Topic: Wonderful Hyundai Service Experience.....not!

[Angry Chicken]

Lease end inspection for wife's Hyundai Santa Fe is today so I made an appointment and brought it to the dealership yesterday to get it detailed so it would be its spiffy best.  Mentioned that the RR wheel bearing was droning and asked if they could look at it provided that the priority work (the detailing) got done.

Went to the dealership to pick up our shiny sparkling beauty only to find that she was looking a bit dirty.  Service staff had already cleared out (it was a bit after 6 pm) so I had to pick up the car at the reception on the sales floor.  Turned out that the detailing hadn't been done (no duh!) and the service advisor had written out the address / phone number of a detailer for me.  So helpful.  (Oh, by the way, apparently I was wrong and it was the RR axle that had to be replaced and not the wheel bearing.  I was close.)

OK, I'm fuming by now, but I do not get upset with the poor receptionist.  She had that head shy look about her that dogs get when their owners are in the habit of hitting them (these owners should be shot, but that's another thread).  I walk out to the vehicle, put the key in the ignition and start it up.  What do I see, but three blinking idiot lights.  Apparently my Electronic Stability Control, All Wheel Drive, and ABS systems are all malfunctioning.  I open up the owner's manual and it tells me that I should leave my car and have it towed.  How convenient...I'm already at the dealership!

Three things wrong with this picture:
1.  They didn't do the work that I asked them to perform;
2.  They left the car for me in an undriveable state;
3.  (perhaps most importantly) there was zip, nada, zilch, zero communication with the customer.

I left the keys with the Sales Manager after explaining the situation and my wife came to pick me up.  You should have seen the look on the sales manager's face when I said it would be better if we found a room where we could close the door first.  It wasn't needed, but I thought he should know how serious this situation was.  I also thought it would be impolite on my part to carry out a public conversation about my sucky service experience while their salesmen were busy with customers.

Too bad, really.  The product is great (Hyundai) but all to often I hear that the dealership experience sucks.  We weren't planning to purchase/lease a Hyundai for our next car, but this experience just validates that decision.   Nothing against the product at all, but until the dealerships' service departments are of the mindset that they are an important factor in creating repeat buyers, I will go elsewhere.

[quadzilla]

3.  (perhaps most importantly) there was zip, nada, zilch, zero communication with the customer.

This is the one that has been bothering me most lately. Fine, things didn't go as planned but PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL ME. Is it really that hard to do?

[5 Wheel Drive]

Did they forget to reconnect a sensor when they replaced the axle?  That would be my guess.

If they were just going to outsource it to a detail shop, you'd think they would have told you that in the first place.  

[sailor723]

Are you sure you were at a Hyundai dealership? That sounds an awfully lot like some of my experiences at the local Chev-Cadillac dealer here in Saint John when I had the SRX 

[safristi]

..We have all read dozens of comments how good Hyundai cars have become....lookers and value leaders...but a common theme is how lousy SERVICE is...WHY IS THIS.....we all like a great meal fairly priced but if the servers are SHYTE it spoils the meal/deal...and leaves a bad taste in one's tailpipe..............we know they (Hyundai) are building better Glass houses aka Modern looking facilities instead of Uncle Teds garage operations...but if they don't Hire Good "mechanics" and give value where it counts ...AFTER Purchase...then all the goodwill will evaporate...OR do they FEEL the cars will "rarely"need SERVICING as they are BULLET-PROOF...interesting "concept" NON/OUI!!!..

[Angry Chicken]

..We have all read dozens of comments how good Hyundai cars have become....lookers and value leaders...but a common theme is how lousy SERVICE is...WHY IS THIS.....we all like a great meal fairly priced but if the servers are SHYTE it spoils the meal/deal...and leaves a bad taste in one's tailpipe..............we know they (Hyundai) are building better Glass houses aka Modern looking facilities instead of Uncle Teds garage operations...but if they don't Hire Good "mechanics" and give value where it counts ...AFTER Purchase...then all the goodwill will evaporate...OR do they FEEL the cars will "rarely"need SERVICING as they are BULLET-PROOF...interesting "concept" NON/OUI!!!..

Exactly.  The cars are Equus quality but the dealerships still think they're selling Ponys and Stellars.

[tpl]

I must say that I would not have booked a car in for any service  within 2 or 3 days of a long weekend in summer.
Unless it was an emergency of course.

[Angry Chicken]

I must say that I would not have booked a car in for any service  within 2 or 3 days of a long weekend in summer.
Unless it was an emergency of course.

Really?    You must have had some bad experiences then?

[tpl]

I must say that I would not have booked a car in for any service  within 2 or 3 days of a long weekend in summer.
Unless it was an emergency of course.

Really?    You must have had some bad experiences then?

Not personally but I have heard all the horror stories.    But even the best of places will have some people taking long weekends or going on vacation and some of those people will be the competent ones you want working on your car.

[Jaeger]

That unquestionably sucks.  I have to say that while it's early (I've only been there twice) my dealer service personel have been very courteous and professional.  The waiting area isn't as cushy as my Nissan / Infiniti dealer, but the actual service hasn't been lacking.

Jaeger

[Ice]

Sounds like a pretty bad experience. Not the absolute worst horror stories but still it's extremely annoying.

At the moment my car is getting serviced at the dealership where I bought it and they have been nothing but courteous and the job has always been done and done well.

[5 Wheel Drive]

Angry, did you ever find out what the cause of the warning lights were?

[Angry Chicken]

Angry, did you ever find out what the cause of the warning lights were?

Defective sensor.  They didn't say exactly what sensor, but I'm guessing a wheel speed sensor.  I believe that was your theory so A+ to you!

[5 Wheel Drive]

Angry, did you ever find out what the cause of the warning lights were?

Defective sensor.  They didn't say exactly what sensor, but I'm guessing a wheel speed sensor.  I believe that was your theory so A+ to you!

Funny, it was ok before you brought it in and they replaced the axle...

[Angry Chicken]

Angry, did you ever find out what the cause of the warning lights were?

Defective sensor.  They didn't say exactly what sensor, but I'm guessing a wheel speed sensor.  I believe that was your theory so A+ to you!

Funny, it was ok before you brought it in and they replaced the axle...

Do you think they messed it up?     <--aimed at them, not you! 

Btw, they also subsequently replaced the wheel bearings both sides and realigned the rear.  I picked up the car Wednesday.  Maybe they were a bit hasty with the axle replacement.  I told them that I thought it was the wheel bearings but customers know nothing.

[richink]

..We have all read dozens of comments how good Hyundai cars have become....lookers and value leaders...but a common theme is how lousy SERVICE is...WHY IS THIS.....we all like a great meal fairly priced but if the servers are SHYTE it spoils the meal/deal...and leaves a bad taste in one's tailpipe..............we know they (Hyundai) are building better Glass houses aka Modern looking facilities instead of Uncle Teds garage operations...but if they don't Hire Good "mechanics" and give value where it counts ...AFTER Purchase...then all the goodwill will evaporate...OR do they FEEL the cars will "rarely"need SERVICING as they are BULLET-PROOF...interesting "concept" NON/OUI!!!..

Yup. When I sold them it was out of a converted Red Barn restaurant with a garage tacked on to the back complete with a small collection of old junker Pony's, Excel's and Stellar's that we would scavenge from when needed. Original Santa Fe's barely fit into the showroom and the XG's wouldn't. It may have been total "Uncle Ted" style but I assure you the uncle was in the building and our techs were as smart as they came, disrespect towards customers was dealt with harshly. Come to think of it so were disrespectful customers!

[laspalmas]

Lease end inspection for wife's Hyundai Santa Fe is today so I made an appointment and brought it to the dealership yesterday to get it detailed so it would be its spiffy best.  Mentioned that the RR wheel bearing was droning and asked if they could look at it provided that the priority work (the detailing) got done.

Went to the dealership to pick up our shiny sparkling beauty only to find that she was looking a bit dirty.  Service staff had already cleared out (it was a bit after 6 pm) so I had to pick up the car at the reception on the sales floor.  Turned out that the detailing hadn't been done (no duh!) and the service advisor had written out the address / phone number of a detailer for me.  So helpful.  (Oh, by the way, apparently I was wrong and it was the RR axle that had to be replaced and not the wheel bearing.  I was close.)

OK, I'm fuming by now, but I do not get upset with the poor receptionist.  She had that head shy look about her that dogs get when their owners are in the habit of hitting them (these owners should be shot, but that's another thread).  I walk out to the vehicle, put the key in the ignition and start it up.  What do I see, but three blinking idiot lights.  Apparently my Electronic Stability Control, All Wheel Drive, and ABS systems are all malfunctioning.  I open up the owner's manual and it tells me that I should leave my car and have it towed.  How convenient...I'm already at the dealership!

Three things wrong with this picture:
1.  They didn't do the work that I asked them to perform;
2.  They left the car for me in an undriveable state;
3.  (perhaps most importantly) there was zip, nada, zilch, zero communication with the customer.

I left the keys with the Sales Manager after explaining the situation and my wife came to pick me up.  You should have seen the look on the sales manager's face when I said it would be better if we found a room where we could close the door first.  It wasn't needed, but I thought he should know how serious this situation was.  I also thought it would be impolite on my part to carry out a public conversation about my sucky service experience while their salesmen were busy with customers.

Too bad, really.  The product is great (Hyundai) but all to often I hear that the dealership experience sucks.  We weren't planning to purchase/lease a Hyundai for our next car, but this experience just validates that decision.   Nothing against the product at all, but until the dealerships' service departments are of the mindset that they are an important factor in creating repeat buyers, I will go elsewhere.

It's really too bad you had this experience, Angry, all I can do to help is to tell you that not all Hyundai dealers are alike: Hull Hyundai (probably out of your way, I know) have always treated me (7 years +) as if I had purchased a 100k car from them. Total respect and total service. We were ignorant and got the electronic rust module thing on the last car we bought but when I found out how much of a rip-off they actually were I called the owner of Hull Hyundai and he immediately had it removed from the car and I was totally reimbursed, no hesitation on his part. He said he wanted me to be 100% comfortable of my purchase. That goes a long way I think.

[ajay]

 A friend traded in his Acura EL
quote
1. 130,000 km at time of trade in
2. 2003
3. Automatic
4. Trade in was $ 9,343...plus extra options on the 2011 Sonata n / c
5. We have had this car since August 2010, are very pleased with it.  Absolutely no problems ...and Victoria Hyundai is the best dealer we have ever purchased a vehicle from!