I appear to be one of those people you're posting about who have pre-conceived ideas about Hyundai, yet have never owned one nor do I know anyone who has. I am now ending my current 3 yr lease on my 3rd Honda Accord VS EXL, and really would like to save some money this time around, and purchase a car rather than lease. An acquaintence recently purchased a Sonata V6 LX, is happy with it, but she's only had it 2 mos. With all my Honda's, the car has never been in the shop for other than regular maintenance (with the exception of one car one time when the gas gauage wasn't accurately reflecting current level, problem was fixed with the one visit to dealer). I realize it has the excellent warranty package, but I don't want inconvenience of having to use it. I've been spoiled by Honda. I read the earlier post "Can't tell you how pleased I am with new Sonata V6" with interest, yet while encouraging, not quite convinced. You know what the "perception" of Hyundai is out there, I am not mechanically inclined to fix a car or even identify what a problem might be if problem arises. I don't drive a car hard, and by leasing, have always had a new-ish car. Since I would be purchasing, I'm thinking about how the will hold up as it gets into its 3rd, 4th, and 5th year. On a consumer newsgroup, I posted a request for feedback on the Sonata V6 LX; I'm posting the responses below (total of 10 of them). I would like to ask you, as current or past Hyundai owners, to share your opinions with me, and if you feel confident about becoming a Hyundai owner, what are the reasons I should also. AGain, the warranty is nice, but don't want need to use it. If this is important, I do 80% city driving, 20% hwy, live in southern Calif (southern Orange County). Thx. 1)Stop right here. That's a reason why NOT TO BUY a Hyundai. The only rason they offer such good packages is that they know their cars are crap. My cousing bought one; 6 months later she was already running into problems with it. She was so happy to get a Toyota a year after she bought one. Crap cars. 2) *sigh* Robin, your sentiment is unfortunately typical of the average car buyer who make this kind of a mistake every day. Fortunately for you, you did decide to get the "second opinion". You are dead wrong in your reasoning: Hyundai's are more expensive than Honda/Toyotas! Not up-front, but definitely over the life of the car, no matter how long you keep it. The reason for that is piss-poor resale value of Hyundai! You might save $2,000-3,000 up front, but that Hyundai is going to be worth $5,000-$6,000 less than that comparable Accord in just three-four years! And if you're one of those people who keep their cars until they are ready for junk yard, don't kid yourself with that warranty. The Hyundai will die a lot earlier than Accord will, and it will be in the shop a LOT more frequently. If you simply look at the Consumer Report's summary of problems with the 2000 Sonata (that's the first year they made it), you'll see roughly the same frequency of problems as for 1995 Accord!!! That's simply mind-boggling! I also hope you're at least trying to compare apples to apples. The Sonata "V6", making 170hp, cannot be compared to Honda V6 making 240hp. It is comparable to the Accord's 4-cylinder engine that makes 160hp. And last, but not least, make sure that you really know what the cars are SELLING FOR, not just what their stickers are. Accords, for example, routinely sell at no more than 2% over dealer invoice. I'm not saying that Accord may cost about the same as Sonata, but the difference may be smaller than you think. Hope you will make the right decision. Good luck! 3) Yeah, I totally agree. I've owned/own four cars, a Daewoo (Pontiac Lemans, I call it a Daewoo since it was a Daewoo repackaged for sell in America as a Lemans) Piece of crap car. I sold it after only havign it 1 year. Since then, I've only owned Hondas, Crx SI (owned it for 9 years, 66,000 miles and only one major repair during its life time ), CRV (going on 5, no problems) and just bought a brand new 04 Civic. Not only is Honda unbelievable in service and quality, but their resale value is unbelievably high (My Crx sold for $11,000 ). My cousin owned a Hyundai. She's hated since owning it for 6 months in. I've talked to a co-worder who has a Hyundai, she can't wait to trade her car in cause she can't stand its performance. Everyone I've known who has owned a Korean made car (KIA, Hyundai, Daewoo) all have been unsatisfied with their purchases. Not to say that korean cars are bad, but they sure dont rank up their with quality for hte price. I also would consider Toyota for my next purchase ( Supra's will be reissued in a couple of years) and hteir Camry's have always been their best line of cars. My last choice would be a Mazda (Mazda 6 or 3 or even the Mazda Speed Protege). 4) And I'm on my third Mazda, 2 626's and a Millenia and loved them all. Not one of the three were ever in for service other than normal oil changes, etc. 5) Are you a Honda dealer perchance? I have a 2001 Hyundai Elantra GT and it's been practically problem free. And to mention the reliability ratings of a 3 year old model from the first year it was out when it is obvious that there is data available for more recent models just smacks of presenting only the most negative information you can find. Bill 6) I have a 2000 Hyundai, with a new engine after only 60k. Before that, the head gasket had to be replaced, and the engine had to be flushed several times over a year's period at over $100 a pop. I've had to have the car towed several times because it kept dying on the road. Not only is Hyundai totally unreliable, but maintenance costs are exhorbitant. 7) Bill, why would you say such stupid things? It's really not like you. I guess you feel personally hurt by any negative comments about your car brand. I'll let the newbie-type "you must work for this company" comment slide, but let me address your second point. It should be obvious even to a 10 year-old that reliability differences become more pronounced as more time passes.That's why I tried to compare the oldest available model from Hyundai; that model year is 2000. By the way, having a car in its first model year is not the same as manufacturing your first car ever! Yes, all cars have minor bugs in their first year, but that shouldn't influence the long-term reliability much. Hyundai has been making cars for a long time now. Second, I can certainly use the 2001 model for comparison, even though it's not yet old enough to show all of its true colors. The 2001 has 5 categories of issues that have 2-5% of owners reporting problems. Honda Accord has only two. Again, comparisons of older cars are much more meaningful than 2 year old ones. I'm just curious, are you trying to suggest that Hyundai makes cars or comparable reliability to Honda? If not, then what was the point of your wild accusations? Regret about making a dumb car buying decision? 8) Buying a Honda doesn't guarantee reliablity. My Honda recently blew a gasket and required over $1500 in repairs. It only has around 80,000 miles, if it were a Hyundai, it would've been fixed free. 9) >My Honda recently blew a gasket and required over $1500 in repairs. It only has >around 80,000 miles, if it were a Hyundai, it would've been fixed free. 80,000 miles? Do you know how much time that Hyundai will spend in the shop before it reaches 80,000 miles? Most of us with jobs would consider the lost time cost to be too high. 10) >80,000 miles? Do you know how much time that Hyundai will spend in the[QUOTE] shop before it reaches 80,000 miles? Most of us with jobs would consider the lost time cost to be too high.[/QUOTE] not to defend Hyndai, but what facts did you use to come to this leap of faith?
