Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 07:46
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - Collins63

Hi All.

I took our car to local dealer 3 weeks ago to get air con regassed - we bought it used in September and found out at the start of summer that air con not cooling (clearly we'd not needed it till then). After regas, it cooled for a day and then became less effective and was making some painful noises. So back to dealer...

Who this time says the compressor's damaged 'a stone's gone right through it' - and because this is damage, it's not covered under warranty - and they want nearly £800 to fix it.

1. How can a stone go right through a metal pressure vessel?

2. £800 for parts, 3 hours labour + VAT - are they taking the proverbial or is this really a fair price?

3. Where would I stand warranty-wise if we bought a used compressor and had it fitted elsewhere?

Thanks in advance.

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 09:19
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - Paul G1pdc

My 70 year old father owns a ford fiesta 1.4 zetec. same issues, stone broke the aircon, he asked the ford dealer why a grill isn't fitted over the front to protect it, they just said it needs a huge air flow...(funny my old volvo doesn't need that!!!)

anyway....he was told that it was going to cost over £500+vat. unless there was other damage they they hadn't seen....(ie lets add a little bit more to the bill when we've got it all in bits)

anyway I found an aircon specalist near Alyesbury who did the whole job, ie replaced the parts and re-gased and even garantees the items for approx 2 years i think it was....for 1/3rd of the main dealer price....

.

warrenty...in your case, if the dealer said the parts arn;t covered your not going to affect any warrenty by having non warrenty parts replaced....same as tyres etc....I think its a shame that you've only had the car a short time and this happens and your told it not covered....(aircon,,,we use ours quite a bit in the winter, is clears the windscreen a lot faster than blowing warm air at it....it takes all the moisture out of the air, hence clearing the steamed up windows faster.)

paul.

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 10:24
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - bonzo dog

Hi Collins, sorry to hear of the situation but you can't balme anyone for a simple accident.

Stone damage to a compressor is very common you may be surprised to hear.

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 10:39
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - nortones2

I'd like to see the stone that breaks open a pressure vessel. Now, the condenser (aka as radiator) in a vulnerable position might be relatively easily damaged, but that is only a small part of the system. £150 to replace?

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 12:34
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - bintang

The warranty exception really is a surprise, Collins 63, and makes me realise that the 5-year warranty on my i30 hatcback isn't all I assumed. My own nasty surpise was that the battery is only covered for 2.50 years, hence an expensive replacement.

Incidentally, I run the aircon constantly to avoid lubrication problems

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 12:47
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - bonzo dog

The warranty exception really is a surprise, Collins 63, and makes me realise that the 5-year warranty on my i30 hatcback isn't all I assumed

The problem, as often is the case, is customer expectations & assumptions.

I once had a customer who came to me wanting a new tyre under warranty. When I pointed out the nail in the tyre he said "well a new tyre shouldn't pick up a nail, should it!"

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Tue 26 Jul 2011 12:49
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - bonzo dog

I'd like to see the stone that breaks open a pressure vessel. Now, the condenser (aka as radiator) in a vulnerable position might be relatively easily damaged, but that is only a small part of the system. £150 to replace?

I might have got mixed up with the compressor & condensor. I'll check & come back

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Wed 27 Jul 2011 21:27
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - Collins63

Hi All - and apologies - I meant to write that the condenser was damaged, not the compressor, which makes a lot more sense, but still seems astonishingly expensive to fix...

Any other recommendations of how to get this done cheaper?

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Wed 27 Jul 2011 21:36
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - Avant

I do hope you can get this sorted - if not under warranty, then perhaps by an aircon specialist as suggsted by Paul above,

Whjat we can all pick up from this is that if you buy a Hyundai or Kia with a longer-than-usual warranty, check it against other makers' 3-year warranties and see:

- whether there are more exclusions, and

- whether you can live with them.

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Tue 23 Aug 2011 23:47
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - Collins63

Hi All. An update - I sourced a load of quotes to get this work done, which ranged from a couple of hundred to nearly £800 - all from Hyundai dealerships.

Finding the best quote cheaper than the rest, I checked (via email) that the quote was for replacement part, labour, regassing and VAT all in. I got an email to confirm this, so booked the car in.

A couple of days later, I received another email to say the garage has priced it up based on the wrong part and the work would now cost nearly £600 all in. Apparently the condenser for the diesel i30 costs substantially more than the same part for the petrol model.

I'd really appreciate your advice on this - where do I stand? Can I insist they honour the quote they gave and confirmed (twice) in writing?

Thanks in advance.

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Wed 24 Aug 2011 12:36
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - catsdad

On the face of it you have a contract. They offered a deal and you accepted. However it does sound like an honest mistake given your other quotes. Even if its a mistake on their part you could go down the "legal" route (with the bother and stress that involves) to enforce the contract. However why not try to reach a more amicable settlement. For example can they meet you half-way or maybe throw in a free service as a gesture of goodwill. I would explain the issue to the service manager and see what they offer. Good luck.

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Wed 24 Aug 2011 12:36
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - Dave N

No manufacturer or warranty will warrant against a stone hitting and piercing the condensor. Just as they won't warrant against a stone breaking a headlamp or windscreen.

Yes, many parts are expensive these days, especialy for some korean and japanese cars. Of course, someone has to pay for the long warranties offered.

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Wed 24 Aug 2011 13:09
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - davmal
So if you want cheap spares, buy a non oriental car, possibly with a carp warranty. Jags, Bentley, Rolls and Range Rovers should fit the bill, after all you're not paying for after sales support. Bit of a generalisation I know, but I just thought I'd join in.
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Wed 24 Aug 2011 13:22
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - gordonbennet

Why a new condensor, radiator repair shop carry out a simple solder repair instead?

Refit, gas up, job done.

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Wed 24 Aug 2011 16:50
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - madf

Solder repair?

probably because metal has cracked in several places.. and of course the heating/cooling cylce will probably lead to early failure...

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Thu 25 Aug 2011 14:35
Hyundai i30 Estate - £800 non-warranty surprise - gordonbennet

''probably because metal has cracked in several places.. and of course the heating/cooling cylce will probably lead to early failure...'''

I thought the condensor was stone damaged, presumably punctured then not cracking up.

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