Cost of a 2006 Sonata?

Assuming a GLS V6 with standard options, that's unbeatable. My local dealer quoted me $500 over invoice for that car, which was around $19,500.

Actually got two, 02 Elantra GLS, and 03 Santa Fe LX, best prices, not hassle or high pressure sales. LOVE IT !!!! Service dept. is OK, fast and reliable, but a little bit in the high $$$, guess you get what you paid for.

WHOOPS! I was wrong.

When pressed, my local dealer matched it to the penny. I was so stunned, we cut the deal even though I wasn't even ready. My new Deepwater Blue GLS should be ready by mid-week.

Victor: The Hyundai dealer says my 2003 Elantra GLS engine has a cracked piston, and they are rebuilding the engine. We had regular Hyundai service and only 36,000 miles on the car which had run great until this engine failure occurred. Now I don't know whether to trust another Hyundai product or not. I had been thinking of trading the Elantra in on the new 2006 Sonata that has the V6 engine with timing chain rather than timing belt design. The only negative comments I've seen on the new Sonata so far is that the V6 gas mileage isn't as good as hoped, and that the throttle has a hesitation response when first starting up from idle. The gas mileage is understandable if the engine really gets a true 230 HP as claimed. The sluggish throttle response will probably be fixed eventually by a modification of some kind since the car has just been redesigned and needs to work out some bugs.

You say Hyundai service has been ok, but have you had any warranty work done, or just routine maintenance? The jury is still out for me on my engine warranty work, and it will depend a lot on the particular dealer's technician skills since they are completely rebuilding the engine in the shop rather than putting a new engine in the car. Also, even though there is no evidence of improper maintenance, I'm waiting to see if they'll stand behind the power train warranty or not.

Any comments from the forum would be appreciated. Thanks!, Bobweb

Victor A. Garcia wrote:

understandable

Actually Bob, I think it's better to wait and hear your comments after the repair. Anything anyone else could offer at this time would be anecdotal, or perhaps cautionary, or maybe even irrelevant. The proof is in the pudding and we're waiting to see how your pudding tastes.

I wouldn't lose faith in Hyundai of something like a cracked piston. It is likely that Hyundai doesn't even make their own pistons, but buys them from a supplier. If they stand behind the repair, I wouldn't hold something like this against them.

Since my Sonata has only 2,000 miles on it, I haven't had occasion to test Hyundai's service skills or warranty support. I'm curious about this also.

Matt

The Santy never had a problem, was there only one time for the first service (free). The Elantra had one problem (engine hesitation) and two recalls, took it for the problem and one recall first time, done in 4 hrs. total cost $0.00 Second time took it there for a 30,000 service and the second recall, plus some other extra work, they only charged me for the extra work and the parts and fluids for the 30K service, about $400.00 I'll say the cost will had been about $250.00, if done at a local shop, then again, they did it right and fast, the first time.

Although I'm sure piston manufacture is outsourced, it's also the case that Hyundai specifies what they want. While I too am not very concerned about this particular issue, as this is the only case I've ever heard about a cracked piston, Hyundai does not necessarily remain blameless on this particular owner's piston issue.

If you want to go back about ten years, Hyundai parts weren't very stellar. Why are they better now? Hyundai doesn't shop for parts by price only any more. Quality is now a large factor. Hyundai has come to understand that they'll never have a large share of the American market unless their product is perceived as quality.

True, if this was an issue with the piston design specifications that Hyundai gave to the piston supplier. However, design issues tend to affect a lot of parts, not just one in several thousand. If this was an isolate problem, then it typically is a manufacturing defect rather than a design error. Manufacturing defects are the responsibility of the manufacturer of the piston.

Matt

Not when it (as a subassembly) goes into a final assembly. The final assembly is what is warranted. In this case it's Hyundai's problem if their supplier supplied a defective part. If they want to go back after the supplier, that's between them and the supplier, but the customer need only look to Hyundai.

You are missing the original point entirely. The OP was concerned about whether he should ever buy a Hyundai again because of a cracked piston. My point was that the cracked piston wasn't Hyundai's fault. Sure, they are the one's that have to make it right, which it sounds like there were, but the point is that since pistons are made by a piston supplier, this could equally likely happen to ANY car maker, not just Hyundai. So deciding not to buy a Hyundai again because of this sort of failure, would simply not be logical.

Matt

Sorry Matt - I had been following this thread but I got thrown by your closing sentence "Manufacturing defects are the responsibility of the manufacturer of the piston".

It's Hyundai's fault for choosing that manufacturer for their pistons. ;)

All seriousness aside, that's understandable if Hyundai takes swift corrective action. If they give the customer a hassle and let the manufacturer get away with shoddy parts, shame on them.

Matt, Mike and Bob- Thanks for the discussion on what we should expect from a car manufacturer to deserve our continued business with them. I agree that you really can't expect internal engine parts not to fail prematurely with some small probability, and all the manufacturers must have pistons fail occasionally. Actually, I purchased a Hyundai because they gave me more car for the money compared to Toyota for example. To some extent I'm willing to have a higher failure rate with Hyundai than with Toyota, because a similarly equipped Toyota costs more, in general. So you may be a consumer who's willing to take a chance on having a few more things go wrong with the car as long as the manufacturer upholds the warranty etc.

An update from my dealer is positive in that they decided to replace both the engine block and heads as a complete "long block" unit instead of building the engine up in the shop as originally planned. So on the one hand I get basically a new engine, but on the other hand I've lost use of the car for at least a month. Many people can't afford to be without a car for a month while still paying for the insurance and depreciation etc costs of owning a car. They did not provide me with a rental or loaner car which is not provided under the normal warranty. We'll see how the reassembled car performs!

Bobweb

Bob Adk>> My point was that the cracked piston wasn't Hyundai's fault. Sure,

All sounds good *except* for that one month part. What are they doing, rowing an engine over from Korea?

The last time I spoke with someone at length about pistons, it was indicated to me that one company in Michigan makes nearly all the pistons in the world. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the statement, but if true, it would hardly be Hyundai's fault for choosing that particular manufacturer.

I meant "cause" in the sense of who created the defect, not necessarily who was responsible to the car owner to get it fixed. No argument from me that Hyundai owns the problem, but I wouldn't say they were the root cause of the problem.

Matt

That may be the case, but I wouldn't make that call unless a significant number of pistons fail. :-)

Matt

I wouldn't accept any lower quality than Toyota and knowing the Koreans they won't either.

I'd say they've done as right by you as they possibly could.

Matt