It’s taken just six months for Tony Bosworth to clock-up 15,000km in the long term i30SR and that’s led to its first full service at a miserly $219.
Car Hyundai i30SR Date bought November 18, 2013 Price paid $28,000 driveway Extras Phantom Black paint – $495 Delivery kilometres 38km Current kilometres 15,220km Fuel consumption (mix of E10 and 91 octane, depending on availability), L/100km: best: 6.5, worst: 6.7, average: 6.7 Service costs $219 Faults None
ONE OF LIFE’S ANNOYANCES – well, to me anyway – is car servicing. Why? Well, aside from the usual high cost you have to get your car to the service centre – often these days found on out-of-the-way industrial sites – and then you have to get back home or to work, then you have to repeat the labourious trek at the end of the day. Out where I live in rural land this is made all the more difficult due to an almost complete lack of public transport, and I don’t have anyone to ferry me back and forth.
Fortunately, Windsor Auto Group have some kind of a solution. Call them to arrange a service – as I did – and they ask you when you want the car back. What they claim to do is work with you to help you get back on your way as soon as possible. Of course, they all say that, don’t they? But I put it to the test, letting them know I could get the i30SR there after the school-run, around 9.30. They told me I’d have it back within two hours.
When I arrived, the service bloke told me it would be lunchtime because a mechanic had called in sick. What can you do, except take a deep breath?
Come 10.30 I’d been for a walk and what I can tell you is this – McGrath’s Hill is only interesting if you like plumbers, shower fitters, fast-food outlets and fast-moving traffic.
I sat down at the dealership and read a book but by 11am the service man had popped his head out and said, won’t be long. By 11.20 the service was complete, the car had been washed and tyres blacked and thanks to Hyundai’s fixed-price servicing I was relieved of $219.
One thing not itemized on the bill is the amount of wear to tyres and brakes, the latter being especially useful to know, given I’ll be driving another 15,000km before the next service. I used to get my cars serviced by the NRMA at Artarmon in Sydney and that info was standard on their invoices.
No complaints about Windsor Auto Group at all – good service, very quick turnaround and pleasant to deal with, right from the receptionist – who was very helpful explaining and arranging the service time slot idea initially – to the friendly service guy. Quite simply, all services at every car dealership should be like this one.
All is well with the SR and even the clutch has settled down a bit as it wears, I assume, though I still think the bite point is too narrow in first gear and can – and sometimes does – lead to stalling. The service guy drove it and he reckoned it is just a light clutch action, which certainly is common to Hyundais, but I’ve driven enough new cars to know it’s a pernickety clutch.
Despite the relatively hard standard ride the car is not squeaking or rattling at all and certainly seems to be well screwed together. It still feels taut and handles very well. Even the leather/leatherette trim is standing up well to child abuse and though I’m in and out of the SR the driver’s seat is still looking good too.
Finally, I have to give Hyundai their due, they really are delivering on service cost and it is a powerful reason to opt for a new Hyundai, that’s for sure. Each of the major services at 15, 30 and 45K cost $219 for the SR and also include automatic updating of the onboard map system too. Couple all this with the five year unlimited kilometre warranty and I have to say it’s a first rate package.
Good to hear experiences are good at this dealer. Its one of two nearest to me, and I have seen a nice silver SR there.
Hello David, certainly the service experience was good, though I don’t have experience of their sales side, to be fair. The good thing is, if you have a choice of a couple of dealers that’s the trick – just see which one is best for you. The selling dealership – Sinclair in Penrith – was very good. They weren’t pushy at all and their salesman knew the range inside out, and was also very honest about it. He didn’t try to sell us a more expensive model or one with extra cost trim (the sunroof/moonroof for example is another $2000) and he really knew his stuff. Do let us know about your experiences if you go down the Hyundai route because it all adds to the information for future buyers.
What do you think of the auto-dimming rear-vision mirror? The dimming varies depending on the brightness of the light. However, I now realise that with a traditional mirror I had been using the brightness to get a rough guide of the distance of traffic behind me, even if it’s just in the corner of my eye. The auto-dimming function makes that more difficulat. I know I can simply turn it off, but it resets back to on when the car is started.
Hi there, I reckon you’re best off with the auto-dimming function. You’ll no doubt adjust to it, and it’s a whole lot better than being dazzled by following traffic at night. Cheers Isaac (Editor).
Dave, totally agree with you. While the dimming function has obvious benefits, I confess I usually turn it off for exactly the reasons you outline.