Well my 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe needs a new heater core. Around Xmas I noticed my heat was not like normal. A week or so ago, I noticed the coolant reservoir low, so I bought some anti-freeze and topped it up.. I had heat again. I don’t drive much so it wasn’t that obvious, but a few days later, it was down again. I didn’t see any coolant leaks on the ground or inside, so I checked the rad cap. the rubber looked a little squished on one side and also chipped, so I went to the dealer and got a new cap..

But that didn’t help as the next day, I saw the coolant down again. I checked the ground and nothing, but this time when I checked inside, I realized that I had lifted the winter mat and rubbed my hand over the summer mat. When I lifted the summer mat, the carpet was soaked with antifreeze.

I took my SUV into the dealer this morning and at first they said it was a loose clamp, but then they came back that it was the heater core. They quoted me $649 labour and $440 for the core. I balked at teh prices and they said they would try to get an after market core. They came back with a $120.00 core… They say the labour is high as the whole dash needs to be removed.. I feel I’m caught between rock and a hard place as I can’t drive for very far, and also, I can’t take it to a garage, as things now a days are so specialized, that they refuse to work on newer vehicles, for anything but the basic jobs.

So in total, it will cost me close to a $1,000 dollars to get back on the road again.. Any savings I made when I bought the vehicle have been chewed up with a tune up, timing belt and now this..