2020 Hyundai Creta: Alternator failure & the ASC's lethargic response

It is shocking that a car that has been driven only 13,000 kms in a period of 1 year 7 months has suffered a faulty alternator.

BHPian bmanabendragogoi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have owned and driven at least four cars till now and have never ever faced this issue. I remember my father facing this with his Premier Padmini Fiat 1100 sometime in 1988-89, but never since. So, what exactly happened?

I bought my Hyundai Creta SX(O) iVT (Phantom Black) on 9th April, 2021. Ever since, there hasn't been any problem and I have serviced the car twice i.e. on 6th June, 2021 (1240 kms) and 19th March, 2022 (8800 kms). I haven't done any kind of modification on the car except painting the ugly looking silver C-Pillars black which Hyundai calls the 'Lightning Arch'.

Fast forward to 17th November, 2022. I start the car in the morning for office as usual and though there was no delay in the ignition, the battery indicator would not go away.

I didn't give much thought to it at that time since I was running late for office. At lunch hour, I again saw the same battery indicator throughout my journey home and back to office. However, there was no noticeable sign of other problems except the indicator. I thought I would look it up online once I return home from office that evening. However, I didn't have to.

While returning home that evening, I noticed that the battery indicator was still there but now, my lights started to dim and my horn was rarely blowing. The music system started to fail and then came the big one: the Electronic Power Steering stopped working and so did Electronic Stability Control and ABS. This is when I realised that I am in deep trouble. I was cursing myself for not looking up the issue online in time.

Luckily, I somehow reached the gate to my home after which, the car stopped with irregular jerks. My battery was dead. I could shift to 'Park' and engage the Electronic Parking Brake just in time which was essential since my house is at a slope. I didn't waste any time and called Road Side Assistance. They assessed my situation and sent a team. This team was responsible only for jumpstarting the car. They jumpstarted the car, but soon after it would stop. This is when they concluded that this was probably an alternator issue and hence, the car needs to be towed to the service center. Since, it was already 07:00 PM, I decided that we will need to tow it the next day and informed Road Side Assistance Customer Care accordingly.

The next morning, i.e. 18th November, 2022, I got a call from the driver of the tow vehicle. I asked him if he could get a spare battery since the car cannot be budged from its place without turning on the ignition. Having an automatic car with electronic parking brake is a pure pain in the a** when your battery has died on you. This is when I realised that the Road Side Assistance programme involves separate teams for battery related issues and towing. Hence, I again had to place a request for a team with the spare battery. Once the spare battery was connected, I could reverse the car to a suitable position for the underlift tow to be placed. The battery was then removed and we towed the car to Borah Hyundai Tinsukia Service Center.

The service center couldn't confirm that very day if the issue is with the alternator or any other part. Hence, I had to leave the car there. Also, it was informed by the Service Manager that if the issue is the Alternator, which is highly probable in this case, it would take another 7-10 days for the part to be received. I requested for a loaner car since I cannot commute without my car for so long and that too when the car was still under warranty. The Service Manager agreed and offered a Santro Sportz.

It has been two days since, but the Service Manager and his team have not confirmed the root cause of the problem and hence, haven't yet ordered the faulty item (which seems to be the alternator until now). Most interestingly, they haven't given me any kind of Service ID or Job ID, but instead have created a WhatsApp group with their team members and me wherein they have shared the pics of my car and I keep asking questions which rarely get replied to.

It is shocking that a car that has been driven only 13,000 kms in a period of 1 year 7 months has suffered a faulty alternator. Even the service team has informed me that they haven't witnesses such a thing before and hence, that part is never readily available with them.

I am still waiting for the service team to get back to me. I will update the matter as and when things move.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

Sorry to hear about your problems. I hope it gets fixed quickly.

Unfortunately, just because things are (relative) new, does not guarantee it won’t break. That is very unfortunate, but it does happens.I installed a brand new alternator in my Jeep Cherokee a few months ago. Only to find this brand new alternator had a bad bearing. I got another new one from the supplier with no questions asked.

My spanner mate Peter had the exact same thing happening to him with a brand new alternator for his Alfa Spider. Again, we got a new one without any problems.

But it does show that, unfortunately, new stuff can be broken too. Even before installing it.

Good luck with this

Jeroen

Here's what BHPian Artyom had to say on the matter:

Sorry to hear the ordeal but I am confident Hyundai will take care of the issue.

My Creta 2019 model encountered a premature Slave Cylinder Failure while i was on my cross country trip but Hyundai was prompt to replace it under warranty.

I have clocked 10k after that and so far so good.

Parts fail but what counts is how the manufacturer deals with it.

If you feel the ASC is taking you for granted try to escalate it and hopefully it should get the things rolling.

BHPian manabendragogoi had the following update to share on the issue:

Final update:

After 27 days, the Service Center handed me over the repaired car and finally it is back at my place.

Even though there is angst in me due to the negligence of the Service Team which lead to this delay, as is said, all’s well that end’s well. I have been driving the car for the last 3 days and as of now, there is nothing to complain about.

When asked about the reason for the alternator failure, they mentioned that it was a manufacturing defect and thus, the solder joints had come apart. However, neither I got back the original part nor did I want to investigate any further. Hope this issue doesn’t crop up again…either with me or anyone else.

Thanks for bearing with me!

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