Rq
Los Angeles,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, June 16, 2008
I currently own a nearly-no-frills 2001 Hyundai Accent with a 5-speed stick. I understood when I bought the car nearly 7 years ago that the 100K warranty was only for the drive train. I got a good deal at the time of purchase, and it is now worth about half of what I paid for it, so I am still happy with its value. After 75,000+ miles, I still am using my original clutch, which appears to be functioning quite well, and my original brakes, which are about ready to be replaced. (Both the clutch and the brakes have lasted longer than expected.) I did not like the ride from the Hankook tires that came with the car, so I replaced them with a Goodyear set about a year after buying the car. With regard to the original complaint, sometimes paint problems are factory defects and sometimes they are environmentally caused. I used to conduct individual and panel arbitrations for the Better Business Bureau's Autoline program. Decisions were not always made on pure science alone; the car owner had to present evidence that conformed with the Lemon Law requirements for us to order a buyback or further repairs. Sometimes our decisions turned on how credible we thought the car owner was. Frankly, someone who believes that a clutch should last forever, or even for 100,000 miles, would not be very likely to convince me that their couple-year-old paint job was defective coming from the factory. My first Hyundai was new in 1986--a 4-speed stick with no radio and no air conditioning. I lived in Boston and it was parked on the street. That car always started right up, even in the middle of winter. It survived a cross-country drive in four days when I moved to California. I would definitely buy a Hyundai again! The problem that I've had is with the auto dealers. I have paid cash for my two Hyundais (the only new cars I've ever bought in over 35 years of driving) and the various used cars I've owned. The problem with dealers is that they will renege on a deal with you because you are not financing the car through them. Even the dealer from which I bought my current Hyundai (which no longer exists) allowed me to buy the car only because I paid extra to have air conditioning installed. In other words, the cheap price advertised was not going to be exactly what one would get--you'd have to add extras, finance the car through the dealer, or both. That's not specific to Hyundai; it appears to be characteristic of many dealers.