Should I fight the engine repair cost on my Hyundai i30?

QUESTION

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Hi John,

My wife purchased a new Hyundai i30 premium petrol hatch in January 2013. It’s done 42,000km, has an “impeccable service record” (quote from local Hyundai service manager) however was diagnosed with piston slap 3 weeks ago.

To repair the engine the local Hyundai dealer installed a short motor with Hyundai paying for 75 per cent of the parts only. I had to pay the balance of $2200 (25 per cent parts and 100 per cent labour).


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I feel a modern petrol engine that has been service regularly should have lasted longer than 42000km. I have spoken to Hyundai customer service on at least four occasions asking them to pay more of the repair costs however with no success.

Can you help me with what I should do next, or do I just accept the outcome and move on?

Regards
John Rowe

AFFORDABLE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE


ANSWER

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Hello John,

They would probably say that engine wear was accelerated by virtue of the high number of cold starts which the engine has endured, as a proportion of it’s total operating time.

Bottom line: you could write them a stern but polite letter of demand referencing the points below about poor durability, using the ACCC’s complaint letter generation tool and if they come back with a better offer, great.

If not, it’s probably not worth fighting for because you’ll need a solicitor and an expert, and it’ll cost you more than $2k for that (and parties in civil court typically bear their own costs).

JC

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