Major mechanical faults with I30 Sx

geoffro316 · **September 25, 2008, 12:19:00**

Wondering if anyone else has had major problems??

Manual I30 SX, purchased new in Feb 2008

PROBLEM #1

At about 3 months old, it began to develop an intermittent starting fault. You'd put the key in the ignition, and try and start it but it just wouldnt go! NRMA checked everything over, and they couldnt fault it! They suggested it was a fault in the security system (maybe the clutch switch??). Once we got it started again (we dont know how?? But it started again after about 30 mins), we took it to Tweed Hyundai, and they couldnt find anything wrong either! This went on for about 2 months. My wife used to always get stranded at shopping centres etc with our 6 month baby boy in the back seat. Sometimes the car would not start for up to an hour! Obviously, this just wasn't good enough for a brand new car! Anyway, Tweed Hyundai finally figured out that the key chip receiver in the car was faulty and would only work every now and then. This has since been replaced and we have not had a problem since! However, over the 2 months that it was happening, we were starting to get quite disgusted with Hyundai and were at our "wits-end" when they kept saying they couldnd find anything wrong with it!

PROBLEM #2

Yesterday, (car is now 7 months old), the clutch decided to go in the car! We could not put it into gear at all! This almost caused a major disaster for us when my wife and baby boy were travelling through a busy intersection and she couldnt get it into gear, and was narrowly missed by a speeding semi! She managed to limp home in the car, but was an absolute blubbering mess! She was almost hysterical at the thought of her and my boy almost being wiped out by a semi because the car wouldnt go into gear. This obviously isnt good. Anyway, Hyundai have just picked the car up from our place (totally un-drivable) and will hopefully repair it.

For the first 3 months, we were absolutely wrapped in the car and couldnt fault it! It handled great, looked great, and had great features! We were defending Hyundai against our friends who kept telling us they were crap cars. I realise that mechanical faults do occur as a matter of course, but as my wife said, she had an Excel for 4 years (bought it secondhand) and never had a fault. She got rid of it as it was getting old and wanted a new car so she didnt have to worry about any problems as it was a "brand new car!" One of the things that make it worse for us, is that out baby boy travels with her in the I30. So any problems are amplified as the safety of our kid is at stake (as well as the missus!). I dont think I'd buy a Hyundai again after our experience!

EymaTeapot · **Reply #1: September 25, 2008, 12:52:49**

Hi Geoffro,

Mate, I can understand how you would be annoyed. Who wouldnt be?
You have certainley had two major issues here and would rightly question future Hyudai purchases.
The only thing I would say though, is that of 260 members we have in the club, this is the first major warranty issue to arise. Now i know that does'nt help you any Geoff right now, but I hope Hyundai are able to fix the issues pronto and get you back on the road and hopefully restore your image of the company. Hyundai do generally have a good history of looking after consumers on warranty issues.
Again, i Know this does'nt help you much, but compared to other manafactureres, Hyundai have very few Warranty claims. Google Holden Captiva or Barina warranty issues and have a look at the number of storeys that come up, Astra's the same and Holdens after care service is as good as nil. Also look at the number of recalls on every new commodore produced since year dot, you dont here of to many Hyundai recalls. Even Toyota recently had to halt production of the new Camry because of potentional catastrophic problems with the fuel lines. And Jeeps are known to spontaneously combust! True
Again, I appreciate none of this improves your plight but I guess I am saying that these sort of thing happen and are not unique. Maybe you have jusy been unlucky.
I hope your dealer sorts thing out for you, if they don't, go staight to the top, Hyundai Australia, as i said before, they generally look after their consumers well.

Shambles · **Reply #2: September 25, 2008, 12:56:55**

Hi geoffro316, welcome to the club

Sorry to hear you've had problems of this kind.

The clutch failure is just one of those things in life; you either never ever suffer one, or you get hit so early in the car's life.

As for Hyundai not spotting the chip problem, I'd put that down to the newness of the model; I'm sure the engineers who inspected your car probably haven't had that many i30s pass through their hands, certainly not with the kind of problem you reported to them.

Anyway, keep the faith and keep your chin up. And good luck getting some reimbursement for the hire car.

Shambles

tiny · **Reply #3: September 25, 2008, 13:03:51**

i sympathize,but in romania most of the problems are on the ceed and not on the i30. your wife probably hates hyundai by now and will never want another one.

kinesiologykid · **Reply #4: September 25, 2008, 13:26:20**

Quote from: "geoffro316"

Wondering if anyone else has had major problems??

Manual I30 SX, purchased new in Feb 2008

PROBLEM #1

At about 3 months old, it began to develop an intermittent starting fault. You'd put the key in the ignition, and try and start it but it just wouldnt go! NRMA checked everything over, and they couldnt fault it! They suggested it was a fault in the security system (maybe the clutch switch??). Once we got it started again (we dont know how?? But it started again after about 30 mins), we took it to Tweed Hyundai, and they couldnt find anything wrong either! This went on for about 2 months. My wife used to always get stranded at shopping centres etc with our 6 month baby boy in the back seat. Sometimes the car would not start for up to an hour! Obviously, this just wasn't good enough for a brand new car! Anyway, Tweed Hyundai finally figured out that the key chip receiver in the car was faulty and would only work every now and then. This has since been replaced and we have not had a problem since! However, over the 2 months that it was happening, we were starting to get quite disgusted with Hyundai and were at our "wits-end" when they kept saying they couldnd find anything wrong with it!

PROBLEM #2

Yesterday, (car is now 7 months old), the clutch decided to go in the car! We could not put it into gear at all! This almost caused a major disaster for us when my wife and baby boy were travelling through a busy intersection and she couldnt get it into gear, and was narrowly missed by a speeding semi! She managed to limp home in the car, but was an absolute blubbering mess! She was almost hysterical at the thought of her and my boy almost being wiped out by a semi because the car wouldnt go into gear. This obviously isnt good. Anyway, Hyundai have just picked the car up from our place (totally un-drivable) and will hopefully repair it.

For the first 3 months, we were absolutely wrapped in the car and couldnt fault it! It handled great, looked great, and had great features! We were defending Hyundai against our friends who kept telling us they were crap cars. I realise that mechanical faults do occur as a matter of course, but as my wife said, she had an Excel for 4 years (bought it secondhand) and never had a fault. She got rid of it as it was getting old and wanted a new car so she didnt have to worry about any problems as it was a "brand new car!" One of the things that make it worse for us, is that out baby boy travels with her in the I30. So any problems are amplified as the safety of our kid is at stake (as well as the missus!). I dont think I'd buy a Hyundai again after our experience!

Hi Geoffro,
I really sympathise, its always worse when you have children in the car.
Problem 1 would have been very difficult to detect, because it was intermittent.
The clutch is also a tricky one, because it depends how it is driven, I have heard of some makes of cars needing new clutches every 30,000, and manuafacturers not honoring warranty as its one of those things that possibly be can to do with the way its driven.These things happen, what is important is how its dealt with. Please keep us informed.
I think technically its not covered, its one of the things I checked, worse case scenario what could go wrong, and how much, it was about $500 or less for a new one. After four years you might expect it. But chances are at that low kms they will fix it free.

There is another post under General discussion - What do you think of your i30?
Near the end there is a comparison of different makes for reliablity, performance etc.
Check them all compared to the i30.

This one is from a Mercedes A-Class
What things have gone wrong with the car?
During the first two months of having the car, the electric windows would go up and down on their own.

Within six months of owning the car, a warning light came on advising the security system was not working.

Frequent hard starting.

Car died on us when we were 2,000km from home. Got it started and had to limp to a Mercedes garage for computer resetting.

Replace battery at 30,000 km.

A/C stopped working when picked up from dealer after a servicing.

Two headlights and one taillight burned out so far.

"tailgate not closed" warning light stays on.

Something in the transmission went bang six weeks ago. Car was in the dealer for two weeks.

Car wouldn't accelerate above 50km.hr intermittently. Had to pull over and re-start the car.

Went out of country for two week holiday. Came home to a dead car. Had to call road side assistance to start it.

kinesiologykid · **Reply #5: September 25, 2008, 13:50:34**

Quote from: "geoffro316"

Wondering if anyone else has had major problems??

Manual I30 SX, purchased new in Feb 2008

PROBLEM #2

Yesterday, (car is now 7 months old), the clutch decided to go in the car! We could not put it into gear at all! This almost caused a major disaster for us when my wife and baby boy were travelling through a busy intersection and she couldnt get it into gear, and was narrowly missed by a speeding semi! She managed to limp home in the car, but was an absolute blubbering mess! She was almost hysterical at the thought of her and my boy almost being wiped out by a semi because the car wouldnt go into gear. This obviously isnt good. Anyway, Hyundai have just picked the car up from our place (totally un-drivable) and will hopefully repair it.

For the first 3 months, we were absolutely wrapped in the car and couldnt fault it! It handled great, looked great, and had great features! We were defending Hyundai against our friends who kept telling us they were crap cars. I realise that mechanical faults do occur as a matter of course, but as my wife said, she had an Excel for 4 years (bought it secondhand) and never had a fault. She got rid of it as it was getting old and wanted a new car so she didnt have to worry about any problems as it was a "brand new car!" One of the things that make it worse for us, is that out baby boy travels with her in the I30. So any problems are amplified as the safety of our kid is at stake (as well as the missus!). I dont think I'd buy a Hyundai again after our experience!

Hi again Geoffro,
Found one of the reviews on a clutch, this is from a Subaru Forester:

13th Jan 2004, 11:53
We have had the same issue with our 1998 Forester. In the past five years we have had the manual clutch replaced three times. Complained to Subaru seven (7) times before clutch exploded on January 23, 2001 (27,233 miles), Subaru agreed to replace because of documentation. The clutch went again on August 2, 2002 (41,761) This time we paid. Finally clutch went again on May 27, 2003 (49,003). We dumped the car.

Remember please let us know how they deal with it. In another life I worked in restaurants, including a stint as Head Waiter, and problems do happen, but what is really important is how its dealt with.

Hemmi · **Reply #6: September 25, 2008, 17:31:16**

hi geoffro316

Sorry to hear about your i30 problems.

But you have to remember that this is normal, you cant expect all cars from factory to work 100%, there are and has always been a monday edition of every car,
People sometime forget what a complicated machine cars are, of course we all want them to work 100% for us and someone else gets the monday car, in this case you're the monday car owner and the dealer is suppose to do every thing they can to help you, it's not always easy to find out whats causing problems and again people have to remember that there are so many little things in your car connected to bigger and more complicated things.

And of course some dealerships are cra* , luckily the only hyundai dealership here is good and the service is excellent

you cant blame one car

eye30 · **Reply #7: September 25, 2008, 20:19:07**

Welcome geoffro316 to the forum.

Also, just read your report on the HH site.

I bet your wife was "besides" herself especially with the baby on board in the situation at the junction. How is she now, has she driven since?

Hopefully, it won't put her off driving the i30 once you get it back as it's a great familiy car.

PS - Being a Pom what type of vehicle is a semi?

Hemmi · **Reply #8: September 25, 2008, 20:32:30**

think its lorry in Pomish, or maybe trailer.

Dazzler · **Reply #9: September 26, 2008, 12:54:31**

Yep, You're right Hemmi (Semi is short for Semi-Trailer e.g. very large truck also sometimes known as prime-mover)

Like every one else, I'm also sorry to hear about your bad go Geoff... We have had one other member with some major issues but 2 out of 260 is a very impressive strike rate.

But we know that doesn't help you, so hope it all gets fixed to your satifaction....

LuciferDarklord · **Reply #10: September 27, 2008, 15:33:51**

Sorry to hear about your troubles mate... As for the loan car, if you kick up a bit of a stink without getting offensive, it seems to work. Once I had my Tucson booked in for a service and the stupid woman in service department forgot to book my loan car. After 10 minutes of ´persuasion´ they suddenly found me a car to lend for the day. A second time, I had a oil leak from the transfer case on my Tucson, which seemed to be getting worse. They couldnt give me a loan car for two weeks as they were all booked out. When I asked her on the phone if the dealer would then cover any consequences of the oil running out completely and seizing the transfer case, again they suddenly found me a loan car for the next day.

Looks like I have another problem with the Tucson now - the transmission. If i am overtaking and standing on the throttle, it seems to hold on to second gear way too long, hitting the rev limiter (~6500 RPM) before shifting. Hope its not a new tranny job. I´ve never really been totally happy with the trans in the Tucson, short stroke V6 - heavy car and only 4 ratios always seem to have it struggling for torque. Dont think I´ll have that issue when the i30 comes in!

ComfortMatt · **Reply #11: December 21, 2008, 22:55:36**

Quote from: Hemmi on September 25, 2008, 17:31:16

hi geoffro316

Sorry to hear about your i30 problems.

But you have to remember that this is normal, you cant expect all cars from factory to work 100%, there are and has always been a monday edition of every car,
People sometime forget what a complicated machine cars are, of course we all want them to work 100% for us and someone else gets the monday car, in this case you're the monday car owner and the dealer is suppose to do every thing they can to help you, it's not always easy to find out whats causing problems and again people have to remember that there are so many little things in your car connected to bigger and more complicated things.

And of course some dealerships are cra* , luckily the only hyundai dealership here is good and the service is excellent

you cant blame one car

I agree you always get that '1' car and it seems you have, we have had hyundais for years, the wife has a 96 accent with 160,000 miles on the clock and that still buzzes round all day every day no hassles, think it can be luck of the draw. I have heard of people handing their keys back for new 911 turbos as there are so many faults, afraid to say it but its one of those things that happens.

geoffro316 · **Reply #12: February 06, 2009, 21:49:01**

G'day guys and gals!

Ok, here's the end result!

Clutch was replaced at no cost. Tweed Hyundai had never had to replace one in an i30 before so they apparently had to get some "directions" over the phone to replace it.

Car is going good now! Obviously we were a bit peeved off with Hyundai when we started to have problems, especially with our little boy riding in the car. Now, after our experiences, I can honestly say I "would" buy another Hyundai again!

I guess the thing that really got me offside was the ignition problem. Like I said, it would happen on a regular basis, and my wife would be stranded places, and the fact the Hyundai couldnt find the problem for about 2 months really got my budgie-smugglers in a twist! I know it was hard for them to locate the problem, but when my wife would take the car to them, she always brought it home without them being able to find anything. The day I finally take it in, they find it straight away! I dunno, maybe it was con-incidence??? Lets hope!

Anyway, now that these problems are fixed, I'm back to my original thoughts on the car! I love it! I own a Ford BA MkII SR Falcon which is a great car, but unless I'm driving a huge distance, it stays in the garage as I prefer to drive the Hyundai around locally. The only probelm I have with it now is that it has PINK floral seatcovers!!! ARGGGH!! I get weird looks when stopped at the traffic lights! I guess it's a bit better than my wifes other Huyndai, which was a white Excel. It had a huge pink sticker accross the rear window that said "PRINCESS!" You can imagine how dissapointed guys were when they pulled up next to me at the traffic lights, turned their stereo up and wound their window down to check out the driver and realised it was a bald headed bloke behind the wheel!

My faith has been restored!

Seoul-mate · **Reply #13: February 06, 2009, 21:55:49**

Good news geoffro !!!!!!!!!

Hemmi · **Reply #14: February 06, 2009, 21:56:13**

Good news

Dazzler · **Reply #15: February 07, 2009, 09:52:14**

That's great Princess .. whoops I mean Geoff...

Lets hope it's happy motoring from now on...

eye30 · **Reply #16: February 07, 2009, 11:41:31**

Quote from: geoffro316 on February 06, 2009, 21:49:01

I guess the thing that really got me offside was the ignition problem.

Great news that all probs have been fixed AND you would buy another I30 even after the "near miss"
But have I missed a posting re:what was the problem with the ignition?

Can you repost.

Thanks

Merlot · **Reply #17: February 28, 2009, 06:26:39**

Hi Picked up an I30 Friday and Saturday car would not start happened 3 times while wife was shopping best thing was 1st time was back at the dealer we bought it from and they had the loan car ready when it just started mine is an 11/07 model but only done 17000 ks probably because it wouldn't start. Spoke to my daughters partner who is a mechanic and worked for Hyundai dealer said it was common fault so had it a day and back to get it fixed on Monday but at least we know what it is [we hope] so you are not alone with this one
see ya Peter

Dazzler · **Reply #18: February 28, 2009, 09:08:18**

Quote from: aussiewinetours on February 28, 2009, 06:26:39

would not dealer said it was common fault...

Hi Peter,

Don't think not starting is that common with i30's... Probably only heard it mentioned once b4 on this site and we have nearly 480 members in 40 countries...

Hope they have sorted it now..

Merlot · **Reply #19: March 01, 2009, 21:09:29**

Hi Dazzling-Darryl
Thanks for that but like I said my daughters partner was a foreman for Hyundai and the part in question is the antenna coil in the ignition switch and he has changed hundreds not only in I30s but in the whole range he also said the chip in the key is also another problem with them but hey as long as they fix it who cares thanks

daisy · **Reply #20: April 26, 2009, 12:00:42**

Geoffro316,
Like eye30, I want to know the details of the fault with the ignition. I have posted a new topic in the petrol problems and issues area describing my intermittent starting fault also, and I would like to give some hints to the dealer when I take it back in. You should go check it out and see how I am prepared to handle a failure wherever it happens (hotwired the fuel pump).

What did they do to fix the ignition fault?

Daisy

Dazzler · **Reply #21: April 26, 2009, 12:04:56**

Hi Daisy,

Unfortunately Geoff isn't a forum fan.. he hasn't been back on since 7th Feb when his car was fixed.. you could try sending him a PM which should get redirected to his email...