The water pump, freeze plug, and warranty story continues

Continuing from an earlier post...

Car - 2000 Sonata, 62000 miles, original owner.
Unknowingly leaked coolant and overheated. I could see water leaking
from the water pump area. Not just drip, drip, but a lot of water.

Had the car towed to dealer. Told the service manager that the car
leaked coolant, overheated, and I could see water leaking from the
water pump area. I told him that I was expecting it to be a power
train warranty coverage. I also asked him that if I paid for a new
timing belt would they install with no labor charge. They agreed.

Couple of days later get a call. Service manage says not a water pump
leak but a freeze plug leak. Says that a water pump would be a
warranty item but not the freeze plug. I tell him that I can not
comprehend the freeze plug not being warranty. He says that it is not
and it will cost $295. To keep things rolling I say OK to the $295.

The next day he calls back and says that it is the water pump and the
freeze plug and it will still be $295. At this point I tell him to
forget about me paying for a new timing belt, put the old one back
in. (This is a California car and the timing belt warranty does not
expire at 60000 mile as do Sonatas sold in other states). He says OK
I continue to express my displeasure that the freeze plug is not
covered by the warranty

A soon as I get off the phone with the service manager I call Hyundai
USA and talk to them about the warranty. The person on the phone at
Hyundai USA says that he is not a tech and does not know what a freeze
plug is. I explain to him the purpose and function of a freeze plug.
He seems to be in agreement with me that if it is as I explained one
would have to question it not being covered by the warranty.
He puts me on hold while he asks some questions in-house and then
tells me to hold again while he calls the service manage at the dealer
involved. He opens a case and gives me a case number. Says he
beleives I may have a good case.

Two days later I get a call back from the dealer service manager. He
tells me that my car is all fixed with a new water pump and that the
freeze plug did not have a leak. He also said that they had to remove
the A/C compressor in order to determine the source of the leak. He
then tells me that there will be no charges and that a new timing belt
has been installed at no charge to me. (He also indicated that a new
serpentine belt was installed. That did not show up on the invoice
and I know that I had the serpentine belt changed out once since the
car was new)

The invoice indicates that the water pump and the new coolant were
covered by the warranty and that the new timing belt was covered as a
"Service Policy Adjustment funded internally per Customer
Satisfaction.

And what they did get was a Satisfied Customer even if they did keep
my car somewhat longer than I expected.

My confidence in Hyundai is renewed.
I will be very likely to buy another Hyundai. Maybe a 09 model.


Old_Timer

 

Seems like the story is pretty much as I described earler. The coolant
weep hole drains through the block behind the a/c compressor. The tech
saw that, apparently hadn't seen it before, and assumed it was a freeze
plug, not realizing the weep hole drained there. Then, when he got some
things apart, he realized it was indeed coming from the water pump.

Here's the problem I have with this scenario. Rather than admit their
mistake and just replace the water pump rather than the freeze plug (at no
charge to you), they continued to state that the freeze plug was leaking,
attempting to continue to charge you for their misdiagnosis. To resolve
this, you needed to contact HMA, at which point it became clear that the
freeze plug was not actually leaking. While the dealership may not be
dishonest, at the very least, the technician that worked on your car is
dishonest for the simple reason that he continued to indicate that the
freeze plug was leaking. I suspect what happened was that once the
manager was contacted, he actually went and looked at the car himself, and
found out that the freeze plug was not actually leaking.

You'll need to try to figure out whether the dealer is honest at this
point. You should be able to tell whether the drive belt is new. If so,
you can take this as a positive sign that the service manager realizes the
technician put the dealership in a bad position and is giving you the belts
as a goodwill gesture to help re-earn your trust. At the very least, you
should not allow this technician to work on your vehicle again. He's
proven that he cannot be trusted.