Hyundai Problems

It could be either the car or the remote-control unit at fault, and it’s impossible to tell without actually examining the vehicle. A remote-control unit with a battery that is low on voltage can cause all sorts of mysterious problems with a car’s central locking. But it’s also possible that the vehicle’s body-computer (which controls all the functions involved in unlocking and starting the car) could be malfunctioning also. If that’s the case, it will be a much more involved and expensive job than changing the battery in a remote-control unit.

This sounds like a problem that should be easily solvable by having your Hyundai dealership electronically scan the car and interpreting the fault codes that result. This can’t be done by the side of the road or in your driveway, so I doesn’t surprise me that your road-service provider hasn’t had much success.

Fundamentally, though, it’s simply not good enough for the dealership to continue to tell you it can’t find a problem. This is a brand-new car and it’s expected to perform faultlessly or, at the very least, to a standard that does not give your partner cause to refuse to drive it. The car is under warranty, so Hyundai is obliged to fix it. If you’re not happy with your dealership’s approach, I’d suggest calling Hyundai’s customer service department. Hyundai guards its reputation very closely in Australia, and isn’t likely to let a case like yours damage that.

The Hyundai brand has developed an enviable reputation in this country for reliability and quality. The brand’s warranty is also excellent, taking away even more buyer anxiety. With that in mind, the decision to go diesel or petrol comes down to the way you use the vehicle.

This applies to all brands, not just Hyundai, but if all (or most of) your driving will be urban or suburban based, then the petrol engine is for you. Yes, you’ll use a little more fuel than the diesel variant, but servicing costs could be a little lower and you’ll avoid the modern turbo-diesel’s biggest downfall; a blocked Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).

The DPF is an emissions device that traps the soot from the diesel engine and burns it off at a later date. The problem with that is that the DPF can only burn off the soot and regenerate itself if the engine (and exhaust system) gets to a temperature high enough for this to happen. In urban running, that doesn’t just doesn’t happen, at which point the on-board computer will either try to force a regeneration (not always successful) or the DPF will have to be manually cleaned or even replaced (and that’s costly).

The bottom line, then, is that a turbo-diesel (even a modern one) is only for you if you will be driving the car at highway speeds for at least half an hour at least once a month (once a fortnight is better). If that’s how you use a car, then the diesel should be okay; if not, it’s petrol every time.

It’s not unknown for a car-maker to receive a batch of parts from a supplier where the parts in question have a materials or manufacturing flaw in them. Certainly, enough Hyundai owners have reported this same problem for that to be a reasonable hypothesis. The theory about the gear in the steering system is one possible cause for the noise you’re hearing, but I’ve also heard other mechanics suggest that it’s the clock-spring (that electrically powers the air-bags, steering wheel controls, yet still allows the wheel to turn) that’s at fault.

Either way, it’s a warranty job for the dealer to sort out, but experience has shown that Hyundai’s dealers are very good at keeping their customers happy. Meantime, the replacement part should be from a later, improved batch, without the inbuilt flaws, so it shouldn’t happen again.

It’s nice to see that the worldwide web has put Carsguide in touch with people in the USA and that they’re prepared to ask for advice from half a planet away. Meanwhile, if safety is your number one priority, then you really need to find a vehicle with all the latest driver aids such as autonomous emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance and rear-cross-traffic alert. These are the new safety must-haves now that air-bags, stability control and other systems are considered par for the course.

The catch with your situation (from our point of view) is that the vehicles we assess and test in Australia don’t necessarily correlate with the North American buying experience. The specifications of Australian-delivered cars don’t always line up with those of a USA-market vehicle, and that can mean that the safety kit fitted here isn’t mirrored by the same make and model sold on your side of the pond. Don’t forget, too, that some makes and models (Hyundai and Kia are good examples) often feature Australian input into the suspension and steering settings to make them more palatable to an Australian audience. As a result, the same car without that input (such as the version sold in the US) might drive very differently.

Petrol versions of the Hyundai i30 from this era have a rubber, toothed timing-belt. This is a clean, quiet running arrangement, but it does require replacement at 90,000km intervals. The advice is to change the tensioners, associated pulleys and the engine’s water pump at the same time as all these components wear out and are located in the same general area, making it a smart move to do all this work in one hit, rather than pull the engine apart a second time.

Volkswagen’s latest cars are lovely to drive but it’s true; many mechanics (and plenty of owners) are wary of the brand’s recent reputation for reliability. But if you’re buying a brand-new or nearly new example, then the factory warranty will be some peace of mind. The safest bet right now, is something Japanese or South Korean, and that includes the Hyundai you’re looking at as well as the equivalent offerings from Kia. Both these brands have enviable reputations for durability and both come with terrific factory warranties.

Volkswagen’s current high-tech turbocharged engines are very entertaining to drive as well as being frugal in all situations, but, in reality, any current model mid-sized SUV is more than capable of delivering you interstate in comfort and safety as well as offering low running costs. Bear in mind you may have to pay extra for the top-shelf model if you want all the latest safety and convenience technology.

This one is a little beyond my pay-scale, to be honest. Medical advice from a car website is not something we’re prepared to indulge in. Damaging levels of radiation from a car are not something we've heard of, but to comment either way and potentially put somebody’s health in danger is not our place. The absolute best advice is to make certain the driver in question seeks proper medical treatment.

If you think the car is at fault, you could have it scientifically tested to detect the presence of radiation, but it’s certainly sounds unlikely given the well-documented history of the motor-car. From where did your theory that the car is at fault come?

That’s actually not a lot of kilometres for a modern car, even a small hatchback like a Hyundai i30. Modern cars are actually a lot more durable in the long term than older ones, so I wouldn’t be worried about the distance travelled. Given that the average car in Australia travels about 15,000km a year, 108,000 is actually about right for a car that’s now eight years old.

That said, the car’s chances of being reliable for the next few years will pivot on how it has been maintained by its previous owners. Make sure the car you buy has a full service history with no gaps in that document suggesting it has missed any scheduled preventative maintenance. Unfortunately, many people who purchase budget cars like the Hyundai tend to maintain them in a similar way and that often means corners are cut. But if the service history is intact and complete, there’s no reason to suspect the car won’t offer years of reliable service. The price you’ve been quoted seems about right for the car in question.

The answer is no, but Hyundai's naming policy was very confusing during the 2010s.

The original i30 of 2007 introduced the alphanumerical naming policy and signified a different approach to vehicle engineering, with a European focus with higher-quality engineering rather than a low price to take on class leaders like on the Volkswagen Golf.

Thus 'i' something became a sort of premium nomenclature, and of course is still used to denote this on models like the i30 and Europe's i10 and i20 small cars There was also the German-engineered i40 midsized sedan and wagon until 2018.

But here's where Hyundai muddied its own waters.

In 2010 the larger, American-market Sonata was rebadged i45 for Australia and New Zealand – even though an 'x' and a '5' rather than a '0' meant crossover or SUV, as illustrated by the very popular second-generation Tucson being renamed ix35 in Australia and some other markets from 2009 to 2015 – though this naming policy was abandoned for the third-generation Tucson from 2015. While strikingly styled, there was nothing European about the i45, and it too returned to being badged Sonata from 2015.

So... i10, 120, i30, i40 and i45 for Australia, but no i35.

Thank you.