The so called 'bumper to bumper' Hyundai warranty

But it's not $400 in Des Moines, it's $800 and if I hadn't made the call to other midwest dealers, I would have been ripped off. Believe me, I am going to write Hyundai about the gouging here.

Putting a component in a vehicle that has the potential to ruin the engine if it fails is poor engineering. The Hyundais use an interference engine and the belt failure will ruin it. It's a built-in time bomb and had I known about it, I would not have purchased the car.

For 2006, they have come to their senses by putting timing chains in the vehicles.

I've long criticized interference engines, but most automakers still use them. Unfortunately they're hard to avoid. Last I checked, Toyota had no interference engines that were belt driven. The problem is that with fuel economy standards continuing to encourage higher compression engines to get more power out of a smaller (and more econimical engine), compression ratios continue to increase. The higher the compression ratio, the more difficult it is to make a noninterference engine.

Dealers are free to charge whatever they want. Some dealers charge more to offset higher business costs such as higher rents in some areas. I take a little issue with the use of the term "rip-off" when a customer agrees to a price and receives the work which was contracted. The customer bears some responsibility to check into pricing at a number of venues, and Ray should be commended for doing so. Ask yourselves-- is saving $400 worth 4 hours driving? The answer varies. But Ray has made the point that it's at least worth investigating. All those times I've posted that prices will vary with geographic area-- they're true.

Also, be sure to determine whether you're comparing apples to apples. The higher price quote may have also included a new tensioner and drive belts while the lower quote may not. I'm not arguing this makes a $400 difference (it doesn't), but it may be worth considering. For what it's worth, I strongly recommend replacing the tensioner with the belt. It's only covered by the 5/60 warranty, and if it fails, the timing belt could slip, causing the same damage as if the belt had broken or stripped.

For sake of comparison, another technician recently replaced the timing belt and tensioner (but not drive belts) on an XG300 at my place of employment, and the total for parts and labor was about $850. Considering geographic differences, that does make the $800 in Des Moines sound a bit high, even if it does include the drive belts. But again, the dealer has the right to charge whatever he wants for his services.

No need for the lecture - I simply responded to the comment that most vehicles on the market today have timing belts and require regular changes. No matter whether they had a 100,000 mile warranty or not - the facts is the facts.

Big deal? Never said it was. My - this is a sensative little group isn't it? If you don't mind changing a timing belt every 60K then fine. But - that is an extreme warranty requirement. Will I do it? Sure, I bought the car and I like the car. Hyundai requires it to maintain the warranty, so I'll do it. But a car with a 100,000 mile warranty should not require what is a fairly major repair in order to maintain the warranty. You are investing in the design problem to save the manufacturer from having to honor their warranty.

Well, I guess you could just sell the car and buy something that you won't have to complain or whine about. But then again, you'd just probably find something on your next vehicle to whine about....."Boo Hoo, the world is trying to screw me". Get over it and move on.......

Why would a belt/tensioner change cost $850? Does labor cost $200/hr or something?

Chris

Then why bother to whine about it?

In your opinion. Obviously, that's not the general consensus here.

Again, that's your opinion, not a fact.

Who says there's a design problem? It's not as if timing belts are popping on Hyundais left and right. Hyundai feels that changing the timing belt at 60K miles is prudent maintenance. Other car manufacturers do too. This isn't as unusual as you think it is.

Gee, I guess they shouldn't use bearings, connecting rods, pistons, valves or any of those other potentially ruinous internal parts. I wouldn't want to have one of them fail...

Gee, do you think you can exaggerate the issue a bit more??? "Time bomb", what a joke!

Then maybe you should buy one so you can sleep at night.

Bearings, connecting rods, pistons and valves are covered under the warranty.

Reading comprehension is your friend Brian - I never whined. Or do you just like to throw little tid bits like that out there at anyone who happens to hold a little different opinion than yours?

So - I'm not entitled to an opinion?

Again - that seems to bother you.

Perhaps it's not. This is my first Hyundai and I've been a long time GM guy. I do all of my own work - both body and repair and I have no blind spots for the problems with GM's, but I've never heard of having to replace a timing belt at 60,000 before buying this car. Like I said - it's not a big deal. I'll replace the belt when the time comes. Just seems a bit odd. From what I see people posting about the price of this job (if you go to the dealer), this is a bit more pricey than "prudent maintenance".

This does not surprise me. Unless there is a real design problem with an engine that causes it to eat belts, today's belts really should go well over

100,000 miles. I'm guessing the belts in the Hyundai will as well, but I'm not going to be the guy that tests that theory. A timing belt is easy enough to change and though I don't necessarily believe it should be a requirement to keep a warranty in place, it's not the kind of thing I'm going to use as my hill to die on.

The only failure of this type that I've experienced was on a chain equipped engine. It was a 1976 Mercury Capri with a 6 cyl. The teeth were fiber, bonded to steel hubs and, though I didn't know it at the time, were a known wear point. Fortunately, the Capri's 6 cyl was not an interference motor so when the teeth departed this life, no real damage was done. It was a pretty straight forward remove and replace thing, with the obvious timing considerations.

The warranty you're keeping in place is the warranty on the timing belt. If your timing belt fails and you didn't replace it with a factory belt when it was due, then Hyundai will not cover the repairs. That doesn't mean your entire warranty was void-- only repairs arising out of your failure to replace the timing belt when due.

It would be no different than if your radiator were clogged or your engine were sludged and you hadn't done your coolant or oil changes as required.

In the geographic area where I'm employed, everything is marked up. Parts are sold above list. Labor is very expensive. There are many service facilities in my area with labor rates well above $100 an hour.

And there is no recommended replacement interval for them either.

I personally don't think Hyundai is asking too much by having a major recommended service interval done at 60,000 miles, I think thats pretty much when most car makers have one. And as for the 100,000 powertrain warranty, well you can always get extended warranties with a chevy vehicle, you know hyundai just buries the cost into the price of the car, they figure its better for them to make the extra profit then some 3rd party "insurance company" which is what most extended warranty companies are, they are betting that your car isnt going to have a major failure for 100,000 miles. say 100 people give them $1500 and only 5 of them have major issues that cost $4000 apiece they still make off with $130,000 plus interest, plus the bank makes money because that cost was probably financed as well.

So lets say covering the extra warranty period only costs hyundai $400 per car on average, which gets passed onto the consumer, if you put in $800 to do the 60K service, thats only $1200 for an extended warranty.

Probably the best thing to do when looking at a new car is to grab the manual, take a look at what the recommended services are, and then go to the service department and price it out, and see what the additional costs of owning the vehicle will be, and figure out how long you will be owning it.

Best thing car makers/dealerships could do is figure out the long term costs, and then sell service work contracts to people, that cover all the recommended maintenance to certain milage intervals, including all oil changes, coolant flushes, steering flushes, brake flushes, intervaled brake pad changes, and maybe even tire changes based on wear, and then sell it to the owner so they can just finance it along with the vehicle, and when they hit a service interval, they just take it back to their dealer. Alot of people would probably like the $4000 of service work just rolled into the loan so they can take care of it over 72 months.

The information provided in the link is incorrect. Hyundai does recommend

4 years or 60k miles on all their vehicles with timing belts. If you have a Hyundai and you doubt me, you should check your owner's manual. The vehicle owner's manual is the maintenance god. If you don't do what it says, you should expect to foot the bill for any consequences from not performing your maintenance.

While what's said about it not being likely that the belt will fail immediately is true for most engines, it's not a gamble I recommend people take. If you're outside the maintenance interval and you didn't replace the belt, you'll be picking up the dime for any resulting damage. I had to put an engine in an XG once. The bill was about $10,000. (Granted, in most cases, timing belt failure doesn't equal engine, but I'm hoping you get the picture. If you think the timing belt is expensive, you're not going to want to hear about the repairs due to damage from a broken timing belt).

Yet they still manage to offer lower prices and higher value than the Chevys you allude to. No wonder GM is laying off 30,000 workers and bankruptcy is not out of the question. If I was forced to own GM junk, I'd buy an extended warranty, since it's a good bet that I'd need it.