Herb Chambers Hyundai of Auburn - Service Center

I brought my car in for front end work on Tues 7/16. The service writer (Justin) noticed that I was overdue for a timing belt and some other repairs. Since the engine had 148K miles (all highway, FWIW), I a service writer (Justin) noticed that I was overdue for a timing belt and some other repairs. Since the engine had 148K miles (all highway, FWIW), I agreed to replace the timing belt. The next day, I received a call from Justin to inform me that the technician had noticed spots of oil on the floor of his bay, and saw some rot on the oil pan once he got the car in the air. So, apologizing for missing it earlier, Justin also recommended replacing the oil pan, which I authorized. Fast forward 2 1/2 weeks (during which promised phone calls to update me on the status of the repairs routinely never materialized and estimates of their completion were invariably wrong), I received a call on Weds 7/31 that the repairs were complete, but the tech wouldn't have time before he left for the day to make the "extended test drive" that he wanted to do, so my car would be ready for pickup on Thurs 8/1. When driving home Thursday night, the car stalled twice on the 15-mile ride, begging the question of how "extended" that test drive was. After stalling two more times on the way to work the following morning, I promptly called the dealership to report the issues. I was given an appointment to bring the car back in the following Tues so they could diagnose the problem. Monday night, on my ride home from work, I noticed a noise coming from the engine that sounded like the noise the playing card made when you put in the spokes of your bike's wheels as a kid. Fun in a bike, not in an engine. I pulled off the highway and called a tow truck to have the car brought back to the dealership. I called the dealership Tues morning to tell them of my adventures the previous evening and let them know that the car was there early for its appointment. The service writer told me that I would get a call back in a few hours, once they knew what was going on. When I did get a call back, Justin informed me that the engine had a "rod knock," and that the motor would need to be replaced, at a cost of $2400 for a used engine with 40K miles. He told me that the service manager had authorized a discount of $150, because it was "the right thing to do." When I questioned whether this had anything to do with the $2500 in repairs so recently completed, I was told that the timing of this problem was completely coincidental and had nothing to with anything they had done just a few days before. At this point, I called my ex-husband -- an ASE-certified mechanic with 20 years experience -- to sanity-check the story I was being given. When he heard that the prior repairs included replacing the oil pan, he confirmed that I was being given a song-and-dance to cover up for their mistake. From what I described to him, he was pretty sure that a clogged pickup tube lead to oil starvation in the engine, resulting in the rod knock now apparent. Armed with this information, I called the dealership back to see what their response was. I spoke to the service manager (Jim Pope), who insisted that they were in no way responsible for the problem, saying things like "when you open up the engine on a car with this many miles, you're running a risk of something going wrong", and "if the oil pan was rotting on the outside, it was rotting on the inside, so who knows how long the tube was getting clogged." When I proposed a compromise where I pay for the engine and they absorb the cost of the labor, the service manager said that he couldn't do that, but offered to discount the price to $1900, and would include moving over the new timing belt from the now-junk engine to the new-to-me one at no charge. I need the car to get to work and had invested so much already, so I felt I had no other option than to tell him to order the engine and authorized the work. If the oil pan rot was so pervasive that this clog could have been building up for months, as the service manager said, why did the tech not take out his flashlight and look up the pickup tube to see if this was actually happening? No one ever advised me that the oil system should be flushed because of these repairs -- I gladly would have paid an additional cost to avoid these catastrophic results. I took my car to the dealership (and paid the resultant premium on labor) because they are supposed to have the training and skills to provide superior service, but this appears to be incompetence at best and negligence at worst. After calling Hyundai corporate customer service to complain, I was advised to call the General Manager at the dealership to see what could be done about this situation. The GM was unavailable when I called, but I spoke to Tim, the (assistant?) sales manager. He patiently listened to my saga without being defensive or insisting on their lack of culpability, took plenty of notes, and said that he would talk to the GM in the morning. I just received call back from the GM, who is backing service manager in denying any possible link between previous repairs and catastrophic motor failure 3 days later. He is staying firm on $1900 price. Herb Chambers has 50 dealerships in the greater Boston area, and yet $1900 is the best price they can give me on repairs to something I understand they could easily have been prevented? The one star in this review is purely attributable to Tim, who I spoke with yesterday (that and Yelp won't let me give them zero). Anyone who values integrity in the businesses they deal with should stay away from this dealership, as I intend to do in the future. ***Update 8/26/2013*** About 1/2 hour after I posted this review and sent a copy to Herb Chambers corporate offices (Thursday 8/8), I got a call from Jim Pope (service manager) who told me he was authorized to give me a further 10% discount, bringing the price down to roughly $1710, which he told me would include all taxes so that would be my final price. They had ordered the engine, and he said he would call me when it came in. I received a call on Tuesday 8/13 to let me know that the engine had arrived and that they would check it over and begin the installation, and he would let me know when it was completed. He also told me that the price had come in lower than previously quoted, and the total was looking to be a little under $1500. When I asked for a ballpark timeline, he said that it was possible that it would be done Friday (8/16), but he would call when it was complete. I just got a call from Jim to let me know that the work has been completed. He also said that they replaced the radiator at no charge, as they discovered it was leaking (ASE-certified master tech ex-husband says it's probably because they broke it during the engine replacement), and Jim also had them balance the tires (I had noticed a shake at highways speeds that hadn't been there prior to my initial service, during which they replaced a tie rod end, so I thought it was an alignment issue but Jim said it was more likely tire balancing). So, all in all, I'm not sure how to sum up this experience. Jim has been more helpful and solicitous these last few weeks -- outwardly very concerned with my satisfaction -- but I still feel like I had to fight too hard to get to a point where I felt I was being treated fairly. *** Update 8/30 *** When reviewing and signing the paperwork when I picked up my car on Monday (8/26), I noticed a comment about "an existing exhaust leak," which came as a surprise to me, since neither I nor my ex-husband (ASE-certified master technician), nor any of the techs who had driven my car during the 6 weeks it was in their shop being repaired had ever mentioned hearing a noise or noticing any leak. And sure enough, when I started up the car, I heard the characteristic buzz of an exhaust leak. Also, as I pulled out of the parking lot, the brakes (which I had brought up as a concern after the first repair but was a lesser priority than the engine issues) did not seem to be fixed. Then, on the ride home, the Check Engine light came on. Frustrated with the situation, I submitted some feedback to Herb Chambers corporate offices via their online form on Monday night, requesting a return call to discuss possible resolutions. To date, I have not had a response. Tuesday morning, I called Jim Pope and told him about the Check Engine light. He seemed largely unconcerned and scheduled an appointment for me to come in on Thursday (they earliest they were able to accommodate me) to have the code scanned to see what triggered it. Thursday (8/29), I brought the car to its schedule appointment. Jim brought me back to the shop, showed me that the code was something about a post-exhaust something-or-other, and pointed out where the "existing" exhaust leak is. The flex pipe that has the leak is covered by a metal mesh (admittedly beginning to fray at one end, but not near where they say the leak is), so I wonder how they knew it existed before it was brought in to the shop. Considering that the tech told me that the pipe can wear from the torque that the engine experiences, and given that virtually all of my driving is on the highway (little stopping and starting to torque the engine) plus the fact that it looks like someone was rushing this job enough to bust the radiator when removing the engine (why else would it have been replaced without me even paying for the part?), it's not a big stretch to think that they had a hand in creating this problem as well. But I was given a card for a local muffler repair shop and told that the cost of fix there would be about $150 or so, cheaper than what I would pay at the dealership. I was hoping to hear from someone at Herb Chambers corporate in response to my online form submission (apparently their definition of a "prompt response" is different from my own), but have yet to hear back. ASE-certified master tech ex-husband says that they're walking all over me, but I have a demanding job, long commute, house and child to juggle and frankly have little time or energy to deal with this string of issues. I am at my wit's end in trying to get this resolved and am unsure where to proceed from here. All in all, I would advise anyone -- or at least anyone who isn't up for a protracted struggle if things go wrong -- to find a different dealership, perhaps even a different chain of dealerships, to bring your car to. (Apologies for the length of the review, but it's been a lengthy series of events that led to this point) More

My wife's Azera had four indicator lights come on, including the engine light, ABS light, etc. Our mechanic indicated that we needed to bring the car to a dealer to have the engine light checked for including the engine light, ABS light, etc. Our mechanic indicated that we needed to bring the car to a dealer to have the engine light checked for the code, so that they could repair it. My wife brought the car to Herb Chambers in Auburn. As she knows nothing about cars, she told the service department the ABS light was on. They checked that light ONLY for $100 and gave her the code for that light ONLY. I called to ask why they would charge a hundred bucks and ignore the other lights on the dashboard, especially the ENGINE light. Bob, the condescending/rude manager said that they only "do what they are told" by the customer, and that to have the engine light checked would cost another $100. Therefore, we paid a hundred bucks for useless information. Why go to them if the customer has to tell them what to do? What a ripoff! Don't ever buy a car here or have it serviced. You will be RIPPED OFF! More

Took our 2012 veloster for repair under warranty.. After a little misunderstanding a loaner car was delivered to my house and my car was taken in for repair.. Repair was done in a timely manner and complet a little misunderstanding a loaner car was delivered to my house and my car was taken in for repair.. Repair was done in a timely manner and completely fixed.. Bob went out of his way to make sure this process was quick and easy. very accomodating.. Great customer service!! Will definitely go to herb chambers the next time I need service on my vehicle.. Signed A very happy customer!!!!! More

We purchased our 2011 Santa Fe back in December 2010 for my wife. The reason I'm adding this note is because I was really blown away by the treatment we received this past week. We had a remote starter in my wife. The reason I'm adding this note is because I was really blown away by the treatment we received this past week. We had a remote starter installed and it was not working properly. Because we live about an hour away, I called a dealer closer to me. They said I'd have to call the original dealer because it was an aftermarket install. The issue was my wife's father had just passed away and this was really not a good time, yet it was affecting the car's ability to start consistently. When I explained the situation to Roberto Contreras, our sales person, he said "no problem, let me arrange for a loaner, and I'LL DRIVE THE CAR TO YOUR TOWN"! He did just that, as well as dropping it off the next day, when it was fixed. This is not a B.S. story, just amazing customer service. I just wanted folks to know that there are places where the customer is treated above and beyond and for me this is one of them. Rob Noller More