John Doe said:
Remove the Plenum to change the plugs? youv'e got to be kidding! Also what
other expenses for normal sevice are required. Timing belt changes at 60,
80, 100k? Trans flud at? and does it need to have the transaxle removed to
drain it (Plenum!).
That does seem pretty extreme, but at least the plugs only need
changing at 60K mile intervals. (When cars came with breaker-point
ignition, plugs needed changing at 10K mile intervals and yearly
tune-ups were the norm. I've seen some models where you had to lift
the engine up off the mounts to get at some of the plugs!)
In general though every transverse-mounted V6 I've seen looks like a
nightmare to get at the back plugs, or anything else on that side of
the engine. How bad changing those plugs really is on the Hyundai V6
depends on how tough it is to get that manifold off. (How accessible
are the bolts? What else is attached to the manifold that might be
difficult to remove and easy to screw up? Does it carry coolant, do
you have to drain the cooling system? Etc.) It might or might not be a
reasonable job for the shade-tree mechanic.
In the past I have done nearly all work on my own vehicles, including
routine maintenance as well as fairly involved items such as clutches,
head gaskets, and cylinder heads. My plans for our Sonata, however,
are to just have the dealer service it. I'm an old fart accustomed to
working on Ramblers and Studebakers and there is very little under the
hood of a late-model car that I recognize. Our dealer's rates seem
reasonably competitive with private shops, they have the factory
training and tools, automatically check for and take care of any
recalls when the car is brought in, and of course deal with any
warranty items that need taking care of. They also seem pretty honest
-- once when I was in there I saw the service manager send a woman
away saying "you don't need a brake job, the noise was just dust and
dirt."
We're coming up on the 30,000 mile service soon. The 60,000 mile
service is the big banana, of course, and we're budgeting for that in
advance so it won't be a problem when the time comes.
