Hats off to Lonnie Smythe & the Service department - Mike Hixson
My wife and I experienced a catastrophic breakdown Christmas morning while travelling from West Kelowna to Surrey with our 2 kids and family dog. 2013 Santa Fe (6yrs old and just turned 100K this trip) went into limp mode on Hwy 1 after what turned out to to be a shot rod bearing. Managed to get the car into a local shop on the 2 days later (of course as its Christmas time and everyone is closed) who gave me a rough quote of $6000 for a wrecker motor. While freaking out and considering my options, including trying to find a rental to get the family back home, I decided to call Kelowna Hyundai as we bought it there for any ideas and pricing on a new rebuild. After answering a few questions (yr and mileage), the fella put me on hold for a few minutes, came back and told me to take it to Maple Ridge Hyundai and see Lonnie Smythe (Service Mgr) as it is under warranty due to a recent recall for a knock sensor we had done. I couldn't believe our fortune as I was sure the warranty had expired. Lonnie organized a tow from Surrey to their dealership, put me in a courtesy car to get the herd home to West Kelowna and had the long block completely rebuilt. We had access to the courtesy car for next few weeks while parts were ordered and the vehicle repaired. After the repair, Lonnie organized a driver to drive the car to West Kelowna, who even filled the tank before swapping it out for the courtesy car. The whole time my car was being repaired I was expecting a call for either a costly repair bill or pressure to trade it in for a newer model. Neither of which presented themselves. I am thoroughly impressed with this dealership and would recommend them to anyone.
I apologize for the lengthy review but I felt the back story was important to this Christmas time fiasco that resulted in saving me tens of thousands of dollars. Thanks Lonnie!
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