[Just Rick]

Some people are hands on, some people aren't.

I always work on the idea that if I don't understand something I learn it by reading up on it but if it has bolts or screws on it I just pull it apart.

Have to say I have to understand how something works,tearing it down is a good start LOL

[trev012]

Well All,

I phoned my franchised HY dealer this afternoon and spoke with the service manager. She had spoken with Customer Care at Hy [UK] and they won't budge - It's down to wear & tear.

However, "As a gesture of goodwill" [God how I hate that expression] HY [UK] would give £50 towards the bill and my local dealer would give another £50 as I've been such a good customer. Great, I'm so grateful to them both.......... NOT  This still means I have a bill of £160 to find and who says it won't happen again in the future.

So now I find myself between a rock and a hard place and am giving it serious consideration to get shot of the car once and for all. I really dont think my dealer and Hy [UK] have played ball fairly.

I am phoning HY [UK] myself tomorrow to see if they will improve their offer. I don't want to appear greedy but just feel their offer is an absolute insult.

[Phil №❶]

Surely, you have a consumer advocate service over there. It's time to get them involved I think. 

[B164D]

Hi Trev - you are not alone. I took my i30 1.6 petrol with 25000 miles on the clock into my H dealer here in Scotland last week with similar result - replace discs and pads for £286 because discs are heavily lipped. Followed up with a scary text. I'm waiting for the snow to go before carrying out an inspection myself and then off to a different Hyundai dealer. I have noticed the discs readily rust in wet weather and wonder if there's a duff batch of discs been fitted.... My previous car, a big C5 had the lip removed on its discs at about 60000 miles with the discs replaced 20000 miles later. I've not changed my driving style so feel there is something sub-standard that a warranty should address. Good Luck. John

[Just Rick]

I'm with Phil,time to get a consumer advocate invovled,Trev from what you have diiscribed and the low milage for back brakes especially,the wear sounds excessive to me,maybe front brakes and if your a bad driver this type of wear could be possible,hope you get it sorted

[eye30]

I have noticed the discs readily rust in wet weather

Had that with my 57 plate.

Not as noticable with the 12 plate

[trev012]

Hi All,

Please find below my response from Hy [UK] to the brake problem. Sadly, not much satisfaction ......

Dear Mr Clements

 

Thank you for your email addressed to Mr Tony Whitehorn, President and Chief Executive of Hyundai Motor UK Ltd.  As the Manager of Hyundai Customer Services Department for the UK, Mr Whitehorn has requested that I respond on his behalf.

 

I am truly sorry for the issues you have experienced with your brakes and I have therefore contacted John Fyfe, Service Manager, at Phoenix Hyundai.

 

I have been advised that when the brakes on your vehicle were examined the brake pads and discs were found to be worn due to the callipers sticking.

 

All technicians working in our network of dealerships are highly trained and experienced, repairing and servicing Hyundai vehicles on a daily basis. In light of this, I am confident in his dealer’s decision that the brake’s condition on your vehicle was not due to a manufacturing defect.

 

I can only assure you that had the dealership felt the brakes were defective in any way then this matter would have been addressed by the terms of your Hyundai warranty.  The Hyundai warranty is very extensive and is one of the best in the UK. However, as with all manufacturers, we do not cover wear and tear items under the terms of this warranty. This is outlined in your Aftersales Warranty and Service booklet. I appreciate your frustration however we are not able to cover items such as the brakes as they wear differently based on the drivers use, driving style, location and conditions, which are outside of our control. It is also worth noting that a manufacturing fault on wearable items, such as clutch and brakes, normally occurs sooner than two years.

 

I understand your comments regarding the wear on your brakes occurring from service to failure and hence I was happy to note that both Phoenix Hyundai and Nicola had both offered a gesture of goodwill of £100 total discount towards the repair required.

 

John also advised that you are booked into have the worked carried out on 19/4/2013, you may choose to keep the parts that are replaced on your car with a view to have them  inspected by an independent body such as RAC or AA at your own expense. If such an inspection proves that the part is defective in any way we will be happy to re-investigate this matter further subject to receiving a report.

 

I do appreciate that you may be disappointed with this response, but trust I have clarified our position with regard to this matter and as to why the clutch repair was not covered under the terms of your Hyundai warranty.

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact Hyundai Customer Services and giving me an opportunity to investigate and respond.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Carole Campbell

Customer Service Manager

Hyundai Motors UK

[Doggie 1]

Hmm.
At least they have offered you the parts for an independent inspection I guess.
What are your thoughts on it?

[Phil №❶]

Did the brake repair turn in to a clutch repair, or is that your typo error, trev012.

"I do appreciate that you may be disappointed with this response, but trust I have clarified our position with regard to this matter and as to why the clutch repair was not covered under the terms of your Hyundai warranty."

IMO, they state that the excessive wear is caused by the calipers sticking. Can calipers sticking be caused by driving technique?

I think an independent assessment is in order if you know that your driving technique is not the cause.

[Dazzler]

 

[Just Rick]

sticking calipers to me is a manufacturers fault in my book,if the car was twenty years old and never had any regular maintainance,I can understand them sticking,my service records say full brake inspection then OK to me that says that the pads are still servicable and all moving parts are free and moving,sounds like passing the buck to me,personally I would be having an independant inspection done before they get their hands on it,because they will free up the sticking calipers and just hand you the worn pads and disc's, an in dependant will not to be able to prove or disprove anything other Than Hy findings,going on what they can see,I would take their hundred quid and put it towards getting it fixed elsewhere

Sorry but I think you are being given the bums rush.

[eye30]

I can only assure you that had the dealership felt the brakes were defective in any way then this matter would have been addressed by the terms of your Hyundai warranty. 

I do appreciate that you may be disappointed with this response, but trust I have clarified our position with regard to this matter and as to why the clutch repair was not covered under the terms of your Hyundai warranty.

Did you have 2 issues?

[trev012]

Hi,

As far as I am aware my clutch is fine. What you see was a straight quote from HY[UK] so I'm afraid it was their typo. (I did notice it though)
It saddens me that I have gone to all this time consumning work only to receive their feeble reply. I agree with you all that the calipers should NOT stick on something so new but really, I'm powerless to do anything against such a huge organisation. I am not prepared to spend any more money for independent enquiries only for Hyundai to tell me the same story. It's David & Goliath but sadly Goliath won on this occasion.
It means I still have to find £160+ to have the repair done.  Think it's time I found a replacement for my driveway

[Phil №❶]

Really sorry to read your last comment.

Although this is a bad experience for you, changing vehicles is also an expensive stressful exercise too. I guess I would avail myself of the 100 pound offer and have the brakes fixed. It may be the only thing major to ever go wrong with the vehicle.

No vehicle or manufacturer is perfect and in mass produced numbers, sometimes faults do occur unfortunately. Most people on this forum are quite happy with their brake performance and wear, so your problem is very unusual.

[Surferdude]

Sticking calipers are hardly a manufacturer's problem. They are generally caused by external factors such as a build up of grit from the road surfaces. Sometimes this gets cleaned away in normal use or by cleaning the car. At other times it doesn't.

So I see their point.

However, sticking calipers WILL cause a definite discolouration of the pads and, probably the discs, with hot spots evident.
(I seem to think I may have said all this above but will retype it as it's important).
An inspection of the pads and rotors by someone experienced in these matters will establish if this is the case. A very simple visual inspection.

However, if this IS the cause, they should be replacing or skimming the rotors at the same time as the pad replacement AND overhauling the calipers. Not doing either of these things will cause a continuation of the problem. And bleed the brakes thoroughly to get rid if the fluid which has been subject to overheating in the caliper.

On the "typo" in Hyundai's response, I would be replying to them pointing it out and with a comment like "If this is an example of your company's attention to detail, explain to me why I should have any faith in either your diagnosis or the repair you propose?"

[trev012]

Thanks Phil & Surferdude,

Your comments are most welcome. As for writing back to HY to advise them it was not my clutch that was faulty, I'm not really into scoring points. I admit they made a mistake with their typing but I guess if they are sending out loads of emails/letters each day they're bound to get one wrong. Alas it was me - I don't think the world is against me .....YET 
Anyway, the earliest I can make an appointment at the garage is 29th April as the service manager does not come back until next week and I am too busy just now. Lets hope the brakes last till then.

[eye30]

 As for writing back to HY to advise them it was not my clutch that was faulty, I'm not really into scoring points. I admit they made a mistake with their typing but I guess if they are sending out loads of emails/letters each day they're bound to get one wrong.

A valid point BUT it would appear the author may have taken a previously sent email/letter and changed it for your brake issue.

So does this show that they get a number of similar type issues/complaints and send out the same reply to each without actually checking whether the content relates to the issue/complaint.

Personally I would drop them a reply asking for details of the reported clutch issue as you were not aware of such and what action do you need to take.

[trev012]

A valid point BUT it would appear the author may have taken a previously sent email/letter and changed it for your brake issue.

Personally, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. She may well be sitting in a hot stuffy office in London [HY UK Headquarters] dreaming out the window as to what she's going to get up to at the weekend with her new boyfriend   

....... Or she could just be totally incompetent   

[Surferdude]

That's very nice of you Trev.
I wasn't suggesting you should score points, just explain to them that they aren't doing their reputation any good. They are a multi million pound/dollar company world wide and should not be making mistakes like this.
I agree they've used some sort of "form letter" for your reply and honestly, that's not good enough.

[eye30]

A valid point BUT it would appear the author may have taken a previously sent email/letter and changed it for your brake issue.

 dreaming out the window as to what she's going to get up to at the weekend with her new boyfriend   

....... Or she could just be totally incompetent   

Answer on a postcard please

[rustynutz]

Me thinks you're all reading way too much into this obvious slip up.... 

[trev012]

Hi All,

Thought I'd give you a [Final] update on my brake problem as it has today been resolved to my satisfaction.

I followed up my original email/letter to the CEO of Hyundai [UK] with a 2nd email/letter to him as I wasn't at all happy with their original explanation nor their paltry offer. This resulted in an apologetic email from his secretary/manager advising they had reviewed the situation and they would pay for parts if I was prepared to pay the labour costs. I didn't need to be asked twice  .  Furthermore, my dealer was also offering me discount on the labour so this morning I had new rear brake pads & discs replaced for £81.12

I am now a happy chappy, my faith in Hyundai has been restored and will continue to drive my pride and joy. The only downside is that I had to play Mr Grumpy for a few weeks complaining and feel HY[UK] should have resolved the situation sooner.

[Phil №❶]

Let's hope that's the end of the matter for you. 

[Doggie 1]

Good result. 

[Dazzler]

 

[diablo]

Satisfactory result in the end.    Such a shame that you had all the bother before getting there.

Maybe the MD of Hyundai UK reads this forum and decided they'd had enough bad publicity.

[B164D]

Having posted earlier in this thread of similar issues to Trev I thought I would add my experience. Also in Scotland, I needed to replace rear discs and pads at 29000 miles. Initially the garage said that it was not covered by the warranty and that they couldn't help me. I e-mailed customer service and got a reply stating "Brake pads and brake discs are consumable or serviceable items that would have their own limited warranty period.  As a result I am unable to cover the costs of the repair." Unhappy with this I followed this up with an e-mail to Tony Whitehorn as follows:-
"Dear Mr Whitehorn
I am writing to you in the hope that you can quickly resolve my grievance with Hyundai.
I am unhappy with the response I have received because
1) The rear discs needed replacing at only 25,000 miles but the front discs are fine.
2) The original tyres are still fitted to the rear wheels and still have plenty of tread left at 30,000 miles.
The above indicates that the car has not been driven hard.
3) No mention of wear was made at the service at 21568 miles but the discs needed replacing at 25328 miles when I first became aware of the brakes overheating.
It beggars belief that the rear discs needed replacement at such a low mileage as a result of fair wear and tear. My previous cars, not Hyundais, didn't require replacement discs until the cars had covered much higher mileages, 80000 miles plus. At 25328 miles the dealer report states "suspect pads sticking in carriers. brake discs heavily lipped recommend replacing rear discs and pads" although sticking calipers might also have been the cause. Either way, I don't know how this could be caused by drivers use, driving style, location and conditions and would suggest that I have not experienced an expensive repair caused by fair wear and tear.
I am aware of a very similar situation (Trev's reference given) where your involvement brought about a swift and amicable resolution and would ask that something similar be done in my case.
Yours sincerely,"
This resulted in an investigation by a Senior Case Manager with the following response:-
" I am sorry that due to your not having visited this Hyundai dealer before we do not have enough history to be able to answer the questions you raise comprehensively.  All technicians working in our network of dealerships are highly trained and experienced, repairing and servicing Hyundai vehicles on a daily basis. In light of this, I am confident in this dealer’s decision that the brakes were scored and showed clear signs of wear and tear and not a failure due to a manufacturing defect.  Your rear brakes can wear for a number of reasons while not showing wear on your tyres or front brakes.
However, as you are a loyal customer I am happy to cover 50% of the costs you have incurred in replacing your rear brakes. The costs you paid were as follows:
Brake pad set £42.37
Brake disc £106.20
Plus 20% vat
Total £178.28
I have requested a cheque for £90 be made payable to you"

So basically no admission that the brake repair was necessitated by anything other than wear and tear but a decent offer that I have gladly accepted.

[Doggie 1]

Sounds like a good result in the circumstances.
Thanks for letting us know.   

[eye30]

I am sorry that due to your not having visited this Hyundai dealer before we do not have enough history to be able to answer the questions you raise comprehensively. 

Why did they not contact previous dealer(s) for details of service reports etc?

[i30sean]

I just have to add to this thread, recently my brakes started to make a little noise i suspected that the rear pads were a little low so asked my local dealer to have a look and guess what all my pads and disc's needed replacing  My mls was 44K and yes like others pads are expected but not disc, cut a long story short, picked up car bought pads from the dealers and mate fitted them, yes pads were shot but disc were a little lipped but nothing that needed replacing. Again i think the dealers are trying to have one over us 
i30Sean