Complaint Review: Hyundai Motor America - DiFeo Hyundai Giuffre Hyundai LTD Of White Plains Bronx River Hyundai Show - Jamesburg New York

I purchased a new 2004 Santa Fe on February 12 2004. I purchased the vehicle at DiFeo Hyundai on Rt 44 and Hudson Mall, Jersey City, NJ. I was totally dissatisfied with the service because they promised me a deal, and told me I didn't have to give in a down payment since I was trading in my 1995 Mustang, and when I showed up to close the deal after visiting the dealership 3 times for 3 days in a row (taking days from work) the salesmen grilled me for a down payment. Not only did I have to make several trips from New York to New Jersey, but also I was finally sold the vehicle at a higher price and with what I would called lousy customer service. At that point I had to accept the deal since I had already traded in my vehicle to the above-mentioned dealership.

Within 3 months of having purchased the vehicle, it developed a violent rocking motion when driving it on heavy traffic, and when stopping at red lights and at stop signs. I also noticed the vehicle makes a violent shift from parking gear to drive gear and that at times gets very hot, producing a heavy burnt smell.

At first I tried contacting several dealerships explaining the problem, and no one was able to understand nor offer an explanation to the problem. It took me about 4 weeks to finally get an appointment for a service date.

I was finally able to schedule a service date for May 22nd, 2004. I explained over the phone to the technician, Billy, that I needed to bring in the vehicle for the 3,000-mile service but most important of all I needed to take care of a serious violent rocking the car has. He assured me the service for the "defect" was under the guarantee. He told me they would take care of it and to bring in the vehicle first thing in the morning on that Saturday that he would schedule me for an 8:30 a.m. appointment.

I got to the dealership at 8:15 on the morning of Saturday May 22nd. Not only did I have to wait several hours before my car was finally seeing, but after the 3,000 mile service was done to my car, the technicians claimed they couldn't find anything wrong with the vehicle. The vehicle was "test-driven" 3 times, and still they couldn't find anything wrong with it. I finally suggested they let me drive it, and of course, within minutes of me driving it with Billy the technician in the car, the vehicle started its violent rocking to the surprise of the technician. By then it was around 12 noon.

We returned to the dealership where he called the service manager, Joseph Barzotti, and I proceeded to show him the motion the car was making and prompted him to recognize the burnt smell. None of the two men were able to figure out nor come up with a logical explanation to the vehicle's malfunction. Matter of fact, they both admitted to not having a single clue as to what was going on with the vehicle and told me there was nothing they could do at that time (even though it was 12:15 p.m. and the dealership closes at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays), and that I needed to reschedule for service during a weekday. I explained to them that I could not take days off from work and that I needed for the problem to be resolved during a Saturday. And furthermore, I explained that my family heavily depends on the vehicle for daily transportation, that being the main reason I decided to purchase a new car. The manager (Joseph) insisted there was nothing they could to help me at that time. I then left the dealership with the car jerking and rocking violently.

I once again scheduled a service appointment at the Bronx River Hyundai showroom. It took several calls before I was given a date. I brought in the car for service on the second week of June. When I first made the appointment I explained to the technician on the phone that I had taken the car to another dealership and that they couldn't figure out what the problem was. (I wanted to make sure that this time around they knew it was something serious; something that might require hours of testing). Javier, the technician on the phone, assure me he knew what the problem of the vehicle was, and in fact went as far as saying there was a recall on that type of vehicle, model and year. I took the vehicle for service first thing in the morning of Saturday, June 19th, 2004. After hours of waiting they finally brought my vehicle in, ran a diagnosis (test) and checked for recalls on my vehicle, and could not come up with anything.

According to Matt the service manager, as far as they were concerned, there was nothing wrong with my vehicle. I once more took the car for a drive, and brought it back within minutes with the violent rocking motion. They told me I had to wait because the technicians were all busy (ignoring the fact that my appointment was for 8:00 a.m. and it was now somewhere passed noon). Once someone "looked" at the vehicle, no one seemed to have a clue as to what was going on. That is when they told me there was nothing they could do to help me, and that I needed to schedule another appointment since they closed at 2:30 p.m. and they didn't have the time nor man power to identify the problem nor solve it. I once more returned home with the car malfunctioning.

After a couple of days a malfunctioning light went on, they (the crew at the Bronx River Hyundai Showroom)told me to bring the vehicle in for repairs and assure me that since now there was a "sign of a malfunction" they would be able to address the problem and correct it without further hesitation. I managed to get the vehicle to the dealership at around 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday June 23rd, 2004. They determined from the computer reading that one of the valves was malfunctioning, and once more sent me on my way home, claiming they needed to order the part and that it would take little over a week.

The part finally arrived and I agreed to bring the vehicle in for service during a weekday. I explained to the Service Manager Matt, I would have serious problems that day without my vehicle. He still didn't have a loaner for me even thought I had made several calls throughout the week to find out the status of the part ordered. When I brought the car in for service, there was no loaner car for my usage. I still left the vehicle at the dealership because by then I was so annoyed with the whole situation that I decided to spent my day running around on taxis, and transport my three kids by taxi as well.

I managed to leave work early on that Friday. I showed up at the dealership at around 3:00 p.m. to my discontent and further insult to the injury, I was able to realize they had not started any kind of work on my vehicle. When the technician Javier saw me walk in, he had this look of surprise on his face and told me "Oh, we weren't expecting you until around 5:00, we just started working on your vehicle". An incredible story since my vehicle was sitting by itself near one of the garage's corner with a closed hood.

I then watched as they scrambled to figure out what was wrong with the vehicle. After about an hour and a half, they came and got me an assured me the vehicle was in working order. Matt, the service manager claimed there was no need to replace the part (even though the computer had given them a malfunctioning reading on the part and I had to wait over a week for the arrival of the part), because according to him it had been CLEANED and it was in perfect working order. According to them they had test driven the vehicle and it was all well. I insisted they allowed me to test drive the vehicle with one of the technicians as co-pilot, and not to my surprise the rocking still existed. Not only was it still present, but it was more violent than ever !!!

I was by now running out of patience. I questioned Matt on why he hadn't changed the part after it was ordered, diagnosed as malfunctioning and I had dropped the car off at 9:00 a.m. that morning. He insisted, raising his voice in an intimidating manner, that the part has no tear and wear and that there was no need to change it. Little does Matt and his crew know, I am a mechanical engineer and know a part does not need to have tear and wear for it to be defective from the manufacturer. They fumbled, scrambled and came up with stories, they adjusted things that were irrelevant to the problem, continued to call me in to test drive the car...and once 5:00 p.m. approached, Matt, the rude and story telling service manager proceeded to tell me that I needed to once more schedule another appointment to drop off the car so that they could keep it for a full day and try to figure out what was wrong with it. I told him it was a waste of my time; I had just spent the whole day traveling back and forth by taxi after having dropped my car off for a full day of service, and yet they weren't able to correct the malfunction. I once more left with a malfunctioning vehicle. Once I left the dealership, the malfunctioning light came on again. The jerking/rocking motion continued to grow more violent as time went on.

The next day Saturday July 3rd, 2004, I woke up determined to have to problem resolved. I called Matt at the Bronx River Hyundai Showroom, and told him I was on my way to the dealership to have the service done. The service that was supposed to be performed on my vehicle the day before. I explained to him that I expected him to change the part on Friday, and that since he had taken it upon himself not to perform the service, I was going to bring the car in so that they would do as they were supposed to the day before. Matt very simply told me they were not going to service my car on that day because he had too many appointments. I told him that my appointment was for 24 hours previous and that I expected him to perform the service. He basically said I could go in and drop the car off, but that they wouldn't get to it until MAYBE the following Tuesday or Wednesday, and that there were no loaner cars available for my usage.

I called Hyundai customer service on July 8th, 2004 explaining to Brenda the customer service representative, the series of troublesome experiences I have had with the vehicle, and getting service at the Hyundai dealerships I mentioned throughout this report. She made note, gave me a case number, and insisted that it was my responsibility to contact a dealership for service. According to her I need to schedule the next appointment and call her with at least 24 hours of anticipation and tell her when and where the next service will be. As I explained to her my frustration, the amount of money I have spent on transportation, and my dissatisfaction as a customer, I also prompted her to help me in a more direct manner by having someone from the manufacturer's office call me, and help me schedule an appointment so that the matter could be resolved a.s.a.p., Brenda simply told me, all Hyundai could do for me was make sure there is a loaner car for me available for the next appointment, and went as far as telling me that the dealership could keep the car for as long as they see fit to repair. I was sincerely hoping Hyundai would value me as a customer, and would get itself more directly involved into helping me resolved the matter. I can not express the frustration, discontent, and dissatisfaction I feel as a Hyundai customer.

I have spent the last several weeks telling everyone I know about my experience with Hyundai. I WILL NEVER BUY A HYUNDAY AGAIN. MATTER OF FACT, I DON'T EVEN WANT A HYUNDAI FOR FREE. I will continue to do everything that is in my power to let the world know out there the kind of terrible, selfish, unfair, fraudulent warranty service Hyundai has provided me with.

Anira

Bronx, New York
U.S.A.

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