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-   -   Is the 6-month service required for a sparsely used car? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/252721-6-month-service-required-sparsely-used-car.html)

I own a 2019 Hyundai elite i20.

Recently I'm being chased up by the Hyundai dealers to get the car serviced for a 6-month service.

Last service: 30-Oct-2021
KM's driven since last service: ~2500 KM
Daily Drive: ~10 KM (car is primarily used by my wife to travel to the workplace)

The only issue I'm facing right now with my car is its front parking lights are not working.

As I was also planning to get an underbody coating during the next service.

Now if I decide to send my car for a 6-month service to get this fixed I'm sure the service center is going to push so many extra addons like AC disinfectant, wheel balancing, etc :confused:

Questions:
1. Is a 6-month service required/mandatory? If yes, then what extra service should I opt for? (to avoid getting scammed)
2. As my car is still under warranty, should I get the front parking lights fixed outside the ASS?
3. Is underbody coating really required for a city like Hyderabad? (I'm under the assumption it is a must for costal areas)

Pretty sure your 2019 Elite i20 requires just a single annual service. If your dealer wants to service it more frequently, its because he wants to pad up his bank balance. Refer to your owner's manual and adhere to the schedules listed there only. It will be once a year. Honda dealers at one time used to keep calling all us City owners for servicing every 3 months! So many people I know fell for it.

No, do it in October when you send the car in for its annual service. Assuming your warranty is valid till then.

No. OEMs over-engineer their cars. These underbody coatings & the like are required only for old school cars like my Jeep, or say the Bolero today. Do it if you want your underbody to look good (I like that clean black look).

Looking at the thread title I thought its another Honda victim. Yes we pre-BS6 Jazz owners have a 6 month service schedule :Frustrati

But i20 AFAIK has only 1 annual service. You can just ignore his requests. Unless you have some issue which needs immediate attention no need to visit ASC before your next scheduled service. About add-ons like AC disinfectant and Wheel balancing, just say a stern NO. Carry your service booklet and get the jobs done mentioned in that only, nothing less nothing more. And wheel balancing always from outside. Period!!!

Ask your dealer if the service is free :) if yes go ahead. Else follow your owners manual to the T for service interval which should be yearly.

Underbody coating if thick can act as sound insulator, apart from that there is not much gain in modern cars and its just one of the things dealers try to upsell.

1. No, dealer is just trying to scam you into an extra service. I have an 2019 Elite i20 as well and my service interval is 1 year. We've had to do the last 2 services under the pandemic with just 2500 kms between each service only to maintain the warranty schedule.
2. You can get the light fixed at the Hyundai service centre itself. Just get the one thing done as a one off repair. Or wait for the next service
3. Not needed.

The entire concept of 6 month service or ‘checkup’ service is a a ruse, designed to generate revenue for the dealerships. i20 needs only annual service to be best of my recollection, pretty sure the same will be mentioned in the manual as well. As long as you follow what is written in the manual, you will not have any complications with warranty.

Underbody coating is not a necessary requirement. It is however a best practice. Helps with road noise reduction as well as corrosion preventing.

I have a 2009 Alto. The recommended oil change interval is 10k KM or 12 months whichever is earlier. My annual usage is only about 4.5k KM, so I service it once every year. It does go to the workshop in between only if there are any running repairs.

If your i20 service manual recommends a 5000 km / six month oil change, you have to adhere with it. If it recommends a 10k KM/12 months interval, you can service once a year, no harm.

Don't fall for the trap. Get it serviced at 10K or 1 year only. If it's under warranty just tell them to check parking light, if any electrical fault, they will rectify it under warranty and if the bulb is gone I suspect it's not covered under warranty, so you will have to purchase it. But tell them firmly you don't want the service to be done yet.

Kia service center also called me for '10k' service. I politely pointed out its already serviced yearly and I had got it serviced it at 2 yrs at about 8k on odo. They still had the temerity of saying that it should be serviced again when it reaches 10k lol:

1. I had (sold recently) a Grand i10 which was serviced at two different cities (Hyderabad being one of them) as per the schedule recommended by Hyundai. Towards the end of last year, I started getting frequent calls from the Hyderabad dealer stating the same story - that Hyundai has changed the service schedule to 6-monthly. I immediately called the other dealership (at my native place) and asked if this was true. I knew the SA pretty well. He laughed and asked me to get it in writing. The next time I got a call, I asked them to show the circular/memo/whatever Hyundai issued to dealerships. They started cooking up the usual stories that this was confidential and is not to be shared, etc. I stood my ground and politely replied that unless they give it to me in writing, I will follow maintenance schedule recommended by Hyundai as per the owner's manual. They changed their story to regular check-up with no oil change. I still did not budge and they changed the story to optional, good to have. Do not budge and ask them to either forward the circular from Hyundai or give it in writing. Chances are they won't do either since they have no proof. I believe we might be dealing with the same dealer here.

2. You can get it done outside. If you replace the bulbs with the same spec, I don't see why Hyundai should void your warranty. But then, given that most Hyundai dealers act lawless (at least in Hyderabad), I would suggest to get it replaced at the ASS during next service. It won't cost much anyway.

3. Depends on your usage. If the vehicle is used mostly in and around Hyderabad, rust should not be an issue. If you use the vehicle mostly when it is raining or if it is parked outside exposed to the elements, there are chances of rust building-up. Take a call based on the state of your vehicle.

For once when I saw my car's picture in TeamBHP news page, I was amazed to get coverage, but for what?! Quickly opened article. :P

I just got my Elite i20 serviced (hopefully last one before I say goodbye to this car in 2-3 months). Noticed in last two years, the standards of Hyundai dealer's service centres have gone down. They try to add extra services/charges by any means. Being cautious one needs to say NO to them if you feel something is working fine. Otherwise you will end up paying double!

You may fear going to 3rd party vendor, but you may try out one of the online apps as they may provide needed service at lower price. I went back to authorised service centre (prepared to negotiate) just to avoid any resale value impact.

Hyundai dealers are known for this. Just stick to the service interval written in your ownership manual till you have warranty and do not fall for their tactics. When during periodic maintenance service, book it through their website and under special instructions clearly write 'No optional work like AC disinfectant, underbody coating, teflon coating, wheel alignment, engine decarb, etc' if you do not want these add ons. The service center cannot add them as you have proof of opting out.

For bulb replacement, I suggest to do it immediately as it is related to safety either at HASS or FNG. The bulb may cost Rs. 50 but Hyundai will charge you Rs. 200 for bulb replacement labor. FNG sometimes even does it for free with only bulb cost.

I have an 2011 i10 (1.2 Kappa2 VTVT) and I followed the service interval of 6 months till it was in warranty coverage. Later I switched to Non Hyundai service center and follow 1 year service interval.

Not required. I have a i20 Elite diesel and I stick to the one year/10km service interval. I get my car serviced at Lakshmi Hyundai, Hyderabad and they never chased me for a 6 month service.

Thankyou Mods. :)

Yes, I looked up the service manual and it is clear about the yearly service schedule.

The way the ASC was chasing me up for the last few weeks I thought it is mandatory.

I have one more query regarding the extended warranty.

As my warranty is getting over in November 2022 should I opt for an extended warranty?
As I intend to keep this car for a long time.

I owned a Grand i10 ASTA(O) MT (2014-2021 26k km ODO)

The service schedule was standard 10k km/ 1 year and I followed just that. Sometimes 1 year 3 months due to annual running being just over 4k km.

The Hyundai A.S.S. used to charge me 8k+ for each service with absolutely no major repairs needed throughout the ownership period. I believe this amount was quite a lot for an i10.

I hope this gives you an idea. IMO, petrol cars are usually good to go with annual service and checkup for moderate running conditions.

Moreover, they kept calling me for service due reminders for more than 1 year after I sold this car and having reminded them to update their records about 10+ times.

I think the chances of a Hyundai car developing major snags after 3+ years of ownership are very rare. You might use the budget of extended warranty on to more frequent engine oil changes and wheel alignments sort of expenses to keep your car in better shape.

I have used one for 7+ years as mentioned above and hardly seen any major mechanical issues.