To Hyundaitech --- Question on 2005 Tucson service

Hyundaitech, I'm coming up on my 60k service interval for the 2005
Tucson v6. I've gotten conflicting info from a few of the local Hyundai
dealerships on what needs to be done at this interval.

I need to do the suggested "normal" work (oil change, tranny/radiator
flushes, tire balance/rotate, etc)

Price for this service range from $369 - $750 (time to complete ranges
from 2.5 to 6 hours)

Second, I'm told I need to change the timing and drive belts by two of
the dealerships while a third says there is no timing belt to change but
there is a timing chain that just to be tightened.

Price for timing belt changes range from $369 - $599 (except for the one
dealership who says they tighten the chain as part of the 60k service).
(time to complete ranges from 0 to 4 hours).

Dumb question - who do I believe and what is a reasonable price to
expect for the service interval and timing belt/chain work?

As you can see above there are some extremes on what a consumer can
expect to find in any given market.

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Ken in Florida

 

Hey, Ken. Here's what's required:

1. Oil change.
2. Air filter.
3. Spark plug replacement.
4. Timing belt replacement. (Yes, you have one.)
5. Replace coolant.
6. Several inspections.

Since the plenum must be removed to replace the plugs, I'd also recommend
replacing the plug wires. This will hopefully prevent spending another
large some of money in the near future because you have a wire problem.

You'll probably want to replace the drive belt when replacing the timing
belt, especially if it's in poor condition. The belt must be removed to
replace the timing belt, so there should be no additional labor to replace
it at that time.

Replacing or flushing the transmission fluid is required only if the fluid
condition warrants or if you fit the severe use stipulations in the owner's
manual. If it were my car, even if the fluid were in good condition, I'd
drain and fill it every 30k just for good measure. But again, that's my
personal preference.

I also believe that the coolant service only need be done on a time
interval basis. If you've already replaced the coolant once, then it's
been less than two years since you've done it. In my opinion, the only
reason to do it again based on mileage is for warranty protection.

You'll probably find that most service facilities add extras (such as
chemicals or special "cleaning" services) to the service that aren't
required, and in most cases aren't needed. Find out what, specifically,
each service entails and compare with what you need and what you want to
do. Then you can do a reasonable job of comparing apples to apples. You
may find it least expensive to purchase everything a la carte.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I forgot to mention that one service
advisor said if I replace the timing belt BEFORE 60,000 miles Hyundai
provides warranty on belt and damage caused by belt breakage up to
100,000 miles. But, if I wait to replace at, say, 60,001 miles Hyundai
will only warrant for one year. I've never heard of this type of
warranty extension with Hyundai. Is this accurate info?

 

That sounds like absolute BS. While they specify that the timing belt
should be replaced at 60K miles, they don't say "at or before". A few
miles one way or the other doesn't matter and there is no way they could
ever enforce something like that.

My experience is that what Hyundai wants to see is that customers make a
good faith effort to maintain their vehicles as specified in the
Maintenance Manual. Whether you change your timing belt at 59,936 miles
or 60,023 miles doesn't make any difference. They covered a transmission
problem for me on my old Excel when it was nearly 4000 mile out of warranty.

 

This isn't a warranty extension, you already have this (if you're the
original owner). Your warranty covers the timing belt for 10
years/100,000 miles, provided you replace it at the proper interval. If
you're beyond the interval and it brakes, you could be out of luck. But
if you've replaced it, you're still covered. Doesn't much matter when it
was done, just that it was done and you haven't reached the next
maintenance interval or the end of the warranty period.