It's looking more and more likely. I mean, the customer brought it in multiple times complaining of squeaks from the suspension. One time, they just lubricated a part- no more squeaks. Other times, they seemingly replaced bushings almost at random- first one set, then, a few months, another, then, the same as the first- (usually bushings can last a *long* time, so this is unusual.) The whole time, the customer was under the impression that they had 'all new suspension', but the dealership didn't have it in their heart to correct the customer to say 'I just paid $400 for all new "small pieces of rubber/polyurethane that stop squeaks/vibrations."
Apparently one of the techs or advisors told the customer that these Sonatas were legendary for crap suspension (somewhat true) because of their oversized V6 engine and undersized suspension components for it- Which is totally in the realm of fantasy, because this thing isn't a V6 engine, it's an inline 4. So the customer had it listed on Craigslist as a V6 the whole time with pictures of the engine proudly stating on it that it had 16 valves.
I'll tell you they just did the brake lines x4 and I was just underneath it last night- didn't get a good look, but the shielding over the lines themselves looked a little wonky/crooked. Probably bears some more investigating.
It's interesting to see that even though they only installed 'Genuine Hyundai Parts' (at presumably what must be Genuine Hyundai Prices), the worksmanship can be so shoddy. One of the bolts from the 'idiot shield' on the bottom of the car was utterly rounded off- and they just left it there and ripped the shield off it.
So I guess the moral of the story is, there's crap mechanics everywhere, and they're not always the cheapest. The labour rate for these guys is $130 CAD / hour.
I'm trying to break it to the previous owner gently (they're a friend) but they completely believe that understanding cars (and their maintenance) are beyond their abilities... Or they just don't want to spend the time.
And then they went and bought a 2017 Sonata for $26K to replace this one. From the dealership that had been so 'Helpful'.