[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Also, yes there is a lot of cheating that happens even in the showrooms too. But from my experience of accidental repairs I have always seen the damaged parts placed separately, while new parts went into the car. I had a couple of accidents on my swift, had to replace the bonnet, bumper etc and I was shown the old parts before they stacked them away for insurance purposes. Also seldom have I come across local garages being able to match metallic paint jobs as they don't have a dedicated paint booth like most showrooms.

Personally, if the work is major, I sit at the showroom floor and inspect the work. The advantage is the showroom handles the insurance bit for you, which can be a big headache otherwise. You are welcome to voice out your opinions, though it would be better if you presented them with some hard facts and figures.

Well i'm glad that you are aware of all these things as well.I wasn't pointing anyone out here though but tell me something you know what can happen if you are not there but tell me how many people have the time to leave everything and go to the workshop and get the work done without getting cheated.As far as matching paint is concerned it depends on how the garage is and how well do they know their job and make the best use out of what they have.I have seen cars in the service center painted in the booth and comming out 2 shades darker or lighter.Yes i completely agree with you on the point you said about getting your insurance claim.Its does become a headache sometimes.Well i will get hard facts and figures to present my ideas.

Originally Posted by kb100

NOw this is an entirely different matter - and something for another thread as well! All of that happens everywhere (I have a Maruti too - so I have first hand experience there too

YEs things happen in dealerships, authorised service centres - including Maruti. I have been shysted by mechanics outside as well. (Some despite having a 10 yr relationship)

Yes - the dealerships should be more transparent etc - which Hyundai is trying to be - if you visit any of their newer showrooms, you can sit and watch your car being worked on every day! I have always received the old parts from my car (esp in Kerala)

Yes the manufacturers should sell the parts over the counter ... there are some.

However all of this is not the subject of this thread - here we are talking about the 'negative' perception or biases of/against the 'Hyundai/Korean' brand.

And not to worry, nothing personal at all! It was your original statement "Well maintanence on hyundai car are expensive and so are the parts for this car " that sparked off this exchange.

Well its not about comparing Hyundai and Maruti or the things which happen in dealerships.Those were just hypothetical examples to show the negative things and the costs which customers are paying without any reason.These are the things that happen to customers and they are made to shell out more each time they visit and the thing people start saying is that maintanence costs are high but the fact is that they are not that high according to actual price but with all this fraud happening
you do shell out the money at the end of the day.

I put my thoughts across and i never avoid or mind any kind of exchange because its a much healthier way of sorting out things rather than holding a grudge against someone.We are all enthusiasts of cars and thats the only reason we are here and to learn more from each other about them.

[mclaren1885]

Indrojit, what is the guarantee that the local mech is not ripping you off as well? Every garage has their own rates (for labour, margin on parts) and no standardization. Unless you visit the showroom to compare the rates, you will have to take your mech's word for it? Isn't that being quite ignorant too? Either ways, in both places one has to sit personally and watch over the proceedings. Most people rather trust the showrooms over the local garages for reasons like:
1. Insurance claims made easier.
2. Standardization of rates across the same model for all customers.
3. Showrooms can be taken to court in case of faulty repairs as you have sufficient proof. Local garages, you won't be able to do anything.
4. Warranty gets void if taken outside.
5. Showrooms can't afford bad publicity, start a thread here and mail it to the respective manufacturer and see how the dealership comes running to solve your problems. I have had a personal experience with this with my Zen.

Try doing the same thing with a local garage, they care less for your customer feedback. Besides, local garages are also equally notorious. Atleast in showrooms I don't have to worry about my parts being replaced with fake ones or they going into someone else car.

Anyways, we are way off topic now. This topic is for another thread.

Nothing personal, but your first statement on this thread was exactly the reason why this thread exists.

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Indrojit, what is the guarantee that the local mech is not ripping you off as well? Every garage has their own rates (for labour, margin on parts) and no standardization. Unless you visit the showroom to compare the rates, you will have to take your mech's word for it? Isn't that being quite ignorant too? Either ways, in both places one has to sit personally and watch over the proceedings. Most people rather trust the showrooms over the local garages for reasons like:
1. Insurance claims made easier.
2. Standardization of rates across the same model for all customers.
3. Showrooms can be taken to court in case of faulty repairs as you have sufficient proof. Local garages, you won't be able to do anything.
4. Warranty gets void if taken outside.
5. Showrooms can't afford bad publicity, start a thread here and mail it to the respective manufacturer and see how the dealership comes running to solve your problems. I have had a personal experience with this with my Zen.

Try doing the same thing with a local garage, they care less for your customer feedback. Besides, local garages are also equally notorious. Atleast in showrooms I don't have to worry about my parts being replaced with fake ones or they going into someone else car.

Anyways, we are way off topic now. This topic is for another thread.

Nothing personal, but your first statement on this thread was exactly the reason why this thread exists.

Yes we are way off topic.See as i told you it defers from person to person about what they want.And who says all garages replace parts i agree some do but most don't .You can't generalise trhat can you ?And now i am even more determined to start a new thread regarding all this.

Well i still stand by my first statement!

[inwester]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

:A friend got his suspension replaced recently on his Elantra that has nearly clocked 1L+ kms and the prices are pretty reasonable actually compared to the likes of the Civic, Magnum etc. And a steal compared to a Skoda Tdi.

Hey do you know how much exactly he paid to replace the suspension on his Elantra? I replaced my Honda City's suspension some 4 years ago when it hit 85,000 kms and I did this at Whitefield Honda in Bangalore. Cost me a bomb and the job was not very well done. I was too busy travelling, was not a member of Team BHP then so never bothered to follow it up. Also called up Whitefield Honda once I was back India next time and asked them if they would replace or repair, since it still had 1 year warranty on the job and they said I will have to take the car back to Whitefield, where as my house was closer to Peninsular Honda in Calicut. Eventually it never materialized.

[kb100]

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

See as i told you it defers from person to person about what they want.And who says all garages replace parts i agree some do but most don't .You can't generalise trhat can you ?.

I find this a little contradictory. You say one must not generalise - but when it comes to official dealerships you are doing just that!

I have one reason more than anything to trust dealerships - that other than original parts, I can (and have) held them responsible for the work they carry out on my car. So outside vendor gives any such official enforceable warranty. OTher than that risks are common across all.

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Well i still stand by my first statement!

You do?

Well, Facts are facts, hopefully some day you will present facts to back it up - till then your comments will underscore the purpose of this thread.

Originally Posted by inwester

Hey do you know how much exactly he paid to replace the suspension on his Elantra? I replaced my Honda City's suspension some 4 years ago when it hit 85,000 kms and I did this at Whitefield Honda in Bangalore. Cost me a bomb and the job was not very well done. I was too busy travelling, was not a member of Team BHP then so never bothered to follow it up. Also called up Whitefield Honda once I was back India next time and asked them if they would replace or repair, since it still had 1 year warranty on the job and they said I will have to take the car back to Whitefield, where as my house was closer to Peninsular Honda in Calicut. Eventually it never materialized.

You should have taken it up with Honda direct. I had a similar issue with Hyundai - I took it up with them and they arranged for me to get it rectified at another dealer of my choice closer to my house - completely free of cost. (KTC Kannur work was rectified by MGF Cochin)

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by inwester

Hey do you know how much exactly he paid to replace the suspension on his Elantra?

I don't remember the exact quote, as we had this convo a long time back. But Tadukuttan changed his suspension and lower arms for around 50k I guess (which is quite reasonable). I have forwarded him the link and he will get back the details as soon as he finds his bills .

[srishiva]

Coming back to the topic, Is the thread started impressed by Hyundai or is it diesels in general that have impressed him ? Since they were on Hyundais, he gets impressed by Hyundai.

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by theMAG

While I myself am neutral about Hyundai/Korean cars, some points I had heard people talk:

1. In the early 1990s, apparently, people in the US witnessed Hyundai cars catch fires while being driven on highways, without any warnings, among other breakdowns. Hyundai, therefore, was said to have been the recipient of many class-action lawsuits that followed as a result.

Colleagues of mine who mentioned this to me, who were in the US at the time, even after their return to India for many years, dismiss the possibility of buying Hyundai cars here irrespective of their advancement and VFM since the early 90s, owing to this mindblock.

2. Korean work culture, generally, was said to be not on par with Japanese work culture. This is said to have resulted in lower quality of process/deliverables/products compared to their Japanese counterparts.

I am told that this is why Korean cars - which sold brilliantly in their own space, were not comparable to their Japanese counterparts. This is currently a moot point, since their maturity of engineering seems to have gone up significantly; and in India, their offerings are of better quality than their Japanese rivals.


3. While the above points are generic to all markets, the other point is that Maruti = better resale in India, irrespective of how tinny/rattling their cars are. In India, but for this one aspect, Hyundai is on-par in ownership experience with the market leader.

4. Again India specific, given the propensity of Indians to treasure the Honda and Toyota brand names, expensive Hyundais - maybe for no fault of their own, do not sell here.

Brilliant Post !!

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

Somehow the perception is hyundai does not seem to be a car worth more than 6-7L.

And so as that perception for many other manufacturers as theMAG has put it above. Why singling out Hyundai only? Atleast Maruti is trying resurrect it with SX4 & DZire & is making progress.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

in my experience, most of the hyundai owners ( santro/i10) i've met are not particularly car people, and dont feel any particular attachment to either the brand or the car. When I ask them why they bought it, the answer is usually " i did not want a maruti" or"my xyz has one" or "i wanted a car which looks kewl(Sic)" or something along those lines. They didn't have any particular requirements except that it needs to have 4 wheels and seats, so they take the satisfaction for granted, and are , consequently, not very vocal about their cars. Heck, i dont find anything in these cars to write home or on tbhp about

Getz and elantra owners are an entirely different breed altogether though

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I know 3 getz owners and 2 elantra owners. Both the elantra guys are bhpians ( convival and basilmabraham) , and one of the getz owners is Dragsterr. but the other two are not bhpians, and yet pretty vocal - Today I got a ride home from one of them , a senior project manager in my co with whom we were discussing wipers ( it was raining) the anti stick dash, the ride quality and what not, and he started it

IMO, I do not find any serious perception issue about Hyundai. But thats my opinion, may not match with others

Originally Posted by chevelle

you have conveniently ignored some remarks by members who despise Hyundai

I wonder what makes you think that? There are always such comments - not only for Hyundai but for all. Honda is also not spared. Check some threads. However, against these there are many positive comments for Hyundai as well. On the other side, for other MFRs there are even nastier comments.

Originally Posted by chevelle

The influence was from ownership reports. i didn't put up my requirements in what car section. so i won't say i was recommended to buy Santro. I am pretty sure if i would have done so, i would have got more people recommending wagon r or palio instead of santro here as i have read some what car question about same question as mine.

I remember reading a couple of ownership reviews here as a guest which helped me decide better. also read magazine's views about santro and asked santro owners in baroda itself. that's how I got to know how good santro was. without this we would have landed up with wagon r. and i thank these resources for guiding to right purchase.

While I understood & respect your research process, following is what I believe in & what I did a few months ago when I was in market to buy a car:

On on-line forums, the first things I checked were Owners negative feedback on the cars in the segment I wanted to buy the car. Then I checked the same owners positive feedback, weighed their negative against their positive. Then came other positive owners' feedback. Then followed all other feedbacks/ advices etc. Meanwhile, spoke to couple of colleagues who owned these cars in the segment. Again, the first thing I asked about negatives of the car, only thereafter I asked about positives. Lastly, visited a few service stations of shortlisted cars.

I don’t have anything against Hyundai. In fact, I respect it as being able to achieve No. 2 in Sales & Service both. But as per the title, first it sounded like a bias against Hyundai by the market, then it was narrowed down to TBHP, then it got narrowed down to what car section, then it got further narrowed down to cars above i10 price range. I can see it getting further narrowing down to bias against Elantra & Getz which are good cars. But then aren’t there so many other cars which are exceedingly good but not selling well, not being recommended or spoken positively?

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Coming back to the topic, Is the thread started impressed by Hyundai or is it diesels in general that have impressed him ? Since they were on Hyundais, he gets impressed by Hyundai.

I am just impressed by the progress made from the Santro/Accent days to this day when they are dishing out cars like the I20.

Also, most Hyundai cars run diesel engines from "Detroit Diesel" and for those engines that are made in India, the tech is borrowed from DD. So its not all Korean . Those who know their history are obviously aware that DD churns out some amazing engines that find their way into other well known brands too.

Fiat, Tata, Chevy, MUL, Mahindra and whole load of other companies are supplying diesels too. I own a Swift D, you don't see me sing praises for it though. This thread is Hyundai specific.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

in my experience, most of the hyundai owners ( santro/i10) i've met are not particularly car people, and dont feel any particular attachment to either the brand or the car. When I ask them why they bought it, the answer is usually " i did not want a maruti" or"my xyz has one" or "i wanted a car which looks kewl(Sic)" or something along those lines. They didn't have any particular requirements except that it needs to have 4 wheels and seats, so they take the satisfaction for granted, and are , consequently, not very vocal about their cars. Heck, i dont find anything in these cars to write home or on tbhp about

Getz and elantra owners are an entirely different breed altogether though

Ahem..ahem.. please spare me and jk (ex 2 santros)

[Shan2nu]

Speaking of diesels, i think the Chevy Magnum does a pretty good job. 0-100 in under 10 secs for a stock car!!!

Shan2nu

[venkman]

After reading so much from all of you, I agree that I always used to speak in favour of the Cars I owned and liked and also confess that there have been occasions where I had not even got to drive the car in question. This is especially in case of the Hyundai Cars, as the shape did not impress me and the small ride that I had was not enough to convince me but recently my mechanic told me that the petrol version was easy and economical to maintain.So All you HYUNDAI fans

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

Speaking of diesels, i think the Chevy Magnum does a pretty good job. 0-100 in under 10 secs for a stock car!!!

Yup! If only it had better suspension to handle that power. Btw, it shares the same block as the Elantra, slight design change in the head, bigger turbo and voila. You have a rocket!

[viper_711]

I remember a road test featured in one of the magazines many years back (can't remember which one) comparing mid sizers like accent, baleno, city etc and the magazine had selected the 100BHP+ accent tornado model for the test. I distinctly remember the quote "..Korean horses seem to be weaker than Japanese horses.." this was with reference to the City and Baleno having better performance than the Accent. I found it quite amusing back then but can't really comment on the authenticity of this comment as I've never driven the Accent tornado.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by viper_711

this was with reference to the City and Baleno having better performance than the Accent.

Its true! Hyundai petrols have never been its strong hold (save the Santro, which was still quicker than the zen's). The OHC & Baleno were much quicker than the Accent. Infact, the Accent's engine would be comparable to the Lancer's engine which dished out much less power. However the new Kappa engines seem to be pretty good.