[flipsyde]

Originally Posted by s_pphilip

I should agree on such occasions, methinks.
Last evening while taking a friend for a spin, since I normally drive at 60/70 kmph, proactively being safe, also because the car mostly feels lethargic, we hence thought of speeding, for the car to display its character.
The last instance I had a blast was on NH-4, 2 weeks back.

Hence on a straight stretch of less than a km between a speed breaker and junction, I accelerated from 1st gear after the speed breaker and momentarily touched 160 kmph on the speedo in 4th before backing out, I was hesitant as this is a public road and it still was accelerating.
I braked immediately to saner speeds so did not observe the rpm.

Both me and my friend were pleasantly surprised by the power, he asked me the power rating and apart from the 'cc', I didn't know the 'bhp', I assumed it must be about 130-ish, so I asked him to check the RC book,
It is 142 HP, I was like WOWie, that almost double of the Honda City (NHC). Add all that crdi torque to it.
I even googled out of curiosity and found the 2.4 VTVT has 165 HP.
I must say this must be among the most powerful cars one can lay hands on at good pre-owned prices.

On a different note during all that display while dabbing the accelerator on standstill there is clouds of black smoke spewed out of the exhaust. So we went to the other Hyundai dealer in Goa (other than the one we picked the car from, we picked from Hyundai Advantage).
He said this is normal when you press the accelerator, he even casually went for a small drive and said the car is in good condition, he said the suspension, brakes, acceleration is as should be.

He asked me when have we done the last servicing, I told him we picked the car second-hand recently and the service is due after 6 months. He said he will check his computer records and that is when I was shocked, almost going weak in my knees.

He said the car has had a irregular servicing history with intermittent spans of almost 25 k kms.
The owner son and the advantage guys had told us that the car is serviced regularly, the owner (I know him through my circle) is a pretty affluent businessman/local politician.

Moreover Advantage even offered 12 months warranty at additional cost.
Since the owner said he got the car serviced from the same dealer regularly and the same dealer's advantage wing verbally said it is regularly serviced, we did not ask for service records at the time of buying assuming that Advantage will obviously ensure this is taken care of, I think this was foolishness on our part.

This has got us a bit worried and I have asked the Advantage fellow to confirm this, on asking even he said the car is in good condition, though he will provide details tomorrow, may be I am reading too much into this.

During delivery when asked Advantage only mentioned that a major servicing is due at 90k kms and the next servicing is after 6 months and we get 2 free services as per the warranty.

If this is so it will definitely mean that the oil filter and oil change hasn't been done as per schedule, how badly will it affect the engine/mechanicals of the car?

Is it possible that they do not update it in the Hyundai service records, and maintain a separate individual dealer record?

If it was a Swift I would not be so bothered, this being an expensive to maintain engine with high pressure components, has got us all worried.
Even when typing this in, my mind is spinning.

I hope I get a positive response tomorrow and can laugh at my imagination spinning wild.

No matter who you buy the car from I feel its mandatory to check service history from the A S S and not take the owners word for it. I am not sure about Hyundai but Honda and Toyota have complete records of the service history.

Is it possible they have been taking care of regular maintenance at some other A S S or independent garage?

If the car is in good running condition a complete service and change of all fluids should put your mind at ease. Consider flushing the engine.

[s_pphilip]

Originally Posted by flipsyde

No matter who you buy the car from I feel its mandatory to check service history from the A S S and not take the owners word for it. I am not sure about Hyundai but Honda and Toyota have complete records of the service history.

Is it possible they have been taking care of regular maintenance at some other A S S or independent garage?

If the car is in good running condition a complete service and change of all fluids should put your mind at ease. Consider flushing the engine.

Thanks Flipsyde, the reason I did not get back earlier is I was trying to figure a few things about this before posting, wasn't sure whether to post on an everyday update basis, thought it better to get to the bottom of things.

Firstly got the Advantage blokes to check with the previous owner about the intermittent servicing done and the ex-owner claims that he used to change the oil in his store.

Still baffles me, okay he owns a popular engine oil dealership, but along with oil change, don't these cars need an oil filter change and such stuff along as well, which apparently he has skipped for multiple intervals.

Also a bigger question on my mind is where can I get the engine compression checked, the reason is if I park the car in reverse gear on a 'slope facing downwards', the car still rolls down in jerks, this is like a 20 degree slope or so.

The car has done about 80k kms and will be due for a clutch overhaul in the near future but I always thought reverse gear kind of seals the 'rolling down the slope' factor completely.

About the clutch, the mechanic tells me that it is weak but safely usable for another 10-15k kms without damaging other mechanicals hence I don't think it is that bad to let the car roll when parked in gear.

While driving I don't get the burning smell of the clutch slipping, also it tackles inclines in 1st or 'R' gear even if you stop and start again, acceleration is there but again I haven't compared with another if better or same.

Checked with the service adviser and he says "rolling down in reverse" is normal, I am aghast!

I have honestly never experienced such a thing in my last 10+ yrs of driving, I wasn't even aware a parked car could roll down in reverse-an opposite gear.
It rolls down forwards similarly in 1st as well, which should be a higher ratio.

Of course I always apply the handbrake first but I realized this when the handbrake was accidentally partially engaged and the car rolled down a bit when I stepped out despite being in gear. I was shocked!

I did get a chance to interact with couple of owners without actually sitting in their cars and they all tell me that they get an average of about 15 kmpl in Goa as compared to 12 kmpl that I get.
Driving style cannot be much different in Goa between drivers and road conditions so is this an indication of something not right?

Please suggest whether I need to post this in a technical thread or something.
I tried Google for answers despite hectic work last month but could not find sufficient information and hence not sure whether these concerns are valid.
Appreciate any and every help here.

[s_pphilip]

I had a long argument with the Hyundai Advantage guys running into few days, they have a 140 point check to certify cars and so on.
I thought that's why they offered an extended warranty. I got a warranty book stating all this. Was it just a carrot?

Hyundai has a central database where they keep all cars service records, you can check it at any dealer, and the service manual details some preventative checks with regular servicing, which are skipped, apparently this ex-owner was too cheap to even afford regular maintenance, its sad.

Is there any other way I can cross-check this car's complete health, like some place with Engine Compression testing and fuel efficiency check?

[s_pphilip]

http://www.carwale.com/hyundai-cars/...iews-8166/all/

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/hyundai...hyundai-sonata

Just wanted to share these links for some one who needs a reviewers perspective, I found both reviews decent.


Currently our major concern is the harsh ride, can feel every pebble, rut and road imperfection, maybe suspension needs work, fear to think of the expenses, that apart have been on long trips to Kerala, Bangalore, Pune and the car is still a joy.

Will post my experience from the past year separately.

Few major drawbacks coming to my mind from the critics eye for someone keen on Sonata crdi:
The paint work is shallow and started peeling, easily taken care of by repainting the bonnet.
The car Achilles heel is evident when crawling on inclines, you shift to 2nd then back to 1st, the 1st is too short and up shifting falls in turbo lag zone.
This one crashes through potholes, I don't find that much appreciated cushioned ride, needs sorting.
No bottle holders though one can squeeze half liter bottles in the front door. The bottle holders next to the gearshift are too large and a 1 liter bottle jumps out and a 2 liter bottle hinders with the gear shift, still in search of a customized perfect bottle which is broad and stubby.
Lack of under thigh support, the seats don't have much side bolstering too.
Tyre size 215/60/R16 is not a common size.


Of course there are several advantages too which I will outline when updating my experience.