A little bit of background first, please bear with the long post. :)
I recently purchased a Hyundai Automatic from a fellow team-bhpian and a very good friend. The car is in great condition though its 7 years old. Had 34,000 genuine kms on the odo and was taken care off really well. When i purchased the car, previous owner had clearly given me all the details including pending works. Included in this was a minor oil leak at the steering rack assembly.
This car is for my wife, who is an absolute new'b to car ownership and maintenance. To avoid any heart burns for a new car owner, i decided i would do a comprehensive preventive maintenance (40,000 kms service) and repairs before handing over the vehicle.
Previous owner had cautioned me about Hyundai service, especially in Bangalore where it is always a money making affair and how he never was satisfied nor confident about the service experiences at dealers. He even preferred to use an independent HASS if it was an option, and suggested that i do the same.
Another fellow bhpian also had shared his Hyundai experiences sometime back with me. He was of the opinion that dealerships were cut throats and minting money by charging exorbitant prices for parts. The same part according to him was available outside, from the same parts manufacturer but without the Hyundai seal. I know that this is the case with many manufacturers, so even argued with him that he is over reacting. He went on to prove i was wrong and fixed his cars multiple times outside with genuine parts, every time at 1/3 the cost. Still i was a firm believer that Hyundai is one of the cheaper brands to maintain.
Coming back to my story, I was prepared for costly parts, like drive shaft which are unique to the automatic model. But boy, was i ready for a BIG surprise!!!
Ok now the question comes why dealership workshop?
I could have given to n number of non branded workshops which i know, but did not want to compromise, and decided i will give it to the dealership workshop itself. I did not want to risk it with the current owner, you can say he he he. Service center was right next to my office, which was a very big convenience factor. I have previously used their service also, when i was baby sitting another friends Accent, the facilities was really good and service pretty straight forward. What more can i ask for?
Now the service and dealership experience is a story by itself but let us come to the crux of the topic.
Replacement Vs Repair philosophy. Job no 1: Replace drive shaft boots.
Story behind the job. One side axle aka CV assembly was brand new and costed sweet 27,000 INR. Reason given for the cost was, being an automatic, axle is different and costly. Accepted. For your reference manual model axle unit is approx 8000 Rs. So basically this part alone is 3 times the cost.
Since it was an old car and the CV being so costly, as a preventive exercise i wanted to replace the boots for the other axle, which was not replaced.
Response from the SA: Sorry sir we don't have the part.
Me: Ok fair enough, being automatic you would want to order right?
SA: No sir, CV boot is not available for auto's. If something happens one has to replace the whole assembly.
Me: Shocked!
Tell me one of the most vulnerable part of the drive train, which especially in India conditions fails atleast once every 4-5 years. Part is not available??!! What logic, just because its an automatic?? Apart from the minor difference in axle dimension i dont even think there is a difference in the boot (need to confirm this though). Anyways right now its not damaged so i thought i have time and asked him to ignore the job.
Job no 2: Fix steering rack oil leak.
This was a known issue and had to be fixed, coz oil level was moving from max to min mark within 300 kms.
We all know the oil seal is the weakest link in any power steering assembly and usually a replacement job and overhaul is good enough to get it back in shape. Generally cost can be anything between 300 to a 1000 bucks. I have done this for other very expensive brands and know very well that it is one of the easiest jobs one can do.
What about Hyundai and that too a Santro???
Surprise, surprise! According to the SA, steering rack oil seal cannot be serviced. You have to replace the whole rack assembly. Phew! Ok how much for the rack, was expecting some 5-8k?? Well for Hyundai Santro it costs 18,000 bucks!!
Reason given, rack never fails!
I was not convinced, so i enquired more.
SA went on to say: Hyundai does not recommend this job, even if it is under warranty, they just go for blind replacement of the rack.
ME: Fair enough, great job of warranty cover! BUT what about poor owner once he is out of warranty???
SA: Sir it is a life time part, and it never fails.
Me: Atleast can you check if it can be fixed.
SA: No sir, rack we cant do anything. We have tried it and the seal gave away in a day. It was a major issue and hence we dont even try. Only if it is the column side seal we can give it a try.
Me: Ok atleast give it a look and see what best can be done.
SA went on note the point very unwillingly and said he would call and inform me, what can be done. A small ray of hope for me.
Next day i promptly get a call by noon.
SA: sir rack oil seal is gone.
Since i was aware of this i said: ok can it be fixed?
SA: Nope cant be done. Its a rane unit and it cannot be repaired, we need to order the rack assembly which will cost you approx 18000.
Me: Are you sure?
SA: Yes sir 100% sure.
Me: do i need to check with hyundai?
SA: Sir am telling you it is not possible.
What more can a poor customer do??? so i said ignore it and I will try to fix it outside.
Now what is the truth?
I really dont know at this point of time. But i defenitely intent to find out. What i have decided is i will first email Hyundai and wait for a response. Which definitely might not come. Meanwhile try to fix the same through an independent garage.
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Now the question that comes to mind.
- Is Hyundai India ripping off unsuspecting customers?
I can understand parts being expensive at a dealership but almost 3 times the cost???
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I have to take the word of the dealership for the time being on this next point.
- Why is it that service kits not available or recommended by Hyundai???
Rubber parts fail, fail more in our indian conditions. An oil seal or a drive shaft boot costs some 200-400 bucks. If these parts fail and attended to on time, the more expensive unit can be saved. And these whole units are really NOT that cheap!!
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- If you are a long life cycle customer? Should you stay away from Hyundai? Or atleast the dealership workshops of theirs?
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I really dont care spending 20 k for a brand new steering rack, just spent 4k for synthetic oil and 4k for general service. So if i have to replace the rack, i will do that also. ie if i cant get it fixed outside. To be very honest, even if i add this to the car cost, its a really sweet deal for me.
Issue is NOT the money, but how un-ethical this particular so called "common mans" brand has become!
Hope i will get some answers soon for these questions. To be very honest i was never a big fan of Hyundai. I always felt they had products without any soul and stayed away from them. This was my first actual ownership experience and to be very honest, at this point of time am sure will be the last from Hyundai.
Jaggu, I have been complaining of Hyundai's expensive maintenance cost for a long time now. Most of their dealerships are fraud. Parts are OK, but the labour is prohibitively expensive. And still no solution to the i20's teething problems. Can you imagine everytime 5-6K cost for a santro service? And its PMS being even more expensive than that of a jazz?
Oh boy!, my i20 diesel is due for its first paid service at the end of this month. Hope they don't try to rip me off. I will look into the manual and see what needs to be changed/replaced at the 4th service.
Fortunately one of my friend had a long tenure at multiple Hyundai Service Centres. Whether it was warranty or not, I always followed up my friend for Service of my Santro.
Now since he has opened his own workshop, I still follows him. He is like a magician and one of the best in business that I know of.
Well well... We were wondering back in 2007, why the HASS was quoting 22k for a silencer job on a 4 year old Santro. Now we know! We were able to get the work done outside for 8k!!!
Interesting to see what answers you will find :)
The same rack issue happened with my cousin Santro and he was also given an estimate cost of INR 18k's. He got the seal replaced outside for 400 bucks!
When i got irritated with the steering noise, i asked them to replace the rack assembly, and the first answer i got is:
Hyundai only recommends to replace the Yoke spring and Pad and not the full assembly. But i'm sure when your warranty is over the tone will be;
Sir Hyundai doesn't recommend to repair it, you have to change the whole assembly.
You have to be extra careful at paid jobs in HASS.
One more thing i have to mention here, Hyundai never responds to your mail if you have a problem with the car, their automated reply is please contact your A.S.S.
Their own staff's says "They never listen to Indian's when we give feedbacks and suggestions". They simply ignore us.
I saw my friends bill from maruti in Chennai for 50000km service on his diesel dzire today.
Labour : 725
Disc brake cleaning : 250
Drum brake cleaning : 250
Rotation : 250
Alignment 400
All this plus taxes.
The same stuff at hyundai for my verna crdi
Labour: 800
They do complete brake cleaning for free everytime. I only pay 70 bucks for the bolt and nut hub which has to be replaced.
Alignment charges are included in the 800 bucks for labour.
Rotation is 200 for 4 tires.
Now are we going to say that maruti's are expensive to maintain?
Why is everything being generalized here based on one service center or one specific car?
Hyundai A.S.S. so bad? That is news to me because on lot of forums here in tembhp, people often lauded Hyundai's A.S.S. and derided Tata's.
Whatever, what Jaggu has gone through is horrendous. Boy, since when did Hyundai tariff started matching, or dare we say bettering, Skoda's tariff? If this is how they charge, most people will stay away from auto-transmission cars.
Tell me the size of the oil seal.. I ll try to source an excellent quality one for you ..
