If you get away paying $1100 your doing good.

My rear hubs froze and so did the alternator bearing. I was at 64K so I decided to do the 60K service at the same time. Cost me just under $3000, and that was 4 years ago.

It's now 20K later and the engine cradle is rotted out. I'm afraid to find out what else they're gonna replace. I feel another $2000 bill coming for a car they offered me $500 trade-in for in 2005.

 

You are aware of this , right???

 

Tandyman,

I am aware of the recall, and would like to have my 2000 Sonata checked at the local dealer, but I am concerned of ways they may have to add additional cost. Any comments on this?

I have had so many instances, at dealers, with my new cars that I am now paranoid about letting others disassemble my car. I do everything I can myself, but a new engine cradle sounds a little daunting.

I once took a nearly new Caddy in to a local brake shop to have the rotors turned, as it was "pulsing".
The put it on the hoist, took everything apart, and told me what services they could do as they reassembled it.
They listed nearly $1000 worth of useless procedures, but they did note that the brake pads were still too new to change.
And their ad was "complete service, $39 per axle".
It was clear I had to buy something to get it put back together. I got out of there for as little as I could, I think it was $80 for their "brake dust cleaning".

Then I borrowed a car and took the rotors to Murrays and they did it for a reasonable price, and the Caddy stopped happily ever after.

I just don't want to expose myself to a situation like that again.

BTW, that place is still in business, it has been 17 years, so the unethical ones can appear to be solid and stable...

 

dbacon, I'm pretty sure tandyman1984's post was in response to JohnCase3 who said it would cost him $2000 to have the engine cradle replaced. He was just reminding him of the recall.

I have complete trust in my dealer. If there is a recall on my car I take it in and they deal with it. They have never tried to do other work. Besides you can always say no. If you don't like your dealer find another one.

In my opinion the worst offenders of trying to upsell to everyone that comes through the door are the chain type places like Midas, Speedy, Mr. Lube, etc. I just avoid using them and support my local dealer and private shops that I trust to do work that I either can't do or don't want to do myself.

 

Thank you, RallyMan, it is good to hear the positive things too, helps me get up the courage to try it. I did come across one dealer that I liked, Rinke Cadilliac in Warren, MI, they were excellent, and I asked them if they sold anything else when I turned in my 93 Caddy, which was a real tuna...
Depreciation alone was 50 cents per mile, and there wasn't a scratch on it.

I won't name the disappointing dealers but their brands were:
Plymouth, Dodge, Olds, Pontiac, Chev, all did sloppy warranty work and screwed things up on new cars I bought there. I won't bore you with details, because This is becoming off-topic, not fair to the thread-starter.

But I did need the positive comment, thanks.

 

i have a 2004 sonata lx 2.7 and when 48 months came around i had 18,000 miles on car.it's definitely insane for hundai to void your warranty for not replaceing timing belt at that mileage.belt is not rotting from inactivity,it's driven everyday.most other brands have just a mileage(60,000) and not a date.i have driven nissans and hondas 80,000 to 118,000 without a belt failure.is this engine built that poorly?i presently have 22,000 on car and i'll be darned if i'll replace a belt at that mileage,i'll trade it first.

 

Since rubber compounds age, I would think the belt should be replaced at a certain age, and I don't think the manufacturer's guidelines would be set too short. I'll bet they have set it according to what they have see from all the manufacturers of belts. and other flexible rubber products.
We have all seen fan belts crack and tires too, so I think it is time to replace that belt. The PO replaced the one on my 2000 Sonata twice, 60K each time, and a local mechanic in town did it for less than $200, as best I can tell. Good time to learn how to do it yourself. Bad time to learn that the manufacturer is giving you good advice.

Search around, reference Craig's list, ask friends for a reference, but don't neglect it.

I read up on this a while ago, and the timing belt was the best design among all those for driving the cam gears. Straight gears, and timing chains, and belts were all compared for performance, noise, and accuracy, and the belt seems the best. I have replaced many timing chains, and they get pretty bad, so as long as you don't want to drive until total failure, you would have to replace the chain more often than the belt, if you wanted to keep the accuracy of the timing within tight tolerances. So I would choose the belt, and actually, with the Federal standards on performance, pollution wise, maybe they can't even use the timing chain anymore.