[abaliga]

Background: I have been getting our 14 year old i10 serviced at an FNG which is run by someone who used to work at a Hyundai dealership, he now runs a multi brand service center with some of his former colleagues from the dealership and is able to procure OEM parts for most manufacturers for repairs, he is very transparent in terms of the parts he uses for servicing and does not use non OEM parts unless it is very hard to procure OEM ones

Issue: Our i10 has a steering rack/column rattle since the 1st month of ownership (known issue for 1st gen i10/i20) , service advisor knows me from the warranty days of the car, the same one who now runs the FNG, I had reported the rattle multiple times during the course of ownership starting from the first year when the vehicle was under warranty and every time it was fixed by the dealership it reappeared within a week or two, when I pointed out the recurrence he told me that they are not allowed to order replacement parts for certain category of known issues and as per the company service bulletin they are supposed to supress the rattle by using some insulation pads which turned out to be a temporary work around, we somehow endured this problem throughout the 14.5 year ownership of our i10.

Finding: I finally wanted to get rid of the rattle and requested the SA to order a new column (costs about 30k), he wanted me to share the VIN to get the replacement part and when I started a candid discussion to understand what parts are being considered for replacement and the respective prices, he revealed that Hyundai has a separate parts catalogue for under warranty vs out of warranty replacements where the part quality is significantly better on the paid ones

This was a shocking revelation to me and is something that I find down right unethical, has anyone else on the forum come across this practice of varying part quality for warranty vs paid repairs by other OEMs?

@Mods: Please feel free to delete the thread if you don't find this relevant

[Mohan Mathew A]

Originally Posted by abaliga

Background: he revealed that Hyundai has a separate parts catalogue for under warranty vs out of warranty replacements where the part quality is significantly better on the paid ones

This was a shocking revelation to me and is something that I find down right unethical, has anyone else on the forum come across this practice of varying part quality for warranty vs paid repairs by other OEMs?

@Mods: Please feel free to delete the thread if you don't find this relevant

If it is true then that is atrocious.
Makes me wonder as to which quality goes at the time of manufacturing?

[Ghost131100]

Originally Posted by abaliga

Background: I have been getting our 14 year old i10 serviced at an FNG which is run by someone who used to work at a Hyundai dealership, he now runs a multi brand service center with some of his former colleagues from the dealership and is able to procure OEM parts for most manufacturers for repairs, he is very transparent in terms of the parts he uses for servicing and does not use non OEM parts unless it is very hard to procure OEM ones

Issue: Our i10 has a steering rack/column rattle since the 1st month of ownership (known issue for 1st gen i10/i20) , service advisor knows me from the warranty days of the car, the same one who now runs the FNG, I had reported the rattle multiple times during the course of ownership starting from the first year when the vehicle was under warranty and every time it was fixed by the dealership it reappeared within a week or two, when I pointed out the recurrence he told me that they are not allowed to order replacement parts for certain category of known issues and as per the company service bulletin they are supposed to supress the rattle by using some insulation pads which turned out to be a temporary work around, we somehow endured this problem throughout the 14.5 year ownership of our i10.

Finding: I finally wanted to get rid of the rattle and requested the SA to order a new column (costs about 30k), he wanted me to share the VIN to get the replacement part and when I started a candid discussion to understand what parts are being considered for replacement and the respective prices, he revealed that Hyundai has a separate parts catalogue for under warranty vs out of warranty replacements where the part quality is significantly better on the paid ones

This was a shocking revelation to me and is something that I find down right unethical, has anyone else on the forum come across this practice of varying part quality for warranty vs paid repairs by other OEMs?

@Mods: Please feel free to delete the thread if you don't find this relevant

This would actually answer a question of mine. A few years back, my i10 had a clutch problem. The car would stall or jerk at 1st gear and then run relatively smoothly from 2nd gear onwards. The clutch was supposed to have been changed but the issue never really went away.
A few months ago, the car, now being out of warranty started having the same issue again but this time with a vengeance. We changed the clutch and viola, the issue was gone and hasn’t come back since. So the theory where out of warranty parts are better than warranty parts does make sense.

[jonesanto]

Think you are just late for the party. I have heard this few times from my trusted mechanic and a friend who was SA at a luxury brand showroom. This is the case not only with Hyundai, but most manufacturers do this. When you purchase the car, the parts quality comes with that will never be matched when you replace them due to age or accident. And yes, when you replace parts under warranty, the parts quality is different from the original parts came with the car. Worst part is, even when you pay for them, the original quality is not matched is the word, because for many, spare parts are sourced from vendors. I heard this from reliable source. My first gen Elantra which is 17 years old still runs on original AC compressor. My mechanic told me if it was any other model for sure it would not have survived more than 5 years, especially the later Hyundai's are notorious for compressor troubles. Just my two cents.

[TB16]

Although I'm not sure but i also had a similar experience with my 2014 i20 Petrol. The clutch gave way only after 65k km. I changed the entire clutch assembly from hyundai okhla. It costed me around 15k back in 2018. Now the car is at 150k km and the clutch is going fine (although its hard). I feel the replacement parts could be of much better quality.

[Turbanator]

Most of the manufacturers (OEM/ Tier-1 suppliers) will have only one type of Quality, but there can be multiple variants depending on the specification. There are no "A" or "B" qualities usually.

There can be two scenarios that I can think of, a different spec or brand used at the time of build of the car or warranty and a better spec. or another brand for parts. Usually, spare parts bring good margins to the companies, so they will not like to lose that sales. Whereas in car, it's the brand and model that sells. No one chooses a car based on what's fitted inside and usually, manufacturer's warranty is 2-3 Years.

So, as an example, an Exide battery that Maruti gives is for Rs 3868; only part number is mentioned, with no specifications that I can see, just - built to exclusive OE specifications. Maruti should have a 12-month warranty on such parts. But, If I use Exide Battery Finder, it shows a different part, costs Rs 4146 and mentions a 48-month warranty. So, in this case, it can be due to a higher capacity battery that Exide is giving in aftermarket as against something different to Maruti. Or, even the brand can be other as I mentioned before.






Similarly, for Clutch plates for K10; Maruti may be using a different brand in the car at the time of production and, for replacement, another brand. As we can see, some cheaper options from LUK at Bodomo, so unlike a battery, Maruti is asking for higher rates than the market. It can be due to a different brand or it's also possible Maruti charges a premium on some spare, which are usually replaced in the workshops mostly, even if aftermarket premium brands (LUK is one of the better brands) are cheap.

[SixPistons]

I read the OP’s post and thought, Ah it is Hyundai after all, so this kind of policy is not surprising. And then I saw rest of the responses.

Everyday, you learn something new.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Most of the manufacturers (OEM/ Tier-1 suppliers) will have only one type of Quality, but there can be multiple variants depending on the specification. There are no "A" or "B" qualities usually

I recall reading from gannu and leoshashi's threads that there will be multiple equivalent suppliers for the same part, and even though in theory they both meet manufacturing quality standards, in practice and price there is a big difference. For maruti you have SGP and mgp parts, for VW you have the 6RF parts that are made in India vs the global equivalents that most team bhpians seem to prefer. Stellantis recently (Bproauto: Stellantis' new affordable parts brand for old cars in America) launched a "value" line of their own parts compared to mopar My own experience, tata had a recon parts catalog for major mechanical components which used the same numbers but were rebuilt and were offered to end consumers for a while as a cheaper option and were the only option for insurance/extended warranty repairs because it was written into the policy wordings.

Plenty of tier 1 vendors doing it, or at least more or less what the op is worried about

[abaliga]

In my case SA specifically mentioned that parts replaced under warranty have to adhere to strict budgets and are of inferior quality, he was very specific on ordering the steering column from the out of warranty catalogue, I was aware of multiple vendors for the same parts being used by OEMs, but never thought they would compromise on quality specifically for warranty replacements, this is a very shady practice, unfortunately consumer protection in our country is not upto the mark at least yet.

BTW following items have been replaced on our 14.5 year old i10 kappa 1.2 over the course of its ownership that has run 98k kms, all items listed here are paid replacements

- 3 sets of AC evaporator coils (this needs a replacement once every 3-4 years irrespective of the usage)
- 2 clutch assemblies (1st one at 22k, second one around 70k, no new driver in the family)
- 1 AC compressor (at 90k)
- All 4 doors because of rusting (Rusting began in the 2nd year and we tried to sort it out by repainting, but it reappeared, finally replaced all 4 doors as part of the restoration work last year)
- 2 sets of front shock absobers and it's associated components
- Complete silencer assembly because of rusting (I can understand this as we live in a coastal city and the part failed after 10 years)
- 1 set steering rack assembly

Note that the car is parked in a covered parking slot when at home which is almost ever day and used on regular city roads

I still need to work on getting the steering column replaced as there is a constant rattle when driving over rough roads, have been delaying it considering the cost of replacement but will need to do this by the end of this year, we plan to keep the car for at least 20 years as the family is very attached to it.

I dont like Hyundai for the way they handle warranty claims, have had far better experience with Tata and Ford, it appears to be very deep rooted in their culture to not loosen the purse strings to support customers, have noticed so many problems with their latest offerings too, guess nice to have features are prioritized over anything else at the time of the purchase in India which is why Hyundai is doing so well

One silver lining with all this is that our i10 has not had a single break down in its life time (knock on wood) and has never needed to be in the service station for over a day, their after sales parts distribution network is amazing! Have to give them credit where its due.

[wheelguy]

Originally Posted by abaliga

- Complete silencer assembly because of rusting (I can understand this as we live in a coastal city and the part failed after 10 years)
- 1 set steering rack assembly

Silencer rusting is quite a common issue among Hyundai cars, somehow Hyundai managed to keep it under the wraps, almost every owner thought theirs is unique case limited to just their car and paid out of their pocket.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by abaliga

Finding: I finally wanted to get rid of the rattle and requested the SA to order a new column (costs about 30k), he wanted me to share the VIN to get the replacement part and when I started a candid discussion to understand what parts are being considered for replacement and the respective prices, he revealed that Hyundai has a separate parts catalogue for under warranty vs out of warranty replacements where the part quality is significantly better on the paid ones


@Mods: Please feel free to delete the thread if you don't find this relevant

I do not agree with your FNG SA atleast WRT to Hyundai. There is no scenario of a Part with a defined part number having varying quality. Hyundai has different part numbers for same part. The main difference is where the part is manufactured. The ones Made in India are cheaper vs the ones imported from outside. This is seen in parts like Serpentine belt, Idler pulley, Cam cover breather hose, Idler pulley. However, these have different part numbers for the expensive one vs the cheaper one.

[abaliga]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I do not agree with your FNG SA atleast WRT to Hyundai. There is no scenario of a Part with a defined part number having varying quality. Hyundai has different part numbers for same part. The main difference is where the part is manufactured.

I am not sure of the part numbers here, most likely they are different, and the FNG SA in question here has worked for the Hyundai dealership for over a decade and deals with Mobis (Hyundai Genuine parts supplier) on a daily basis, also he doesn't bad mouth any manufacturer and goes about working on the cars quietly, it is just that he revealed this fact when ordering parts for the steering column because he wanted to make sure we get the correct part with good quality.

[batish]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I do not agree with your FNG SA atleast WRT to Hyundai. There is no scenario of a Part with a defined part number having varying quality.

Fully agree. I have had warranty replacements too in Hyundai as well as Mahindra. There is no Warranty replacement vs standard running replacement difference. They simply order the parts according to the part number and replace it.

Don't believe there is discrimination here.

Fully agree with other members that there are different vendors for the same part. During the lifecycle of the part these vendors change too.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

So, as an example, an Exide battery that Maruti gives is for Rs 3868; only part number is mentioned, with no specifications that I can see, just - built to exclusive OE specifications. Maruti should have a 12-month warranty on such parts. But, If I use Exide Battery Finder, it shows a different part, costs Rs 4146 and mentions a 48-month warranty. So, in this case, it can be due to a higher capacity battery that Exide is giving in aftermarket as against something different to Maruti. Or, even the brand can be other as I mentioned before.

Main difference in batteries is of warranty. Even Amaron has different pricing for same battery specification, the only difference is warranty time period. Ones with longer warranty period are expensive as compared to ones with just 1-2 year warranty.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by abaliga

I am not sure of the part numbers here, most likely they are different, and the FNG SA in question here has worked for the Hyundai dealership for over a decade and deals with Mobis (Hyundai Genuine parts supplier) on a daily basis, also he doesn't bad mouth any manufacturer and goes about working on the cars quietly, it is just that he revealed this fact when ordering parts for the steering column because he wanted to make sure we get the correct part with good quality.

OK, can you check if there are two different part numbers for the steering column of your car with significant differences in cost?

I am not saying your SA is lying. I have also dealt with lot of parts with Hyundai for my i20 and also recently changed the steering column. My observation is on this decade+ experience of dealing with spares for my car.

[fazayal]

I don't think that any OEM has different parts for warranty replacement and paid replacement. If it was true, it would have come out considering crores of people working in the industry.

Only thing is that while the car is under warranty, they might repair it or replace just the child part. If it is out of warranty, they might insist on replacing the parent part.

One example from my days working as a service advisor in a Hyundai dealership. Santros had issues with rear brake cylinder leakage. While the car was under warranty, only the wheel cylinder rubber was replaced. Once out of warranty, customer was asked to replace the complete wheel cylinder assembly.