Sonata Maintenance

$500 Car Wash

The Purple Whale just got back from his 60k service appointment and before they give you car back as a “free” perk they wash and vacuum it.

We dropped off the car yesterday, so this morning I called the Service Adviser to see how how much this was going to set me back I was told it would be $491. When we showed up to get the car back he told me the total was $527 which I figured was the price + tax. We I got home and looked at the back page of the sheet he gave me there were itemized costs for labor, parts, misc and tax with a total of $580.33. Right underneath that he had hand written in -$53.08 bringing the total to the paid $527.29. WTF? The math isn’t even right! The original $491 plus the 7% sales tax should have totaled $525.37.

The recommended service is to inspect a zillion things, the major items are changing several filters and draining, flushing and replacing the big three fluids (oil, coolant & transmission.) Where did the $580 come from, hard to tell, because the inspections aren’t itemized so all the cost is lumped in the blocks for the 3 fluid changes.

While he was in the shop he also had a couple recalls taken care of. One was some sort of brake pedal stopper which might cause the car to not start needed to be replaced. The second was inspection for engine block noise which might indicate possible main bearing failure. Some engines apparently didn’t get all the chips flushed out during manufacturing. The Purple Whale was fine on that count.

A couple of other observations:
1) They noticed a clunk when turning and replaced a steering coupling under warranty. I have been hearing something like that when backing out of the driveway when transiting off the little curb there, but thought nothing of it. In the write up section for this it says, “Replaced steering coupler per TSB 14-ST-002. One time good will for customer satisfaction.” So they changed something per a Technical Service Bulletin and it is goodwill?
2) In another shining example of car dealer math, Hyundai recommends changing the oil every 7,500 miles and in a little note towards the end of my service print out it says “next oil lube service due @ 63,258 miles, or about 3,746 miles more than the car has now.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 06/25/15: 141

New Flippers

mi_pilot_spt_as3_ci2_lThe other day when the Pur­ple Whale had his 45k check-up, the Ser­vice Adviser along with telling me the bat­tery was get­ting weak, also told me I needed some new tires. I didn’t let me sell those either. The OEM tires are Hankook Optimo H431 and they are pretty awful according to the reviews online and while I didn’t think they were exceedingly crappy, I knew I wasn’t going to buy another set just based on their noisy performance on anything but a very smooth road surface.

I headed over to TireRack.com to do some research and picked out the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 for the Purple Whales new flippers. There were a few better all around tires in the High Performance All-Season category, but because of Aiken’s mild winters I could sacrifice snow and ice traction numbers for higher quiet and comfort ones. As a nice bonus the Michelins were $50 cheaper than the Hankooks they are replacing

Cold Cranking Amps

The other day when the Purple Whale had his 45k check-up, the Service Adviser advised me the the battery was getting weak, it had only 300 cold cranking amps instead of the 670 it was rated for and they would be happy to replace it while the car was already there. I politely declined, figuring that the cost of a dealer installed OEM battery would be a darn sight higher than one purchased from a local auto parts palace.

Maybe I’m wrong and the battery wouldn’t have been expensive and things have changed some because they would like the business, but considering what they charged for a glorified oil change and inspection, I doubt it. I’m sure what they lack in volume of batteries sold, they more than make up for it in price.

This afternoon on the way home from lunch we stopped in at an Advanced Auto Parts about a mile from the house and had them test the battery. My cynical side thought that not only would the dealer over-charge me for a battery, he might possibly even over-charge me for a battery I didn’t actually need. The nice woman who tested the Purple Whale’s electrical heart gave me a readout with the very same 300 CCA figure as did the Hyundai dealer.

The car has never hesitated to start, but remembering having to call a friend to rescue us a while back when the Emperor failed to start because of a weak battery with no indications it was going bad either, we figured a $120 was good insurance. Twenty minutes later we had a new 670 cold cranking amp battery installed, the old one disposed of and the hardest thing I had to do was punch in my PIN number after swiping the debit card.

A Step Back IMHO

Sonatas

The Purple Whale is at a sleepover in Augusta so he can have his 45K service done at the dealer. We drove over after dinner and used the key drop and we’ll go back over tomorrow right after work to pick him back up. Donna found a spot only three away from the Service Department door to park and 2 spots away, right next to the door was a brand new 2015 Sonata.

I knew that they had redesigned it, and from the photos I’ve seen on the net it seemed to me that it lost a little of what made it special. You know what, in person inspection proved that correct, it went way conservative. Looks kind of like a Ford Taurus. If I was car shopping today, it wouldn’t even make the list.

Just Can’t Stop

In a Barn

After racking up about 560 miles on Saturday and Sunday chasing Motoring Challenges today we promised to just take it easy and not drive too far. And we didn’t. Our neighbor across the street is the wife of a local horse trainer, so when I saw her outside this afternoon I asked if she could find me a barn. When I explained what for for, she had just what I needed right up the street.

Because the Miata is only a two-seater I could only take her and not my usual photographer, so Vicky agreed to take the pictures. While we were messing around in the horse district I mentioned I also needed a horse track photo, so we went over to the Aiken Training Track. She suggested maybe parking on the track right in front of the gates and I thought that was an awesome idea. But as we got on some of the dirt approaching the track we could feel how soft and deep it was, so opted out on trying to drive on the track. It would have been extremely embarrassing to have to have some horses pull the Miata out of getting stuck. So I pulled up next to the rail on the grass. As it turns out the Horse Track photo required a sign, so good thing we didn’t get stuck for nothing. Maybe I will use the picture for a Sneak Peek entry.

The Purple Whale got a nice wash this afternoon and I gave The Emperor a sponge bath (AKA Mequier’s Quick Detailer) too. I also changed the Miata’s oil, after all with all this Motoring Challenge stuff we have traveled nearly 4,000 miles in the last couple weeks.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1362

That Was Unexpected

#1

When I called to set up the service appointment for the Purple Whale I had to emphasize that I wanted just the manufacturer’s recommended service. The dealer has its own “recommendations” which include everything Hyundai calls for plus, balancing all 4 wheels, lube hinges and steering stops, multi-point inspection OEM recommended and somethings called BG Battery Service, BG Oil & Fuel Service Additives and BG Transmission Fluid Exchange Synthetic, that are mostly snake oil and jack up the cost considerably. I ask the service adviser how much my 30k service is going to cost me and he replies, “$237,” and he proceeds to read me back what I’m going to get for my money. I almost stop him because I’m looking at the dealer’s web site and he is reading the same thing I’m looking at, but I’m glad I don’t. As he gets to the bottom of the list he adds, “Because we are seeing a lot of problems from ethanol in the gas we put in…” I stop him there and say, “I don’t want that. How much is the service without it?” After a brief pause, “$206.”

So when we get to the Service Desk at Taylor Hyundai over in Augusta yesterday to pick up the car I am fully expecting to have to battle to get that extra $31 worth of worthless additive off the bill. The key and my invoice are right on top and I can see the total right there – $174.83. WTF?

#2

When I got home from work there was an email from Crutchfield, the Emperor’s New Radio that was supposed to ship on June 15th, shipped today.

Great Lucas’s Ghost

I drove the Emperor and Donna drove the Purple Whale to Augusta this morning. We both came back in the Miata. We left the Sonata at the Whale Doctor for it’s 30,000 mile service.

On the way over driving the Interstate I set the Miata’s cruise control to 75 and that was fine for the first half of the trip. Then for no reason it surged a few MPH up and coasted back down. Then surged back up again and coasted down again. Then it seemed fine, but it was kind rainy, so I shut it off for the rest of the trip. On the way back I tried again and this time it wouldn’t engage. The on/off switch would turn on and light, but when I tried to set the speed the cruise light would flash on and right back off, without engaging the cruise control.

So what do these two things have in common? I don’t know, but maybe a search of the Miata.net garage will tell me.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1226