2003 Santa Fe 60,000 mile maintenance

[JC Santa Fe 3.5L]

The 2003 Santa Fe 3.5L needs the 60,000 mile maintenance in the next couple of weeks. I've contacted 2 dealers in the area and they are about $100 apart on the cost. Dealer B, with the higher price, says Dealer A is cheaper because Dealer A drains the transmission & radiator while Dealer B flushes the transmission & radiator. In response, Dealer A says it replaces the filters in the transmission to which Dealer B does not do. I humbly turn to the forum for advice and assistance. My primarly concern is what is best for the vehicle.

[curtis73]

Good question! In general, dealer service departments (forgive my blasphemy) will compete tooth and nail for business. I don't want you to get the impression that they lie, but they will often say that "dealer A only gives you half of what we offer."

There are two basic ways to service a transmission. You can either drop the pan and replace the filter which replaces about 1/3 of the tranny fluid, or you can do a transmission flush which replaces all of the fluid but doesn't change the filter.

In your case I would suggest that you do a little homework and decide what needs to be done. Pull the dipstick for the tranny. If the fluid looks red, clear, and doesn't smell like a burnt piece of toast, I suggest you do the pan drop/filter change. If the dipstick has brown burned fluid on it, I suggest doing the tranny flush.

It is also important to note that you do not have to do any of this service at the dealership in order to maintain the warranty. You can do it yourself and keep the receipts if you wish, or visit a quicky lube for the same service and not void the warranty.

Basically you're looking at one dealership that fulfills the warranty one way, and another dealership that looks at it another way. The truth is, its a very grey area, and both dealers will try to get as much money from you as possible. Period.

If you can't tell by now, I work at a dealership service department

Since you are concerned with what is best for the vehicle, I challenge you this. The dealer recommends service intervals for three reasons; 1- if you follow the service intervals and pay from your own penny, the chances of their having to repair a vehicle under warranty are reduced, 2- if you fail to perform those maintenance procedures and something fails, they can blame the failure on you, and 3- making you think that you have to have the service done at the dealership will cause you to spend more money at the dealer and make more money for Hyundai.

What's best for the vehicle (and your wallet) is to determine what service you need and perform that service at the location of your choice. Save the receipt and you're legally covered in the event of a failure. Quicky lube places are a little sketchy. I use them sometimes as long as I can watch since I know what to look for. Many reputable repair shops can perform what you need for less than the dealer and legally it fulfills the same warranty requirement.

[joeallen312]

i would be carefull for the most part the info is correct but you need to make sure that all the correct fluids are changed and secondly i would incourage you to do the tranny flush. I am a hyundai tech and we have alot of tranny issues. and they will sometimes raise a fit about the quick lube tranny services.

[yotabj2000]

I did my tans maint at 30k my fluid was really black and smelled like burnt tans the dealer told me it was ok, and the car did not have to have a tans flush tell 120k (that would be out of woranty)

[Mr500CM]

Originally Posted by yotabj2000

I did my tans maint at 30k my fluid was really black and smelled like burnt tans the dealer told me it was ok, and the car did not have to have a tans flush tell 120k (that would be out of woranty)

My tranny on my 05 santa fe blew out at 40,000, and my dealer gave me hell because they didn't do the service. After a week of arguing they replaced the tranny under warranty.