My 2 year old Tuscon (1.7TDI DCT) with 38k miles developed a minor fault at the weekend and the orange engine management light came on.
I called the AA out as a precaution as I was some way from home and wanted to get home without breaking down on the motorway.
The AA turned up within 25 minutes and were excellent btw.
Fixed the problem with a warning that it was only temporary and that I needed to get the car checked by the dealer.
So I dropped it in first thing this morning and I was met with: "Well it's not booked in, we don't know what we can do today, we are very busy".
You know Mr Dealer, you sold me a car that cost £28k and is under 2 years old, I don't want to know that you don't have the capacity to look at it or fix it today. That's your bad planning.
I want you to take the car and return it to me at the end of the day or a courtesy car if you can't fix it today.
I don't have a problem that the car is faulty, they are complicated and will develop faults.
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I think you are being unreasonable. You are asking them to drop scheduled work that other customers have booked to look at yourcar and the problem doesn't even seem to be urgent.
If your cars service was not done because someone had jumped the queue I suspect you would be complaining about that.
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>> I think you are being unreasonable.
+1
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So if they always have a fully booked service department then they won't have any capacity ever for any breakdowns?
Or do I have to have a faulty car only when they have capacity?
The dealer recently became multi-franchise with several makes on one site but have reduced the number of service bays from 8 overall to 6 on the new site so I suspect they gave up some capacity as a cost saving measure.
It's not the lack of capacity that I am annoyed about really, it's their sucking of teeth about the fact that they will need to look at the car and they are ever so busy.
They could have easily said, drop it in and we will look at it today or tomorrow and offering a replacement car in the meantime.
It's about managing expectations.
Last edited by: zippy on Mon 14 Jan 19 at 10:40
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Just book the car in ike everyone else and stop making such a drama about it.
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>> It's not the lack of capacity that I am annoyed about really, it's their sucking
>> of teeth about the fact that they will need to look at the car and
>> they are ever so busy.
Its about cost. Functioning staffed service bays cost money, an empty one on the off chance you need to turn up means every customer has to pay more somewhere down the line.
At the end of the day, your car is working and you chose to drop it in and do without transport, so I too think your expectations are unreasonable.
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Colleague's got a Hyundai that's cost him £600-odd at a main dealer, trying and failing to resolve an EML.
It's five and a half years old, with main dealer FSH.
Apparently the word 'goodwill' doesn't exist with them.
Put me off the brand.
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>> They could have easily said, drop it in and we will look at it today or tomorrow and offering a replacement car in the meantime.
I have to give my local dealer at least 10 days notice if I require a courtesy car. No dealership can afford to have courtesy cars lying around not being used in case an impatient customer comes in stomping their feet.
Why not do what everyone else does and book the car in to be looked at that's to both your and their convenience.
Shouting at them and getting their backs up isn't going to do any good whatsoever, other than to put you further down the waiting list.
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These places always work by appointment, and understandably so. Ramps, technicians and courtesy cars are expensive resources, and their utilisation needs to be planned carefully.
It's fair enough turning up on the off chance and asking the question, but getting shirty when they can't fit you in is a bit much. Personally, I'd have given them a call instead, to save the wasted journey, and also book an appointment.
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>> Shouting at them and getting their backs up isn't going to do any good whatsoever,
>> other than to put you further down the waiting list.
>>
Hey, just to clarify, there was no shouting, getting their backs up or even gnashing of teeth. I don't get "shouty" at people. It's not fair on them.
It is only after I left my car there did I think that they could have provided me with a totally different customer experience with a different choice of words and that's why I was miffed.
I was not seen as a valued customer who might buy their next car from them later this year.
There was no apology that I was having problems with my car.
They were really doing me a favour by trying to fit me in.
I was an inconvenience to them.
It could have been such a different experience, even with exactly the same outcome.
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>I was not seen as a valued customer who might buy their next car from them later this year.
No, you weren't. Because experience suggests that valued customers still buy elsewhere if it's £50 cheaper.
I am not saying that you would do that, just that is how the majority of car buyers behave these days.
A dealership can pour a fortune into the quality of service it provides, and still most people will buy their car wherever it is cheapest.
It happened to butchers, bakers, milkmen, insurance brokers, insurance companies, car dealerships, banks, post offices etc. etc.
We all want the same service, but with costs cut to the bone. Fortunately some of these services are seeing a bit of a comeback as people realise that quality is worth paying for.
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>> >I was not seen as a valued customer who might buy their next car from
>> them later this year.
>>
>> No, you weren't. Because experience suggests that valued customers still buy elsewhere if it's £50
>> cheaper.
>>
>> I am not saying that you would do that, just that is how the majority
>> of car buyers behave these days.
>>
When I got the car, I knew what the cheapest listed price was. The dealer came within a reasonable figure and I decided at the time that the benefit of a local dealer would be an advantage despite them being more expensive.
Last edited by: zippy on Mon 14 Jan 19 at 17:07
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>>the benefit of a local dealer would be an advantage despite them being more expensive.
The majority of customers are not loyal, so the majority of suppliers do not value loyalty.
The world today, sadly.
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>> ... Because experience suggests that valued customers still buy elsewhere if it's £50 cheaper.
>>
It works both ways. We paid about £200 more to buy locally, and a couple of months later the organisation we bought from switched from Honda to Citroen.
Similarly, I paid about the same extra to buy my MX-5 locally. The car was a real disappointment with persistent dash buzzing/rattling from new, but the dealer were not interested in helping.
I did a win:win deal with the Kia dealer near work to buy their display Sorento, but needed a towbar fitted. They broke trim, left screws out of the wheel arch liners, didn't put some of the fittings back in the car (including the parcel shelf), etc. I got it all sorted, but now use an (excellent) dealer near home for my maintenance.
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Treat other people how you would wish to be treated yourself.
Sounds a bit religist (as my 10yo would say) but it's a pretty good rule of thumb in professional as well as personal situations.
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>> Hey, just to clarify, there was no shouting, getting their backs up or even gnashing
>> of teeth. I don't get "shouty" at people. It's not fair on them.
Sorry I misunderstood you, it's just that your earlier statement
"You know Mr Dealer, I don't want to know that you don't have the capacity to look at it or fix it today. That's your bad planning. I want you to take the car and return it to me at the end of the day or a courtesy car if you can't fix it today"
suggested otherwise.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 15 Jan 19 at 02:11
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I don't think Zippy is being unreasonable. I really don't. I think that is a reasonable level of service to expect when buying an expensive product intended to last many years,
Neither do I think anybody is being unreasonable shopping around for the very best price they can get when buying a new car, shaving the dealer margins to the bare bones by using the internet and brokers though still leaving the dealers with the warranty issues.
But you can't have both
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TBH, I have a 10 year old Audi, and when I go to the dealer, they are much kinder.
In a similar situation abeit 5 years ago, they politely asked me to take a seat and gave me a drink and biscuite while I waited and came in the carpark with a code reader and said it was not advisable to drive it and book it in. Due to the projected price though, I went to an independent.
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On the 27th December 2017 we were making our way to the sales when at 9am my 63reg Rav4 lit up the EML. I phoned the dealer who advised not to drive it and have the vehicle recovered. Within ten minutes the pick up truck arrived, by luck he happened to be passing by on a nearby main road. He took us the 10 miles to the main dealer. They took a quick look and said they thought it was an injector fault. I left the car there and they lent me a courtesy car. We were in John Lewis drinking coffee by 11.00. They phoned a couple of days later, all fixed under warranty and valeted ready for collection.
This was first thing in the morning, the day after Boxing day when, if it wasn't for my daughter wanting to buy a few things for her new flat, we would have had our feet up. Incredible service, not that it is needed very often. In some years of Toyota ownership there have only been two unanticipated breakdowns of this type, but when it happens great to, once again, receive such excellent service. Unsurprisingly perhaps we have two Toyotas, both bought from main dealers, and service agreements with this dealer.
Hyundai - why would I? The shopping experience was much less agreeable than that of the breakdown.
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I have a Honda...
Whats a breakdown??
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...and they're always very responsive down at the lawnmower shop, anyway.....
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>> I have a Honda...
>>
>> Whats a breakdown??
McLaren will tell you. But hopefully Red Bull won't.
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>> I have a Honda...
>>
>> Whats a breakdown??
>>
On the replacement car availability front, we took two of the Hondas in our family fleet for service at the same time, so we'd only need one courtesy car. Booked a month before.
On the day was told no courtesy car available, and asked what I was going to do about it, like it was my fault! Apparently absolutely no other car available, and the dealer's only solution was to take one of our cars away and come back another day.
I was in the process of erupting when another service advisor said her customer didn't need the car he'd booked so we could have that.
Oh, and the newer Hondas, latest Jazz, HR-V etc, are breaking down regularly, much to the dismay of loyal owners.
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I do not know about later models as I buy at two years old and keep for as long as the car runs well .My last Accord was 14 years old when I traded it in and it still ran well.
All I can say is that I have owned several Hondas over the last 30 plus years and I have never had one break down on me due to any issue caused by Honda or their dealers, in fact the only Honda breakdown I had was when I ruined the car when I ran into floodwater in Northumberland and that was my own fault.
I have had nothing but good service from my local Honda main agent even though I use a local independent for service and advice. He always comments on how nice the CRV is after the annual service and MOT and he means it.
Last edited by: helicopter on Tue 15 Jan 19 at 11:04
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>> I have had nothing but good service from my local Honda main agent...
>>
We had two very long standing and well regarded dealers locally but Honda canned them and gave the franchise to a dealer group who built a new glass palace as part of Honda's plans to double sales in the UK. That plan hasn't gone well.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Wed 16 Jan 19 at 09:51
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In 24 years since buying my first Honda I seem to have a "death wish" on the garages I chose to buy cars from.
Dicksons Honda Dunblane - closed - now an M&S Food Store
Helensburgh Honda - now closed BP Filling station & M&S shop
Nelsons Honda Falkirk - taken over by Phoenix, moved to a glass palace & closed
Chatham Honda - Edinburgh - site now flats - Glass palace now run by a chain of garages
They were "family owned businesses" offering a good service but did not want to invest in Glass Palaces as the business then did not cover the investment in their opinion.
Of course Honda's business share has plummeted as they cut the models to Jazz/Civic & CRV ditching sports cars, MPVs, bigger saloons etc etc.
Even the cars that are left have limited range - Civic = Hatchback & saloon - there used to be HB, saloon, Coupe, Estate. The current sports car is £150K which limits its mass appeal to the man in the street.
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FB, a bit away, but I thoroughly recommend Brown Brothers in Peebles.
I travel from Lanarkshire to get my car serviced there, free coffee, a walk round the town and a very pleasant experience!
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The car has been playing up for some time now, refusing to accelerate in certain instances (usually on dual carriageways) and automatically changing down for no apparent reason. Of course the fault is intermittent.
The dealer couldn't find fault (even after a 20 mile test drive) and so I took a video whilst on a long downward dual carriageway when the car wouldn't accelerate above 60. (Cruise control and speed limiter off.)
Still no faults found so on to Hyundai Technical and they have decided to fit a new throttle assembly (air intake). The car was booked in today.
Yesterday on the way home the car stalled (its an DCT automatic). Typically on a really dangerous corner.
Managed to re-start it and limp the last mile home and called the AA who diagnosed crap in the throttle again and followed me to the dealer. The car stalled regularly on the 5 mile journey despite keeping it no higher than 3rd gear. Understandably the garage was totally locked up on arrival with barriers at the front so I left the car in car park next to it and got there at 8:30 this morning. I went to start the car and nothing happened. So I nipped in to the dealer to tell them the car was there and they refused to look at it - it needs to be delivered to their site - so had to call the AA out again who had to get a recovery truck for 5 yards as the crow flies and 100 yards around the wall.
I told the AA man that the throttle is being replaced today and he didn't think that would stop the issue as the garage needs to find out where the oil contamination is coming from.
The AA man was most surprised that the Hyundai is being problematic. Along with Hondas he thinks that they are the most reliable cars on the road.
I will be looking for a new car from June (a long lead time to January when this one gets replaced). I was thinking about the new Kona but now I am not so sure.
Last edited by: zippy on Wed 27 Feb 19 at 15:06
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Tucson DCT in USA received plenty of complaints with symptom similar to yours. IIRC their equivalent of VOSA forced Hyundai to fix it via software update.
Interestingly their sister model Kia Sportage did not face these problem.
I wonder if this is due to bad logic encoded in software.
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>> Tucson DCT in USA received plenty of complaints with symptom similar to yours. IIRC their
>> equivalent of VOSA forced Hyundai to fix it via software update.
>>
>> Interestingly their sister model Kia Sportage did not face these problem.
>>
>> I wonder if this is due to bad logic encoded in software.
>>
I saw those videos and many of them had the cars stalling.
Mine didn't do that until yesterday.
Still haven't got an explanation as to why the pipe and throttle are covered in oil and gunk and the AA man was convinced that the gunk was causing problems for the valve "petals" making it difficult for them to move or causing them to stick.
New throttle part fitted with dealer very apologetic and manager said need to call out the AA again this AM should not have happened. Very nice bouquet of flowers for Mrs Z provided by dealer. Would have liked a bottle wine or stronger but Mrs Z said they did the right thing as I may have been teetotal (I'm not) and they didn't want to risk offence.
Looked at the new Iron Man Kona. Very nice but £26k!
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>> called the AA who diagnosed crap in the throttle again
How often do you have to do that?
(old Jim Davidson joke, btw)
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>> >> called the AA who diagnosed crap in the throttle again
>>
>> How often do you have to do that?
>>
>> (old Jim Davidson joke, btw)
>>
I think I first heard that joke when I had a misfiring Mk1 Fiesta in 1982 and it was old then!
;-)
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>> Understandably
>> the garage was totally locked up on arrival with barriers at the front so I
>> left the car in car park next to it and got there at 8:30 this
>> morning. I went to start the car and nothing happened. So I nipped in to
>> the dealer to tell them the car was there and they refused to look at
>> it - it needs to be delivered to their site - so had to call
>> the AA out again who had to get a recovery truck for 5 yards as
>> the crow flies and 100 yards around the wall.
>>
That is really poor service from the dealer!
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Hyundai - Tuscon - Dealership Carp - CGNorwich
