To date, we have been satisfied with the quality of our new Santa Fe. We are however disappointed with the quality of service from our local Hyundai dealership and we are wondering what we (and other Hyundai owners who are in a similar situation) can do to raise the quality of service bar for our dealerships.

Our Santa Fe is the first new car that we have owned, so I must admit we don't have a lot of prior experience to draw on in terms of comparing our dealership to others.

The only ray of light so far has been the salesman that we negotiated the deal with. The service department on the other hand has consistently struck out. When they first prepared the car for delivery they left dark smudge marks and ink marks on a number of surfaces within the car. Later when we had the car in for work to repair a leaking sunroof they again left the car with dirty hand prints on the roof, seats and doors; and a couple of dirty footprints on the carpet. Another couple that we know, who also go to the same dealership, have experienced the same problems and they even had some damage done to the inside of their Santa Fe (a broken cap on a power outlet and scratches to the interior PVC paneling). We and the other couple have also found that the dealership consistently misses timeframes when they are committing to have parts in and/or work done.

Each time we've experienced poor service we have spoken with the service manager. He is always very apologetic and says it won't happen again, but we haven't seen any improvement.

We plan to meet with the owner of the dealership if this happens again.

Is there anything else we can or should be doing? Has anyone found Hyundai Canada receptive to customer feedback? Do they have any power over the local dealerships to get them to adopt better customer service practices?

Unfortunately, good dealership experiences seem to be few and far between. I too have had a large number of unsatisfactory dealership visits and am told all the one's around here are the same. Even when I sent in a survey complaining about the particular dealer, it seems that no new measure's have been put in place. It seems to me we may just have to bend over and take it up the tail pipe :blink:

Thank you for your reply. I have contacted Hyundai Canada and asked to be included in any surveys that they conduct which relate to their dealerships.

Hopefully Hyundai monitors these forums. I'm sure their competitors do.

if you have a problem that your dealer will not give you satisfaction on- is their a regional or national hyundai person you can talk to?

i've looked but can not find a regional person for the pittsburgh area.

I'm in the UK (Stoke on Trent) and have similar issues with the after sale service. I have a 2004 Terracan and so far it has thaken in excess of 4 months to get the body done under warrentee. Still nothing on the horizon

In Canada our only recourse (beyond the local dealership) is to contact Hyundai Canada , and failing that we can contact agencies like: Better Business Bureau, Canadian Consumer Information Gateway, Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan, Motor Vehicle Industry Council (Alberta), Automobile Protection Association and Automobile Consumer Coalition.

Using this forum I was able to canvass 12 other Hyundai owners in Edmonton to see whether anyone would recommend their dealer. Very few were happy with their dealers. A couple owners recommended West Edmonton Hyundai and I have since taken my Santa Fe there for service.

The dealer in Sherwood Park that I bought the vehicle from later contacted me (through a call center... go figure) to see if they could get me to come back and I once again explained why I wouldn't be coming back.

I've heard that up to 80% of their (the dealer's) revenues come from the follow on service that they supply, so my advice is to take you business elsewhere if your current dealer doesn't deserve having you as a customer.

Dear RJ,

Absolutely report this dealer to Hyundai Canada.

Even the sloppiest US dealership takes some precautions to properly deliver a vehicle without greasy hand prints all over the car.

Routinely, US dealers place a disposable clear plastic seat cover on that protects the headrest, back and bottom cushion driver side, place a 2 foot x 3 foot disposable floor paper, and place an elastic band disposable steering wheel cover on before moving or driving the vehicle. they use fender covers so they do not ding or smudge the front fenders while leaning into the engine compartment. And they wash the vehicle to remove any hand prints.

Don't the Hyundai Canada dealers do this?

Byron