Hi below is a 2 part post re my 2007 Santa Fe Elite CRDI - bought New
The first with a somewhat happy ending after a long and protracted stressful 6 weeks
Which quickly soured over the following months as issue after issue continued to surface
I would recommend, from my personal experience
Unless you like to waste time waiting for tow trucks and have cash to Burn
DO NOT BUY A HYUNDAI!
I should have gone for the Toyota
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Dear sirs
I am writing to you in the hope of achieving a mutually agreeable outcome after the distress I have had dealing with your customer care centre
First the facts.
I am the owner of a 2007 Hyudai Santa Fe Elite CRDI - a vehicle I paid just shy of $50000 when new
Obviously the car is now out of warranty but has only just done 120,000 KMs
Since new the car was plagued with problems - leaking oil from the motor - which had the car off the road for weeks for parts from Korea
I have had the malfunctioning climate control replaced under warranty - an indicator stick also replaced that kept falling apart
Tail gate handle came loose and nearly fell off - Passenger air vent fell apart - I fixed that myself with super glue
The back of the driver seat kept falling off despite claimed being fixed at every service and is still not fixed properly to this day
But the real problems started in November of last year
My car is serviced since new, according to schedule, by Dandenong Hyundai
So I was surprised to see the oil light flickering on my work to work one morning
As I was almost upon City Hyundai - I stopped there - and it was suggested to have the 120000 service 2000 kms early as this might solve the problem
I agreed to this and also asked for a door actuator to be fixed that had been chattering for the last 18 months (failed just after warranty and this was around $400
Service Done - $1900 - Problem solved - Poorer - but on the road again
A couple of days later - I am driving to the local shopping centre and the car just dies
RACV can't help and car is towed to Dandenong Hyundai - but not before Mecahnic mentions pooling of oil on top of the motor
Dandenong Hyundai fix my Crank managment Sensor for around $550 but unfortunately steam cleaned my motor eradicating the oil
After a few days the oil has formed again so I take my Car back to City Hyundai asking why this has occured
Their Diagnosis - the rubber bushes under the inter-coooler have deteriorated owing to vibration and the inter-cooler has to be replaced at a cost of $1900!
"Just bad luck" I am told by their service representative ( These people need to work on their communication skills ! )
Seriously ! The car is 118000 Kms at this stage and I can not believe the issues suffered in such a short time
I have to have this work done as I live and work 35 kms apart on separate sides of the city - neither serviced well by public transport - So I commit to the repairs
At the same time, I contacted your Customer service, and by the time they got back to me it was too late as repairs had been finalised
The offer of $200 in gift cards and next Major service free was accepted - as I really had no other recourse - and I thought it would be the end of it
A month ago - I am driving home and my car loses power and starts sputtering ( Not again I say to myself !)- I pull over and call the RACV - nothing to be done - Car is towed to Dandenong Hyundai
Some test is conducted and the car is only running on 2.5 Cylinders - Injectors are diagnosed and pulled out and sent to be cleaned
One is badly blocked - $850 to clean or $1850 to do all
I need reliable transport - I am beginning to have no faith in my vehicle and want to eliminate the possibilty of more injectors clagging - I opt for them all
When the injectors are returned and refitted - The car still has problems - The head has to be removed
And this is where we find ourselves - with a cracked piston - badly scarred cylinder wall - and an estimated $9000 repair Bill !
As I mentioned Earlier - Yes - The car is out of warranty - but serviced to schedule by Hyundai Dealers
The car does urban commuting and freeway driving - It does not tow - it does not travel in a harsh climate
The car is 120000 Kms - realistically very young in the life of a motor that should do in excess of 400000 kms
I bought this car for the expected longevity of this diesel motor and think it fair to say this is really unacceptable for a car of this age
I was hoping for a show of good faith by your company and a good will repair of everything past the cost of the injectors
My car has been off the road for a month now - I have been in contact with your customer sercice department for 2 weeks and communication is not good
My representative never returns my calls despite numerous messages being passed - I think I know your entire customer service Department by name
On our last phone conversation - The discussion was something along the line of reducing the price of the parts - This does not sound very promising
I work in an industry where we have "Quality" Shoes manufactured overseas - Much as we like to think our production is good - occasionally - a pair or two that is not, get through and sold to the customer
We assess these based on the merits and the life of the footwear and either replace - refund in full - or partial refund
I know this is a different industry - but I was swayed from my original purchase of a Toyota when I bought the Santa Fe
I thought Hyundai's build reputation had improved since the earlier days of cheap cars
I sincerely hope you would agree with me and put this down to one that has issues - that it should not.
============================================================
I am writing to you in the hope of achieving a mutually agreeable outcome after the distress I have had dealing with your customer care centre
First the facts.
I am the owner of a 2007 Hyudai Santa Fe Elite CRDI - a vehicle I paid just shy of $50000 when new
Obviously the car is now out of warranty but has only just done 120,000 KMs
Since new the car was plagued with problems - leaking oil from the motor - which had the car off the road for weeks for parts from Korea
I have had the malfunctioning climate control replaced under warranty - an indicator stick also replaced that kept falling apart
Tail gate handle came loose and nearly fell off - Passenger air vent fell apart - I fixed that myself with super glue
The back of the driver seat kept falling off despite claimed being fixed at every service and is still not fixed properly to this day
But the real problems started in November of last year
My car is serviced since new, according to schedule, by Dandenong Hyundai
So I was surprised to see the oil light flickering on my work to work one morning
As I was almost upon City Hyundai - I stopped there - and it was suggested to have the 120000 service 2000 kms early as this might solve the problem
I agreed to this and also asked for a door actuator to be fixed that had been chattering for the last 18 months (failed just after warranty and this was around $400
Service Done - $1900 - Problem solved - Poorer - but on the road again
A couple of days later - I am driving to the local shopping centre and the car just dies
RACV can't help and car is towed to Dandenong Hyundai - but not before Mecahnic mentions pooling of oil on top of the motor
Dandenong Hyundai fix my Crank managment Sensor for around $550 but unfortunately steam cleaned my motor eradicating the oil
After a few days the oil has formed again so I take my Car back to City Hyundai asking why this has occured
Their Diagnosis - the rubber bushes under the inter-coooler have deteriorated owing to vibration and the inter-cooler has to be replaced at a cost of $1900!
"Just bad luck" I am told by their service representative ( These people need to work on their communication skills ! )
Seriously ! The car is 118000 Kms at this stage and I can not believe the issues suffered in such a short time
I have to have this work done as I live and work 35 kms apart on separate sides of the city - neither serviced well by public transport - So I commit to the repairs
At the same time, I contacted your Customer service, and by the time they got back to me it was too late as repairs had been finalised
The offer of $200 in gift cards and next Major service free was accepted - as I really had no other recourse - and I thought it would be the end of it
A month ago - I am driving home and my car loses power and starts sputtering ( Not again I say to myself !)- I pull over and call the RACV - nothing to be done - Car is towed to Dandenong Hyundai
Some test is conducted and the car is only running on 2.5 Cylinders - Injectors are diagnosed and pulled out and sent to be cleaned
One is badly blocked - $850 to clean or $1850 to do all
I need reliable transport - I am beginning to have no faith in my vehicle and want to eliminate the possibilty of more injectors clagging - I opt for them all
When the injectors are returned and refitted - The car still has problems - The head has to be removed
And this is where we find ourselves - with a cracked piston - badly scarred cylinder wall - and an estimated $9000 repair Bill !
As I mentioned Earlier - Yes - The car is out of warranty - but serviced to schedule by Hyundai Dealers
The car does urban commuting and freeway driving - It does not tow - it does not travel in a harsh climate
The car is 120000 Kms - realistically very young in the life of a motor that should do in excess of 400000 kms
I bought this car for the expected longevity of this diesel motor and think it fair to say this is really unacceptable for a car of this age
I was hoping for a show of good faith by your company and a good will repair of everything past the cost of the injectors
My car has been off the road for a month now - I have been in contact with your customer sercice department for 2 weeks and communication is not good
My representative never returns my calls despite numerous messages being passed - I think I know your entire customer service Department by name
On our last phone conversation - The discussion was something along the line of reducing the price of the parts - This does not sound very promising
I work in an industry where we have "Quality" Shoes manufactured overseas - Much as we like to think our production is good - occasionally - a pair or two that is not, get through and sold to the customer
We assess these based on the merits and the life of the footwear and either replace - refund in full - or partial refund
I know this is a different industry - but I was swayed from my original purchase of a Toyota when I bought the Santa Fe
I thought Hyundai's build reputation had improved since the earlier days of cheap cars
I sincerely hope you would agree with me and put this down to one that has issues - that it should not.
============================================================
I'm writing to you to express my severe disappointment with the
ownership experience of my 2007 Santa Fe CRDI
Elite
48000 I paid for this car when new and it has been nothing
but trouble since day one.
Numerous bits of the car falling apart, leakages – system
replacements – Yes - All replaced and
fixed under the warranty
The problems started just out of warranty
25 Nov 14 – Car dies
and is Towed - Crankshaft Sensor $529
4 Dec 14 - Intercooler
replaced $1800
March 15 – Car dies – Towed – Diagnosed Injectors but after
refitting - Cracked Piston – Scored
Block – Motor a write off
You will see when you check my file I was very appreciative
of the good will Block replacement, after Mr John Elsworth, COO at the time became involved.
Still – my car was off the road for three months and I had
to buy another runabout in the interim
So it was July 15 when my car was returned, and I paid the
$3000 Odd to have the motor re-fitted and the injectors cleaned
After this the Cruise control never worked properly - dealer can’t find fault and said the change
of motor would not have affected this –
just seems coincidental
A month later the car died and had to be towed – Air flow
sensor $736
15 Oct 15 – Chugging motor – Open circuits – All glo plugs
replaced $369
Late October 15 – Car
died – Towed again - Timing chain slipped and destroyed the Valve train –
Car
off the road for another month – fixed
at no charge by dealer who fitted the motor
Sometime around here.
The same front passenger door actuator that
was replaced at a service prior for $369 fails – The same one! – But dealer
tells me 12 months warranty only
8 Feb 16 – 135000 Service – I complain to dealer about the
motor still missing – They say can’t fault
13 Feb 17 – 150000 Service I still have missing motor but
given up complaining – My concern now is the clunking and grumbling in the
transmission which I ask to be checked – They drain some fluid and say its ok
I ring them later in the week to tell them it is not fixed
and they say nothing more they can do – so point me to their outsourced
repairer
I take the car to them who diagnose severe problems with the
transmission – torque converter – Valve – something else – I was in shock about
now - as he mentioned around $6000 to
fit a new one or $4000 to change over -
but he can’t do anything until the motor
is running smoothly, as quote – “It runs like a dog” 3 cylinders – 4 cylinders – back to 3
So now I have to take it back to the dealer and pay more
money for them to find a fault they have
been unable to find for 2 years
This car has been serviced to the book by Hyundai dealers
using Hyundai spare parts and Lubricants. It is not unreasonable to expect that
the car should not have all these major issues at such an early point in its
life
It is a sad indictment when I trust a 26 year old corolla to
get me around more than my expensive Hyundai purchase, which was to last me
many years.
I have been clinging to this car as I feel I have so much
invested in it but I feel this last issue will be throwing
good money after bad.
What do you think ?
Glenn
