Love the car but WTF is up with Hyundai service?

[BobBeau]

Warning... Long post.. I purchased my 2015 genesis sedan 3.8 with 54k miles on it. I noticed a slight whine at 55 which would increase under acceleration to 65 then go away. I brought it to the dealership, explained what was happening and left it with them for 3 days. The service department called me and said that they hear the noise but cannot identify where it's coming from. I told the service advisor that you didn't have to be a certified technician to know it was coming from the rear differential. His response was 'We had a Hyundai regional service rep who also rode in the car but he didn't know what it was either'. My frustration was building since it sounded like they just didn't want to fool with it. I escalated it to the Hyundai help line. Spoke to a very nice woman on the phone who was helpful. She arranged for me to bring the car back to the dealership so they could drive my car again, then drive a G80 to compare the noises at the same speeds. In short, they never did the comparison. I ended up bringing it to another dealership who tried to do a rear differential service to see if that would fix the problem. When they drained the fluid, they found metal shavings. Hyundai approved a new rear differential and a week later I got my car back with no more noise. Great, right? Not so fast...

A few days ago I started noticing a creaking noise coming from the rear. It was minimal and didn't think too much of it at first. The next day the creaking was more frequent and started getting louder. I got underneath it trying to find something but honestly had no idea what I was looking for. I popped the trunk and shook the car from side to side and finally pinpointed the noise from the passenger side rear. Got underneath it again and shook the exhaust but no noise. Brought it back to the dealership that originally told me they couldn't find the whine from the rear end. I duplicated the noise for the shop foreman and he told me it was probably just a bushing going bad and there was really nothing they could do about it. Pretty much the same lazy response I got from that service department before. I ended up making another appointment with the dealership that changed the rear diff. but they couldn't get me in for another few days. I drive for Uber and Lyft when I'm not offshore so I put alot of miles on the car and didn't want to wait. I went to the NTB I use for road force balancing and they immediately put it up on the rack. One guy got underneath with a flashlight for a couple of minutes but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He asked another technician to put a second pair of eyes on it and... well... the rear camber bolt that holds the camber arm was almost completely backed out. No nut and no thread sticking through the other side. You bring your car in for service and trust that they'll torque things down to spec before returning it to you. We also found the leveling sensor just hanging. Maybe someone was in a rush to finish the job. Im glad it's fixed but I don't even want to think about what would've happened if that bolt would've came completely out while driving on the interstate at 75. Ive lost all faith in Hyandai service... i hear it's the only downfall of the brand. Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share my experiences so far.

 

[TinsleyC]

That's horrible. The service manager needs to know. I realize going back there is the last thing you want to do but they need to see that.

I don't know which major brands are better or worse in service, but so far I'm not impressed with what I've read about Hyundai.

I've had two Infiniti vehicles and service on them in the Dallas area has been top notch.

 

[EdP]

That's horrible. The service manager needs to know. I realize going back there is the last thing you want to do but they need to see that.

I don't know which major brands are better or worse in service, but so far I'm not impressed with what I've read about Hyundai.

I've had two Infiniti vehicles and service on them in the Dallas area has been top notch.

It is terrible. As you mention, the dealer should be made aware. Unfortunately every brand has dealers like that. Most everyone here probably has a story about poor dealer service. Mine are with Buick, Mercedes. Not sure how much you can fault the brand itself but does not hurt to complain. I did that with one of the many Buick problems that would cost $267 to fix. They offered me $500 off a new car. Yes, a $35,000 solution to a $300 problem.

 

[BobBeau]

That's horrible. The service manager needs to know. I realize going back there is the last thing you want to do but they need to see that.

I don't know which major brands are better or worse in service, but so far I'm not impressed with what I've read about Hyundai.

I've had two Infiniti vehicles and service on them in the Dallas area has been top notch.

I called and spoke with the service manager. He apologized, of course, and thanked me for letting him know. I guess the brand is only as good as the people working for it. Just haven't been impressed so far. To be fair, I've had a similar issue with a BMW service department so I'm not singling out Hyundai. No doubt everyone has a story to tell about a poor service experience.

 

[carguy75]

I called and spoke with the service manager. He apologized, of course, and thanked me for letting him know. I guess the brand is only as good as the people working for it. Just haven't been impressed so far. To be fair, I've had a similar issue with a BMW service department so I'm not singling out Hyundai. No doubt everyone has a story to tell about a poor service experience.

LOL. Ford was the worst for me, because the did not fix a transmission cooler correctly in my wife old Edge and then left the fog lights unplugged when they replaced the front bumper after the third try to fix the leak. I just plugged in the foglights and we traded the Edge the same day before the leak came back. Mercedes was the best, fix issues that I did not even know was wrong under warranty like a bad control arm bushing and faded interior wood trim( I did not notice). KIA was not really bad nor very good; but had cheap parts. I did my own repair on a rear taillight gasket issue even while my Optima was under warranty because the service department was booked out for a month. However, I was able to order the part online for $10 and change the gasket in less than 10mintues a few days later.

If Hyundai is anything like KIA, then I would just only let them work on the major jobs(engine and transmission) under warranty and then follow-up myself to ensure that the details are sorted out like torquing the bolts while fixing easy jobs myself.

 

[3.3 Rulz]

Original dealership is crap for sure, they should have seen all that stuff when you brought it in, obvious as hell, instead they acted like they couldn't do anything.

 

[TinsleyC]

I'm not sure why the service managers are reluctant to take on work - don't they get reimbursed from corporate?

Maybe some auto companies are more strict than others when it comes to warranty work justification and reimbursement.

Sewell Infiniti in Dallas was very generous in that regard. I told them my AC compressor whined like "a Ford" and they replaced it without question. They also replaced a battery and power steering pump - just because I mentioned it was about to go out of warranty (5/50) and I didn't want the car to have problems. Replaced rear diff fluid saying that some models in my mfg date timeframe had a different, not as good oil.

I've said it a few times in this forum already, but they have the best "service with a smile" dealership that I've ever seen.

OP - hoping your incident is isolated.

 

[BobBeau]

I'm not sure why the service managers are reluctant to take on work - don't they get reimbursed from corporate?

Maybe some auto companies are more strict than others when it comes to warranty work justification and reimbursement.

Sewell Infiniti in Dallas was very generous in that regard. I told them my AC compressor whined like "a Ford" and they replaced it without question. They also replaced a battery and power steering pump - just because I mentioned it was about to go out of warranty (5/50) and I didn't want the car to have problems. Replaced rear diff fluid saying that some models in my mfg date timeframe had a different, not as good oil.

I've said it a few times in this forum already, but they have the best "service with a smile" dealership that I've ever seen.

OP - hoping your incident is isolated.

Me too. I bought a 84 month 100,000 mile extended warranty from my credit union. Hopefully I won't have to use it. If so, I won't be taking it to the dealership for any work.

 

[skipgen]

My closest Genesis dealer is combined w/ a Hyundai dealership... When I roll in w/ an appointment, I get better treatment. Not a latte machine in sight though.