[andre83440]

We bought a Hyundai i30 1.6 CRDi 110 DCT-7 Blue Drive , Diesel, Automatic, Executive in October 2015. It is LHD and French registered but we have it looked after here in the UK by Johnson of Oxford because the service level we got in France just didn’t do it. We love the car, the build quality, thoughtful design and the way it drives.

A couple of months ago with about 18K miles (29k Km) I noticed a juddering when pulling away in traffic or edging forward in queues and the gearbox didn’t always want to change down a gear when going up hills in gears below 4th. It is like driving with a learner! Have you experienced this?

It is not a great problem but I thought I should check it out while in the UK as I wouldn’t want the problem to suddenly flare up!  My feeling was maybe a software upgrade or faulty sensor perhaps especially after reading other people's experiences in forums.

Johnsons in Oxford are technically excellent and I have yet to find better customers service in their Volvo or Hyundai departments. I duly dropped the car off with them and they reported that they had recreated the problem but that software was up to date and they needed more time to scratch their heads on this one. I was happy that they had recreated and agreed a problem exists – after all this is 90% of the battle, getting the dealer to recreate your intermittent problem !

2 days later I get a call saying they are talking to Hyundai about replacing the gearbox!  While this was a shock I was impressed by the dealer being proactive with Hyundai UK. They now have the car for a month and their senior technician will strip the gearbox out and run tests with Hyundai’s technical team and either repair or replace. This is the plan so I wait and see.

So while it is a pain to lose the car for a while (I have a courtesy car), I have not had to fight the dealer or Hyundai (so far) and the work will all be covered under the 5 year warranty. If the gearbox needs replacing then this could hit £8k so a relief indeed.

So if you have a rumble or a grumble from your automatic DCT then don’t be shy in taking it to Hyundai.  I will let you know what the result and diagnosis is and whether I am still as calm and confident and comfortable with Hyundai in a few weeks !

I hope this will be helpful to anyone who thinks they are imagining some strange goings on with their automatic gearbox!

[eye30]

Great service from the dealer.

I take it there was no trouble with hy uk given the car was purchased in france, as say french registered, so just shows how the hy after service is global.

Wonder if that seamlessness service would happen with other marques...

[andre83440]

Yes I bought the car in France. There was no problem as the Hyundai warranty is global, however I checked first to make sure that there were no "peculiarities" with this model. Apparently quite a few people do this with Volvo and Hyundai (and I'm sure other makes too). The difference is in the customer service attitude of the dealer .... are they prepared to fight for the customer .... in France I would still be trying to prove there's a problem to the dealer!

This is an "undocumented fault" at the moment with the DCT 7 so it is interesting to see how they perform on this ....

So I'm still a happy hyundai howner 

[Dazzler]

  Andre,

Thanks for that. Yes, excellent service (most impressive) 

[nzenigma]

@andre83440  , Hello and welcome to the forum.  Dazz and I appreciate any information about any quirks that are related to the i30. As you may have come to realise, this ownersclub has become a library for people needing to identify the rare problems they may have with their i30s.
Thanks for your input ( its valuable) and please keep us abreast with your British solutions to France's problem.
Cheers G.

[baroudeur]

Yes I bought the car in France. There was no problem as the Hyundai warranty is global, however I checked first to make sure that there were no "peculiarities" with this model. Apparently quite a few people do this with Volvo and Hyundai (and I'm sure other makes too). The difference is in the customer service attitude of the dealer .... are they prepared to fight for the customer .... in France I would still be trying to prove there's a problem to the dealer!

My experience is that Hyundai France is a separate entity to Hyundai UK. When I bought my first Hyundai back in 2003 there was a Europe wide warranty and breakdown cover whict at that time  it was 3 years in France  and 5 year in the UK.  Europe wide breakdown cover was withdrawn some years ago so if you breakdown "abroad" you have to bear the cost of recovery because Hyundai will not..

In my case a disabling fault whilst in France resulted in my warranty claim being refused by an otherwise very helpful French dealer and me having to pay - as it turned out  a relatively small amount.  On returning home I took it up with the UK supplying dealer who  contacted Hyundai UK.  It seems that, unknown by the dealer, in order for warranty work to be carried out on  "foreign" cars there has to be prior agreement between the two national Hyundai companies involved about authorising the cost and passing it back via the supplying dealer. It took two months for a decision to be finalised.

I paid  €95 by card and received, eventually, a refund of €95 from the French dealer by cheque which cost me a £25 fee to pay into my account!

It seems that you were lucky in your choice of UK dealer but not so with the French dealer.

[nzenigma]

Thanks for your report. I note that this occurred during the early 2000s. Has this arrangement persisted given that Hyundai is now essentially a Euro designed vehicle, unlike your Korean Hyundai?

[andre83440]

It seems they have overcome their country boundaries because Hyundai UK did not question it .... unless there is a nasty surprise waiting for me at the end !! 

[Dazzler]

 

[andre83440]

Well I finally got the car back this week with its new DCT gearbox, running as smooth as new and with a complimentary valet as well 

Hyundai UK picked up the full warranty cost and despite the wait for the gearbox to be shipped in via Belgium, I was happy that the whole thing was sorted without any hassle or fighting required. Johnsons Hyundai of Oxford did all that for me I'm sure. Excellent service there!

As to the original problem : they were unable to determine the exact fault, save to say that the DCT was not engaging the gears smoothly so whether it was electronic or mechanical we don't know. The dealerships are not allowed to dismantle automatic gearboxes apparently and it has been returned to Hyundai where they will examine the cause and hopefully pass their findings on to the manufacturing process if it is a failure that might occur elsewhere!

So I am a happy bunny with 3 years warranty still left and I hope I won't need it again!!

So anyone who is suffering juddering with their DCT should go immediately to their dealer as it is not as minor as it at first feels !! 

[Dazzler]

That's great Andre,

Thanks for the update.   

[eye30]

Great news and good show from the dealer to take this up for you.