Lower ball joints on Santa Fe

I just had both front lower ball joints replaced on my wife's 2002 Santa
Fe at 45,022 miles. One year ago at 37,000 miles both front lower ball
joints were replaced. Both jobs were performed at the same dealership.
Is it normal for ball joints to wear out after only 8,000 miles? This is
my wife's car. She does not drive the car off-road. She loves this car
and treats it well. I asked the service person if this is something that
other Santa Fe owners are experiencing and was told that she does not
know. And that maybe they were bad parts. Any similar experience in this
group?

Richard

 

I have a 2002 SF with 85+k and haven't had that problem at all.
I would say you have something else out of whack, or else you are driving in
some very odd conditions.

Kevin

 

Two santa fes, 01 w/ 104k and 03.0 with 73k, and one ball joint has
failed between the two (on the 01, at about 55k miles).

I suspect the other one is failing on the 01 now, but its not bad enough
to call.

Hyundai wants a *LOT* for a ball joint, then they want like $7 more for
the dust boot. Grr. Total nonsense. rockauto.com has (complete)
replacements for about $18 USD last I checked. The replacement has
almost 50k miles on it, and its still good.

JS

 

This has been a problem on the Santa Fes. I've seen it less on newer
models, so perhaps you got parts from an old batch on the original
replacement.

 

You mean Hyundai charges 2.5x as much for an inferior part?



JS

 

Ooops, make that 4.66x as much.

Rockauto.com now wants $13.72 for the MOOG-brand replacement.

JS

 

Well, them's the breaks sometimes.

 

My warranty is good for 6 years or 72000 miles (as per the class action
suit) so I have time to see if the current ball joints are any better
than the previous ones.

 

What "class action suit"? Also, is your cited warranty for 2nd owner?

 

We are the original owners of the 2002 Santa Fe. The class action suit
had to do with Hyundai misreporting the actual horsepower of their
motors because of the US smog requirements. They offered a large group
of owners a cash settlement ($125 I think), increasing the 10/100,000 to
12/120,000 or increasing the 5/60,000 to 6/72,000. We took the 6/72,000
offer.

 

I think you made a wise choice. It's a pretty good bet that something
stupid will break within that year based on the age or mileage on the
vehicle. Chances of getting back you $125 or more in warranty work are
actually pretty good.

 

It's nice to know that at least once in 56 years I made a wise choice!