Catastrophic Engine Failure & Warranty Claim

[Deleted User 1326]

I have a September 2023 1.6 HEV

I am also told this is something to do with the Hybrid Tensioners and the Auxiliary belt. Apparently my car is one of many onsite, with some having been there for 5 months!

The belt and tensioner story sounds a bit strange to me as previously, I had only ever heard of that syndrome affecting the 1.6 diesel versions. Like ‘howitis’, I have a difficulty with the ‘some have been there 5 months’ claim. I don’t doubt that it’s possible there are some cars awaiting parts or a signal from KIA UK to proceed with repairs, but I can’t believe that such cars are HEV models.

Could you clarify please?

[ray.ward]

Apologies , I didnt mean to imply that they have a number of exactly the same car or indeed fault that I have, just that they have a number of vehicles that are still waiting a repair for one reason of another

This was a comment made to me when I was pushing the dealer for a potential return date of my vehicle.

[Deleted User 1326]

[howitis]

For Ray Ward, well that's exactly what your comment did imply.

[WBW]

We have a 20 plate Tucson hybrid
It developed starter issues in January .
The vehicle is on PIP from Arnold Clark Inverness.
5 months now ,down the line we are still without the car .
We are told there are no starter motors available .
This has got to be nonsense .

It took 3 months to get a courtesy car out of them ,as they said we had breached the terms by having the vehicle serviced with a non registered workshop !!!!
Nothing but lies from these idiots .
We are now starting the process of handing this heap back to them .

[Deleted User 1326]

The vehicle is on PIP from Arnold Clark Inverness.

Personal Independence Payment?? Let me guess......could you have meant, PCP?

If not, could you enlighten me as all these modern acronyms are too much for my limited brain cells to keep up with?

[SteveTheBoater]

Interesting to find this thread. In January of this year my 2020 MHEV Tucson started to misbehave, uneven running, no acceleration and after a time, the orange engine light came on. I had to wait a couple of weeks wait before a dealer could put it onto the computer, during which time I used it as little as possible, obviously. They said there had been a fault but it had cleared so the system was reset. I pointed out that the car was running badly on my drive to them that morning, but they said that the computer told them it was OK so there was nothing they could do as the car needed to show a current fault on the computer before they were allowed to look at it as a potential warranty issue. I asked if I drove it to them immediately while it was misbehaving would they put it straight onto the computer, but they said no I would need to wait 2 weeks for an appointment again.
I wrote (twice) to Hyundai who didn't reply to express my dissatisfaction.
The car was still not running properly and the warning light came back on. I felt that it was not safe/sensible to continue to use so decided I would take to my Mum's where there was a car that I could temporarily make use of. On the way there, which was on a Sunday evening, the engine blew up, oil and bits all over the A49. I'm just glad I decided not to do the journey down the M6. It was recovered to the nearest dealer (not the one above and not one I'd been to before.)
I spoke to the dealer the following day and they said they were really busy and would not be able to look at it for a few weeks and I might want to get it recovered elsewhere. I phoned around and every dealer said the same so I left it where it was, phoned Hyundai who said there was nothing they could do and I'd have to wait for the dealer to look at it.
A month later they looked at it and asked me for details of two services which had been done by non-Hyundai dealers. One of these was a small independent garage and they quickly focussed on this one, very blatantly looking for an excuse not to honour the warranty. Email and phone calls went on interminably (more detail than is needed here) though the independent garage were brilliant and supplied everything that was asked for. Even Stellantis were involved at some point, with an area manager supplying a letter detailing the spec of the oil that had been put into the car on that service. Every time I supplied information they asked for something different, or one one occasion asking for information they already had to be resupplied in a different written format! Eventually I lost patience with them and contacted the Ombudsman. By now it was September and I'd been without a car for 7 months. The day after I notified them that the Ombudsman confirmed the case had been accepted, and supplied me a claim number, they accepted the warranty claim in full.
It's now December. I don't have my car back and multiple emails to them have given nothing more than fobbing off emails that repairs are "well under way" or similar. I'm about to begin legal proceedings to recover the value of the car and my inconvenience/additional costs in not having use of it, as I'm not sure what else I can do.

[Indalo1]

It's now December. I don't have my car back and multiple emails to them have given nothing more than fobbing off letters that repairs are "well under way" or similar. I'm about to begin legal proceedings to recover the value of the car and my inconvenience/additional costs in not having use of it, as I'm not sure what else I can do.

Welcome to the forum, ’SteveTheBoater’.

That really is a very sad tale highlighting the attitude of a very poor Hyundai dealer. I really can’t think what else you could do beyond the actions you have taken although I’m pleased to hear that your contact with the Ombudsman appears to have been fruitful.

I cannot say with any conviction that had the car been maintained within the Hyundai dealer network, you would have been treated any better/quicker but, all too frequently, I read on various forums of owners who have chosen to have their cars serviced outside the dealer network being given short shrift by Hyundai dealerships. There is no excuse for that but I can understand that dealerships will give priority to their own customers’ cars, leaving owners like yourself in a difficult situation.

I sincerely hope that you receive adequate compensation for the disgraceful treatment you have received in the matter. In the twelve years ownership split between Hyundai - KIA - Hyundai, I have never encountered any problems with the dealers I elected to use. Whether I have just been lucky, as all car dealers are not born equal from what I have gathered over my years using car forums, or whether there exists a two-tier priority system in play, I really can’t say. Purely on the basis of my empirical knowledge of the matter, I shall continue to have my car serviced and maintained by a network dealer, rather than risk coming up against the kind of situation you have described.

Choosing to arrange servicing via a Care Plan reduces the overall cost by a not insignificant amount and, for me, I don’t mind paying a little more than at an independent if it helps avoid the kind of delays and shilly-shallying you have encountered.

Good luck with the lawsuit.

[SteveTheBoater]

I sincerely hope that you receive adequate compensation for the disgraceful treatment you have received in the matter. In the twelve years ownership split between Hyundai - KIA - Hyundai, I have never encountered any problems with the dealers I elected to use. Whether I have just been lucky, as all car dealers are not born equal from what I have gathered over my years using car forums, or whether there exists a two-tier priority system in play, I really can’t say. Purely on the basis of my empirical knowledge of the matter, I shall continue to have my car serviced and maintained by a network dealer, rather than risk coming up against the kind of situation you have described.

Bit stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I've had a series of problems with this car since I bought it. The hybrid system has been repaired twice under warranty (a known belt problem, apparently) and my anxiety to ensure that the company had no excuse to refuse any further warranty claims led me to a good local independent garage who maintain my sister's car, as when I'd tried to book a service through the main dealer I was told there was a 2 month lead time, which would itself mean I'd not met my obligation to keep up with the service schedule as I had an upcoming long trip to the Highlands planned.

I'd had a Santa Fe before this, which I loved so I'm gutted that this has been such a dreadful experience. Afraid that I'll never touch either Hyundai/Kia or the dealer (who have more than a dozen franchises across multiple car brands) again, once this is resolved. I'm not the sort that would take to litigation lightly, one of my pet hates is compensation culture, but I'm financially out of pocket here and just want to end up where I would have been if I'd sold the car before this January. I don't think that is unreasonable.

Appreciate the kind words though