Another i30 on board...

MRH130 · **January 12, 2009, 10:51:30**

Hi Everyone,

I'm another new member, with a slightly different background. I was a Service and Parts Manager at a Hyundai dealership for a couple of years (until I saw the light and got out of the industry altogether late last year!). I have had 3 Hyundais (2 Getzes and the i30) and have grown to love them, although having been in the industry I became a serious Hyundai hater from dealing with the early ones. They have really turned it around, to the point where I would not buy anything else.

I really liked the HD Elantra when it came out, but thought the styling a little dowdy and the interior just a little underdone in every model below the Elite S. Loved the i30 at first sight, and loved it more when I got inside and drove one.

My gift to myself when I left the dealer and moved on to greener pastures was the first MY09 i30 SR, in Crystal White. I added rear mudflaps (I have some fronts as well which I plan to modify to fit over the skirt), bluetooth, i30 floor mats and bonnet protectors. And my personalised plates, bearing my initials and 130 to signify i30.

Being in the position I was in, I was able to obtain the vehicle still wrapped in it's protective rice paper, and clean and Pre-Deliver it myself. Was a bit of work but a great deal of fun for me. I am the only person who has driven my car at all since it had 16km on the clock. It hit 11000km this morning, just 2 months after I first drove it. As I live 150km from work, my car does a HEAP of ks.

With my background I may have more knowledge than some about i30s, I would say I have driven 60 or 70 of them, in various specs. I still have numerous contacts, so if I can help anyone in the group, please feel free to ask.

I guess my choice of model is a discussion for another day, but in addition to all the Getzes in the family, I have just helped my cousin in to an i30 SX CRDi auto, which she is very happy with.

Here is a picture of "Crystal" (named after the colour).
Sorry if this post is too long!

[deleted]

Shambles · **Reply #1: January 12, 2009, 10:57:18**

Greetings MRH and welcome to the club

I'm sure your service & parts knowledge will benefit a lot of members

EymaTeapot · **Reply #2: January 12, 2009, 11:04:28**

Good to have another member, and with a bit of inside knowledge, even better.

Welcome aboard MR.
Nice car

Hemmi · **Reply #3: January 12, 2009, 11:06:16**

Hi MRH130 and welcome

whats MY09 ?

bumpkin · **Reply #4: January 12, 2009, 11:09:18**

Hi to MR, welcome to the club.

Hemmi, MY09 means Manufacture Year 2009.

BigStu · **Reply #5: January 12, 2009, 11:26:33**

Welcome,
It's gotta be a good sign when a Hyundai service manager would still buy one.

I had these great plans of swapping my old sheepskin seat covers over to my new i30. I have just discovered these seat covers will stop the side airbags from working, so it looks like new seat covers are next on my shopping list. All this modern technology!!

Stu

MRH130 · **Reply #6: January 12, 2009, 11:46:58**

Thanks to those who have welcomed me.

As you know Stu, you can get custom made covers to work with the side airbags.

MY09 in the SR is no big deal, it just has the slightly improved emission rating. I just had to have one that nobody else had touched...

In SX and SLX it's worth going for an MY09, bit more standard stuff but a few more $ as well...

Shambles · **Reply #7: January 12, 2009, 11:51:29**

Don't forget to let your cousin know about the club

MRH130 · **Reply #8: January 12, 2009, 11:53:46**

...and sorry, yes as bumpkin says, MY09 stands for Model Year 2009.

You can tell your MY by looking at your VIN number, the digit eight positions in from the end is your MY. i.e. KMHXXXXXX8U123456 is an MY08 and KMHXXXXXX9U123456 is an MY09.

Dazzler · **Reply #9: January 12, 2009, 11:57:37**

Hi MRH130 and welcome..

Very interesting.. (will be interested to hear about why you chose the SR)

and we like long and interesting posting on here...

i30 Roolz · **Reply #10: January 12, 2009, 15:17:48**

Hi there and welcome to the club M8!

Be interested to see how you modify the front mudflaps to fit around the skirt.

GURKHA17 · **Reply #11: January 12, 2009, 18:07:56**

Good day

Welcome to the hood

eye30 · **Reply #12: January 12, 2009, 18:29:00**

Welcome MRH130

As you worked in the Hy trade can you answer this question please.

When a car is delivered to the dealer there is a certain number of k's or miles on the clock.

Has the car actually been drive for those k's or miles or does the odometer not start at ZERO?

If driven, where would that be?
Would that be at the factory as another member who off loads cars from the ships only seems to drive a very short distance before the car is loaded on to transporters

MRH130 · **Reply #13: January 12, 2009, 22:08:55**

Mudflaps: Yep I've seen another SR with aftermarket mudflaps fitted to the front and stockies at the rear, looks ok I guess, but I'm going to try getting arty with the cutting implements and heat gun and some genuine fronts. I can smell disaster in the air...

If it works out I'll post some pics, if it doesn't I'll hide my shame!

Delivery kms: It's a question that's always on my mind too. Yes, the odometer starts at zero. The mileage on your car when you collect it is made up of: running the car up on the rollers at the factory to check everything, driving around parking lots at factory, on to trucks, on to boats (surprisingly long distance), off the boat (again), in to storage yard on the docks, back on to trucks, and pre-delivery road test and cleaning etc. Also if any faults are found on the road test (rattles etc) there may be more test driving required.

Average km on an imported vehicle when delivered to dealer: 10km. Sometimes there is more on the car for other reasons, for instance i30 SRs tend to have another few on top because the body kit is fitted in Australia and they are driven a little to have that done. Mine had 16, which is on the high side but I wasn't going to wait for another one! I was fortunate to be in the position where I could do the PD myself so nobody drove it after 16, but as a member of the public no dealer would let you do that.

Average km on imported vehicle at delivery to customer: 20km. Anywhere between 20 and 30 is ok, if it's got more than that on it I personally would ask questions. People in dealer land will hate me for saying it but that's how I feel about it. Sometimes it means that someone else has done a demo drive in it, sometimes the car has had a problem, but if you want it low, ask why it has so many ks on it. If it's got 50 or 100, in my view that's not on unless they give you a discount. I have seen dealers (not the one I worked for) try to sell vehicles with up to 350km as brand new. From my point of view that's a demonstrator and should be sold as such.

With cars such as i30s that are in hot demand, you should also be aware that if your dealer has to buy the car in from another dealer to satisfy your order then it will probably have more ks on it. It will (in most cases) have been cleaned and Pre-Delivered at the first dealer and any dealer worth his or her salt would do it again when they received it. Not a huge problem but something to be aware of if, like me, you're a fusspot when it comes to just how "new" your new car is.

I personally am very very fussy about my cars and when I purchased my Getzes (when I didn't work for Hyundai) I told them I would not accept a car with more than 20km on it. There's nothing actually wrong with a car with more than that on the clock but like I say, I'm extremely fussy and it matters to me.

Another long post! Hope that helps anyway!

Shambles · **Reply #14: January 12, 2009, 22:29:29**

Thanks MRH 130 - like I said, you are a great asset here. Splendid "insider info"

AussieNess · **Reply #15: January 13, 2009, 00:54:14**

Welcome MRH130! Your knowledge will certainly be appreciated here.

Our car had 70kms on it when we picked it up. Thought it was probably used for a test drive or two. Didn't make a fuss about it at the time as you need to pick your battles and wanted to start the relationship with the dealer on a good footing.

Little did I know that upon first service (booked for 8am so I'd be the first done) that I would be forgotten about! I started to enquire at about 9.50am what was the hold up only to be told I was done. (Probably had been sitting in waiting room for an hour and half unnecessarily!) As I live 40 minutes away the whole thing took approx. 3 hours for first service!!!!!!!!!!!

Apologies for the vent!

Rubix · **Reply #16: January 13, 2009, 02:13:44**

Quote from: MRH130 on January 12, 2009, 22:08:55

MR-Hi-30's long post

Haha. Just kidding. I read the whole thing. I feel the same as you MRH, I didn't want a car that someone else had driven, so I made them deliver the car to me without any internal detailing, the plastic still on the seats. That means I can protect the seats without any dust getting in first, but also ensures I get the brand spanking new perfect condition brand new car that I paid for. 18.1km on the clock when I picked it up. I was happy with that. I installed my spoiler myself, much to my wife's initial dismay, in part due to the $200 savings, in part because I wanted to make sure the holes were in exactly the right place.

One question - I have an answer from Thumper which I haven't tried yet, it may be what you'll suggest also - how do you get the fuel economy/power rating sticker off the window?
Thumper's suggestion is to get a slightly damp sponge (I don't have any sponges at home !

!) and stick it on the dash underneath it and let the sun steam it up, therefore loosening the glue. I was wondering though - what does pre-delivery do here? I can't imagine they leave the car in the sun for hours waiting for it to drop off... how would they remove them on rainy days?

jay · **Reply #17: January 13, 2009, 11:27:29**

The fuel economy rating sticker isn't much of a sticker.. just a piece of paper with 1cm sticker border around it. My window got a bit dirty from me peeling it off... I'll check it tommorow tho!

blawler · **Reply #18: January 13, 2009, 11:47:55**

A hair dryer might work. Like with the badges..

eye30 · **Reply #19: January 13, 2009, 17:30:47**

Thanks MRH130 for that info.

Mine had 25 miles on but I did 9 of them on a test run.

I know it had been used as the dealer said it was their first but I go a bit of a discount anyway.

MRH130 · **Reply #20: January 14, 2009, 08:18:48**

Fuel consumption stickers - the detailers don't mess around, they just rip it off and use some solvent on the window to get any leftover glue. I carefully peeled mine off and stuck it in my file with all the other build stickers from my car. The cars come with a multitude of stickers from the factory, the boat and the distributor, they all just get unceremoniously ripped off. There's no particular trick that I'm aware of. They probably get harder to remove the older the vehicle gets tho...

Rubix · **Reply #21: January 14, 2009, 11:35:07**

I had to fiddle a little to get the edge out, but once it was out it peeled off relatively easily. the wet towel underneath was useful to get the glue off

eye30 · **Reply #22: January 14, 2009, 18:58:24**

I've still got all the silver stickers with the vin number on on all body panels and the numbers all agree to the cars VIN number.