$600 service bill?!?

[Waki]

Here we go again. I've written in the past about Hyundai Canada. They are a disgrace. BUT.....we have options !
Buy your filters etc from Hyundai & take the car to your local mechanic to do the work in the MANUAL !! Have him clearly indicate on the bill," XXXX mile service on XXXXX Genesis. Ensure mileage & VIN # are there. Staple all the invoices together, file them & you are all set. You DO NOT have to take it to Hyundai & now you know why.
I gave up on the dealers at 7500km & haven't been back since. NOW, I love the car !

 

[Mark_888]

Here we go again. I've written in the past about Hyundai Canada. They are a disgrace. BUT.....we have options !

Hyundai Canada is a different entity than the Hyundai dealers who do the service.

This whole episode seems strange to me. All I hear about Canada is how great their health care system is and how there is government regulation of business to protect consumers.

Don't they have small claims court in the Canada? But the best way to handle this in the US is to contact the consumer affairs reporter at your local TV station and tell them about the story. They love stuff like this and in the US they would put you on TV and contact the dealer for a response (99% of the time the dealer will apologize and give the money back and claim it was just a big mistake).

 

[vega]

This whole episode seems strange to me. All I hear about Canada is how great their health care system is and how there is government regulation of business to protect consumers.

There are many laws to protect consumers here in Canada, but a lack of enforcement courtesy of our "anything for business" governments. A good example is in autos, there are price fixing laws, anti competition laws, free trade laws, etc. Each of these laws is violated by the car manufacturers blatantly. For example, the Genesis is 35-45% more MSRP here than in the US (our free trade partner). If I refuse to pay the premium, I can import the vehicle from the US. The catch is my warranty is declared void by Hyundai. This practice is in direct violation of the free trade agreement, the price fixing act, and the ani-competition act. The government is aware of it, and agrees with consumers when they file complaints about the flaunting of the law, but in the same breath refuses to enforce these laws. In this case, it is not the dealers pocketing the difference, but the manufacturer, and every name plate is guilty of the same violations.

Back to the topic here, we do have consumer protection laws in this regard, but no enforcement at either the federal or provincial level, in essence there might as well be no laws.

As for going to the media, here they will side with the advertisers over the consumer, unless its a small business that does little or no advertising. Forums like these, and small local publications that do not get auto dollars are also effective.

 

[ctrcbob]

(By the way, for the American friend who pointed out taxes, yes, I was including taxes in the $600ish figure I posted in this thread. In some way a mistake - most of the time, when complaining about U.S. vs Canadian prices, I make sure to use before-tax prices. Tax is 13% in Ontario, they just 'harmonized' it this month, which means everything has a single combined federal + provincial tax)

Did not know that they "harmonized" the taxes. I gather that "harmonized" means that the GST and PST are now considered one and the same. 13% sounds low for a combined GST & PST. Will check with friends in Ontario.

 

[nb_mike]

WOW...It must Canada. I looked up my 7500 service oil/filter and tire rotation and minor repair of dome light bill was $49.47. My 15K service Oil/filter etc ZERO/NADA/ZIP totally FREE. Completely happy with Hyundai and dealer here in Evansville IN

 

[Mark_888]

For example, the Genesis is 35-45% more MSRP here than in the US (our free trade partner).

Hyundai Canada imports the Genesis from South Korea, so free trade laws between the US and Canada do not apply.

 

[CanukV6]

I think you are right, your Dad was taken advantage of and I share in your frustration and outrage.
I personally don't have an issue with following Hyundai Service schedules and have found them quite reasonable, but an A/C Service is NOT required nor have I ever paid for one or asked if I wanted one as part of the scheduled service. I have 70k km on the car now and it is 21+ months old. The "Brake Service" is performed every 25k km and involves dismantling the brake calipers (mechanically not hydraulicly) cleaning them, lubricating the slides, inspecting the pads and removing any burred edges on the brake discs. At my dealer that plus the regular Oil Service is about $230.
I would be contacting Hyundai Canada if you cannot reason with the existing dealer over this bill.

 

[vega]

Hyundai Canada imports the Genesis from South Korea, so free trade laws between the US and Canada do not apply.

They do as far as importing the vehicle from the US.

 

[Navion 49]

Vivien Who is this dealer and where are they so I make sure I don't ever go to them!!!!

 

[cbdream99]

Wow, this is ridiculously expensive for 15K service. I called around last week for 15K service in Dallas area and dealer quoted me 150-160 range. Essentially oil change, tire rotation and cabin filter. I kindly declined. I ended up using a local shop for oil change ($65 - mobile one), bought the cabin air filter myself for $21 and change it myself in 30 mins which I think I can change it in 5-10 next time and I already bought life time tire rotation/balance in a local tire shop for $60, so its free in a sense; downside is three different trips for me.

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[Mark_888]

As for going to the media, here they will side with the advertisers over the consumer, unless its a small business that does little or no advertising. Forums like these, and small local publications that do not get auto dollars are also effective.

In the US, almost every local news station has a consumer affairs reporter that looks for stuff like this and puts it on the air. It gets good ratings, and they can charge more for their advertisements on the local news show when they get higher viewership. There might be a problem if the dealer advertises a lot on that show, but there are usually at least 4 local news shows in every market in the US.

They usually contact the business first and get a quick settlement, because the business doesn't want bad publicity.

But from the way you describe the situation in Canada, it is not very enticing.

 

[Florida Boy]

Thanks, Vivien, for posting this. It raised an interesting issue and has served to free me from slavishly sticking with my local dealer for all services going forward. I especially like the tip of itemizing the VIN and specifying the required service being performed when using other shops to do any required service. It's clearly common sense but I hadn't really thought about it.

 

[RogerB]

I just had our second car, an Acura, serviced today. As always, it was expensive. Basically, I make sure to do what is needed for the warranty to remain valid and not to have done anything that does not need it. I tolerate the dealer's high prices so as to keep the warranty valid with no hassles. At some point, once the car has gotten old and the car is beyond warranty, I switch to a private garage.

 

[vega]

Does anyone know exactly what has to be done to keep the warranty valid? I have been pressing Hyundai for an answer for over a month, and they have been elusive at best. Some of the dealers scheduled maintenance is nothing more than "inspections" at well over $200, particularly the #3 and #4 you see in the service area at Canadian dealers.

 

[stuz88]

I took my 2010 in for a 30,000 mile service.The guy starts off with $250 to clean the fuel injectors, $90 for the cabin filter at which point I demanded my car back.Its a pretty big dealership so they had to move about 6 cars lined up behind mine to get it out.I told the guy they were a bunch of crooks in front of quite a few customers, then drove to my regular shop and paid $55 for an oil change, cabin filter and general inspection.
When I bought the car I got pre warned when the paper pusher slipped a 5 year repair warranty in the contract that I only noticed just before I signed it.
But for once I won, because I paid for it by credit cards which gives us a 2% refund and costs them 3%. He was practically purple, got the Owner,but I had got it in writing from a junior sales guy and the lady sales manager said it was OK.Guess not to many people buy a $40,000 car that way,(I actually used two)

 

[landtuna]

Over the years I have found one top notch private garage and one pretty good backup. Should any of my vehicles need maintenance or repair the car goes there and not to the stealer. Private shops, in the USA anyway, have identical access to factory manuals, schedules and repair procedures as do the dealer shops. Unless I had a pure exotic type of car I would trust these guys with anything I would own. Their prices are a bit lower than the stealer but their honesty and lack of BS are refreshing.

It sounds like your dad got the Mercedes-Benz/BMW treatment. Interestingly, those "service advisors" are usually paid on commission down here. Their primary job is to upsell service. Sounds like the one your dad met did an excellent job unfortunately.