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-   -   Hyundai i20 1.2 Asta - A rattled up year of ownership- UPDATE: rack replaced (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/89706-hyundai-i20-1-2-asta-rattled-up-year-ownership-update-rack-replaced-2.html)

Really disappointing to see utter disregard to customer's agony by Hyundai. I think after a home, car is the next big investment for most families in India. Hyundai has so far enjoyed the 2nd spot in the Indian car market, but if more and more customers face such issues it won't take them long to slip down. The car that I am currently driving is a Hyundai i10 1.2. The only reason I bought it was because I had a wonderful experience with the Santro Xing. Though I doubt whether my next car would be a Hyundai or not. In my 1.5 years of ownership, my i10's clutch cable has been replaced thrice and along with a complete overhaul and replacement of clutch and pressure plates. As if this was not enough, Hans Hyundai in Delhi was suggesting a complete gearbox overhaul, when the actual problem for my hard clutch was that they could not fit the clutch cable properly. I was not convinced and took it to MGF - they fixed the cable in 15 minutes flat!

To cut a long story short - 'Hyundai must wake up, and take note of unscruplous dealers/staff with poor service ethics'. I hope someone from the Hyundai leadership is part of team-bhp and sees how unhappy some Hyundai customers are!

Thats something new for me. Always thought that Toyota and Hyundai were very good at customer service. Why not you try to take it to some other dealership? Maybe they might be able to solve.

But Hyundai, SHAME ON YA.

I am sorry to hear about your troubles.
And I thought only my new Swift rattles. Could it be that the defogger coils may be taking different amounts of time to work ?
Happens in my car, the ones at the top seem to work faster, and the lower ones seem to have an effect later on.

Sandesh, Im really sorry about your car man. This is the most unexpected out of a company like Hyundai, known for its niggle free cars and great A**. And the number of reports coming to light along with the magazine issue you faced, it seems such reports from not only you but other customers were covered up by Hyundai to prevent bad press in India.

The car being a lemon is ok, it happens to the best of the companies, and sometimes its the other way round, I read a thread today about a Fabia 1.4 Petrol owner who has had a problem free car since he bought it, when the 1.4 petrol was the most troublesome car in the Fabia range.

But the A** should definitely have been better , atleast the way a customer is treated, if they cannot resolve the issue.

I would suggest you complain on the consumer court forum, Consumer Court Forum

All the best, keep us posted with the progress.

I really appreciate and thank you all for your concern.

Yesterday evening(September 30), people from Hyundai came down to my residence. The gentlemen included the Area Manager, Works Manager and three gentlemen(Steering Systems specialists) from Delhi, who said that they had specially come down from Delhi to see the car, as my car was giving the company the most complaints.

We took the car out on a TD around the town. These included some rough patches where I could clearly hear the rattle. They had a camera and a mic to capture the steering rattle sound. I was driving and whenever the car went over a rough patch of road, I could hear the rattle coming from the steering column area. The sound that I heard was pointed out them, but the person who was sitting next to me could not hear it initially. I was told mockingly where is the sound? I thought " Man, this is it even they will simply say rattle is not there!!!!"

After a while, one the way back home, one of them took over to drive the car. I sat in the back seat. I was shocked and dumbfounded that the steering rattle just could not be heard from the back seat no matter how heard I tried to hear it( it was the same roads where I could hear the rattle clearly from the driver's seat). All this while, I was the one who used to drive the car and could hear the rattle clearly. I seriously doubt whether the person sitting on the co-driver's seat can hear the rattling sound.They still maintained that the steering rattle is not there.

However, after we reached home, the person who drove the car started looking under the steering column area and opened up the bonnet. After some talk, they claimed that they could hear some noise but that it was dashboard noise. I still feel that is the same steering rattle noise( the distinct "kat kat kat" sound which will get louder as time passes by), but they claim that it is dashboard noise and that it can be fixed easily at the workshop. If it indeed is dashboard noise, it should not come back again or atleast not crop up for some period of time. Lets see. The point I want to make is that the person who drives the car daily can easily note abnormal noises coming from the car, something which passengers cannot identify. The driver can sometimes struggle to make the co-driver hear what he is hearing or feeling abnormal in the car.

They also claimed that the telescopic tilt steering also does cause some rattle. Some play will be there between the steering rack and column causing some rattling sound and that the sound cannot be eliminated. If it is tightened too much, the car will be hard to steer, it it kept loose, the rattle will increase. When questioned that why my Old Swift never had such an issue, they said the Swift did not have a telescopic steering hence such steering rattle did not exist on the Swift. How far this argument is true, I don't know.

I also told them that during all these visits during which all the things were done of the car, initially no sound could be heard but as the car ran for a few kms, rattling sounds begin appearing.He said it is because of the rough roads, noting else.

They also said that some rattle in the steering will be there and that it should be ignored. However, they also said that if the rattle does get louder(which I believe it will), it should be reported and action will be taken.

About the defogger, they said the defogger lines have got "cut" and that power supply is not reaching the bottom defogger lines. They initially said that it may because I kept some heavy sharp object on the parcel tray and that it scraped against these lines causing it to fail. We assured that no such thing was ever kept on the parcel tray to cause such a cut in the lines. Then one of them said it could also be due to the fact that sunfilm was installed on the car, to which I replied it was fitted in the Hyundai workshop...end of argument. Anyway, they had agreed to replace the whole glass before these arguments began. After they left, it struck me that the cut lines are one the places in the glass where the company fitted stickers were there before the sunfilm was installed - the "5 Stars Safety" & Hyundai helpline number stickers. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow. Whether these lines got cut while removing the stickers (to install the sunfilm), no one will ever know. They said the glass will be ordered and I shall be informed.

I would also like to say that the car is no lemon. The dealership was not fussy at all in replacing the parts, for which I have to give the credit to them.Agree that the car has gone so many replacements, but still it does not qualify to be a lemon, atleast not yet :) . I love my car and take great care of it. It would be heartbreaking to see her turn out to be a lemon. I can only hope and pray that no more problems crop up.


We are happy that these people came down all the way from Delhi to have a look at the car. Since they have said that the rattling sound, which they claim to be from the dashboard, can be eliminated and since they came down to my residence, the car will be sent to the workshop one more time to fix the issue.

Looking at the works manager and area manager and the fire that they had been under for the past so many months, I was actually feeling sorry for them yesterday.

As for going to consumer court, well, we had seriously considered it and today we were supposed to meet a lawyer about the issue(planned much before). But after yesterday's incident, we have put it on hold for the time being.

Lets see how things go in the next one month.

Thank you once again for reading and showing interest in this issue

@vnabhi,
please see the attached picture pointing out the problem in the brake disc

Your car is definitely not a lemon man. Agreed there have been persistent issues and few parts have been replaced more than once, but that doesn't qualify it as a lemon. Appreciate the effort taken by the Hyuandi team to drop down at your place to solve the problem. :thumbs up to Hyuandi.

Just try something...

Next time you drive your car and hear this rattle... poke you finger in where you insert the CD. Does the sound go away...

It might sound stupid, but just try it :)

I am saying this because in my i20, I have noticed that there is a slight rattle developing in the dash where on inserts the CD..

Are these rattles only in the BSIII variant or are they also continuing in the new BSIV ones.
Making me reconsider the i20 as a good sub-10 lakh diesel car.

I am happy & sad to have gone through this post. Sad for all you my friends who faced these problems. Happy that i have not yet booked the car, though had almost finalized it.
Also, can I suggest you to adjust tilt & length of the steering, try all possible driving positions & see if it helps, as the guy from delhi pointed out that it might be a problem due to the tilt & telescopic adjustment.
Lastly, do keep us posted if dashboard was the culprit.

In most cases the driver only can hear and feel it and in some cases the the front passenger too.

Unfortunately for me too the rattling is back :p although now its giving minor sound but i'm afraid it will increase. Also when you turn the steering wheel to the extreme left while idle then a quick right and left there is a noise coming. It was not coming after the part replacement but now its started.

So its 1000+ k.m after parts replacement .. Rattling is Back :D

Certainly :thumbs up. I appreciate that. I am thankful to all persons involved in making that visit possible. I hope they would have realised how difficult it is for people like us who live far away from the workshop to take the car again and again to the workshop. Eventhough there are local garages in the town, there is now way the car will be sent to those garages, no matter how small the issue is. None of the cars we owned was ever sent to any of these garages for issues, even if it meant driving for two hours to get to the workshop. So it is extremely important for the workshop to get things right at the first attempt of resolving an issue for people like us.

There is an occasional clicking sound there, but it goes away. The dashboard rattle I am talking is like a buzzing sound that seems to be coming from the area near the central MFD. This sound is there even on good roads.

Adjusting the steering wheel does help in reducing or getting rid of the rattle, but it is temporary. The rattle returns after a while.

That is my concern exactly, hence I had been reporting the rattling issue persistently. As per them, the rattling sound is from the dashboard, not the steering. They said that they will fix the rattling sound when the car is sent to the workshop. I was asked to inform the workshop if the rattling sound increases, which I am afraid it will.

Will update as and when the said repair works are carried out on the car.

The supposed "dashboard" rattle(in my opinion, steering rattle) is just getting worse and louder day by day . Whenever the car goes over rough or rocky roads, I feel as if the whole steering and front left suspension is loose, vibrations can be felt on the steering wheel. I can almost visualize how either the rack or the column is going up and down hitting against each other. Anyway, they said they will fix the rattle, I wonder how long will this latest fix be able to hold

Regarding the defogger, I have been informed that the lines were cut due to "poor fitment of sunflim". Now, the sunfilm was fitted at the authorised workshop. The defogger will be replaced a an act of "goodwill" by the workshop. If the replacement of rear glass is an act of "goodwill" or it is the duty of the workshop to replace the glass due to poor and faulty worksmanship, I leave it all up you guys to decide.

The disc brake (the concentric circles as you have pointed out) rotor line could also be because of worn brake pads (though they should not have worn out so soon). Buffing the rotors and replacing the pads should do here.

A sad state of affairs this one. But frankly, I am quite pleasantly surprised that Hyundai is at least sending folks over to see the problem 1st hand.
Well, credit goes to you too for being persistent clap:.

It scares me to even think, what if you had gone with the Fiat? FYI, I am no Fiat basher, but a Fiat owner and have faced numerous irritants and continue to face them.

To me, it looks more of a skill (inability to diagnose the root cause) than a will issue. Regardless, you are bearing the brunt of it and its certainly not acceptable. Its a good thing that you have decided to give the consumer court a skip for the time being. To Hyundai's credit, they are at least trying. That said, I hope you are documenting all interactions, mails, service experience etc. and not limiting it to phone calls. If you do plan to go the legal route in future, all this will be very handy.

I feel for you man, I really do. :)

During one of the visits to the workshop, I had complained of the brakes making a screeching sound at high speeds while braking gradually to slow down(say to slow down from 90 kmph to 40 kmph - braking gradually). They replaced the front discs that time. We went back home. Yet the problem persisted. Then during the second visit with the same complaint, that "cut" was noticed on the front left brake disc. As you said, it needed buffing. That time buffing/filing was done and we were assured that the sound will not come back. But the sound still persisted. Then again they changed the "cut" disc. The screeching sound had not been heard since.

As per them, our car is the only one that was giving them so many complaints, so they came down to have a look at the car. Actually the workshop wanted the car to be driven to Junagadh so that the gentlemen from Delhi could have a look at the car there itself. We said nothing doing, let them come here and have a look(part of the reason for this was because the Regional Manager in the RO has rudely said on the phone "We have been in the business for ten years. Next time the rattling starts we will bring all tools to your house to repair it." :mad: )

They came home, drove the car and called the rattling "dashboard noise". Then they gave all those explanations that telescopic steering ,play causes it....blah blah blah. They probably went back cursing us because as per them it is "dashboard noise". The same kat kat kat noise(which for the first time I came to to know that only the driver is able to hear), steering wheel vibrations, suspension feeling loose are all characteristics of "dashboard noise" , not steering rattling:Frustrati!!!!!


Agreed. But how long will it take for them find a proven and working solution? its been three years since i20's launch in India.