What do you think of Hyundai cars?

Thanks guys. I am looking at the Santa Fe. They sell a turbo diesel variant here that some argue has one of the best diesel engine in the market. Yeah, resale value is the only thing dragging it down, otherwise it is very impressive specially with all the freebies and discounts the dealer's offering.

Originally Posted by GoSurface

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Aren't they buy one get one free now?
That's pretty funny to think about, but it was true at least last summer. Their special was buy a new Sedona and get an Accent free, of course the Sedona probably had to be at full MSRP which is a ripoff. Hyundai is a very good competitor in today's market, but with the 3 main flaws mentioned earlier.
1) The name Hundai recalls horrible reliability issues from the previous decade, but that are no longer the case.
2) The resale value is atrocious, due in part to number 1.
3) The style is uninspired - they do in fact have styling cues from all the leading companies, but this is improving somewhat.

When I hear Hyundai I think cheap and unreliable. Go with a Toyota or Honda for your everyday grind. Paying the extra money will be worth it when you're pushing 100K+ miles

My father has one of their 4WD's, not sure which one, but he seems happy.

I used to have a Coupe, which was a good package for the money. The reliability was fine and the warranty and dealer were very good.

I suppose the test is if I would buy another Hyundai?

The answer is yes, I would.

Originally Posted by distinctive

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When I hear Hyundai I think cheap and unreliable. Go with a Toyota or Honda for your everyday grind. Paying the extra money will be worth it when you're pushing 100K+ miles

If this was 1993 that would be warranted but today they have one of the longest warranties, are extremely reliable and no more cheap than a Honda or Toyota.

Originally Posted by visionology

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If this was 1993 that would be warranted but today they have one of the longest warranties, are extremely reliable and no more cheap than a Honda or Toyota.
Agreed, especially since the quality of Toyota has slipped this past year.

Originally Posted by Southern-Nupe

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Yeah, I saw pictures of the possible replacement for the Tiburon, they're saying that it would be a 300 hp V8, sport coupe with RWD. The new 07 Santa Fe is actually quite attractive, I'll admit I was somewhat impressed, the first time I saw it.
Yeah, I saw those as well. I'm still hoping they go with 4-cyl turbo though -- V8, lightweight, and cheap don't go together. I'd much rather see a reincarnation of the 1999-02 Silvia Spec R than a Korean Camaro.

Originally Posted by dtmt

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Korean Camaro.

Nice!

Originally Posted by dtmt

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Yeah, I saw those as well. I'm still hoping they go with 4-cyl turbo though -- V8, lightweight, and cheap don't go together. I'd much rather see a reincarnation of the 1999-02 Silvia Spec R than a Korean Camaro.
My biggest problem with the car, was the fact it had a 300 hp V8, but was only available with an automatic. That alone takes some of the fun out of driving the car.

Hyundai is doing very well in the world wide. I am mentioning below Hyundai Cars.

* Santro
* Getz
* I10
* I20
* I20 Diesel
* Accent
* Sonata
* Verna

If you consult the any Hyundai Showroom, you will get full information on above products. They will assist you on your doubts.

Samara Hyundai one of the best showrooms in Delhi, India. - Hyundai Cars in Delhi

How much for a Sonata, shipped from Delhi to Seoul?

I don't like the look of most of their models, but they're pretty damn reliable & well built. My brother has their SUV, don't know which one but it's really well equipped and has a very smooth ride. He's never had any problems with it and he loves it.

I think, all things considered, certain Hyundai cars are pretty good nowadays. The Sonata has just been redesigned, and you either hate or love the look of it (and most people buying a new $25K family car would get excited by just about anything, apparently)... but the Sonata in particular gets literally trillions of active R+D test miles - they're used as taxis in Korea (and there's like one taxi for every normal car here), in the same 4 cyl trim you buy from a dealer, and they drive the **** out of them. These guys seriously drive these things at ten tenths, especially when it's dry out and it's a taxi company car and they're driving a shift. The cars are converted to LPG and they run them mostly on that, with the LPG tank in the trunk. I'm sure a lot of the repair feedback and stuff is passed back to Hyundai.
No comment on the styling, but you can't factor out the trillions of rolling R+D miles that the taxis put on them everyday, besides the regular everyday customer; I regularly see Sonatas with 500,000km on the odometer and they run fine. You can't even really say any of that for a Japanese car anymore, Japanese taxis are usually the specialized Crown or the private driver's choice (I once rode in a brand spanking new Lexus LS460 taxi across Tokyo once) and so customer feedback is conventional customers for Japanese cars. The Japanese don't even buy the FWD sedans like Americans do, the Japanese want a 6/8 cyl RWD sedan, so Toyota and Nissan are most popular.

The Genesis sedan seems well built, does not look offensive, and has a real Lexus/Infiniti-like character to it. I think they re-did the rollover protection for 2010 so maybe in a few years, traditional bad Hyundai resale will make 2010 Genesis sedans a particularly great buy. If you're interested in just having a nice car to get you from point A to B reliably and cheaply, it's hard to go wrong with some of these cars.

The Kias are the same cars as the Hyundais, but with a different design and badge.

Went car shopping last year for my first "real car". Started out looking for a 3-4 year old VW and ended up going with an "almost new" 09 Sonata (less than 10k miles). Nothing else came close in the price range (significantly less than $20k) and it has a crazy amount of room for tall drivers.

Gas mileage is excellent (25-30mpg), it hasn't had a single mechanical issue. It's definitely not an exciting car - if you can even call it a car. It's more of an appliance that gets you places. Great value, efficient and invisible. If that's what you're looking for, I'd highly recommend them.

'01 Sonata, bought in '04, worked great until '07, since then has had numerous weird electrical problems and basically everything in the engine has been replaced, still doesn't work right, but it works.

'05 Accent, no major issues, but a bunch of small electrical problems that come and go (brake lights stopped working, started again, parking brake light stayed on, then went off, clock reset buttons stopped working)

2 other family members have '05 Sonatas, no problems with those that I'm aware of.