- Report: #245760
Complaint Review: Autoland Hyundai - Uniontown Pennsylvania
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Autoland Hyundai
20-25 East Fayette Street Uniontown, 15401 Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Phone:
724-437-9999
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Autoland Hyundai Multiple problems, no results, terrible customer service Ripoff Uniontown Pennsylvania
I first purchased a used 2001 Hyudai Sonata from Autoland Hyundai in Sept. of 2005. The Sonata had about 50,000 miles on it when it was purchased. I then moved 5 hours away from that dealership 2 months later. Not long after I moved away, the issues started with the Sonata.
First, it needed new brakes (including rotors and calipers) in the rear. That cost me over $250. And I had only had the car for about 3.5 months. When the car was in having the brakes worked on, the repair shop pointed out to me that the car was due for inspection the next month, and the new county where we lived also required emissions inspection, so that total came to $65. I called them, and they basically said it wasn't their problem.
About 2 months after having the rear brakes replaced, the front brakes of course needed changing as well. Another $250. and don't you know, 2 weeks after that -- rear brakes again. Now, my husband mainly drives this car. He has had several cars throughout his life, and NEVER had issues with brakes. So, let's keep adding, that was yet another $300. Again, I called Autoland Hyundai, with no result. I had a hard time even getting them to return my calls. At this point, I had owned the car less than a year, and had put just under $1000 of work into it.
Fast forward a few months, and the "check engine" light comes on. I take the car in, and a sensor need replaced. Chalk up another $150. Again I call Autoland Hyundai, and in no uncertain terms I was informed that this was not their problem and that I lived too far away for them to do anything about it.
For next few months we went through several occasions of the "check engine" light coming on, only to take the car in and find out that it was a different sensor needing replaced.
$$$$$, all into the Sonata.
Then, I hit my breaking point when we found out that the Sonata needed rear brakes AGAIN! It was at that point that I contacted the only guy at that dealership that was willing to help, and that was their finance manager. (He was a customer of mine at my old job.) We brought the car back to them (5 hours away), and he gave us an exceptionally high trade-in value for it, and put us in a 2002 Dodge Stratus, with about the same amount of miles on it as the Sonata currently had. He made sure our car payment stayed the same amount, and even threw in a 6 month warranty. I had longer to pay on the car loan now, but at least I was out of that piece of crap Sonata. This was in January 2007.
The warranty he "threw in" was explained to me by him, and he said that it covered "everything" in the car, and that if "anything" goes wrong in the next 6 months, it would be taken care of by any repair place. Hmmm... well, i DID like that guy... until this week.
This week, my husband was driving the Stratus to work when the thing just stopping shifting gears. It made a horribl noise, and the car was not drivable. I took the day off from work, and went to pick him up. We had the car towed to the local Dodge dealership.
Well, the Dodge dealership called me back today, and said that the car needs a whole new transmission. And my warranty (which i had to get faxed over from Autoland Hyundai, because what I thought was a copy of the warranty was NOT what i had) was only a powertrain warranty. It didn't cover anything electrical wrong with it, and it only covered $55 an hour. (about half of what the dealship charges.)
Again, I call Autoland Hyundai, and again, not their problem. again i have a car from them for less than 6 months, and something major is wrong with it. and frankly, they don't care.
Abigail
Downingtown, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
First, it needed new brakes (including rotors and calipers) in the rear. That cost me over $250. And I had only had the car for about 3.5 months. When the car was in having the brakes worked on, the repair shop pointed out to me that the car was due for inspection the next month, and the new county where we lived also required emissions inspection, so that total came to $65. I called them, and they basically said it wasn't their problem.
About 2 months after having the rear brakes replaced, the front brakes of course needed changing as well. Another $250. and don't you know, 2 weeks after that -- rear brakes again. Now, my husband mainly drives this car. He has had several cars throughout his life, and NEVER had issues with brakes. So, let's keep adding, that was yet another $300. Again, I called Autoland Hyundai, with no result. I had a hard time even getting them to return my calls. At this point, I had owned the car less than a year, and had put just under $1000 of work into it.
Fast forward a few months, and the "check engine" light comes on. I take the car in, and a sensor need replaced. Chalk up another $150. Again I call Autoland Hyundai, and in no uncertain terms I was informed that this was not their problem and that I lived too far away for them to do anything about it.
For next few months we went through several occasions of the "check engine" light coming on, only to take the car in and find out that it was a different sensor needing replaced.
$$$$$, all into the Sonata.
Then, I hit my breaking point when we found out that the Sonata needed rear brakes AGAIN! It was at that point that I contacted the only guy at that dealership that was willing to help, and that was their finance manager. (He was a customer of mine at my old job.) We brought the car back to them (5 hours away), and he gave us an exceptionally high trade-in value for it, and put us in a 2002 Dodge Stratus, with about the same amount of miles on it as the Sonata currently had. He made sure our car payment stayed the same amount, and even threw in a 6 month warranty. I had longer to pay on the car loan now, but at least I was out of that piece of crap Sonata. This was in January 2007.
The warranty he "threw in" was explained to me by him, and he said that it covered "everything" in the car, and that if "anything" goes wrong in the next 6 months, it would be taken care of by any repair place. Hmmm... well, i DID like that guy... until this week.
This week, my husband was driving the Stratus to work when the thing just stopping shifting gears. It made a horribl noise, and the car was not drivable. I took the day off from work, and went to pick him up. We had the car towed to the local Dodge dealership.
Well, the Dodge dealership called me back today, and said that the car needs a whole new transmission. And my warranty (which i had to get faxed over from Autoland Hyundai, because what I thought was a copy of the warranty was NOT what i had) was only a powertrain warranty. It didn't cover anything electrical wrong with it, and it only covered $55 an hour. (about half of what the dealship charges.)
Again, I call Autoland Hyundai, and again, not their problem. again i have a car from them for less than 6 months, and something major is wrong with it. and frankly, they don't care.
Abigail
Downingtown, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Karl
Clovis,New Mexico,
U.S.A.
You Probably Thought You Were Doing The Right Thing
#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, April 30, 2007
I give you credit. You went to a Hyundai dealer to buy a Hyundai. That made sense. The fact that the used car was owned by the service manager doesn't mean that he took care of it. The trade for the Dodge was a mistake. Chrysler Corporation cars have a poor track record. I'm glad that the Explorer is doing well. Third party warranties are not a wise choice. The ones from car manufacturers are usually better but you still can't depend on them to pay for all warranty work. I totally agree with you that the dealer should have worked with you to address the problems. I'm not a fan of Toyotas but they are pretty dependable if you can ensure that the oil was changed every 3,000 miles. Next time pick out a car that has a better reliability record than older Hyundais.
Mike
Radford,Virginia,
U.S.A.
How is the dealer to blame for your brake problems?
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, April 29, 2007
I don't see blaming the dealer for having to replace the rear brakes more than once. You had a third-party shop replace them the first time. They either did it improperly, or didn't identify the real problem that was causing them to wear out rapidly. You needed to go back to that shop to resolve it.
Abigail
Downingtown,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Shouldn't have been unreliable... no matter what brand
#4Author of original report
Sun, April 29, 2007
First off, let me say that when i bought the Hyundai, we were not in the best of financial situations. I bought this car from a dealer I felt I could trust. Also, this particular car was pre-owned by only one previous owner, who happened to be the service manager at Autoland Hyundai. It was affordable, and had a great financing option. my sister-in-law had this SAME car, and never had a problem. I did do some research, and was satisfied with what I read. And none of the problems that we had with this car were in any of the research i read. (especially having to replace the rear brakes every 2500 miles). Secondly, my problem is not just with the things that went wrong with the car, it is with Autoland Hyundai's being unwilling to help my situation whatsoever. It is with being blown-off, and told that because i moved, it was not their problem. Third -- I HAD to trade it in for the Dodge, because in order to resolve the problem through Autoland, this is what they had to offer. It was the only way to keep our financing at a managable level. I did do some research, and was assured by a mechanic at the time that we purchased it, that there were no existing problems. I was cautioned about other possible issues, but not this. I was very happy to be out of the defective Hyundai, and up until this week, we had been very happy with the Dodge. I have a 2002 Ford Escape already, and (knock on wood) it has 110K miles and no major problems ever. Cars should not be out for the count at 65K miles, no matter what company makes them. Also, the "warranty" that we have (provided through Autoland) does cover a new (rebuilt) transmission -- just not enough coverage in labor to actually get the job done anywhere in a metropolitain area. And again, no help from Autoland, even though I was willing to have the car towed to them. They could have cashed in on the warranty payment, fixed the car, and apologized that we had a major problem with it less than 6 months after buying it. That's what I would expect from a decent company.
Karl
Clovis,New Mexico,
U.S.A.
Two Unreliable Cars
#5Consumer Suggestion
Fri, April 27, 2007
Let's see - you first purchased a six year old Hyundai without a bumper to bumper Hyundai warranty (it was probably too old for one) and it was unreliable. You then traded it in for an equally unreliable Stratus. Both cars according to the 2007 Consumer Reports Buying Guide have lots of reported problems. Your powertrain warranty should cover the transmission - I don't understand this. Why didn't you do some research and purchase a used Honda or Toyota or something that has a good reliability rate or a cheap new car with a warranty. You can get a new Mazda 3 for less than $15,000. It is very dependable. I'm sure you took both of your cars to an independent mechanic to get them checked out before you bought them? Next time deal with a private owner who has records to prove that the car was dependable or do some research and buy a used car that has a good dependability record. Why you bought an old Hyundai or Dodge escapes me.
