3 breakdowns in 3 years with my Venue iMT: Exchanging it for an Elevate

We are exchanging the Hyundai Venue and buying a Honda Elevate ZX CVT.

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Horrendous experience with the Hyundai Venue after just 3 years (66k KM)

tl;dr, Our Hyundai Venue (2021) broke down on the road 3 times in 30 days due to gear not falling into place (same problem in all 3 occurrences) and we are officially fed up with Korean cars. We are buying Honda Elevate ZX CVT and exchanging the Venue.

Event I (24th February, 2024): It all started on a normal drive while reaching home after almost 100KM of a drive that morning on the ORR. The car was under braking while reaching the toll gate and didn't fall into first gear, no matter how hard we tried to force it. It was going into gear when turned off on all 3 occasions. We called a tow truck because we didn't have Hyundai RSA and he charged 4k for 8KM, we didn't have any other option at the time as we were stranded near the Toll Gate. Service centre claimed that iMT actuator was damaged and it was replaced and covered under warranty. Car was better after the change but not the best.

Event II (March 16,2024): While driving back from a haircut after around 25km of driving that day, we slowed down a couple hundred meters before the speed breaker, and car was not falling into any gear no matter how much we tried. We were able to safely drive it off the road to stop. We called the same tow truck and he charged 5k for 10KM this time. This time service centre claimed that clutch bearing had to be replaced and again, it was done under warranty and delivered to us. Car was driving better but still not the best. We learnt our lesson and purchased Hyundai RSA (2k for 1 year) which offers free towing to service centre.

Event III (March 24, 2024): After around 25km of driving while coming back from HYB station, it wasn't going into gear again, again, we managed to drive off to the side of the road safely. After 20 mins of contacting and arranging RSA pickup, RSA tow truck driver just started and we were told to wait for 90 minutes. We started the car and tried putting it into gear, surprisingly it worked, so we called the RSA and told him not to come. We drove directly to the service centre. This time the clutch tube pipe had to be replaced and again, it was covered under warranty.

Learnings from this past 1 month (Warning: these opinions are purely based off of our experience with Hyundai Venue (2021), and I can guarantee it is not personal hate towards the company):

• Hyundai cars are absolutely not designed for longevity.
• Hyundai service (KUN Gachibowli) is not the most transparent service centre or dealership, we faced some issues during delivery too.
• Hyundai iMT is NOT a tried and tested technology, even if it is, it's not reliable at all.
• We were lucky to take extended warranty during delivery, as our total expense for the car was 11k(4k+5k+2k) instead of a ballpark figure of 30-35k if we had to pay for those parts.
• There seems to be some jerkiness (similar to what you feel in a manual if the car is knocking) in 1st gear while going at slow speeds. Service center guy says this is because we press brake while downshifting and that shouldn't be done in iMT cars because it damages the car. AFAIK, we haven't done that.

Conclusion:

• We are exchanging the Hyundai Venue and buying a Honda Elevate ZX CVT (Still deciding between White w/ black roof or Meteoroid Gray)
• Rephrasing Faisal Khan's words, a Honda is a Honda is a Honda
• We are going for the Elevate because our Jazz (2016, 1.3L km) runs butter smooth to this day and we believe the Honda CVT Engine will do great in the Elevate too.

Questions

• How much can I expect for the Hyundai Venue (2021, 66,000 KM, not more than 4-5 scratches on the car, that too they're only visible if observed closely, maintained very neatly inside)
• What are some red flags from the dealership I should be careful about while buying the Elevate? We will be adamant about a PDI before the invoice is generated because once it is generated, we are helpless.
• Pride Honda (Madhapur, Hyd) is charging 5k for logistics and 12k for so called 'Basic Accessory Kit'. Can I refuse to pay these charges?
• Sundaram Honda (Secunderabad) is charging 12k for 'Basic Kit' (I think both dealers offer this same Kit) and an absurd 34k for Signature Spoiler Kit. Shocking thing is this kit is not even a part of the 'optionals' section in the price sheet.

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