The Service man says I need to have $600 dollars worth of work done on my 2004 V6 Sonata (65,000 miles on it) in order to keep the car in warranty. Says if I take it elsewhere and something goes wrong with the car, Hyundai could refuse to honor the warranty because it was done wrong. Better to bring in to the dealership (he said). Do I have any recourse? I was laid off over a year ago and am not working. Wants t do tesionr, drive belt and timing belt.
Yes, you need to get your timing belt changed at 60000 miles, the tensioner and water pump should be changed at the same time. The dealers price doesn’t sound too bad. Call an independent shop in your area and find out what it would cost there. Then decide if the difference is worth being between the dealer and your shop if the engine fails and each one is blaming the other.
If something goes wrong with timing belt performed by non-dealer, yes the warranty claim related to a failure is NOT covered by Hyundai powertrain which is long (100k?). And the claim will run into the $2000+ range to correct.
Timing belts and related parts either fail completely or work. So the dealer cannot blame another warranty issue back to the timing belt.
Either way you need to perform it.
You could read the warranty yourself and see if the dealer is telling you the truth. In most cases, as long as you can prove the work was done (you are keeping records, right?) the warranty remains in effect, regardless of who did the work.
In any case, you REALLY need to have the timing belt replaced. The dealer’s price is in line with standard charges for this job. If that’s all they’re charging you I say let them do it.
Agree; the most you’ll save at an independent garage is about $100 or so. It’s not worth the hassle to shop around in my opinion. But get it done. Hyundai has a great warranty, and it’s important to keep it valid.
Unless you are absolutely sure that an independent shop is thoroughly qualified and experienced with Hyundais it would be advisable to let the dealer do that work. There have been many engines trashed here because of incompetent timing belt replacements on those cars. Hyundais are at the top of the list of engines likely to self destruct when the timing belt fails and far too many shops can’t, or won’t educate a mechanic to do those cars correctly. Hyundai is very generous in their efforts to satisfy customers when the repairs and maintenance are done correctly and properly documented. I have seen a Hyundai Sonata with over 300,000 miles operating on a rural mail route with the original engine and transmission. The owner took the car to the dealer for everything. I couldn’t blame him.
No, I don’t own stock in Hyundai.
I do believe you do need to get the work done, but as I recall there is no need for it to be done my Hyundai, unless they are doing it for free. Assuming you are in the US I believe the law is clear, anyone can do the work and assuming they do it timely and correctly the original factory warranty is intact. If the manufacturer offers to do it for free, then do let them do it.
Dealers are no better (or worse) than independent mechanics for almost anything you might need done on your car. They will almost always charge more per hour and often more for parts and supplies. They also tend to look at repairs a little different than the independent.
A dealer may well recommend work that strictly may not be needed, but could be connected to the problem or maybe replace a part when a little repair would fix it ALMOST as good a new.
There is no need to bring your car to the dealer for any service other than service that is going to be paid for by a recall or original warrantee. During the warranty period be sure to have all required (as listed in the owner's manual) maintenance done and to document all maintenance work.
I suggest that most people would be better off finding a good independent (Not working for a chain) mechanic.
Note: Never ever use a quick oil change place. They are fast cheap and very very bad.