My car got stolen 2 months ago - yep, a Hyundai - and was recovered with the obvious damage to the steering column. I took it in for repair and that security upgrade (I didn’t know about it before) but between not returning and calls and trying to charge me $680 to repair the airbag spring THEY broke, they’ve miserable to deal with.
I got my car back last week and everything seemed fine but I didn’t think to check my remote start… and last night I learned that it now set off my alarm.
I had it installed at the dealership when I bought it in 2019 but they didn’t offer a Hyundai remote start as a package option so they put in a Viper system. I called them today and was told that third party starters were not their problem to fix.
I’ve left a message with my insurance agent because (weirdly) he’s the only person involved I trust anymore and looking for answers online leads me to believe Hyundai will NOT fix it. I didn’t see any success stories.
So I’m here to ask: How can I get Hyundai to do something about this? Do I have any recourse here legally? Or is this something I, a tech-savvy but not car-savvy guy could fix himself?
I had the exact same thing happen, just with a 2014 Hyundai. Only aftermarket remote starts were available when I bought the car, so that’s what was installed at the dealer. Took it in for a recall repair 3 years later and the remote start was broken when I picked the car up.
Contacted multiple dealerships and they wouldn’t touch it since it’s aftermarket (despite being installed at a dealer). The shop that did the recall repair flat out said I couldn’t prove it was their work that broke it so they’re not responsible. My only option was to take it to a local shop that does that type of work. Audio install and aftermarket mod shops were the best bet.
This is about the response that can be expected unfortunately. Lots of dealers don’t even like touching accessories from the manufacturer. They just want easy stuff.
If it worked before you took it in and it doesn’t now. Then they broke it. They are legally liable for damages they did.
That’s how I feel as well but since I can’t prove they did it, I’m not sure how strong my case is legally.
Attorney, not yours, not advice.
As with all legal issues, it depends. It doesn’t help that you took over a week to discover the issue. But you can testify that it worked, you brought it for service, and now it doesn’t work. The work they did, it sounds like, would be in the same general area as the remote starter.
Get it fixed, send the invoice to the dealership and demand payment. You may want to cite any consumer protection statute you have in your jurisdiction (mine requires claim presentment in writing and 30 days to wait for a reply). Also have the repair facility determine, if possible, what broke specifically and why, noting it in their records. Civil cases are simply preponderance of the evidence, so you might be in decent shape. Good luck!
That’s some good advice, I appreciate it. I spoke to Viper and they said what’s happening is that that the remote start isn’t unlocking the car before starting it because of the security upgrade (but they won’t assist me since I’m not an authorized dealer. I get it)
