LLT-
Thanks for your comments, perhaps providing a dose of reality in this situation for those with stars (or
wings) in their eyes...
Wow - I thought my gremlins were bad- but having the rear window fall out on the way home - I would have considered that a sign from the Almighty - only thing worse would be to be struck by lightening as you pulled out of the lot!
To answer your question, I bought a Jaguar XF Portfolio. And to show others that I'm not on Jaguar's payroll, that car went back to the dealer the day after I picked it up with a serious
wheel balance problem, a brake pedal pulsation and a cracked speaker in the top-line sound system. 50% more $ does not buy you perfection, either... or perhaps the poltergeists present in my Genesis simply followed me into the Jag...
Anyway, to be clear - I still think the Genesis is an awesome car. Incredible value for the money, loaded with features, excellent build quality and unsurpassed warranty. If you understand statistics at all, you have to accept the fact that when a manufacturer builds 100,000 of something, not every one will be perfect...
The thing I am extremly disappointed with is the level of dealer service provided by Hyundai for a luxury car. IMHO, if you want to be in this market, and even go upmarket from here (with the forthcoming Equus) you had better have a "top down" marketing strategy that includes exceptional service from the get-go. I would think that if you are trying to penetrate an already crowded, well-established market with an all-new model like the Genesis, and you are selling in limited numbers, you would pay careful attention to customer feedback. You'd be proactively surveying your customers independently to measure their experiences and not just passively gathering information on warranty claims after the fact. As in my case, if there are 22 "cannot verify" issues with the car at the dealership level, looking at warranty claims tells you nothing about what your customer is actually experiencing. The "Worlds Best Warranty" does you no good if you have to drag the dealer kicking and screaming through the process of getting your car repaired.
Here's what I'm talking about:
Jaguar - 3 problems on delivery, which I reported to the salesman via email. 10 minutes later, a call from the Service Writer to me, arranging a service appointment as soon as I wanted it. 5 Minutes later, a call from the Service Manager making sure the issues were handled to my satisfaction and apologizing for the oversight in not catching the problems before delivery. (in the dealer's defense, the car was swapped in from another dealer 1,500 miles away and had already been "prepped" by the other dealer). 15 minutes after that, a call from the General Manager with his personal apology. When I dropped the car off, a brand new Jaguar was waiting as a loaner. The service writer test drove my car with me and duly verified the complaints on the copy of the repair order he gave me. They made a bad situation better by showing me that they cared, and gave me confidence I could work with them.
Hyundai - Dropped the car off at the dealership
where I purchased it with 25 requests and a detailed list of 22 problems. Was not offered alternate transportation, even though car ended up in dealership for 8 days. Never got a call
from dealer personnel during the visit - all calls
initiated by me. Never spoke to anyone other than the service advisor. "No Problem Found" on 22 of 25 items, some of which were never even listed on Repair Oder. Had to fight to get some of the warranty items covered under warranty. Surveyed by Hyundai and indicated extreme dissatisfaction with service. This, by the way, was the 3rd Hyundai survey in which I had indicated I was having problems with the car. I've never heard back from them.
I think even the most starry-eyed fanboy would agree that they need to do better than that. I would not wish this experience on anyone, but, as they say, "shit happens"- I think the true measure of excellence for any manufacturer is in how you take care of your customer
after the sale,
after you have their money - that's what creates loyalty and differentiates businesses in a commodity market.
Judging from the consensus of what I read on this forum, and certainly by my own personal experience, Hyundai's dealers and Hyundai themselves have a long way to go in this area...
