[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Ph03nix

I really need automotive guru's here to comment on whether I should take this up with Hyundai motors and have them attempt a few more fixes, or live with the issues due to the fear that they would further mess it up. Read the horror story of an i20 owner here who almost ended up in an accident after his steering turned to rock midway on the road.

Appreciate any help I can get on this.

Going through you experience, its like reliving the horror with my i20. These Hyundai fellows resort to same tactics with people who keep on coming in with repeated steering complaints. I was labelled a "paagal" and a "jhik jhik" wallah for repeatedly complaining about the issue, this inspite of co-operating with them fully and they knowing fully well that Hyundai is at fault regarding the issue. It was like blaming the victim for a crime!!!

I took up the steering matter( and to complain about the useless Junagadh workshop) with Hyundai by writing a detailed report to Hyundai offices in AHmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and the company HQ in Tamil Nadu. Not even one of them even bothered to respond of reply. When the EPS of my i20 malfunctioned, even that failed to move those "great" Hyundai chaps. Arrogance at its worst!!!!!

You could try writing to higher ups in Hyundai. May be you'll have better luck.

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

Strangely I never heard this noise in my 2010 i20 but when I took it for a paid service the SA told me that he's hearing it and it'd be better if he treats it. Somehow he sounded quite adamant about wanting to fix it. I let him to it. I was surprised that the SA himself wanted to go ahead and change the yoke. He told me that if this doesn't work, he'll get the complete steering rack changed but asked me to drive the car for around 1K before doing that.

I had mentioned in my thread that he noticing the steering rattle issue depends on the person who drives the car i.e whether he notices it or not.

Because of Hyundai's foolishness, design defect in steering system and lack of intensity in resolving the issue, the same issue persists in 2011 models too. Unless they drastically change the design for the new 2012 model, the same issue will persist in that model as well.

You very well know by now you should tell that SA chap that changing the steering rack will not at all help. You will only be wasting you time. You might as well , instead of wasting time with Hyundai.

[blackfire_9]

I wonder what are the various auto journals & TV shows doing? They should be bringing this issue up through their respective mediums.

[architect]

A recently joined intern at my office has had steering assembly changed twice in her car due to rattles and problems on her i10 IRDE. He right front wheel is always seeing uneven tyre wear despite alignment issues. The car pulls to one side.

I know she is not a very informed driver / user like us but she does not abuse the car as far as I know. In fact, she is the typical Hyundai target customer: middle-class, female, looking for a no-hassles small car for the city. I feel sad for the money she's shelling out for this work, being a student.

[sandeep108]

I finally got the steering assembly changed after 3 complaints, in warranty. First SA said they changed some bushes, which I said did nada and noise was still there. Second time he said there was no noise, which a test drive easily revealed. Then he agreed to solve it and changed the assembly. Noise is now gone and steering also feels a bit better.

Let me see how much it lasts since now warranty is over.

[Coolman]

Finally Hyundai seems to have decided to solve the infamous steering rattle in their i20s...

Well, not by fixing it, sorry to say, but by stopping the existing model. Hyundai is launching the upgraded i20 this year and I understand this will happen soon.

Disclosed here --> Hyundai will launch 6 NEW cars this year - Rediff.com Business (Pages 2, 3, 4)

Hopefully, the new launch will be free from this problem, that has returned most of the times the customers tried to get it fixed on their i20s!

It's a pity though that Hyundai continued to sell i20s in significant numbers over the years, without once acknowledging this problem and without earnestly trying to get it resolved!

Thanks,
C_

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by sandeep108

I finally got the steering assembly changed after 3 complaints, in warranty. First SA said they changed some bushes, which I said did nada and noise was still there. Second time he said there was no noise, which a test drive easily revealed. Then he agreed to solve it and changed the assembly. Noise is now gone and steering also feels a bit better.

Let me see how much it lasts since now warranty is over.

It would be better if you e-mail your experience to the Mumbai RO. When the steering rattle fix dances were going on in my car, I was told that my car was the only one in the country that was giving so many complaints.

The "What when warranty gets over" question, I had asked to the same Mumbai RO( in a addition to the Ahmedabad HMIL RO & HMIL customer care . They never answered that question.

It is obvious now that I was not the only one and there would have been many more such complaints, which Hyundai probably never acknowledged.

When a customer whose steering complaints were called "madness" & jhik jhik", how do can one expect Hyundai to ever fix the issue? They were never serious about the issue, attempting half hearted( or should I say quarter hearterd) research to fix the issue.

[shivasuma]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

When the steering rattle fix dances were going on in my car, I was told that my car was the only one in the country that was giving so many complaints.

Hi skanchan95,
Just wanted to know one thing. Were the guys handling the repair/replace competent enough? I had mine crop up at around 15K kms and the SA at advaith hyundai ORR did a good job (I hope). He said it had to be done at a certain "torque" (the polyurethane fix I beleive). My car has done close to 27K now and I have driven the car on very bad roads and there is still no rattle yet. Hope hyundai takes this seriously or they are going to lose customers pretty fast.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

Hi skanchan95,
Just wanted to know one thing. Were the guys handling the repair/replace competent enough? I had mine crop up at around 15K kms and the SA at advaith hyundai ORR did a good job (I hope). He said it had to be done at a certain "torque" (the polyurethane fix I beleive). My car has done close to 27K now and I have driven the car on very bad roads and there is still no rattle yet. Hope hyundai takes this seriously or they are going to lose customers pretty fast.

The disturbing fact with my car was that the rattle had started well before the car's first service( less than 500 kms on the Odometer) and it continues to this date inspite of all the experiments & assurances.

As for the competency of that workshop in Junagadh, well, even road side mechanics would have done a far better job than them. They could not fix anything without screwing it up. If you go through my thread, you will come to know of all the things those fellows in Junagadh managed to screw up in the car.

Instead of taking action against that workshop, the RO sided with them and maintained that the workshop was competent as per their standards. No wonder Hyundai is struggling so badly wit the steering rattle issue, if that's the kind of standards Hyundai maintains.

Meanwhile, this was the last response I received from Hyundai, probably to keep my mouth shut for a while. I am still waiting for their response

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: XXXX <xxxx@hmil.net>
Date: Mon, May 23, 2011 at 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: Service booking for GJ11Sxxxxx at Shreenath Hyundai, Rajkot for 6 May 2011
To: Sandesh Kanchan <xxxx@gmail.com>
Cc: Customer Relations <xxx@hmil.net>, xxxx@hmil.net


Dear Mr. Kanchan,

We understand your concern regarding your i20 car steering noise.

We assure you that once a modification/upgradation of the concerned part arrives, we will surely get back for necessary rectification.

Kindly do not have any apprehension on the same.

Regards
XXX

As for the other question, tightening the steering assembly at the specified torque was done as well. It would not rattle for a few days,but the same old story would repeat again.

The Hyundai chaps in Rajkot have acknowledged that it is a problem and in its current state, the steering rattle issue cannot be fixed permanently.

[saurabhkanchan]

I have to mention about Mahindra here, just to highlight the stark difference in the way customers are handled.

One of my friend's vehicles, a Mahindra, suffered a major problem on 13 January 2012 this year. He promptly called up the workshop in Rajkot and informed them of the problem, the workshop inturn requested him to bring the vehicle on a later date as they were heavily over-booked. Days turned into week and finally on 28 January 2012, he was asked to bring the vehicle to the workshop. However, there was no respite to his problem, he kept calling the workshop, only to be told that the part had not arrived.

On 14 February, he approached me with the problem; I e-mailed the brand manager of Mahindra for the same. I received his reply in minutes and later in the evening the workshop called to confirm that the vehicle was ready for delivery. Next day, 15 February, when his driver went to the workshop to take the vehicle, he found it vibrating very badly above speeds of 50kmph. This gave a clear indication that the vehicle had not been test-driven after the repair.

Furious over the incident my friend appraised me of the same, I complained to the brand manager again and within minutes I had calls flowing in from the Sr. Regional Customer Care Manager, his office and the brand manager himself. The brand manager vehemently apologised for whatever happened and assured of positive resolution.

Now, the big surprise : The vehicle in question is a Mahindra Maxximo mini-truck, the brand manager's name and address listed on the company's website. What impressed me most is the Brand Manager's proactive attitude in resolving the issue.

Mahindra has, in this case, gone great lengths to ensure resolution to the problem and if this is their attitude to truck customers, I would love to be their car customer very soon.

And here we have Hyundai Motors who are least bothered to even address customers woes. Sitting on a problem that would have, in the US or EU, given the company sleepless nights. The APSM, who is following this thread very closely, WAKE UP!!!! By singing along new thinking, new possibilities you are not going to change any thing.

[gururaj r]

I have a i10 sportz kappa bought in 2009 and done 15000 kms. I take out the vehicle only once in a while and when I start the vehicle, a vibrating sound comes. When I raise the engine and within a few meters of driving, the sound goes off - whether it is a good or bad road.
Again, when I take out the vehicle after a week, when brake is applied, I get a squeaking sound which goes off after five or six applications. If the vehicle is taken out daily, this squeaking sound does not appear.

I would like to know whether it is a steering rattle issue and should I take it up to Hyundai A**. The vehicle is periodically serviced by them only. Both of these issues will be absent at the workshop since they are 15kms from my home and these will not appear there.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by gururaj r

Both of these issues will be absent at the workshop since they are 15kms from my home and these will not appear there.

You best bet would be to somehow record the sound and then show it to the workshop chaps. Try recording it using your mobile phone or some other recording device.

OR

Ask the workshop fellows to drive down to your place and then show the sounds to them.


As if you said, the sound disappears by the time you reach the workshop. So either of the above two options could help in making them understand what the problem is. But then Hyundai fellows are notorious for changing colours like a chameleon and denying thing once they leave your place.

[KPS]

Originally Posted by gururaj r

I have a i10 sportz kappa bought in 2009 and done 15000 kms. I take out the vehicle only once in a while and when I start the vehicle, a vibrating sound comes. When I raise the engine and within a few meters of driving, the sound goes off - whether it is a good or bad road.
Again, when I take out the vehicle after a week, when brake is applied, I get a squeaking sound which goes off after five or six applications. If the vehicle is taken out daily, this squeaking sound does not appear.

This is normal and can be expected with any car. Basically once the car has heated up you will not have these issues. You must understand that the fuel quality deteriorates too over a period of time in the fuel tank. Since you do not use the car often, it would be advisable to idle the car a bit before you start running to allow all the oils to circulate and engine to build some heat

The brake noise would again appear to be normal. If you park the car for long, there is some normal oxidization at the brake disc/drums which goes off with brake application.

Nothing to worry

Cheers

KPS

[su1978]

i really now thank my stars for not preferring an i10/20 over Maruti Ritz which is a far more excellent vehicle in terms of performance and service from MASS. I do not have much patience. I would have really firstly complained to police for cheating and then lodged a case of forgery against these hyundai A.S.S. Moreover hyndai spares are really costly and have no idea as to how do these companies manage to get a big customer base. Feel that in our country if you shout at the top of your voice all the while lying, everyone will take it be truth. Same is the case with Hyundai and Tata

[S5157]

It seems all the service center guys are aware of this issue now.

I took my i10 Auto ( My first Hyundai) for first service last friday(A tier 3 city HASS), and all the technicians and the SA kept asking, "Sir, Is there any sound coming from front?".

Touch wood, I haven't faced this issue so far.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by S5157

It seems all the service center guys are aware of this issue now.

I took my i10 Auto ( My first Hyundai) for first service last friday(A tier 3 city HASS), and all the technicians and the SA kept asking, "Sir, Is there any sound coming from front?".

These Hyundai fellows make me sick. They were always aware of the issue, just that they thought it was a problem facing a small percentage of cars(which they were obviously wrong).

Not too long ago, for the same rattle noise, these idiots were claiming that the sound is "normal",that the noise was a figment of the driver's imagination. People who went in with repeated complaints were being called "jhik jhik waalas" & "paagals". Now of all of a sudden, they are keen to fix it?

The bottom line is the steering rattle issue cannot be fixed in its current state, unless Hyundai does something drastic about it, which I seriously doubt.The recurring rattle is due to the inherent design defect in the i20's steering. All these years Hyundai did nothing but cheated those who were troubled with this issue, in the name of supposed permanent "fixes". How I wish consumer laws were strict in our country and Hyundai be punished severely or even forced to pack its bags & leave the country for cheating the owners.