Hyundai Problems

Hyundai i30 Bluetooth pairing is achieved by switching your mobile phone’s Bluetooth function to On and the phone to Visible or Discoverable. The vehicle itself must also be stationary; phone pairing can not occur if the vehicle is moving.

Then, press the Phone button on the car’s stereo system or the Call button on the steering wheel. The infotainment screen should then display the devices it can find (including your phone). At the same time, the vehicle’s name should appear on your phone’s screen. Ensure it matches the vehicle and then select it.

On phones that require a passkey, a screen should show up on your phone. Enter 0000 and the connection should be completed. On phones that require confirmation, the info screen should show a six-digit code which will be mirrored on your phone. If the code is mirrored exactly, press Enter or OK and pairing should occur. From there you can transfer phonebook information and call lists per the on-screen prompts.

For more instructions on how to play music through the system, more setup options, and troubleshooting problems, refer to the vehicle’s owner’s manual.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Yash. Oil seals often weep a bit of oil and it’s good to see that the dealership has noticed it and wants to change the seal, rather than ignore it and make it your problem once the car is out of warranty. Speaking of warranty, your car came with six years of factory cover, so even if the seal leaks again in that time, it won’t cost you anything to have it fixed.

As for your other concerns; an oil seal is not a big problem and won’t cause any other damage (unless the oil is pouring out and leaving the engine without sufficient oil (which it isn’t in your case). Changing the seal will have no effect on the rest of the car, the problem will probably never occur again (not in the 10 years you plan to own it, anyway), the seal can be changed simply without opening the engine, and the cause is probably something as simple as a seal with a small manufacturing defect or one that was accidentally `pinched’ during assembly at the Hyundai factory.

Modern cars are incredibly complex machines consisting of thousands of parts. Even the best models from the best makes can have small defects like this one. Don’t sweat it.

Boy, the world is your oyster, Elizabeth. There are literally dozens of options when it comes to a compact SUV. If you’re otherwise happy with the Hyundai, then maybe look at the Hyundai Kona. It’s available as a turbo all-wheel-drive or as a non-turbo front-drive car (not to mention the Kona Electric, an all-electric version) and will come with Hyundai’s great factory warranty and reliability that you’ve already experienced with the Tucson. The other option would the equivalent from Hyundai’s sister company, Kia. The Kia Sportage an also be had as a turbo-diesel, although for normal suburban driving, a petrol is probably your best bet.

Then, you have all the various offerings from the Japanese makers as well as left-field entrants from MG, Fiat, Mini and more. But you need to be careful, because there isn’t always a whole lot of difference between the width of a compact SUV and a mid-sizer. Sure, there’s generally more space inside the bigger car, but it’s often the result of extra length and height rather than width. For instance, your Tucson (assuming it’s the current model) has a width of 1850mm while the Kona is just 50mm (about two inches) narrower. That may not be enough of a difference and you may need to go down two sizes to, say, a Hyundai Venue which is smaller and narrower again with a width of 1770mm.

The engine in your car uses a rubber timing belt which requires replacement every 90,000km. The design of this engine means a broken timing belt will likely destroy the entire engine, so it’s not something to ignore.

Either the Santa Fe or its close cousin, the Kia Sorento are good choices for a seven-seat SUV. In fact, they’ve risen to the top of the heap when it comes to a seven-seater within your budget. Both offered petrol engines, but in this type of vehicle, the turbo-diesels probably did a better job.

Unfortunately, the top end of your budget rules out all but the tattiest current-shape Kias and Hyundais. If you can stretch to maybe $3000 or $4000 more, you’ll get into good-condition examples of the current version of either and, thanks to the great factory warranties offered by the South Korean brands, you might even find one with some factory cover left to run.

If $20,000 is your absolute limit, that’s not the end of the world, as it will still get you into a very useable vehicle with lots of life left in it. Make sure you check the service record and only buy a car with a documented history of preventative maintenance.

The Ioniq PHEV is not exactly a fast car in terms of its acceleration, but it will comfortably cruise at the legal limit. Certainly there are cars that are better at overtaking than the Hyundai PHEV, but it will still accelerate around slower traffic on the highway.

Overtaking is a bit of a lost art these days with dual-lane freeways and it really doesn’t matter how powerful your car is if you don’t know how to overtake safely. The other thing to consider is that hybrids like the Ioniq are at their best in city and suburban traffic where the harvesting of energy otherwise lost during braking makes them most relevant. If all your driving is over long distances at cruising velocities, a conventional car with a conventional driveline might make more sense.

Both the petrol and diesel engines available in the current-generation Tucson have enviable records and reputations for reliability and longevity. Perhaps the factor that will ultimately sway your decision will be the driveline layout, because the all-wheel-drive version of the Tucson is available only with the turbo-diesel or turbo-petrol engine; the normally aspirated engine is available only in front-wheel-drive. To be honest, both the turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol and the turbo-diesel are the natural choices, and the non-turbocharged two-litre petrol engine is very much an also-ran in this model line-up.

That covers the Hyundai Tucson petrol vs diesel debate on a driveability basis, but in other aspects, the question is harder to answer. The petrol turbo is known to be a reliable unit but, in reality, the turbo-diesel probably suits this style of vehicle better with its relaxed feel and effortless nature. That said, if you’re only going to do suburban miles, then rule the diesel out as modern, common-rail diesels with their DPFs really don’t like that type of use. Unless you’re going to drive a decent distance at highway speeds every couple of weeks, the diesel can wind up costing a lot more to maintain.

Even used properly, a diesel engine can be costlier to own and service in the long run and, in the case of the Tucson’s unit, there have been reports of black sludge forming in the intake system, caused by a combination of soot and oil mist which are by-products of the engine’s emissions control. In extreme cases, this black ooze needs to be manually cleaned and that’s a big and expensive job.

But, to confuse things even further, the only transmission available with the turbocharged petrol Tucson is a seven-speed double-clutch unit. Hyundai’s seems better than a lot of such transmissions out there, but many feel this technology is less than perfect and some owners avoid these transmissions at all costs. The turbo-diesel Tucson, in contrast, uses a conventional automatic.

The Hyundai i40 has a great reputation in the trade for being a solid, dependable car with few inherent problems. In fact, it’s one of the models that has recently helped forge Hyundai’s overall reputation as a safe bet. The brand’s five-year warranty hasn’t hurt it in that regard, either.

In terms of Hyundai i40 diesel engine problems, the news is good. And that’s largely because Hyundai has been building small capacity passenger-car diesel engines for decades and has the technology all worked out.

But there are a few things to watch out for and those include the propensity of modern, common-rail injected diesels to require plenty of preventative maintenance. If injectors, pumps and filters are not looked after, they can all give trouble down the road and fixing common-rail injection is generally not a cheap pursuit. So make sure any second-hand i40 (petrol or diesel) has a fully stamped service book and that no preventative maintenance has been skipped.

The other thing worth mentioning is that unless you plan to do at least some highway driving, then the turbo-diesel – as nice as it is to drive – may not be your best bet. The Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) fitted to modern diesels needs a good run at a decent speed every few weeks to ensure that it can regenerate properly. If it doesn’t see this sort of running, it can become blocked and, in a worst-case scenario, require replacement. This is by no means a Hyundai-specific problem and many modern diesels with DPF technology carry the same caveat.

The bottom line is that even though the diesel version of the i40 may squeeze more out of each litre of fuel, it’s not necessarily the cheapest-to-own variant in the long run.

Finding critical safety information like this online can be fraught with danger. There are simply too many self-appointed geniuses out there who have little to no idea of what they’re talking about. Other times, you’ll be unwittingly reading about a vehicle specification from overseas that isn’t relevant to us, even though the badge is the same. And getting a bum steer on something like towing limits has awful potential consequences. Stick with websites like CarsGuide that you can trust.

On that basis, the Hyundai iX35 in question has a towing capacity of 750kg for an unbraked trailer and a 1600kg limit for a braked load. The tow-ball down-load limit is 140kg, the Gross Vehicle Mass is 2170kg and the Gross Combination Mass (the vehicle, trailer and all its occupants and luggage) is 3770kg. And just to cover all the bases, the factory roof-rack has a 100kg limit.

Checked against your choice of camper-trailer, you’ll find that the electrically-braked Road Trotter camper has a tare mass of 1090kg and can be loaded to a combined trailer-and-luggage weight of 1500kg. Its tow-ball download figure of 90kg is within the Hyundai’s capacity as well.