Buyer beware if you have a problem with your car

[pschwab]

I am an owner of a 2012 Hyundai Genesis r-spec. I bought it the day I saw it! It's a really great car, until you have a problem... I notice right away that it had a constant pull to the right, especially at highway speeds. I've tried and tried and tried to get it corrected, but Hyundai does not seem capable of fixing it, nor even acknowledging a problem even exists. After 5 trips to the service department with no resolution, I pursued arbitration. The outcome of that is still pending, but the point is that Hyundai does not seem to care much about standing behind their products, at least not in my experience. What good is a 10 year warranty if they will never acknowledge that one of their vehicles has a problem? Had they simply treated my like an adult and worked with me one a resolution, I would be a very happy and longtime Hyundai consumer. Now, I simply want to make sure as many people as possible realize the type of company they are doing business with. Below is a link to my youtube videos if you would like to see for yourself. Also below is a brief history of my attempts at correcting this problem. Best of luck to you if you are considering a purchase, I truly hope you do not have problems. Buyer beware!

http://www.youtube.com/user/pschwabby

9/12/11 1506 mi - First service visit to report the problem. The problem was noted and apparently corrected. Cross rotated tires, performed road force balance/strait trak, aligned, adjusted rear camber and front toe. Adjusted vehicle to proper spec.

10/3/11 2726 mi - Returned to dealership to report that the problem was no better. Hyundai said no problem noted.

10/4/11 2804 mi - Returned to the dealership and road tested with the DPSM. No problem noted, but made max “cradle” adj per goodwill.

10/12/11 3266 mi - Had my salesman drive the car and he confirmed the issue, explaining it to the service manager afterward. The service manager informed me that the car is designed that way and i would need to get used to it, and learn to live with it. Drove another Genesis and did not have the same issue, but since it was not an r-spec, the service manager told me I wasn’t comparing apples to apples. Then their tech drove vehicle and stated “vehicle not tracking properly at this time”. Made adjustments to toe, still pulling... Will meet with DPSM.

11/3/11 4579 mi - Replaced suspension parts, adjusted everything, apparently all ok now. The problem was no better.

11/2/12 - Arbitration hearing - Independent arbitratror appointed by the BBB drove the vehicle and agreed that the issue I reported did in fact still exist. The arbitrator ruled that I should put a new set of tires on the car and give Hyundai an ADDITIONAL service attempt. I should note that the tires were in need of replacement at only 25,000 mi... Apparently not due to any “issue” the car might have.

12/13/12 - Returned the car to Hyundai on a brand new set of tires for ANOTHER service visit. They drove the vehicle and reported that no problem exists and the car is driving as designed. Of course it is no different than it has ever been, and Hyundai still refuses to acknowledge a problem. A problem they’ve denied at least 3 previous times only to have it verified by one of their own technicians and an independent arbitrator.

 

[homeofstone]

I wonder why the dealer did not replace the tires before replacing parts on the car. I have over 35 years dealing with tires on fleet vehicles and have seen radial pull many times and on as many as three sets in a row before the probelm was solved. Radial pull is usually only one tire in a set when the problem occurs, however, I have seen as many as three tires in four produce the same problem and the set be replaced and then one or two of those tires also be bad. My point is that he dealer should have taken a set of tires known to be good off another new Genesis R-Spec on the lot and put them on your car to eliminate the tires as the problem before replacing parts of the car. Cross rotation of tires will not solve nor find the problem when more than one tire on the car has radial pull.

 

[gameday22]

Everything on your car, bumper to bumper for the first year / 12k miles is 100% covered. The continental tires have been reported time and time again to have a "pull" to the right, I also had this experience when I purchased my Conti's Extreme Contact DWS. I had to take it to an outside source (Firestone) to have the problem taken care of. Firestone (not all) uses the Hunter with Road Force Diagnostic Load Roller technology. Once I had this done the car rides as it should, I just went ahead and bought their lifetime tire balance and rotation package along with the wheel alignment. I can go back to them 4x a year for both an alignment and tire balance, though my Firestone tells me to bring it back as often as it needs service. The Continentals are great performing tires that just seem to have some sort of an issue on our cars.

 

[Mark_888]

The Continentals are great performing tires that just seem to have some sort of an issue on our cars.

As I noted about the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (or whatever it is called), extreme high performance tires may exaggerate any inherent pulling problems with a car, or problems with the road, since they are designed to have maximum feel and tracking, and respond quickly to any change in steering. Many cars don't have a suspension that can handle such precise steering response, and many roads are lacking.

 

[OneFunGenesis]

I have pulling problems with my Goodyear Eagle F1's but not my Bridgestone Blizzack's which were road forced balanced.

Its the balancing of the tires that makes all the difference.

 

[crhbobby]

I can confirm that the Michelins Sport A/S caused my car to pull to the right. I felt everything in the road.

I have a set of Blizzaks that seem to make the car drive straight.. I actually used to look forward to driving in the winter.

Now, I have Bridgestone Turanzas with Serenity. Car now drives straight..now more pulling. The tire shop attributed this to the stiff side walls of the Michelins.

My problem is resolved...but it meant getting a cushy tire to do it. On an R-Spec, I can see why someone would need the Michelins. Sorry about your situation.

 

[Cut-Throat]

If you want your problem solved, I would start dealing with a Tire Company, instead a Car Dealership.

Take your car to a Bridgestone Tire Dealer and tell them of your problem, and ask them if they can fix it. They probably will be able to and as others said, it may take a completely different set of tires to do the trick. Problems like this are solved every day at tire shops. I know, I used to work at one.

 

[homeofstone]

If you want your problem solved, I would start dealing with a Tire Company, instead a Car Dealership.

Take your car to a Bridgestone Tire Dealer and tell them of your problem, and ask them if they can fix it. They probably will be able to and as others said, it may take a completely different set of tires to do the trick. Problems like this are solved every day at tire shops. I know, I used to work at one.

^ Absolutly correct. I worked for Goodyear tire Corp. and we knew when we had production problems and thousands of tires were produced that caused pull. So we had them stamped with "Blem" and sold at huge discount and tire stores were told to mount them only in pairs or the the car would pull in in one direction. Car dealerships are not tire specialist, The larger tire store chains ( NTB, Tires Plus, NTW, Goodyear Company Stores, etc) have managers trained in tire solving tire problems.

 

[Duck2010]

If you want your problem solved, I would start dealing with a Tire Company, instead a Car Dealership.

Take your car to a Bridgestone Tire Dealer and tell them of your problem, and ask them if they can fix it. They probably will be able to and as others said, it may take a completely different set of tires to do the trick. Problems like this are solved every day at tire shops. I know, I used to work at one.

This does not work in all cases. i can't go into detail but my 2010 Genesis had 3 sets of tires. each time they were thinking it was the tire. i took the car to a tire company and they said it was not the tire the problem was with the car.

pschwab: Don't let Hyundai get away with this problem. it's a saftey problem and i don't think you should have to deal with it. if more people would report problems with the NHTSA. they would have to find a fix for this problem. trust me you are not the only person who is having this problem..
BTW who are you working with at Hyundai ?

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Everyone here is blaming the tires, and it may well be the tires, but let me throw this out there.

Pontiac had a similar problem with their G8 that was shipped over from Australlia, same as the Hyunda, just from a different country. What was finaly found to be the problem was the strut bushings were colasping early due to the tie downs when teh car was in transit were too tight and basically crushing them. I had this problem on my G8. You could actuall see the difference when you raised the car by the frame and let the suspension droop, and then set the car down on teh ground and watch it compress. The upper strut bushing would raise up about 1/2" above the body where it mounted. That's a 1/2" gap of play that should not be there. It took several cars having the issue before Pontiac caved in and admitted it and started replacing theparts.

Good luck with your case. I have the factory 245 Bridgestones on my R spec and have no pulling issues with 16K miles on the car.

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[PMCErnie]

Odd, the OP fails to mention the brands of the two sets of tires that he has used on his car.

 

[Duck2010]

Odd, the OP fails to mention the brands of the two sets of tires that he has used on his car.

Michelins Sport was put on in may 2012.

november 2012 Dunlaps

December 2012 michelins pilot

Mid December car was Repurchase.

 

[xiaphin]

Not the only one whos' Hyundai pulls to the right. Seen many posts and heard of other people complaining of this issue. Heard of Sonatas also have this problem. Different tires may help but if the suspension is not set up correctly it will still pull.

My car pulls to the right as well. Had tires rotated and new alignment at dealer. Everything is in spec except passenger front camber, which as we all know is not adjustable from the factory. Not just that but no one not stateside or in Korea makes a camber kit or sells suspension with adjustable camber. Same goes for Lexus LS460 (same suspension geometry upfront). If you could adjust the camber and caster the problem would be fixed. Read this thread Adjust camber and caster where a forum member had his camber adjusted by modifying the stock suspension.

As we all know or should know is that roads normally crown to the right. If your car pulls right on a flat straight road problem is compounded. This is especially true on the interstate.

10' with 17" alloys and factory Dunlop Tires.

 

[dfd5280]

This does not work in all cases. i can't go into detail but my 2010 Genesis had 3 sets of tires. each time they were thinking it was the tire. i took the car to a tire company and they said it was not the tire the problem was with the car.

pschwab: Don't let Hyundai get away with this problem. it's a saftey problem and i don't think you should have to deal with it. if more people would report problems with the NHTSA. they would have to find a fix for this problem. trust me you are not the only person who is having this problem..
BTW who are you working with at Hyundai ?

My 2011 pulled to the right with the stock Dunlops. For this winter I put 4 Michelin X-Ice on it and it still pulled to the right. Took it to the dealer for a 4 wheel allignment. They showed me the before and after specs and there was quite a bit of adjustments made (if I am to believe their numbers). They said it still pulled to the right a little when I picked it up. As I drove onto the highway that day, guess what? Pulled to the right just as much as it ever did. I had previously seen the posts on this site on this issue and knew there was no known fix that worked for everybody so I have just given up on that one...for now.

 

[427435]

Because of these posts, I took my 2013 for a 20 mile test drive before writing the check. Fortunately, it does not pull (other than normal highway camber "pulling"), It does have Continental tires on it.

 

[jnc2000]

My 2012 has never pulled... but then again I don't run with the OEM alignment spec.

 

[pschwab]

I guess I should have posted what tires are on the car. It came stock with the Bridgestone Potenza's in 245/45/19. Yes I understand that Z rated tires do not come with a mileage rating, but every other Potenza is rated at 40,000 mi and mine were completely gone in 25,000, mostly freeway driving. I agree with most of you that the tires are likely the culprit and don't understand why Hyundai never considered replacing them before disassembling my suspension, but I was not about to spend my own $$ replacing a set of brand new tires in order to (hopefully) correct this problem, it's Hyundai's responsibility to correct it.

 

[homeofstone]

I guess I should have posted what tires are on the car. It came stock with the Bridgestone Potenza's in 245/45/19. Yes I understand that Z rated tires do not come with a mileage rating, but every other Potenza is rated at 40,000 mi and mine were completely gone in 25,000, mostly freeway driving. I agree with most of you that the tires are likely the culprit and don't understand why Hyundai never considered replacing them before disassembling my suspension, but I was not about to spend my own $$ replacing a set of brand new tires in order to (hopefully) correct this problem, it's Hyundai's responsibility to correct it.

The tires would have been replaced free under the tire manufactuer's defects in workmanship warranty (the tire warranty booklet came with your car)at most you would have had to pay for balancing but not likely. If you did not receive the tire warranty booklet, Bridgestone's warranty info it is available online and at their dealer stores.

 

[pschwab]

I do understand that, but how am I to determine that the tires are defective? I would think Hyundai's service department should have determined that, at which point I certainly would have pursued a warranty replacement. I have since replaced the original tires with identical tires for the purposes of complying with the arbitrators decision (I certainly would have purchased something else otherwise), but the problem is no different on the new rubber. As many others have said, different tires cured their similar problems, but as previously stated by Hyundai's service department when I compared driving a 4.6 to my r-spec, I was not comparing apples to apples, so I figured I should stay on the same tires for their 6th repair attempt...

 

[pschwab]

Quick update... I had the car inspected by a "neutral" 3rd party inspector last Friday at the request of Hyundai and my arbitrator. I will post the results of that as soon as I hear.