. We aren't sure about the full details, the dealers records were only "General maintenance and repair done." No specifics.

I really, really, really seriously doubt there was anything in/under/behind the headliner that could possibly coat the interior like you described. Well, maybe if they used a wood chipper to chew up the old headliner inside the car, then, yeah maybe.

But a headliner doesn't have any loose crap that could possibly do that. The glue surely wasn't aged enough to dry out bad enough to become powder. And I've seen more than my share of falling/dropped headliners. It takes years of aging to get the headliner and its glue dried out enough to come close to being able to take on a powder-ish appearance.

 

[OverVolt]

Don't take your car to the dealership OP, not even for free oilchanges.

What kind of mysterious magic did your girlfriend think they were going to do for the interior of the car? There is really only so much you can do other than replacing whole panels but even then they won't be installed as good as the factory ones if you are THAT picky.

And you are THAT picky. Its kind of ironic, had you complained less about the scratch you'd have been better off.

 

[OverVolt]

Correct me if I'm wrong but every problem, so far, is purely cosmetic. If so, cut your losses and RUN from that dealership. If you have them replace trim panels your really going to be pissed at the screwdriver gashes, panel gaps, rattles, and god knows what else.

I think he should complain a 5th time as surely they won't screw it up worse than when they started like on the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st time.

Everyone knows dealers have the utmost craftsmanship at the best price. They hire the best mechanics for pro bono warranty work. They can sculpt his interior back into perfect fashion.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Can you post a pic of the original scratch? I'd love to see what all this fuss is about.

 

[dud]

Update 11/20/13

Hyundai's interior "specialist" came out today to asses the damaged panels and clean the rest of the debris.

First, he got most of the debris but still left behind a few places. Ok, fine, but...

He damaged the paint even more on the center console panel (that runs from the shifter to the top of the dashboard), he used a solvent on the clock face and it started to eat away at the film on it which he decided he would fix by using CLEAR COAT SPRAY FROM A CAN ON THE INSIDE OF THE CAR TO COVER UP THE DAMAGE. /anger

After that he decided to continue using the solvent on part of the panel that had the paint/lettering for MP3/Aux/etc under the entertainment system and he ended up removing part of the lettering. Now it looks horrible.

I called Hyundai customer care again and voiced all these concerns. Our rep was unavailable, which is understandable, but I requested they come up with a plan to get all these pieces replaced as soon as possible. The holidays are coming up and we don't have time for these 1-2 week lead times for repair, which have only so far made things worse, and at this point it is becoming ridiculous and outright obnoxious with what we have to go through to get the damaged they caused fixed. It is a waste of our time and honestly, we don't want the car anymore in this condition. A 6 month old car purchased brand new should not have all this damage or hassle.

Either this is all a "funny" story or Hyundai is seriously screwed up.

 

[Midwayman]

I'd be looking up the lemon law in your state. Typically they only get so many tries to fix something before it comes into play. Not sure if cosmetic stuff applies, but worth checking out.

 

[Atty]

Can you post a pic of the original scratch? I'd love to see what all this fuss is about.

I don't know if she has one or not. I think she may - I'll have to look. It was a 3 inch scratch down the pained interior trim that runs from dash to shifter.

Either this is all a "funny" story or Hyundai is seriously screwed up.

The latter. They have done nothing but screw up.

I'd be looking up the lemon law in your state. Typically they only get so many tries to fix something before it comes into play. Not sure if cosmetic stuff applies, but worth checking out.

Good idea. Thanks.

In all honesty, they still have her exact same model car on the lot and we could find a similarly equipped version. I'm about to start asking for a new car. Same model/trim, same payments as we have right now.

I know it seems really easy for a lot of you to suggest never to go to a dealer or to just say, "what did you expect?" Well, I expected a promise that was made to fix the small scratch and have it "good as new" to be upheld by the dealer. I also expect a million, if not billion, dollar company to ensure professional and efficient service to their products. I expect it to be done properly the first time. We as consumers deserve a level of satisfaction that they haven't even gotten close to providing us. They can do better and they will.

If they can't fix it, they will replace it. Bottom line. We were made promises. Even had we not been made those promises, there are good business laws and practices in place that are being broken right now. They are not providing the service they as a company have set out to provide.

 

[Tweak155]

You have the right attitude. You don't spend tens of thousands of dollars on something you don't want, so you better be getting what you want / were promised.

 

[OverVolt]

Made promises by the guy trying to sell you the car to begin with

 

[Atty]

Last night the manager from the dealer called us. He asked us to bring the car by to inspect the damage. My girlfriend was on her way over from Tampa and it just so happened she would be driving right by, so she popped in.

He looked at the damage and was very upset that people in his organization caused this to happen. He told us they just got in a brand new loaner with the exact same interior and if we give him a week he will source all the parts he needs and replace everything in the car. From what we understand, he's basically gutting the parts from a new car and putting them in our car.

We've decided we will let them try this and see what happens. He said he will be using his Hyundai employees, not any third parties or contract work. We will see what happens.

 

[heymrdj]

I really, really, really seriously doubt there was anything in/under/behind the headliner that could possibly coat the interior like you described. Well, maybe if they used a wood chipper to chew up the old headliner inside the car, then, yeah maybe.

But a headliner doesn't have any loose crap that could possibly do that. The glue surely wasn't aged enough to dry out bad enough to become powder. And I've seen more than my share of falling/dropped headliners. It takes years of aging to get the headliner and its glue dried out enough to come close to being able to take on a powder-ish appearance.

The curtain airbags would be "accessible" when the trim pieces were removed to drop the head liner. You can see these pieces on newish cars where the pieces have the SRS airbag stamp on them.

Pic from an Audi shamelessly stolen from google image search:

 

[Midwayman]

Last night the manager from the dealer called us. He asked us to bring the car by to inspect the damage. My girlfriend was on her way over from Tampa and it just so happened she would be driving right by, so she popped in.

He looked at the damage and was very upset that people in his organization caused this to happen. He told us they just got in a brand new loaner with the exact same interior and if we give him a week he will source all the parts he needs and replace everything in the car. From what we understand, he's basically gutting the parts from a new car and putting them in our car.

We've decided we will let them try this and see what happens. He said he will be using his Hyundai employees, not any third parties or contract work. We will see what happens.

Sounds like a recipe for more problems at this point. I'd be asking for a trade to a new model at this point. Even if it looks right on the outside, I'd be worried about broken clips, missing screws, etc causing rattles, etc long term

 

[momeNt]

Bookmarking this.

Sounds like you negotiated the repair into the sale of the car when you say "dealer promised they would fix it"

They clearly haven't done that, and it appears that at this point you cannot have the thing you originally bargained for, which was that particular car in its current state with the scratch repaired.

I really hope Hyundai steps up and you can maybe get an entirely different vehicle. Sounds like that car should be fixed up as best as they can and go into their loaner fleet.

 

[PlasmaKing]

Good Luck to you Sir.