roblaw
Getting familiar with the group...
While I understand both positions, I agree with the poster. Although Hyundai is significantly less expensive than the German marques, service is one of the pieces that is missing in the high end vehicle experience. I service my Hyundai at the sister dealership where I serviced 3 Hondas. The difference in service is vast. Things I have had to suffer through at Hyundai would have never occurred with my (admittedly very good) Honda service adviser.
And this is OK (or at least possibly tolerable) if Hyundai keeps the price differential that currently exists between the Genesis and the mid size luxury brands. But I suspect that Hyundai is going to bump the price significantly if they make the improvements we all want to see. They did that with the Sonata and the Azera. If the 3.8 Premium that listed for $40k in 2012 now listed for $46k, I may just decide that the extra service is worth it. Remember that the luxury brands tend to have better resale which makes them lease better.
I have gotten significantly better attitude and service from the Lexus dealer (at higher cost) for our other car. Much of it is fluff but the area where it really matters is in getting things addressed the first time and how issues are resolved. I had a significant service issue with my Genesis and it was not until I gave them a crappy survey, left a message for the service manager (who did not respond after 3 days) and wrote a detailed letter to the general manager did it get address (let alone resolved). On my wife's Lexus the detail team over buffed and left scratches on her car. They picked up the car and fixed it without issue. It is an overall attitude that is better (although even at the Lexus dealer response time is not always great). But with Lexus they will pick up and drop off the car and leave you a Lexus loaner. That always makes things easier and is a huge benefit if you bill by the hour like I do.
So while the qualities of the vehicle are clearly most important, today the entire ownership experience is relevant once you get over the $40k mark. One of the reasons Audi's lease so poorly is their resale. And my gut says that their resale is poor compared to MB and BMW because of not only their poor reliability but that the manufacturer does not back up the vehicle (at least that is what I see on many websites). I can handle an imperfect vehicle but I will be steamed if the dealer and manufacturer have a crappy attitude in addressing issues that arise.
And this is OK (or at least possibly tolerable) if Hyundai keeps the price differential that currently exists between the Genesis and the mid size luxury brands. But I suspect that Hyundai is going to bump the price significantly if they make the improvements we all want to see. They did that with the Sonata and the Azera. If the 3.8 Premium that listed for $40k in 2012 now listed for $46k, I may just decide that the extra service is worth it. Remember that the luxury brands tend to have better resale which makes them lease better.
I have gotten significantly better attitude and service from the Lexus dealer (at higher cost) for our other car. Much of it is fluff but the area where it really matters is in getting things addressed the first time and how issues are resolved. I had a significant service issue with my Genesis and it was not until I gave them a crappy survey, left a message for the service manager (who did not respond after 3 days) and wrote a detailed letter to the general manager did it get address (let alone resolved). On my wife's Lexus the detail team over buffed and left scratches on her car. They picked up the car and fixed it without issue. It is an overall attitude that is better (although even at the Lexus dealer response time is not always great). But with Lexus they will pick up and drop off the car and leave you a Lexus loaner. That always makes things easier and is a huge benefit if you bill by the hour like I do.
So while the qualities of the vehicle are clearly most important, today the entire ownership experience is relevant once you get over the $40k mark. One of the reasons Audi's lease so poorly is their resale. And my gut says that their resale is poor compared to MB and BMW because of not only their poor reliability but that the manufacturer does not back up the vehicle (at least that is what I see on many websites). I can handle an imperfect vehicle but I will be steamed if the dealer and manufacturer have a crappy attitude in addressing issues that arise.
