Here's a story that might raise some eyebrows among you fellow Ford owners. In March, we bought a 2002 Hyundai Sonata to replace my wife's 91 Grand Am. The car comes with an incredible warranty, and for an additional $4.00 per month, we were able to extend the warranty to 10 years/100,000 miles bumper-to-bumper. When we bought the car, we were given a tour of the dealer's service area and introduced to the Hyundai service manager. We have already had a minor recall service done, and since then we've received numerous thank you cards and surveys from Hyundai and our dealer asking for our opinion of their performance. But the real kicker is the letter I recieved from Hyundai last week.
It seems that the company advertised the Sonata as being equipped with a 149 hp 4-cylinder. But they discovered later that the engine could only be rated at 138 hp. They apologised up and down for any "inconvenience" this error may have caused and then automatically extended our powertrain warranty to 12 years or 120,000 miles! I was floored. Even if the Sonata turns out to be a complete piece of garbage (which is far from the truth) it won't cost us anything but for routine maintenance as long as we own the car.
Can anyone imagine Ford doing something like this? I love my Contour to death or I wouldn't be posting on this site. But if the small problems with it get to be way out of hand, I'd be seriously tempted to dump it for a 5-speed 2003 Elantra and drive with a lot more piece of mind than I have now.
