Jan 22, 2004 05:39 PM
8674 Views
(Updated Jan 27, 2004 04:31 PM)
Hyundai, good cars, best showroom, worst accessories
This is a really useful review if you have decided to buy a Hyundai car, and are about to decide on HYUNDAI genuine accessories.
As you would read from my other article titled'Get Revved' about Accent Viva, Hyundai cars are good, and in particular this one. About the dealer…. Well… for CAR quality, sales support, I would give it a 4 on 5. But when it comes to accessories, 1 to 5 is not a good scale, because I would rate them on minus 1(-1). The reason is simple; the consumer has to pay through his nose for the apparently genuine, made specifically for HYUNDAI accessories.
The company owned showroom sells accessories at atrocious rates claiming that the accessories are state of the art, and custom made for their HYUNDAI vehicle. I have recently bought an Accent Viva from HYUNDAI Motor Plaza, Mathura Road Delhi, which is supposed to be a'company owned showroom'. Here's an insight based on my experience with them:
1.
The Autocop/cobra remote central locking. They sell it at around 5000 Rs for the basic model and claim that there's no wire cutting involved. Good. But the same stuff is available at les than 80% price in the general market.
2.
Gearshift lock:
Drawback1: they price it at about 4200 Rs. it is available at around 3000 in the general market. Drawback2: They say that it is custom made for Hyundai cars, and will work for the Santro, Accent, Viva and Sonata. That's a TOTALLY FALSE STATEMENT. All these cars have different gearshift mechanisms, and therefore require slightly different gearshift locks. The apparently HYUNDAI approved system that they sell, does not have basic mechanisms such as adjustment screws. So when they install this thing in your car, and the gearshift mechanism of your car requires the lock shaft to be 3 mm above the point where it got installed, they would hammer in a small metal strip beneath the lock mechanism to shove it upwards. That's CHEAP workmanship and CHEAP design!
In about a month's time, due to normal vibrations during driving, the metal strip will come off, and it will be a mess, to lock and unlock the gearshift thing. Basically, not worth buying from them.
Visited them again today(27 Jan 2004), here's the update: I first met their manager telling him that I am happy with the car, but the accessory quality is bad. After getting a brief from their manager, the mechanics did some Chinese whisper amongst themselves. It was obvious that besides the inefficient engineering(no adjustment screws), the mechanic had not done justice during installation. And since this is a onetime-un-removable fixture, the goof-up cannot be undone. So this smart engineer tells me'sir, since it is not giving problems right now, we will cater to it if you face any problems in future'. Yes, it would be better if I live with the quickfix, rather than let that dumb mechanic again do some scam with the equipment.
3.
Floor mats: They have a beautiful looking floor mat design that they call the rubber carpet. Priced at around 1200 Rs. That's a really steep price. It really looks good, and is not available on normal accessory shops; at least I could not find it. So I bought it. The fun part is, it was SERIOUSLY DEFECTIVE. They have absolutely no Quality checks. I am a car lover, and once a month, I clean my entire car myself. I recently did that, and I found dirt and wet marks on the floor carpet below the mat. Hey! The mat is supposed to be waterproof. There can be water stains on the carper at the sides of the mat, but not below the center area of the mat. So I took out the mat, and had a look against sunlight. It had cute little holes in it! That's BAD.
I noticed this after first service. The next service is due in another 3 months. I am not sure if they'd replace it after such a long time. So I'll pay them a visit probably. Will update this review about the outcomes of that visit.
Visited them today(27 Jan 2004): scary! First thing I do is to talk to their manager, hoping he will iron out the complications. They give me another set, which was little less defective, but not usable either. When I pointed out, the guy tries to tell me that this is the best they can offer, if I wait for the next lot, I should expect same level quality. Finally, I had to get hands on, make him take out all 7 sets that he had, I manually selected the final four pieces(two front, two rear mats) from different sets. Advise to fellow readers; don't try to buy any mats from them until they acquire fresh, defect-free stocks.
4.
The mechanics employed at the showroom for workshop are experienced, and trained by Hyundai, and have all proper tools. But the mechanics who do accessory installation jobs are kind of'picked up from the roadside' kind of people. While installing accessories on my car, they really messed up with a couple of simple nuts and bolts because they did not have the exact tools. Overall a bad job done.
I only got 3 accessories installed from them(gearshift lock, mats and remote locking). I don't know about the other stuff that they sell. But still I'd say, the car is really good. May GOD have mercy on their accessories!
Whenever we buy a new car, we are in a. sort of… spending mode, and don't bother much about the pricing of accessories, or the quality, because we are in honeymoon with our new car. And the dealer makes good use of this state Think twice, thrice before putting your hard earned money into these accessories.
I have tried to keep this short. Let me know if you need further information
