"Free" oil change

When I bought my Sonata, the dealer gave me a booklet with coupons for free
oil changes. I was in there today to get my fuel tank level sender replaced
under warranty, which went well at no expense to me. While there, I asked
about the free oil changes. I've been doing them myself using Hyundai
filters since new because it is a 40 mile drive to the dealer. The service
rep told me the oil was free but I would have to pay for the filter and
'supplies'. This amounts to $11, so my 'free' oil change would cost $11
plus the 3.5 gallons of gas for the round trip ($14) to the dealer. Such a
deal.
I bought a Kia Sedona in 2003 and get free oil changes and tires on it since
new. I've never paid a penny. WTF is up with Hyundai????? While I was
there today, they tried to tell me I needed a new cabin filter (of course,
they emptied my glove box to get at it and then stuffed everything back in).
I said NO. Then they told me I needed new tires and an alignment. Granted
the tires are near their lifetime, they are not at the wear indicators yet
and I measured the depth across the tread and it's very close. No cupping,
no abnormal wear pattern and no worn edges. No pulling to one side or
vibrations of any kind. This is one pushy dealership. Unfortunately. it's
the only one around this rural area of Georgia.

 

Don't blame Hyundai, blame the dealer. You received a premium that the
dealer uses to get you to his shop. It has nothing to do with the
manufacturer at all. The dealer is in business to make a profit and this is
just an enticement to get you close enough to pick your pockets. Buy the
cabin filter for about $12 and do it yourself rather that pay the dealer $70
for a ten minute job.

While I was

Most dealers are that way. I never use them for routine service.

 

Sure I blame the dealership, not necessarily Hyundai, as I mistakenly made
it sound. We'll see if Hyundai responds to my experience when and if they
read my email. THEN if nothing is done, I WILL blame Hyundai, too. I love
my Sonata and will get another one - when the mileage is up around 40-50
mpg, which is entirely within their grasp, like every other auto maker. I
did replace the cabin filter with an aftermarket one a couple of months ago,
which means it probably ticked them off that it wasn't a Hyundai product.

Using a dealership for everyday maintenance is asking for trouble. In the
waiting room yesterday, was a single mom getting her Accent worked on. They
talked her into an alignment for $89.99, tire rotation for $30, while she
was there to get her free $11 oil change. Of course, that's the
dealership's fault.

I did pick up 3 more oil filters while I was there for $6.10 each, which is
a bargain even though I bought a couple at a dealer in Pa. a month ago for
$5.40. I told them to keep their $1.00 metal drain plug gaskets because I
bought 30 of them from germanautoparts.com for $0.11 each. It is the same
gasket as Jettas, Kia's, and others.

 

Why would you blame Hyundai in any way, if they don't respond to your email
abou something a dealer is doing? Yeah - customer relations and all that
crap. As you admit - it's not a Hyundai matter. It's a dealer matter.

It is. Sad, but true. Required maintenance is one thing but there is a lot
of unnecesary maintenance foisted on unknowing people by unscrupulous
people. Buyer beware.

 

It does say 'Hyundai' out front so I would HOPE that Hyundai cares and
monitors how well its dealerships treat their customers because ultimately
it boils down to how many cars Hyundai produces. Look at the Smart Car.
Roger Penske is taking a very active role in monitoring and controlling how
the dealerships treat HIS customers. After this morning's news showing
every automaker except Honda down in sales, I would hope that Hyundai cares.
It also showed that every segment was down with, of course, SUV's down the
worst at 37% followed by pick me up trucks and then crossovers. Believe it
or not Toyota was down but that was because they couldn't produce enough
Pries.

 

The way dealer franchises work in the US, there is really nothing the
manufacturer can do to punish the dealer.

 

Hyundai can apply some pressure, but won't be cutting off their nose t
spite their face, either. There's no way Hyundai will be able to make th
dealer stop doing this

 

"In the waiting room yesterday, was a single mom getting her Accent worke
on. They talked her into an alignment for $89.99, tire rotation for $30
while she was there to get her free $11 oil change. Of course, that's th
dealership's fault."

I think that all depends on whether those things were warranted. Even a
my own place of employment, I see things sold that I think ar
unnecessary. By the same token, there could be very legitimate reason
for recommending an alignment and rotation, most notably tire wea
patterns.

 

Yeah - I know that in any situation one can always make a case that the
manufacturer ought to be concerned for the unrelated actions of their
representatives, and to a point that is true. But in this case you're
talking about a dealership charging $11 for fees on an oil change offering
that Hyundai had nothing to do with and more importantly, has nothing at all
to do with the 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. While it might be arguable
that Hyundai should care about every little thing a dealer does, there is a
practical limit to which one should attempt to hold a manufacturer.

Don't bet your house on how much Roger Penske really cares about those
customers, despite published rhetoric. Once Roger's business picks up a bit
you'll see that "care" drop off in direct proportion.

 

I bought a new Elantra in Jan. and have had the oil changed twice for free.
They gave me five free oil changes for the first year and they are for sure
free. No pressure to do anything else no fees.

 

This was brought home to me the other day when I got four new tires at
Sears. As the last entry in the invoice, there appeared "Alignment -$69.95"
This was on the replacements of a pair of front tires that had normal wear,
no cupping, no uneven wear, at over 60,000 miles, just a lack of deep enough
tread.
.. I had mentioned nothing about a desire for an alignment. I said "no,
thanks" and they deleted the alignment.
A few years ago, I experienced a large oil leak, and without checking its
source, took it to an independent garage where I'd had honest work (at
honest prices) done before. They called me a couple of hours later and
told me to come pick it up. The charge was $22 and change, for just an oil
and filter change. When I asked what the oil leak was, the mechanic said
that the oil filter was a little loose and had spewed oil over the engine
(they had not done the previous oil change so it hadn't been their fault.)
They even cleaned up the engine at no charge.
I shudder to think what a dealer would have diagnosed the problem as. I'd
probably still be paying for it!

 

It all depends on the dealer. I'd like to think that most would have don
the same thing, give or take the free cleaning. And that's actually bee
my experience at most dealerships where I've worked. Among seve
different dealers, I cannot think of a single one where technicians wer
encouraged to pretend problems were worse than actual, or one that eve
knowingly allowed such practices.

On the other hand, selling unnecessary maintenance seems to be
profit-making staple, at dealers and independents alike