December 6, 2004

2:36 PM

I have a 99 Hyundai Sonata, that we purchased used from a Hyundai dealer. The remainder of the manufacturers warranty remains...and we purchased the extended warranty. I Took it to my friendly neighborhood repair shop to have the rotors replaced. They mentioned to me that we also might need to have a bearing replaced. Here's the question... if I take it to the dealer they want to charge me $75 just to look at it to tell me if it's covered by warranty. Does replacing the bearing sound like something that might be covered by my warranty?
posted by TuxHeDoh to (5 comments total)

The rotors and bearings are typically wear and tear, covered "sometimes" by the 5 year, 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Check when your car was originally purchased to see if you still have coverage.

Hyundais also come with a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty which covers the engine and tranny. This will cover almost nothing else. If the dealer gave you an additional warranty, he shouldn't be charging you to check if it's covered. That sounds shady to me.

BTW, your hyundai's covered parts can be serviced by any mainstream mechanic. They mechanic bills hyundai, which eventually reimburses them. Stay away from hyundai dealerships if at all possible. They charge nearly double to do the same work as any normal mechanic. BUT, find a GOOD mechanic. Someone you can trust.
posted by BlueTrain at 2:44 PM on December 6, 2004

Hmm. Were the car but one year old, bearings would almost certainly be a warranty item, but at 5 years, you're approaching the point where a less-than-generous dealership would stiff you with the wear-and-tear clause.

What you might want to do would be to go to another mechanic, get a *written* diagnosis, and go to your dealership with that, to confirm or deny warranty coverage, before you pay them to look at it.
posted by jammer at 2:59 PM on December 6, 2004

Charging you to see whether something's covered by the warranty is probably legal, technically, but a total crock in terms of good customer service. Any place would fold that $75 bucks in after the fact if it turns out not to be, but insisting on getting paid, even if the part's under warranty, means you should probably try and find another dealer in the area. (If you can.)
posted by LairBob at 3:27 PM on December 6, 2004

Sorry to answer a question with a question, but: have you actually read your extended warranty? The last one I purchased was quite explicit and completely accessible, even to me.
posted by coelecanth at 3:41 PM on December 6, 2004

Also, the dealer's not going to charge you $75 to say if you have a warranty item or not; he's going to charge you $75 to say if you need the bearing replaced. If you do, he'll get on the phone to your warranty company and sit on hold for about 3 hours to find out if they'll actually cover it. Whether they cover it or not, you really shouldn't be driving around with a bad bearing.
posted by coelecanth at 4:20 PM on December 6, 2004