QuestionQUESTION: Hyundai Accent 2005, made for U.S. I took the car to Hyundai dealer to fix it. First they told me the purge valve is not good, they replaced it, I drove 100 miles, and engine light came back on. Now they said is the charcoal canister (or a cap in there) that needs to be replaced. HOW DO I KNOW THE purge valve was bad from first time? I don't think they take in consideration a refund for purge valve since they said it wasn't holding the pressure... Should I expect any other problems? Thanks a lot.
ANSWER: Unless you have the old purge valve, there's no way for you to now tell whether it was defective.
The problem I see is that the dealer has tooling which gives them the capability forcing the engine control module to run the evaporative self-test. If they had run this test, they should have known it wasn't fixed prior to releasing the vehicle back to you.
You could have a leak anywhere in the evaporative emissions system (hoses, piping, fuel tank, filler neck, purge control valve, fuel cap, charcoal canister, leak detection pump). Not being able to look at your car, I'm in no position to second-guess the dealer's diagnosis.
Should they give you a credit (at least partial) for the work that was done? Probably. We have every indication that they didn't properly test the vehicle before releasing it back to you. Unless they can show otherwise (i.e. a printout from the self-test with the appropriate date, time, and VIN), it's reasonable to expect some compensation.
I'll say that although it sometimes happens that a vehicle has two conditions causing a single issue (such as the trouble code P0442 in this case), this is a very rare occurrence. Anytime someone makes one repair, the same problem reoccurs pretty much immediately, and then the same person or entity says you have an additional problem, I become very suspicious. So, as long as they've diagnosed the vehicle correctly, you should expect no further problems.
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QUESTION: I am NOT lucky. SO, they replaced the purge valve and the charcoal canister. It cost me around 370$. After 75 miles I still have the engine light on. I am waiting for them to call me today and see what options they give me. I expected a Hyundai dealer to know what they're doing since it's a Hyundai accent 2005. But I think they don't have a clue the ones from Manassas. Can I do the emission test with the check engine light on??? If they don't fix my car from now on for FREE I will take action through BBB. Thanks a lot for your input.
AnswerHi, Bob. At this point, I think you have a right to demand it be fixed for free. Manassas (VA) isn't very far from where I live, but it's far enough from the dealer where I work that we don't see many cars that have been serviced there.
Aside from calling the BBB, you may also have some luck contacting Hyundai consumer affairs at 800-633-5151. Even though your warranty is now expired, Hyundai is invested in keeping their customers satisfied. So they, too, may be able to pressure the dealer into making sure your car is fixed.
Manassas (VA) is part of the metropolitan region where I live and work, but it's far enough away that there aren't enough cars from there coming through the shop where I work for me to be able to reach any sort of conclusion about the quality of work done there. Fairfax and Alexandria are a bit closer, and I very rarely see a car from one of these dealers show up at my place of employment repaired incorrectly. So, if you absolutely cannot get satisfaction from Manassas, you might try going to Fairfax Hyundai instead.
As far as the emissions test is concerned, the check engine lamp being on is an automatic failure. But, to the best of my knowledge, Virginia doesn't do an OBD check. You should doublecheck me on that, however, using the published information from the state.
