Hi Skierd,
The shifter itself did not break - it was Enrico's gerabox internally.
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Enrico,
A few things about new cars and warranties.
Any change or modification that you make to your car has the potential to void part of your car's warranty. If Hyundai (or which make of car you have) can attribute the failure of a part directly to something that has been changed from factory spec on your car, then they may not honour part of the warranty on your vehicle if it fails. They cannot however void teh car's entire wattanty over one modification.
Examples:
If you change the wheels on your Excel to say 15*6.5" with 195/50/15 tyres, and down the track and say the wheel bearing fails, then Hyundai could reasonably argue that the extra stress placed on the bearing as a result of the different weight/size wheels and rim package has caused it's premature failure. If however the paint on the bootlid started to flake off, then there is no direct relationship between your new wheels and the problem so they would fix the bootlid under warranty.
If you were to fit an aftermarket exhaust, and the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) was to fail, then it would be hard pressed for Hyundai to argue that the exhaust had anythign to do with the failure, and therefore would be obliged to replace the TPS with a new one under warranty. If the paint on the rear bumper above the nice big chrome exhaust tip you had fitted with the exhaust started to flake and discolour, then Hyundai could reasonably argue that this was due to the aftermarket exhaust that you had fitted, especially if teh chrome tip sat a lot closer to the underside of the rear bumper bar that the standard exhaust, and therefore would not be obliged to repaint you rear bar under warranty.
You may like to read through your owners manual and see what it says in relation to the warranty.
It is up to the dealer to show that the modification undertaken to your car has been the direct and sole cause of the problem in order for him not honour the problem under warranty.
The most likely causes of your car's gearbox failure could be due to either, or a combination of:
* faulty gearbox components to start with (very hard to prove without laboratory testing of components)
* incorrectly adjusted cables resulting in excess strain on internal components during gear changes - have your cables ever been adjusted, either by the dealer during a reoting service or when your quick shifer was installed?
* driver abuse through burnouts, stepping off the clutch at high RPM for fast launches, crunched gear changes, etc. Have you owned the car since new? If not, you cannot be sure of the previous owners's driving style and abuse they may have given the car.
The HVE Quick Shifter does not in any way change the way in which the gearbox operates, it merely reduces the amount of movement which the gear lever needs to enable the gears to be changed.
Many car dealers, and not just Hyundai, will take any opportunity to avoid haviny to do any work under warranty. I am not sure why, as they are not out of pocket from doing the work - they do the work, send teh bill to Head Office and get paid for the work they have done.
A lot of dealers will see the paperwork to make a warranty claim too hard (even though it is not hard) and would rather just charge the customer.
As for you statement of "My warranty was voided and I still have two years left..", I have to say that you sound very gullible. Did your dealer give you a letter stating that? I very much doubt it.
Please, if I am wrong, scan a copy of the letter and post it here for us all to see, then send a copy to the Warranty Manager at Hyundai Automotive Distributors Australia and ask them to clarify the situation with regards to your warranty supposedly being voided.
It sounds like your Hyundai dealer may be relying on you not questioning his statement with regards to your warranty to he can shun you off with regards to any future warranty issues you may have in the coming two years.
As for the cracked gearbox case, it sounds like the gearbox this is not something that will usually happen unless the gearbox has been abused.
A few years ago had a member of Hyper Auto Club in NSW who used to take every opportunity to do burns out, donuts and 6,000 rpm launches. Needless to say that the gearbox did not last too long, and when first gear finally gave up, and things went to pieces inside the gearbox, and large chunk of the gearbox case the size of a tennis ball was knocked out the case. He took his car back to the local Hyudnai dealer, and was promptly told that it would not be replaced under warranty as it was due to driver abuse and mis-use.
With over 80,000 X3 Excels on the road, dealers would over the years have seen many Excels come back with gearbox problems and very quickly know what is due to driver abuse. Some dealers may however be a little too fast in assuming that every Excel driven by a younger person that comes back with gearbox problems has been abused.
One of the current members of Hyper Auto Club NSW, Colin, had his Excel into the dealers last October to rectify a gear shift problem. Colin had a HVE Quick Shifter also installed in his car. The dealer looked at his car, the gear box, and shifter, diagnosed the problem as being an internal gearbox problem, and had it fixed all under warranty, no questions asked. Checking my ICQ log file for Colin, he even commented that the dealer even took off the console around the shifter, and adjusted the cables at the gear shift as part of the job, so the dealer would have been totally aware that there was a modified gear shifter fitted, and his warranty was not effected.
It appears that your local dealer has taken a heavy handed approach with regards to your gearbox issue, whereas other dealers do not see the fitting of a quick shifter as being a problem with regards to any gearbox issues under warranty. Since your dealer is inconsistent with what other dealers say, I would recommend speaking to South Australia's State Warranty Manager, and failing that the warranty manager at HADA in Sydney.
You are the customer, and why should you be treated worse off by your Hyundai dealer than other customers are treated better by theirs?
One thing to keep in mind is that the cables linking the gear shifter to the gearbox do strtch over time and through normal use. There is a small turnbuckle for each cable at the base of the gear shifetr which is used to make small adjustments to compensate for the slight stretching of the gear cable over time.
One thing that needs to be done when your car is serviced, yet very few Hyundai dealers will do it, is to check these cables and make any adjustment if required. More often than not, .25 to .50 of a turn on the 1/2 - 3/4 - 5/R shift cable is all it takes to get your gear shift feeling like new.
If these cables are not checked and adjusted when requried, your gear shift will become notchy and you will often find it is hard to get it from N to 1, and at higher revs from 1-2, with an occasionally crunching of gears. With every small crunch, you are causing a small amount of damage to your gearbox internals, and over time these will accumulate and cause gearbox failure.
If your gearbox is starting to feel hard going from N-1 and 1-2 at higher revs (such as a fast launch from the traffic lights) and crunching, get your cables looked at and adjusted. If you keep forcing the gear lever into gear, then the problem will only get worse faster. This will occur with a standard shifter as much as it will with a quick shifter.
I have had a HVE Quick Shifter in my S-Coupe for over 160,00 km now (yes, i have driven over 254,000 km since I bought my car in 1993) and never had a problem. My original clutch was not replaced until 155,000 km, and the gearbox has not needed to be opened up or anything replaced. It is only now at 255,000 km that the differential is starting to make nosies and will need to be serviced soon.
Don't worry, my car gets a good workout. I have taken it on several dozen days at the track and will race almost anyone to the speed limit at the traffic light grand prix, but always go a little easy when changing gears and try not to force it into gear if it does not want to go easily.
Driven with a little bit of sympathy gearboxes will last a long time, but start being too hard on them and they will fail.
As for what HVE says about warranty issues, you may like to read our FAQ page at
http://www.hve.com.au/faq/faq_warranty.htm. This has been part of the HVE homepage since June 2001.
Cheers
Bretton
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Edited by - Bretton on 01/26/2002 07:40:28 AM
