Update on our Hyundai Getz’s fuel consumption

After we took Gina, our Hyundai Getz Philippines, to the shop for her 1000km checkup, I thought the Hyundai Getz fuel consumption would improve. The number to beat – at least as far as money is concerned – was Php1,500.00, which was how much we were paying for a week on our Toyota Revo.

After a few weeks, this is the rather dismal number we’ve come up with.

Our Hyundai Getz gets 10.8km/liter.

 If that isn’t kick-you-in-the-crotch, why-the-hell-is-it-so-low horrific.

For a 1.1 engine, that’s abysmal. And I can testify to my own style of gas driving. I’m a great driver for fuel efficiency.  I don’t floor it, I rarely exceed 3,000RPM, and I’m not a clutch driver at all. Most of the time, it’s been me driving, and I’m not exactly a lightweight at a little over 200lbs, but you’d think a 1.1 could deliver at least 12km/liter.

So, instead of saving money on fuel efficiency, we’re actually spending more, because we pay the same amount – Php1,500 a week – but get less power and legroom because we gave up our Toyota Revo for this.

Admittedly, I’m a little bummed. But I’m not the only one. Review what others had to say here and here.

So remember what I said here? Scratch that.

Hyundai Getz after-sales support very supportive

After the explosive rant of last Friday, I owe it to my sales agent Jason Chung and Wheels Inc. Hyundai sales manager Mercy to detail what happened afterwards.

Last Saturday, I brought Gina back to the dealer to have her speedometer and odometer connected. Jason wasn’t there because he had to represent Hyundai at the Megatrade (or was it World Trade?). One of the salesladies there, Bheng (H optional), bore the full force of my wrath. She took it completely in stride – a testament to team effort from Wheels Inc. – and assured me everything would turn out okay.

Mercy then came in and assuaged in me turn, based on the issues I brought up:

1. Unplugged odometer & speedometer. An oversight on the part of the technicians. She acknowledged the oversight resulted in my lack of peace of mind for the previous night, as well as her having to come in to work on a Saturday, her day off. She apologized profusely.

2. No plate, no travel. Jason would secure a conduction permit, good for a week, that would allow me to take Gina to Makati. It’s not a license plate, but at least I can travel. He will also secure me a renewed permit, should the official receipt and certificate of registration (OR/CR) not be available by next week. He delivered it straight to me yesterday. Sure, there’ll be the occasional inconvenience of getting pulled over, but at least I can travel.

3. Horn. Other than payPhp2450 for a Hyundai-chosen horn, I’ll buy a horn of my own choice then have them install it for Php500.

For the record, I’d like to say that, despite an initially sour first impression, I am pleased so far with the after-sales support of Hyundai E. Rodriguez.

Gina joins us… but not without hitches

We finally picked up Gina from the Wheels Inc. dealership along E. Rodriguez. She was everything we hoped she’d be. Shiny, a joy to drive, and very, very easy on the eyes.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get her without kinks. It’s a real shame, because what should have been a truly joyous occasion was marred by otherwise unavoidable circumstances. I took the day off from work to make sure we would have a smooth transition with our car, and that didn’t happen.

First, we arrived at the dealership at quarter to five, 15 minutes ahead of our agreed time. Ownership papers weren’t quite ready yet. After rounds of signing, we received the keys to Gina at about 615PM, a good hour and a half later. As far as we knew, we were the only customers buying and checking a car out that day at that time. Did it really have to take so long?

Second, we learned that the ‘no plate, no travel’ policy of the LTO was in full effect, and a temporary permit that would allow us on the road while waiting for our license plate would not be ready until Tuesday. We purchased the car with a downpayment on Tuesday. Couldn’t they have filed a request for that permit so that we could have received it already by Friday? If we knew we were not going to be able to drive Gina for two whole weeks, maybe we wouldn’t have rushed getting her so quickly, or at least checking her out.

We don’t have a spare car – someone at the dealership thought we did, which was a little off-putting to me – and to not have a car that can be on the road, especially with Cathy so close to giving birth, was virtually suicidal! Why didn’t they tell us this ahead of time? Grrrrr.

Third and most painfully, we drove off, Cathy, Nathan and I, in our brand-new Gina, only to discover a few kilometers later, that the odometer and speedometer weren’t working! This means tomorrow, I gotta go back to the dealership so they can fix it. The car hasn’t been with us 10 minutes!

We know the Hyundai Getz is the car for us. The service afforded us, however, left much, oh so much, to be desired. I truly hope things will improve in the months, because we love our car and it’s just such a piss-off experience to go through stuff like this when so much of it can be avoided. Grrrr.

(After I was reminded that Ding sold Hyundais, I was so wracked with guilt. I know he would never let anything like this happen to us. If you wanna buy a Getz, try going to Ding; he’ll take care of you.)