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Hyundai Dealers Closing

mike91326mike91326 SoCalPosts: 245
edited March 20 in Hyundai
This last weekend I took my 2007 Elantra SE in for its first free oil change. The selling dealer, Fuccillo Hyundai in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, gave me a card for five free oil changes when I bought the car last year. Well, when I arrived for my oil change I found an empty lot where the dealership use to be. I called Hyundai customer service and they did not appear to know why Fuccillo Hyundai closed. I am starting to get a little concerned because this is the third large Hyundai dealership to close in my area in the last three years. I was told that Fuccillo is the largest Hyundai dealer, by volume, in the country with four dealerships in upstate New York and one dealership in Los Angeles. Is there something that Fuccillo knows that we don&#146;t? After all, isn&#146;t Los Angeles supposed to be the car capital?

Have any of you had dealerships close in your area for no reason?


  • bperotsbperots Posts: 8
    Fuccillo has expanded across New York in the last year and has opened Hyundai dealerships across the state. No ideas about LA.
  • backybacky Twin CitiesPosts: 18,784
    I read a story in my local paper yesterday about the general trend for car dealers to consolidate. This is especially the case for domestic brands, but foreign brands like Hyundai are not immune. In my area, a new Hyundai dealership was recently opened by a group that already has one. That gives us six in the Twin Cities metro area, and three more within about 90 miles. Maybe there were just too many Hyundai dealerships in L.A.
  • mike91326mike91326 SoCalPosts: 245
    Well, I talked to the person who I bought from at Fuccillo (he's now at a different Hyundai dealer) and he told me there were a couple of reasons that Fuccillo closed. First, when he came to LA he had an agreement with Hyundai not to open any other dealerships in his sales area for three years. The three years are now up and Hyundai wants to open additional dealerships in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Second, he wanted to expand the dealership location but the city of LA wanted a lot of improvements and consessions on his dime.
  • Just got a letter from Scott Hyundai in El Monte, a suburb of the Los Angeles, saying they are "voluntarily returning their franchise" but would continue to service my Elantra at their Chevrolet dealership. I would be interested if anyone knows the reason for what appears to be a consolidation in the Los Angeles market.
  • mike91326mike91326 SoCalPosts: 245
    How long was Scott Hyundai is business? If I remember correctly, Hyundai has always done well in the east and central part of the country but has had a harder time on the west coast.
  • doohickiedoohickie Posts: 949
    Haven't seen anything like this in Texas. One Hyundai dealer did go out of business in Arlington but reopened in pretty much the same site a couple months later under new management. They are a BIG Hyundai dealership.
  • larkspurlarkspur Posts: 5
    May I ask which Hyundai dealership the Canoga Park Fuccillo person is at now? I'm totally frustrated with Hyundai's non-availability of service, and worse, Corporate's "don't give a damn" attitude toward customers. They have no understanding whatsoever of traffic gridlock in LA, even though they're "next door" in Orange County. I'm not driving to LAX or Culver City. The Thousand Oaks dealer (Ladin) doesn't have Saturday service hours.(Neither did the Glendale dealer I bought the car from...big mistake on my part.) My best bet is the Oxnard dealer (Todey)but that's a 45 mile drive, though less hassle than LAX. Are there any reliable independent Hyundai-trained technicians in the San Fernando Valley, someone of the caliber of Exclusive Auto in Canoga Park (domestic cars only, unfortunately)?
  • mike91326mike91326 SoCalPosts: 245
    He went to LAX Hyundai. I understand that there is a dealer near Magic Mountain that has Saturday service hours.
  • larkspurlarkspur Posts: 5
    Thanks for the tip!!
  • nycdc911nycdc911 Posts: 27
    Hyundai needs a new luxury division called Genesis badly. Current Hyundai dealerships are still upset Hyundai isn't making $8000 cars for their poor customers. They have no clue about how to sell a luxury car and their customers can't afford it. Just the name Hyundai is one of the worst, hard to pronounce, and offputting names for a company in the English language. Hyundai owners are going to have to say "hyundai" a lot in their daily life, many if not most people don't even know how to pronounce it and wouldn't want to if they could. And Equus?? Genesis is an ideal name and isn't a made up cheesy word like Acura, Infiniti, or Lexus.

    Seriously, Kia sounds cool but if I was Hyundai I would consider changing the name of the whole brand just like Datsun became Nissan years ago. And tell whoever's planning on selling Ssangyong cars from Korea to stop smoking crack, one S might be doable but 2?? Hyundai dealers claim they can't even give away Azeras now that Hyundai stopped advertising it. Nobody's going to want to buy a Hyundai costing $35-40,000 with options. I know I wouldn't want it because of the hard to pronounce and unpleasant "Hyundai" name alone.

    Instead of calling it the Hyundai Genesis, it should be the first car in a new luxury Genesis division and be called simply the Genesis M luxury performance sedan. The different engines would be distinguished as the Genesis M 4.6 or Genesis M 3.8. The number denoting engine size wouldn't be officially part of the name much like the Audi A4 3.2 or 1.8 or whatever is still called just the A4. The Genesis name would be centered between the taillights, "M" would be above the left taillight, and 4.6 above the right taillight. A lot of people would consider buying an AWD loaded Genesis M 4.6 since it's basically an LS460 or next generation M45 for less than the price of an ES350 or G35. Reshape the M's Camry-like grill and come up with daring designs in the future, hire some Italians.

    Future Genesis models could include the S for a smallish sports sedan to compete against ES350, G35, BMW 3, etc. An even smaller R sedan might not be necessary but could compete against the IS250, BMW 3, Audi A, etc. A large L sedan could compete against Lexus 600hL, BMW 760iL, Mercedes S class, etc. G coupe and C convertible hardtop and maybe B hardtop roadster could appeal to sports luxury buyers.

    A Genesis X crossover SUV should be sold immediately alongside M as a rebadged and slightly restyled Veracruz with additional luxury features like real wood trim, navigation system, etc. Potentially a real offroading trucklike SUV could be sold as a V class or they could use V as the name for the 2010 Portico large minivan/SUV.
  • joe97joe97 Posts: 2,248
    The fact close to 90% of Azera buyers opt for the Limited trim, with most signing up for the Ultimate package, speaks volume for the perceive value of the Azera. Product product product, it sells itself.


    I don't know, you might like to revisit such theory. As it is happening as we speak (e.g. Veracruz).
  • eldainoeldaino Posts: 1,618
    this is hilarious. Not only do you state where the engine displacement HAS to be on the rear quarter of the car, but apparently, so that people know which car competes against what, they have to include the same letters as bmw, mercedes, and audi?
  • patpat Posts: 10,421
    Before we get too far afield here, let's keep in mind that the point of this discussion was/is whether Hyundai dealers are getting scarce.

    The 2008-2009 Hyundai Genesis discussion is where we are talking about whether a luxury division is needed.

  • backybacky Twin CitiesPosts: 18,784
    I am in Anaheim for a few days. For the past two days I've been outside some and have been looking for Hyundais. I haven't seen many. Coming in from the Orange Co. airport, it was 20 mins before I say any Hyundai, a Gen 3 Elantra. Then I saw a few Sonatas, all but one the current model (perhaps some were rentals as I am near Disneyland). I have seen one Santa Fe and one new Elantra so far. That's it. So maybe the reason dealers are closing is that it's still the land of Japanese cars in CA. In contrast, there are six dealers in the Twin Cities, an area much smaller than the L.A. area, and 3 more within an hour's drive.
  • larkspurlarkspur Posts: 5
    Could well be that you're right. However, I think cause and effect are likely to be the other way around. People have stopped buying Hyundai products in Southern California because there are so few dealers, and certified (factory trained?) servicing is becoming such a pain to locate. And Corporate Hyundai doesn't care. They tell you nothing about when another dealership might be opening. They are also very hard on their existing dealerships. If a customer reports anything other than "Excellent" on their surveys, the dealer's bonus is taken away. (There is no "Very Good" option.) My 2003 Elantra has been a good little car, very reliable so far (except for the alarm system), but I'd dump it in a heartbeat, if I could afford another Honda Civic. (I have a great choice of Honda dealerships.) That's even though my last Civic was stolen in broad daylight. :cry:
  • jschmoejschmoe Posts: 4
    The Manhattan and Bronx dealerships are both closed now! There are two in Weastchester, but for how much longer! I am hoping to get rid of my Hyumdai in the spring of 2008. I regret ever having bought a Hyundai. I can see why they're so inexpensive! I can't imagine every buying another one, even if they do stay in business.
  • backybacky Twin CitiesPosts: 18,784
    There was a report awhile back re Hyundai putting pressure on some dealers with poor customer service history to clean up their act or they would close them down. I wonder if that has anything to do with the closings in NYC?
  • Given that a year has gone by since Fuccillo Hyundai abruptly shut down, I thought I'd e-mail Corporate and ask where and when a nearby replacement will open. Their response: Send us your VIN, your mileage, the servicing dealer, the nature of your complaint, and call us on the phone!!! When I repeated the question, they insisted they needed that information and had to talk to me in person. Can you spell Public Relations? This Korean corporation doesn't have a clue about how to treat people. Roll on the day when I can dump this Elantra and get another Honda. They have plenty of dealerships.
  • Actually, picking up the phone isn't the issue. Why do I have to identify myself and my vehicle to get a simple question answered? I could have been a non-Hyundai owner wanting to know when the dealership would be replaced. Whatever...they're not interested in their reputation or the driving demographics of L.A. County. I will say no more. Period.
  • bhmr59bhmr59 Posts: 1,598
    Those responses seem like the "boiler plate" type of response on would get from the phone company or cable TV company.

    Why not just pick up the phone as they suggested?

    You could have done that in less time than it took you to send them a 2nd email and post your complaint here.
  • mike91326mike91326 SoCalPosts: 245
    I agree with you 1000%. Hyundai&#146;s problem is not with there cars, I think we can all agree that they now make great competitive cars; it&#146;s with their dealer network. Here I live in the nation&#146;s second largest city and the closest Hyundai dealer is 30 minutes away when there&#146;s no traffic. Within that same 30 minutes I have my choice of four Toyota and three Honda dealers.
  • retail102retail102 Posts: 10
    Try it this way.
    Saturday, Sunday Hyundai.
  • ll0923ll0923 Posts: 3
    i just bought a hyundai. the salesmen were such conartists in NJ. They are horrible and don't explain everything to you. The prices they give you aren't the bottom line. They forget to include fees and taxes in the prices they are giving you. Walk away now, or consider yourself lucky for not having to deal with these disgusting people at Brad Benson dealerships. Sadly, it was only until after I was fooled that their Hyundai dealership is the worst of them all!
  • espo35espo35 Posts: 144
    Aren't you the same guy complaining about the high price of having your Hyundai serviced at the dealership?

    Maybe you can try Jiffy Lube to honor your Hyundai Warranty....or better yet, maybe you can buy your next car there!
This discussion has been closed.