Empire Hyundai/auto repair

Empire Hyundai, Fall River MA

On Thursday October 7, 2005, I brought my 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe to Empire Hyundai located on Pleasant Street in Fall River, MA for a full diagnostic at 8:30 a.m. At that point I was told that I would be contacted in the next couple of hours regarding the outcome of the test. Nearly eight hours later and no phone call, I called the service department to find out the status of my vehicle. I was told by the service manager on duty, that a full diagnostic was preformed that morning and nothing had been done to the car since. He kindly informed me that he didn't have time to call me earlier. The manager then informed me that the test determined there was a hole in my exhaust manifold and that the part needed to repair the damage would have to be special ordered. I was then told it would take three to four days for the part to come in and that they would contact me as soon as possible to schedule the next appointment, but in the meantime, the car would be fine to drive. Frustrated that I had been left without a vehicle the entire day and that nothing was done, I took the keys to my car and left the dealership confident that the car was safe to drive. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

A full diagnostic, and two days later, Saturday, October 9, 2005, on a main road during the busiest time of day, while waiting for a red light to turn green, my Santa Fe died in the middle of traffic. It gave no indication something was wrong, no sound or sputter, it was just dead. Nothing worked. Eventually, after pushing it to a safe location, I called Hyundai roadside assistance and waited over two hours for a tow truck. At that point, my car was taken back to Empire Hyundai.

Monday, October 11, 2005, the service manager (same as before) on duty at Empire Hyundai called to inform me that the crank shaft sensor had malfunction and that the car would be ready for pickup at 5:00 p.m. I picked up the car expecting to be back in a day or two to fix the exhaust

Monday, October 18, 2005 - I called Empire Hyundai to ask when the special order part they promised me three days ago was expected to arrive. The gentleman in the auto parts department informed me the parts had been there for a couple of days. Once again frustrated, I scheduled an appointment for that upcoming Wednesday, October 13. On Wednesday the service manager provided me with a rental, no charge, and promise to contact me as soon as the car was done.

Wednesday afternoon, October 13, 2005 - The service manager called to inform me that there was a slight problem with the vehicle. Apparently the technician working on the car had drilled through the cylinder head while trying to remove a part. I was promised that the part need to correct the problem would be put on a 24 hour emergency order and that the car would be fixed as soon as possible.

The part was not ordered that day but the next. And it wasn't until Friday they began working on my car again.

Monday, October 18 , the car has been fixed and I picked it up on Tuesday night. As I'm driving home I was inundated with fumes. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring it back because the service department was closed. The following morning, as Iwas driving to work, the fumes were overwhelming and my check engine light turned on. I called Empire Hyundai as soon as I got to work. The service manager, frustrated, asked me "what's the problem now." I told him about the fumes and the light, he told me to drop off the car the next morning.

Thursday, October 21 - I dropped the car off and asked the service manager to explain to me why the invoice states that the "problem" the technician had with the car was a broken bolt he "found" and replaced and that this was not what he originally told me happened. At that point he corrected the invoice and wrote that the damage was done by the technician. I then called Hyundai headquarter to report the incident so that there would be a record of the invoice misstating the damage done to the car.

Later that afternoon the manger called and told me that the smell was caused by fluids that leaked out onto the engine from a loose manifold causing it to burn and smell. He also reported the technician removed the excess fluids that leaked and tightened the manifold to correct the problem.

On November 27, I took my car in for a scheduled oil change. When I got to Vavoline I was told that there was no oil in my engine and I was lucky that my engine did not seize. The service technician coated the engine with protective oil and proceeded with the oil change. At that point I called Empire and asked whether oil was removed from my engine. I was informed it was. This lead me to one of two conclusions: 1) the Empire technician who removed the oil in my engine did not replace it with the required amount, or 2) while my car was being serviced at Empire damaged was done to the engine causing it to leak or burn the oil. A week later I called Hyundai Headquarters again to report the problem. The young lady who answered the phone in Consumer Affairs was patient and listened. She started a file and told me she would contact the dealership, and that was all she could do. She then informed me that the only thing they could suggest was not return to the dealership, and to visit another dealer in the area and get another diagnostic done at MY expense. If I then have a problem I should get it repaired.

Well, it's been three months and my car is still burning oil. Empire has lied about what happened to my engine so I can't prove that the damage was done by their technichian. I have no local dealership I can take my car to and Hyundai's world headquarters has refused to take action.

Stay away from this place! Empire is bad news and Hyundai Co. isn't better.

Kelly Teixeira

Administrative Coordinator

Office of Communications

Harvard School of Public Health, Kresge 1014

677 Huntington Ave

Boston, MA 02115-6017

phone: 617-432-4388

fax: 617-432-5531