Suspension Issue - A new take

[Genesis380]

Manufacturers often have multiple suppliers for the same component, and even though they are supposed to be manufactured according to the manufacturer specs, they often are not. This could very possibly be the case.
Hyundai should be examining every vehicle with a complaint and determine whether they have a supplier problem.

 

[GripperDon]

I have to ask and hope !!!! GENESIS380 are the Goodyear Asurance ConfortTreads Still riding smoooth after you have had a few days to evaluate the new ride. ????

 

[Genesis380]

I have to ask and hope !!!! GENESIS380 are the Goodyear Asurance ConfortTreads Still riding smoooth after you have had a few days to evaluate the new ride. ????

Yes - there is a tremendous improvement. Occasionally a series of bumps will cause a hop, but not the almost violent kick in the pants like it used to. Most of the time it glides along in smooth silence without drawing attention to the ride. As my wife said today "It actually feels like a car now".

 

[GripperDon]

Really great news,!! It will probably take new dampers to get ride of the hopping. I don't think that is caused by the spring rate, but I could be wrong. I would love to mount a small RF camera to see what the suspension is doing in such situations. Back when I worked at Bendix we had high speed video of suspension movement to study the ferro fluid shock absorbers were were developing at that time. When I go over a section of road where there are , say 3 to 4 ripple bumps in a row the shock actually seem to lock up and the rear end actually becomes airborne for a bit. All this at say 35 mph. Shocking! I can't believe that the this occurs in a car that otherwise is quite well engineered.

That video interview that I saw where they interviewed the "Suspension Engineer" and he said with some pride that he did not use computers and did things by the seat of his pants was appalling. It really goes to prove that old saying is correct. "When you are too dumb to even know what it is, you don't know, then you are bound to think what you think is right"

PS. There is only one supplier for the bi-valve dampers.

 

[Puredeath]

This is the most telling thing I have seen posted on the subject. I have been very happy with my ride, others who have had problems reported the same on all the cars they drove, so this is the first to suggest there is a real issue rather than a subjective view of the ride quality.

If you and the service manager agreed there was an issue what action did the service manager take to resolve your issue?

The manager as well as the service tech rep have told me that I should talk to Hyundai Corporate, because while the car does perform poorly on rough roads, there is nothing "technically wrong" with it. The manager also told me he will file his report with Hyundai HQ.

I've had the car inspected twice, and twice it came back as "performs as designed".

I have a feeling that while the problem does exist, the techs at the dealership just don't know what can be done to resolve this issue. The issue won't be resolved with any of today's "genuine Hyundai parts". Unless there's a recall, and a bulletin on how to fix this issue, there isn't much they can do to fix it.

 

[Genesis380]

Really great news,!! It will probably take new dampers to get ride of the hopping. I don't think that is caused by the spring rate, but I could be wrong. I would love to mount a small RF camera to see what the suspension is doing in such situations. Back when I worked at Bendix we had high speed video of suspension movement to study the ferro fluid shock absorbers were were developing at that time. When I go over a section of road where there are , say 3 to 4 ripple bumps in a row the shock actually seem to lock up and the rear end actually becomes airborne for a bit. All this at say 35 mph. Shocking! I can't believe that the this occurs in a car that otherwise is quite well engineered.

That video interview that I saw where they interviewed the "Suspension Engineer" and he said with some pride that he did not use computers and did things by the seat of his pants was appalling. It really goes to prove that old saying is correct. "When you are too dumb to even know what it is, you don't know, then you are bound to think what you think is right"

PS. There is only one supplier for the bi-valve dampers.

I was also amazed that the engineer said he calibrated the suspension "by the set of his pants". How can a human possibly "measure" almost every possible variation in suspension performance when it takes sophisticated computer programming to generate and evaluate the test results.
What year is this? 1912?
Even Car and Driver have been known to measure the suspension g forces in comparison tests.

 

[LLT]

Had my new 235/50/18 Bridgestone Serenity's installed today. I honestly wasn't expecting such a difference in ride quality. Any hopping, rough expansion joint jolts, etc. I had is now a memory. I can't speak much for the handling as I don't drive it particularly hard, but it's still as responsive as it was, but is so much smoother.

 

[GripperDon]

Well it's done. A set of the 17inch stock wheels in chrome will arrive on Friday along with the 215/60 - 17 Goodyear Assurance Comfort Tread tires, Take off the present Dunlops (get the trade in discount) Switch the TPMS, Mount, spin balance and Away we go, with lifetime rotation, balance, repair and replacement road hazard warranty.

Thanks to you GENESIS 380 I didn't even know about getting a trade in on the present tires.

Mostly thanks for getting me onto the ComfortTreads, Can't wait for the weekend. When the fixes of better spring and shocks arrive that will just be iceing. Loved it when the tire guy was trying to get the Genesis to bounce up and down on it rear suspension his comment Gawd this thing acts like it welded, You could put a load of football players and their luggage in the back.

 

[Genesis380]

Well it's done. A set of the 17inch stock wheels in chrome will arrive on Friday along with the 215/60 - 17 Goodyear Assurance Comfort Tread tires, Take off the present Dunlops (get the trade in discount) Switch the TPMS, Mount, spin balance and Away we go, with lifetime rotation, balance, repair and replacement road hazard warranty.

Thanks to you GENESIS 380 I didn't even know about getting a trade in on the present tires.

Mostly thanks for getting me onto the ComfortTreads, Can't wait for the weekend. When the fixes of better spring and shocks arrive that will just be iceing. Loved it when the tire guy was trying to get the Genesis to bounce up and down on it rear suspension his comment Gawd this thing acts like it welded, You could put a load of football players and their luggage in the back.

Glad I could help. I'm sure you are going to be pleasantly surprised at the huge improvement. Make sure the tire dealer knows that the Genesis has 4 wheel independent TPMS. If they don't remount the wheels back in the same location, they will have to reprogam the TPMS system.

 

[Genesis380]

Had my new 235/50/18 Bridgestone Serenity's installed today. I honestly wasn't expecting such a difference in ride quality. Any hopping, rough expansion joint jolts, etc. I had is now a memory. I can't speak much for the handling as I don't drive it particularly hard, but it's still as responsive as it was, but is so much smoother.

Glad you have success! I had my doubts about how much improvement you'd get staying with the 235/50-18's.

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[jwaters943]

Had my new 235/50/18 Bridgestone Serenity's installed today. I honestly wasn't expecting such a difference in ride quality. Any hopping, rough expansion joint jolts, etc. I had is now a memory. I can't speak much for the handling as I don't drive it particularly hard, but it's still as responsive as it was, but is so much smoother.

Good to hear! I can't wait to upgrade now just to see how much of an improvement it makes in terms of ride quality/noise (at approx. 60% worn my Dunlops are starting to get noticeably nosier on certain surfaces).

 

[LLT]

It did help with noise... unfortunately, my LF noise is still present, but after pulling the wheel off tonight, I finally noticed the top strut pad is caved in because the spring was improperly installed.... the spring is against the strut mount at the top and I believe this is the source of the vibration noise as it's not related to wheel speed and is related to road surfaces. 3 dealers missed that and it was quite obvious to me. I'll have to dig out my strut spring compressor and reposition everything properly one of these days.

At any rate, I'd say the Serenity's helped more with ride quality than noise, but they are noticeably quieter as well - especially on rougher textured roads. They also required very little weight to balance. They seem like good tires. I ordered from Tire Rack and had them sent to NTB.

 

[Genesis380]

When I had the tires replaced, the tire dealer showed me significant feathering on the front left tire. He said that this shows the vehicle is significantly out of alignment. I called the Hyundai dealer today to make an appointment for an alignment and to my surprise they told me that they can't do the alignment because they don't have the specs!!! I told them that I'll bring the specs with me!
I downloaded the specs from TSB site.
Now I'm concerned that Hyundai haven't even trained their dealers on the SIMPLE stuff. No wonder they can't diagnose any of these ride issues.
How do they think they can compete with Lexus, MB and BMW with "service" like this?
NOT IMPRESSED. Anyone else experiencing untrained dealer issues?

 

[LLT]

When I had the tires replaced, the tire dealer showed me significant feathering on the front left tire. He said that this shows the vehicle is significantly out of alignment. I called the Hyundai dealer today to make an appointment for an alignment and to my surprise they told me that they can't do the alignment because they don't have the specs!!! I told them that I'll bring the specs with me!
I downloaded the specs from TSB site.
Now I'm concerned that Hyundai haven't even trained their dealers on the SIMPLE stuff. No wonder they can't diagnose any of these ride issues.
How do they think they can compete with Lexus, MB and BMW with "service" like this?
NOT IMPRESSED. Anyone else experiencing untrained dealer issues?

Geesh, that's rather scary. Although my service advisor didn't even know how to start the car.

I posted an alignment topic a few days ago... make sure those geniuses get it exactly at specs. A competent tech (probably one of a handful in the entire Hyundai dealer network) said these cars are very sensitive to alignment and "within spec" isn't sufficient - it needs to be dead on. Of course, I doubt you'll be able to convince your dealer of this, but being dead on helped my issues tremendously.

People think because there's a big "H" on the side of the building that the people inside know best. Not true... not even a little. Thus far, Toyota (yes, I took my Hyundai to a Toyota dealer, at my own expense) and NTB have done better with my Genesis than the hacks at any of the multiple Hyundai dealers I've been to (though the one tech at dealer #3 did a great job with the alignment.)

I really wish Hyundai could get it together with their dealer network. Their cars have come such a long way for the most part... but they'll never be on a Lexus/MB/BMW level until they overhaul the dealer network.

 

[Genesis380]

Geesh, that's rather scary. Although my service advisor didn't even know how to start the car.

I posted an alignment topic a few days ago... make sure those geniuses get it exactly at specs. A competent tech (probably one of a handful in the entire Hyundai dealer network) said these cars are very sensitive to alignment and "within spec" isn't sufficient - it needs to be dead on. Of course, I doubt you'll be able to convince your dealer of this, but being dead on helped my issues tremendously.

People think because there's a big "H" on the side of the building that the people inside know best. Not true... not even a little. Thus far, Toyota (yes, I took my Hyundai to a Toyota dealer, at my own expense) and NTB have done better with my Genesis than the hacks at any of the multiple Hyundai dealers I've been to (though the one tech at dealer #3 did a great job with the alignment.)

I really wish Hyundai could get it together with their dealer network. Their cars have come such a long way for the most part... but they'll never be on a Lexus/MB/BMW level until they overhaul the dealer network.

Oh !@#$ you've so NOT made my day! I stopped buying Toyotas because of the bad dealer attitude and service. I hope the Genesis isn't going to turn out to be a bad experiment for me. I really thought Hyundai would get their service together to support the Genesis.
Sheesh, and I just sent back the J.D. Powers questionnaire with everything marked as excellent except for comments on the suspension. I would have added lack of dealer knowledge comments too...
If Hyundai don't get it right, I'll take it back to the tire dealer who was more than willing to do the alignment, at the regular charge of course. Tire dealer said that the alignment can affect the ride, but I really can't see how. It's not exactly automatically heading for the nearest curb.
FYI, y'all, the new tires are really making a difference. I am so relieved I managed to resolve the issue.

 

[dataguy]

Oh !@#$ you've so NOT made my day! I stopped buying Toyotas because of the bad dealer attitude and service. I hope the Genesis isn't going to turn out to be a bad experiment for me. I really thought Hyundai would get their service together to support the Genesis

I think it has a lot to do with finding a service department that you like and trust. The Genesis is a car, nothing more, nothing less. It's also a new model, so many launch issues may be relatively unknown or at least the repair procedures may be being worked out.

Given that the car is relatively inexpensive compared to what you get, there's not a ton of margin there to support the types of dealer programs that some folks want. It's important, I think, to consider that the long Hyundai warranty presents long-term cost issues to Hyundai that further pressure their bottom line or the cost of the cars. At least other makes with shorter warranties can count on the more lucrative off-warranty repairs.

Maybe things will change over the long run to move Hyundai from a value-focused brand to one that people will pay a premium for, but expecting, say a Lexus or Mercedes service experience at a Hyundai price, is probably not realistic. I wonder how many people would agree to pay another $5-10K in order to bring the service departments up to the premium level?

 

[Genesis380]

...actually all I am expecting is Honda or Nissan "level" of service. They have always been no-frills but they get the job done.
I don't care for fancy waiting rooms and free sodas. Just people who know their job, and take care of the customer.

 

[dataguy]

Fair enough. I agree that's a reasonable expectation. I think some of the same margin compression exist at the middle-class tier of nameplates too, although one can argue that the Genesis is not an Elantra, so there's more expectation that the service for this car is more competent than the old-school Hyundai.

On the other hand, there have been some here that expect a lux service department, at least in knowledgeable service technicians and pre-screened departments, if not in the trendy amenities. That's really where I was coming from in my last comment.

Also, we're starting to see more standalone Hyundai dealers and service departments. At least from my experience, if an incompetent service department works on both Chevy's and Hyundai's, I'm not sure who to blame for that.

 

[jwaters943]

...actually all I am expecting is Honda or Nissan "level" of service. They have always been no-frills but they get the job done.
I don't care for fancy waiting rooms and free sodas. Just people who know their job, and take care of the customer.

Not all dealerships are created equal and that goes for not only Hyundai, but Honda and Nissan as well.

Hyundai tied Honda in JD Power Dealership Service Ratings and did a bit better than Toyota overall, and quite a bit better than Nissan. I'm not trying to excuse bad service, because there is not excuse for such treatment, but it's important to remember that your personal experience is not necessarily representative of all Hyundai dealerships.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/service-ratings

 

[LLT]

if an incompetent service department works on both Chevy's and Hyundai's, I'm not sure who to blame for that.

Actually - it seems all GM brands, including Chevy, rate better than Hyundai's (source) service network so a chevy tech could be perceived as an improvement. :lol: To be fair though, Hyundai rates in the top 5 in quality, which is impressive.

In regards to paying more for a premium service department... the price tag is at a point where I'd expect better than average service (and based on the reviews jwaters posted, most customers feel they're well below average in that regard.) No, I don't expect the free massages and cafe passes that I received with Lexus... but I do expect something better than the Jiffy Lube recruit changing air filters on Elantras. If nothing else, I expect them to know how to start the car without my assistance.

I would pay more for "premium service" and believe me, next time, provided Hyundai doesn't get it together, I will via a different brand. I currently have a Chevy, Lincoln, Toyota, Ford and of course the Hyundai. Never a significant service problem with any of them -- most dealerships have met my expectations, so I don't think I'm being terribly unrealistic. Hyundai -- at least from my experience, provides the worst experience I've encountered and that's not limited to even one, two or three dealerships. Obviously, many have had positive experiences and I certainly don't wish to take from those experiences (and apologize if those have taken offense to my inane ramblings) just as I'd hope they wouldn't downplay the concerns I and others have had and continue to have.