Daryan Coryat says she could hardly believe it when a Barrie, Ont. Hyundai dealership handed her a $7,000 repair estimate for her SUV.
Coryat wants Baytowne Hyundai to help help pay the cost, saying the dealership didn’t take proper care of her 2013 Hyundai Tucson while the vehicle sat for eight months on its lot waiting for a new engine part.
“They didn’t want to help out whatsoever,” said Coryat, who lives on the outskirts of Barrie about 110 kilometres north of Toronto.
She says she took her SUV to the dealership in August 2021 when it broke down. Hyundai Canada eventually agreed to the repairs as the part that broke was under recall for 2013 Tucsons.
… George Iny, the director of the Automobile Protection Association, says Coryat’s experience is a cautionary tale. He says it’s a “very bad year” for getting vehicles repaired, especially for Kia and Hyundai customers, due to widespread issues with the availability of parts.
“There are hundreds of people in Canada today waiting for parts, maybe thousands,” said Iny.
He says dealers are responsible for looking after vehicles that are in their care while they await parts.
“You know they look after vehicles in their own inventory that belong to them,” he said.
“You would expect them to exercise the same oversight or take the same care of a customer vehicle.”
Iny says this means starting the vehicles from time to time, moving them around and ideally not parking them outdoors for long periods of time.
Furthermore, he says the bill for Coryat’s Tucson repairs is “padded beyond belief.”
“The price for this work is outrageous overall when you look at a nine-year-old car,” Iny told CBC News.
He says the cost for the brake job is “egregious” and that an aftermarket shop would likely have charged her half as much for the total cost of repairs, or perhaps less if they were able to offer used parts.
“I have rarely seen a case of repair abuse like this one.”
Iny says arrangements can often be made in instances like these to reduce the cost of the work or have the car manufacturer pitch in for parts.