R
Robin
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
not to defend Hyndai, but what facts did you use to come to this leap
of faith?
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
not to defend Hyndai, but what facts did you use to come to this leap
of faith?
