The water pump, freeze plug, and warranty story continues

Continuing from an earlier post...

Car - 2000 Sonata, 62000 miles, original owner. Unknowingly leaked coolant and overheated. I could see water leaking from the water pump area. Not just drip, drip, but a lot of water.

Had the car towed to dealer. Told the service manager that the car leaked coolant, overheated, and I could see water leaking from the water pump area. I told him that I was expecting it to be a power train warranty coverage. I also asked him that if I paid for a new timing belt would they install with no labor charge. They agreed.

Couple of days later get a call. Service manage says not a water pump leak but a freeze plug leak. Says that a water pump would be a warranty item but not the freeze plug. I tell him that I can not comprehend the freeze plug not being warranty. He says that it is not and it will cost $295. To keep things rolling I say OK to the $295.

The next day he calls back and says that it is the water pump and the freeze plug and it will still be $295. At this point I tell him to forget about me paying for a new timing belt, put the old one back in. (This is a California car and the timing belt warranty does not expire at 60000 mile as do Sonatas sold in other states). He says OK I continue to express my displeasure that the freeze plug is not covered by the warranty

A soon as I get off the phone with the service manager I call Hyundai USA and talk to them about the warranty. The person on the phone at Hyundai USA says that he is not a tech and does not know what a freeze plug is. I explain to him the purpose and function of a freeze plug. He seems to be in agreement with me that if it is as I explained one would have to question it not being covered by the warranty. He puts me on hold while he asks some questions in-house and then tells me to hold again while he calls the service manage at the dealer involved. He opens a case and gives me a case number. Says he beleives I may have a good case.

Two days later I get a call back from the dealer service manager. He tells me that my car is all fixed with a new water pump and that the freeze plug did not have a leak. He also said that they had to remove the A/C compressor in order to determine the source of the leak. He then tells me that there will be no charges and that a new timing belt has been installed at no charge to me. (He also indicated that a new serpentine belt was installed. That did not show up on the invoice and I know that I had the serpentine belt changed out once since the car was new)

The invoice indicates that the water pump and the new coolant were covered by the warranty and that the new timing belt was covered as a "Service Policy Adjustment funded internally per Customer Satisfaction.

And what they did get was a Satisfied Customer even if they did keep my car somewhat longer than I expected.

My confidence in Hyundai is renewed. I will be very likely to buy another Hyundai. Maybe a 09 model.

Old_Timer

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Old_Timer
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Seems like the story is pretty much as I described earler. The coolant weep hole drains through the block behind the a/c compressor. The tech saw that, apparently hadn't seen it before, and assumed it was a freeze plug, not realizing the weep hole drained there. Then, when he got some things apart, he realized it was indeed coming from the water pump.

Here's the problem I have with this scenario. Rather than admit their mistake and just replace the water pump rather than the freeze plug (at no charge to you), they continued to state that the freeze plug was leaking, attempting to continue to charge you for their misdiagnosis. To resolve this, you needed to contact HMA, at which point it became clear that the freeze plug was not actually leaking. While the dealership may not be dishonest, at the very least, the technician that worked on your car is dishonest for the simple reason that he continued to indicate that the freeze plug was leaking. I suspect what happened was that once the manager was contacted, he actually went and looked at the car himself, and found out that the freeze plug was not actually leaking.

You'll need to try to figure out whether the dealer is honest at this point. You should be able to tell whether the drive belt is new. If so, you can take this as a positive sign that the service manager realizes the technician put the dealership in a bad position and is giving you the belts as a goodwill gesture to help re-earn your trust. At the very least, you should not allow this technician to work on your vehicle again. He's proven that he cannot be trusted.

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hyundaitech

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