Repair or Sell?

So I've been thinking about this for a week or so & need some advice.

I have a 2005 Hyundai Tucson that I love. But...damn that Murphy's Law....one month after my warranty expired (& I had my car in the week before it expired for my 35k milage service & a quick once over) my power locks started acting weird. They've gotten progressively worse. Sometimes they don't work AT ALL, sometimes they work after a few tries, sometimes they just click, click, click while I'm driving. Very odd. Anyway, DH was out of town on business last week so I had it in the dealership. They are baffled by it & called Hyundai's service dept. support line & they came up with 2 things they "think" will work. Um...you think?! Come on, that's crap.

So, it would run about $800 to try the 2 options (if I got lucky & option A worked it would only be about $500). Again, they aren't sure though that either option will fix the problem, these are just their best guesses, per Hyundai of N. America.

Ok, my car also needs 4 new tires & a new windshield because it had a ding that cracked recently. So, that's about $1000 ish there. And yes, I realize that is normal maintainance, & totally unrelated to how good the car is, but it's still money going out, KWIM? Adding the maintainance & the repairs, we're looking at $1500-2000.

Well, KBB puts my car around $7500-8500 for trade in value, more if I privately sold it. (The car is totally paid off, BTW.) Obviously with DH working in home building, money is tighter than usual, but we have the cash. My fear is just that I'll sink the money into the car just to have more problems (possibly even the same power locks one if it doesn't get properly fixed) arise & have more repair costs. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be smarter to take the car & the 2K we'd be spending on repairs/maintainance & add some extra cash to the equation & just get a new ride. Not a brand new one, but a used one that has the balance of the warranty on it or is a certified used one.

I really DON'T want to spend the money, but since money isn't growing on trees anymore, I'd be livid if I spent the money to fix the Tucson only to have it become a money pit, KWIM? I'd love to get something with better than 17.5 mpg as well, or if I kept it with a low MPG, I'd love something with sliding doors (OMG, did I just say that?! ).

So....gimme some advice. WWYD? I want your thoughts...pros & cons. Help!

WWID? Make them cover it under warranty. You are only a month out of warranty.

If they don't I wouldn't pay to repair it. My van's locks do the exact same thing, and Honda doesn't know how to fix it, or they said they did and they didn't. We just deal with it. It's annoying yes to be going down the highway and all of a sudden all 5 locks start going crazy. However, you said they weren't locking at all sometimes, which isn't something my van does, so that might be worthy to repair.

I wouldn't sell it, it's only 5 years old. Unless it has 150,000 on it or something. If you can't wheedle them into covering the locks, DON'T go to the Hyundai dealership for the repair.

Go to the poor part of the city, find the dirtiest, rattiest, hole-in-the-wall garage that you can find. There needs to be dried urine on the toilet seat (which should be up), a mystery substance on the floor in the waiting area, and the whole place should reek of cigar smoke. The mechanic should be at least 60 years old, overweight, and smell like grease. You should get at least 3 gratuitous glimpses of his crack in the first 10 minutes.

If you can find this place, hire the guy to fix the car. He'll be dead honest with you, he won't rob you blind, he'll be fast, and he'll work hard to get the job done. He'll also cost about 1/3rd of what you'd pay elsewhere, and he probably will only take check or cash.

Maedze said:

Go to the poor part of the city, find the dirtiest, rattiest, hole-in-the-wall garage that you can find. There needs to be dried urine on the toilet seat (which should be up), a mystery substance on the floor in the waiting area, and the whole place should reek of cigar smoke. The mechanic should be at least 60 years old, overweight, and smell like grease. You should get at least 3 gratuitous glimpses of his crack in the first 10 minutes.

If you can find this place, hire the guy to fix the car. He'll be dead honest with you, he won't rob you blind, he'll be fast, and he'll work hard to get the job done. He'll also cost about 1/3rd of what you'd pay elsewhere, and he probably will only take check or cash.

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LOL! That is so true though. When DH's car needed a whole new rack and pinion (long story) we found a guy like that. Totally hole in the wall place practically under the freeway in the middle of downtown, felt like you needed to know the secret handshake to get in etc....saved us over a thousand bucks over the dealership though, and it's been perfect!

yep me got a place like that too!

I would also try to get them to cover it. My mom's old car was 2 months out of warranty when something (forget what but it was $2000-$3000 to fix) went out or broke and Land Rover ended up covering it under her warranty since it had just run out.

I should try & see if they'll cover it. Here's my family history of buying Hyundai's.

Mom: Jan. '04
Grandma: Feb. '04
Dad: March '04
Sister: April '04 (she sold hers when her warranty exp. & had multiple problems)
Friend: April '04
Me: Nov. '04

I wonder if I could imply that my family gave them a LOT of business & that it's BS & I'm more than happy to be vocal about this BS.

The other part of the equation is this: My car has some value to it, but it will start depreciating much more quickly now that it is 5 years old (& it's a Hyundai, & they go down in value faster). DH's '01 Sequoia has virtually zero value to it because it's 9 years old & has 180k miles on it. While it's running great & we have no desire to trade it in now, at some point we will have to. And I really hate having 2 car pmts at the same time.

So, my thought was get a nice, used vehicle & pay cash, or only finance for 12-18 mos tops & then we can get DH a new ride if/when he is ready & not have 2 car pmts at the same time.

I will have to start harassing Hyundai though. I also know someone on the Board of Directors for Hyunday (OMG, he's a ridiculously wealthy trust fund baby) so maybe I need to email him

DH is a hyundai tech....highest cert you can have with them. I can ask him about it, he is like the go to guy around here. I know for certain there are times they find a way to cover people out off warranty, but only if that person is a loyal customer to the service department. A regular customer that gets all their oil changes and regular maintenance done at the the dealer, they will always find away to get it covered.
What they are saying about calling higher ups is true. They have a tech line that they will call for problem cars..but i dont think they have charged the person to try and fix it with 2 options. So anyway i will ask DH if he has ever heard of this happening before and let you know what he says.

Does your vehicle insurance have road hazard glass? I have that with mine and basically any damage to the windshield as a result of "road hazard" (i.e. flying lump of snow, flying rock, etc.) is covered by a $50 deductible. And if you get it fixed BEFORE it cracks (I realize that's too late for you), all the windshield places around here will waive the deductible. Road hazard glass is an option we had in and pay a few bucks a month for in our premiums. Oh, and road hazard glass claims don't up your premiums.

And I know sometimes around here, people have opted for it but don't remember that they have it so forget to use it, which is why I'd throw it out there for you.

I don't have a Hyundai - so have little experience with them. However - the power locks in my Honda Civic started messing up last year. They don't spontaneously lock/unlock (although every once in a while I hear a sound similar to what they sound like when they lock/unlock, just not as loud as normal). My passenger side lock will not lock or unlock, except for on an odd occasion or two. The Driver's side still always works fine. Honda said the passenger side actuator needed to be replaced. The dealer said they could do this to the tune of $300.

But someone was parting out a Civic on craigslist, and he only wanted $20 for the part. So, I would cruise some part/repair sites for Hyundais, figure out the part that you'd likely need, and then try and find it on eBay. Odds are you can find instructions to try and repair it yourself on the cheap.

That's what I'd try first.

But then, I'd probably consider trading in if my car needed $1-$2k worth of work, too. Actually, I know I'd work hard to find some way to get rid of it and get something else. I HATE having an older vehicle. Even a reliable older vehicle. Because no matter how reliable, the older they get the more stuff they start to need just matter of course (like replacing the timing belt in my car 2 years ago - $350). I'd rather have a set payment each month that I know about and can budget for than a possible repair that pops up with an unpredictable price tag. But that's me. I like being under warranty, too. lol And I agree - there comes a point where its either trade it in, or plan to have it until it completely dies. B/c the depreciation gets bad.

stephie1012 said:

So anyway i will ask DH if he has ever heard of this happening before and let you know what he says.

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OMG, that would be awesome...thanks!

TechnoGranola said:

Does your vehicle insurance have road hazard glass? I have that with mine and basically any damage to the windshield as a result of "road hazard" (i.e. flying lump of snow, flying rock, etc.) is covered by a $50 deductible.

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Well, I could turn it into insurance, but DH's car was hit over the summer in a parking lot & of course, they didn't leave a note. So, that's one claim on our ins. They said if I file the claim for the windshield it counts as our second claim & if we had a third claim, within 3 years, our rates will go up. Well, this is the first claim we've had in like 10 years, but I have no idea if somone is gonna hit us, ya know? So, considering it's a $100 deductible & would count as a claim, it just isn't worth it to us.

littleangelfire said:

And I agree - there comes a point where its either trade it in, or plan to have it until it completely dies. B/c the depreciation gets bad.

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You know, we typically do drive our cars into the ground. My last car was 9.5 years old when I traded it in. I'm just worried that if I wait much longer, the car will start dropping in value & be worth zilch. Then DH & I will need to replace both cars around the same time & I SOOOOO don't want to have to deal with 2 pmts.

Truth be told, we could pay cash if I buy something new (well cash & trade in). I don't want to spend a ton, so whatever I got wouldn't have seat warmers, etc. like I have now, but I don't want a car pmt, so I'll settle for something less pricey, ya know?

Just checked to see if there was a recall covering the door locks.
There wasn't but I did find a few more here. You can have all this fixed for FREE with the dealer if you mention the recall #. One of them is for the airbag module.

http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/hyundai/hyundai_tucson.htm

http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/hyundai/hyundai_tucson.htm

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She just had her vehicle in for service and since those are recalls and not TSB(Technical Service Bulletins), Hyundai *should* have checked if he vehicle was part of any of these recalls and already completed the recall work. She also should have been sent a letter from Hyundai, at the time of recall, if her vehicle was affected so she could book a time to get the recall fix completed.

If she hasn't been notified of these by Hyundai and had them fixed already, I'd be might ticked with Hyundai headquarters. Lack of notification of these safety issues would be enough for me to move to another brand of vehicle when the time came.

So, OP, make a list of all these recall numbers and call your dealer to see if this work has been performed! If your vehicle is affected and the work hasn't been done, and you also haven't been notified of these recalls, you can use that as leverage to get your door locks fixed under warranty.

TechnoGranola said:

She just had her vehicle in for service and since those are recalls and not TSB(Technical Service Bulletins), Hyundai *should* have checked if he vehicle was part of any of these recalls and already completed the recall work. She also should have been sent a letter from Hyundai, at the time of recall, if her vehicle was affected so she could book a time to get the recall fix completed.

If she hasn't been notified of these by Hyundai and had them fixed already, I'd be might ticked with Hyundai headquarters. Lack of notification of these safety issues would be enough for me to move to another brand of vehicle when the time came.

So, OP, make a list of all these recall numbers and call your dealer to see if this work has been performed! If your vehicle is affected and the work hasn't been done, and you also haven't been notified of these recalls, you can use that as leverage to get your door locks fixed under warranty.

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Yes, they *should* have. However, alot of times they don't.

DH takes his truck to be serviced at the local Toyota dealer. However, they NEVER have checked for recalls during a scheduled service. He's had to find out on his own.
That's why I wanted to point those out to the OP to make sure they were/got done. It may effect her decision to trade the vehicle or not. :thumbsup:

Get a new a new Tucson they're so pretty! I'm so wishing they were out when I bought my CRV.

Sorry no help. I do agree to try and get Hyundai to fix the locks on them.

lodonal65 said:

Yes, they *should* have. However, alot of times they don't.

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Oh, I know you meant that. My point was just that even if she did not have the work performed, she should have letters from Hyundai corporate since these are actual recalls and as such safety related. If she doesn't have those letters, she could use the lack of notification to get her locks done, i.e. "well I won't report you to NHTSA for putting my life in danger if you fix my darn locks" (okay, maybe not THAT wording, but you get the picture!.

DH said it sounds like the BCM, body control module. Without seeing it tho he cant be 100% sure, but from what he has seen it seems like its that. You dont happen to be in NJ do you? lol
He said that he can check some more things at work when he gets there monday. If he finds out anything else, i'll let you know.