The service department is, in my opinion, a bunch of fraudsters. As with many hyundais, my car was drinking oil at a ridiculous rate. I was told that Hyundai was warrantying these defective engines, so went to the dealership (the only reason I would ever go to the service department of a dealership) to inquire. They told me to go through the process of oil consumtion testing, going back there every 1000km for 6000km, which I did. It proved it consumed too much oil.
Then they said they had to do a "boroscope" to check the cylinder walls for scoring. They said it would cost $200, but that would be paid back if it failed the test because it would be covered under the warranty. It failed the test.
Then they said that they'd take pictures (another $200, nonrefundable) of it for the report to Hyundai or I could prove I'd had oil changes done regularly. Given that it had been 5 or 6 years of ownership, going to multiple different garages for oil changes, I opted just for the photos.
A couple days later I get the call that the warranty was declined. Apparently cylinder wall scoring is not a criterion they consider for this particular engine's warranty... it's only "bearing rod clearance" that is a consideration, and they could tell my car didn't have that problem because they'd hear it knocking... no diagnostic time needed for that; apparently it's quite obvious. It certainly wasn't noted in the diagnostic report I received.
I told them then that I expected my $200 boroscope fee and the $200 photo fee refunded, as apparently that was completely irrelevant to the warranty claim, which was my one and only objective that I stated clearly at the outset. Nope.. no refunds.
I posted this story to Facebook, and within a day or two the service manager contacted me wanting to review the case. Long story short, he told me from the photos it appeared my oil hadn't been changed regularly, and that was possibly the reason the walls were scored, so that's why Hyundai wasn't going to cover it. I then went around to the shops that I'd gone to for oil changes and gathered the record. It turns out I'd had my oil changed regularly at less than the 6000km interval they suggest... usually around 5400km. The funny thing about that was that EVERY ONE of the shops, when I asked for my service record asked "Oh, is this for a Hyundai or Kia?"... followed up by "you're the 3rd guy this week" or "you're the 2nd guy today". Clearly I'm not the only one getting the run-around here with these garbage engines!
I sent in my oil change record for review, and about a week later I got the response that despite this regular maintenance being proven, Hyundai still wan't considering replacing the engine under warranty.
Again, I requested that the irrelevant, useless boroscope of the cylinder walls and the associated photo fees be refunded, as obviously the result of them played no role in whether my engine was eligible for warranty. They should have known that. In fact, I wonder if they did... I wonder if they saw this as an opportunity to soak me for $400+. However, the service manager told me they had done nothing wrong, and that I would not be getting a refund.
In any case, I won't be fooled again. Never will I go to this place again, and never will I purchase another Hyundai or Kia. Too bad really, because other than defective engines they're decent vehicles. If I'd been treated properly and not defrauded, I might have been back one day, but for the sake of $400 they've lost a customer permanently and unequivocally. read more