I am on a road trip with 2 kids in a brand new car, 4986 miles on it. I waited until the engine break-in was done and the first service performed. I have gotten crap gas mileage from day 1. 26 mpg average and 30 max. This trip I has been 27 mpg. Now today, 1000 miles from home on vacation coming back to the hotel from dinner, the car goes into limp mode, the engine light comes on and it will not drive right. Lucky I was turning the corner into the hotel were we were supposed to just spend 1 night, and then be on the way to the next town.

So I hit the SOS button where they have a problem with their phone system that garbles the first sentence they say. I ask them to repeat and it comes through clear. The only reason I know this is because I had to call THREE times. The first time I am given the run around by someone that can't speak english, saying they don't do rentals and she can't help me but 10 minutes saying she can only sent out a tow truck. She wouldn't answer any questions about how I am supposed to get to the dealer or what I am supposed to do once my car is picked up, she kept saying "That is up to the member choice"... Eventually she puts me on hold to get a confirmation number, and then the car powers off ending the call.

I start the car and call back and get the same garbled intro asking me if I am safe, this time a southern gentleman who is really nice and gives me a email address and says Hyundai will reimburse up to $300 for a hotel and meals for inconvenience. He says he will have AAA give me a call when they are ready to pickup the car. After he gives me the code for the reimbursement the call is ended mid sentence. I shut off the car and go to walk inside the hotel, and before I can get to the door I get a call from AAA driver saying the dealer is closed so if they pickup the car and try and drop it off and nobody is there, they will bring the car back, so what do I want to do? I am like I have no idea, I am not from around here, and say I will need to call back Hyundai USA.

So I call back and get the garbled intro again, this time with woman who I go through the last 30 minutes of what happened, and tell her what AAA said. She said she doesn't know but usually they just drop the car off. I asked who is responsible for it then? How do I get to the dealer or what is the typical process here. She has no answers. I ask her about the email address and ask if it will reimburse a vehicle. She says yes, I can send any receipt (highly doubtful.) She says the best option will be to SOS Hyundai RSA to call AAA at 7am so they can take the car in to the dealer when they open a 8:30. I told her I thought Hyundai Assurance promised 24/7 Roadside assistance, but now I have to wait 10 hours, so she asks would you like to file a complaint? Hell, I would like to sue them, yes... She gives me some multiple choice question about what I would like to complain about... ALL of them.

It looks like my kids and I will be stranded here 1000 miles from home, for who knows how long now. Needless to say this car is done, and Hyundai is dead to me. Also the kicker... the stupid mobile phone app says the car is fine! THE CAR ISN'T EVEN DRIVEABLE!

EDIT: I should also point out I still have a week and a half of vacation planned with hotel reservations... so $300 is not going to cover much, when typical hotels are $150-200 a night unless you sleep in fleabag motels.

It has been over a month and the dealer called today and said Hyundai Engineering has gotten involved and they can not figure out what is wrong. They have replaced more than 3 parts and the car is still not driveable. They are still attempting to fix the car. The dealer suggests I claim it as a lemon and start the buyback process. Heather from National Hyundai customer service has not called me back for 3 weeks. I have tried to contact them via phone and they are not being responsive, and there is always a more than 5-10 minute wait on hold. I have contacted my local dealer - general manger - but he has not been helpful either. He said he would call his local rep and get back to me but that was at the start of the week. Nobody seems to be able to help. Just a warning for those people buying Hyundai's... don't expect service.

New UPDATE: Hyundai sent me a letter saying they are buying the car back, I sent them all the information they wanted and now waiting for them to send me an offer.