2002 Hyundai Elantra GLS 2.0 from North America

Summary:

The car is relatively inexpensive and some parts are poorly made

Faults:

The clutch failed at 21,466 miles.

General Comments:

I received a recall for the rear brake tube and went to the dealership for them to inspect. At the same time I requested that they look for the cause of an intermittent noise coming from the left rear brake. The tech took the car for a drive and the engine quit. The car was towed back to the dealer to determine the problem. Much to my surprise I was told that the clutch was destroyed and that there was no warranty coverage after 12k miles. Having driven standard shift cars for 30 plus years I insisted that there was something wrong. I requested that the factory rep be contacted. He was and said it was probably my driving habits. Hyundai would not cover any of the cost. We're heading for arbitration. Has anyone experienced clutch failure at low mileage? Hyundai seems to think this is normal wear. I should have kept my 86 Mazda 626. It had 256k, got great mileage and had the original clutch. Guess I knew how to drive that one.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 19th December, 2003

18th Mar 2004, 12:22

I was recently advised by the dealer service shop that my son's Elantra GT needed a clutch replacement although the car has only 40k miles and he drives conservatively. I was amazed when the service rep said it was not covered under the "bumper to bumper" and power-train warranties. I am currently waiting to hear back from Hyundai regarding my request that they cover it as a defective part since clutch plates don't normally wear out that quickly, something the service rep admitted. If they decline coverage, as I suspect will be the case after reading your comment, I will probably litigate the issue. The warranty representations we received through advertising and sales pitches may be misleading, and warranty exclusions are not necessarily applicable to defective parts.

I'd be interested to hear where your situation ended up?

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2002 Hyundai Elantra GLS from North America

Summary:

Terrible paint quality on new cars

Faults:

I really like this car up until last week. I was washing the car and noticed several spots on the hood. upon further inspection I saw that these "spots" were actually places where the paint had crackled and fallen off. The primer is actually visible. This car is only 10 months old so understandable I was upset. I immediately took the car to Morrie's Brooklyn Park Hyundai in Brooklyn Park, MN only to be told that either a bird had defecated on the car or tree sap had fallen on it. Either way the service rep told me that it was not covered by the warranty and would be $450 to repaint. He then said that I could just leave it and it would be fine. I am under the understanding that once there is damage to the clear-coat the car is susceptible to rust. This service person's ideas of "just leaving" whole in the paint is plain stupidity. The argument that this damage is from a natural cause alone is absurd. The car is garaged at night and not parked under any trees. The service was awful, I am now in contact with a regional service rep who is supposed to inspect the car. If that fails I will be contacting the BBB with regards to inferior paint quality. It sounds like Hyundai has a serious problem with their black paint and uses the "bird poop" excuse to cover anything.

General Comments:

Hyundai has very poor paint quality. Service personnel is terrible upon confrontation about this problem. I will never purchase a Hyundai again purely from this incident.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th August, 2003

11th Oct 2003, 17:20

Wow, I didn't realize that people were having so many problems with service. I have 12,000 miles on my 2002 Elantra GLS and haven't had any major problems. The one time I had to take it in for a minor repair (covered by warranty), I received excellent service. I got my car from Arrow Hyundai in Milwaukee, WI. They took such good care of me that I would certainly buy from them again.

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