Excellent video. I have exactly the same noise at similar RPM's. Don't know how else to address this.....already made four trips to the dealers and also talking to HMA Consumer Affairs for weeks now. They just don't care. I am never buying a Hyundai again and all my family and friends won't be be either.
kras, thank you so much for responding. Nice to know I am not the only frustrated person.
My experience so far:
1. I've driven the car just over 5,000 miles in 10 months of ownership. Performance has been sensational. I have the absolute base 3.8, and the missing weight (no sunroof, etc.) has the car hitting 0-60 times of about 5.9
seconds, and I am getting a completely documented 22+ mpg in a mix of city and highway driving. After 10 months, the interior and exterior both still look absolutely new. Great paint job. One does have to laboriously clean the "Genesis" insignia on the floor pads, LOL. The insignia is positioned perfectly to pick up dirt and mar the appearance of the interior.
2. As a very experienced car owner, who used to do tuneups and brake jobs and carburetor rebuilds back in the 1970's, but who wouldn't dare touch a modern vehicle, I've learned one major lesson, and it is this: Anytime you hear an unusual noise, find out precisely what it is immediately. Otherwise, you may just find yourself by the side of the road (or worse). For example, I had a 1992 Maxima SE, brand new. Great car. One morning, pulling away from the house, I heard the tiniest little whine from the gearbox. I drove over to the dealer. The service manager went for a drive, and couldn't hear a thing.
He tried to dismiss me, but I insisted that a mechanic go with me. The mechanic heard the whine. "Darn, you have a good ear" he said. We made an appointment to check it out. I drove home, but by the time I got back to the dealership about 10 miles later, that tranny was screaming like a banshee.
Cracked bearing in the transmission, 6 days in the shop. The mechanic told me that they had never seen that problem ever before, and that it "sure was lucky I came in right away." Precisely.
3. I first heard the noise in my Genesis 3.8 a few days after I started driving the car. After a week or two, I went back to the dealer who sold me the car. The service manager went out with me and heard the noise. Then we test drove another new 3.8. It made a similar noise, but not quite as loud and not quite as metallic. But basically the same noise, just somewhat more muted.
I asked the service manager what it might be, and he suggested that it had to do with the valve train and timing advance mechanisms protecting against detonation at the shift point under light load. From what little I know about cars, the explanation that suggested itself is that, under mild load, with the shift points designed to keep the car in the 1500-2000 RPM range, there is a detonation danger when the RPMs drop, and what I am hearing is an adjustment of the engine management systems all working in concert.
Great. But it doesn't really sound right, or good, or luxurious. Sorry, Hyundai, but that is the truth.
The sound in my vehicle got a bit louder the last few weeks, so I took it to a second Hyundai dealer. The first reaction of the service manager when I described the problem was annoyance with me. He switched into an accusatory mode.
"Have you changed the oil?" he demanded. "Yes, at 3000 miles," I said.
"Where" he said, apparently ready to jump on me if I did it "wrong."
"At the Hyundai dealer where I got the car."
"Oh."
Anyway, he scheduled me in, drove my car, but refused to have a mechanic go for a drive with me "for insurance reasons." (Geez, the salesmen don't have any problem going out with customers --- am I really supposed to believe that?)
Overall, he was charming and positive, I must say. But not terribly informative (see below).
He returned, took another new Genny out for a test drive, put the car on the rack, had people checking exhause, etc. Found one "slightly loose caliper cover" but otherwise nothing. Moreover, he said, the other Genny made "essentially the same sound." But he had no idea what the sound was or what caused it!! Even more interesting, he didn't really seem to care. No promise to "call Hyundai and get an answer" for me. Apparently, we owners are considered too dumb to understand these things, and either Hyundai service managers have a stunning lack of intellectual curiosity, or Hyundai Automotive has no mechanism for disseminating information. Either way, this hardly inspires confidence.
Ironically, after all this, NOBODY from Hyundai has been able to give me a clear technical explanation of precisely what the noise is! Now, you would think that if a particular not-very-luxurious-sounding noise is emanating from the engine of the 2009 car of the year on a regular basis, SOMEONE in the Hyundai organization should be able to give a clear, succinct explanation of what the sound is!!
What is even more annoying is that NOT ONE MAGAZINE REVIEWER of this vehicle has ever mentioned what, to any car enthusiast, is a very salient feature of the vehicle. My 2003 Honda Accord 6 never made anything like this sound. By comparison, it sounded like a turbine, silky smooth and whisper quiet under moderate load. So what gives?
How can reviewers continually describe the Genesis 3.8 as whisper quiet, when you hear this noticeable clatter every time you near a shift point under light load?
Irregular, detonation-like noises from an engine are never to be ignored. It is easy to say "relax, you are under warranty," but it is not just an issue of being "under warranty," it is an issue of understanding, at all times, precisely what the 3875 pounds of steel under your behind is doing.
It is also an issue of resale value. When I go to trade this car in, if I choose a private sale, this noise may cost me thousands of dollars!
Hyundai makes fabuluous advertising brochures. Now they need to invest in an intelligent information system and customer interface. I am willing to bet that at least 100 Genesis 3.8 owners have called Hyundai about this noise.
Why is it not in their database, and why have they no answer at the ready? This is not rocket science -- it is an area where Hyundai needs to improve as they take their place near the top of the auto industry.
