Team-BHP - ECU replacement needed for older Santros !!!

When I was hunting for an used Santro for my friend, an ex-Hyundai engineer told me that it's better to stay away from Santros(manufactured upto the year 2002) since most of them needs costly ECU replacement/repairs. The problem pops up when they have cloaked near to 70K KMS. :Shockked:

Infact, I've found lots of Santros in the hands of used car dealers than Zens/WagonRs and the resale value was less when compared to WagonRs. And also some Santro owners confided me the same problem and they have sold Santro before this golden mark !!!

So what's the experience of T-BHPians who owns older Santros ?

Had a 1999 model one, which I used past the 70K mark in three years before selling it. Never ran into any of these issues. In fact, never ran into any issue at all with the car.

And the good experience from that Santro is what prompted me to buy another two Hyundai s down the line.

There was a article about the ECU going bad in one of the Santros and the Owner complained through one of the Auto Mags. (it was either overdrive or AutoCar). I am also not sure if it was this months edition or last month. I will hunt them an post an update (hopefully in the near future)

Hyundai offered him a 10% discount as a good will. The article did mention hyundai as quoting that ECU did not go bad it was electrical spikes due to poor maintainance / busted fuese that caused it. Hyundai also mentioned that if you notice dimming of interior /exterior lights or fluctuations get your car's electrical system checked . It could lead to ECU getting damaged .

I have a 2000 model Santro. Done 46500 kms so far. No problems, except that there was a clutch shudder issue at about 38000 kms. Garage people told me it is the first sign of clutch wear. But when I recently upgraded to 5" alloy wheels with the stock-size tyres, car pick-up increased slightly and the clutch shuddering has greatly reduced. In fact it is almost non-existent now, only appears mildly after prolongled drive in start/stop traffic, whereas the shuddering was fairly severe earlier. My guess is that the ECU is now giving a more stable response. So at 60-70 K kms, issues like clutch shudder may appear because of the inability of the ECU to adjust. In some cases clutch shudder problem has been solved by reprogramming the ECU or even replacing it (google "clutch shudder" ecu). The Hyundai engineer may have had something similar in mind.

I had a Santro LS 2001 model till recently and had no problems what so ever with it till I sold it @ 58000 KM. I am already having problems with ECU of my new Swift Diesel. I presume it is all luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkdas (Post 404332)

another rumor! mine was 1.10lac when i sold it. still got a good price too.

One of my friends who had bought a used 2001 Santro which had cloaked about 60K KMS had to shell out Rs.35,000 for the entire ECU Replacement about 6 months ago.

Mine had zero problems for 5 years. Some of it was pretty rough on the car, too. Mithun, used is a different ballgame. You never know what sort of abuse and (lack of) maintenance the car has been through.