Would you buy another Hyundai?

I went and drove the Tundra today. It was a 2007 with the new 5.7l
engine and 6 speed automatic and four-wheel drive. The salesman was
very cordial and not high pressure at all. I made it clear that I was
there because of the $50 Home Depot gift card incentive and probably
wouldn't buy a new truck anytime soon. I'd completed the card before I
got there and checked the 12+ months box for my buying time frame. I
think he got interested when he saw that my current truck is a 1994
Chevy ... but I don't think he realizes just how long Chevy trucks last!
I expect at least 7 more years out of it!

I had experiences similar to yours in previous forays into Toyota
dealerships, but this salesman was actually very pleasant to talk with.
I was impressed with his style and it was actually much like my
experience when I bought my Sonata. On to the truck...

Pros:

- Lots of power
- Smooth shifting transmission
- Quiet, except a lot of engine noise under full throttle
- Nice ride
- Nice handling
- Great brakes
- Excellent payload and towing capacity
- Can finally handle a snowplow!
- Large box
- Nice tailgate that has a gas strut to let it down slowly and assist in
raising it.
- Nice seats


Cons:

- I wasn't that impressed with the dash and instrument layout as the
steering wheel blocked all but one instrument when set to a comfortable
tilt position. The wheel is too small in diameter for the layout of the
instruments
- The console was too bulky and too gimmicky
- The grab handle on the windshield pillar was annoying and blocked my
vision.
- The mirrors are huge and also blocked side vision.
- The truck sits very high (like a 3/4 ton) which I don't find
attractive in a 1/2 ton truck. It was hard to climb into. If I wanted
a 3/4 ton truck I'd buy one.
- Visibility out the rear is terrible due to the truck height and fairly
deep box which gives a tall tailgate. I don't think I could see the
ground within 80' of the back of the truck. It definitely needs the
rear camera option to be safe!
- The truck beeps constantly when you select 4L. I thought something
was wrong, but the salesman claimed that was normal. That would drive
you absolutely batty if you had to use 4L. It sounds like the backup
beeper on a dozer. I can't believe that is normal.
- I still don't like the Toyota styling.
- No availability of a diesel engine
- No availability of standard shift (real trucks don't have automatics!)
- $28K price tag and this truck was far from loaded!


Overall, it is a decent truck, but it is very unlikely that I will buy
one. I haven't yet driven the new Chevy nor the latest Dodge, but I
didn't like this Toyota any better overall than my 13 year old K1500.
My Chevy has a nicer dash and more visible instruments. Is much easier
to get into and much easier to see out of. I like the seats in my truck
better. It would be nice to have some of the Toyota power and
quietness, but the Toyota honestly doesn't have enough improvements to
lure me from my old Chevy. I don't know if even the new Chevy has
enough improvements to warrant the price tag and I probably won't even
drive a new Chevy unless they give me a reason as did Toyota. And my
old Chevy shows absolutely no signs of slowing down and hardly even has
any rust as yet. I did see a couple of small spots when I waxed it last
fall, but for 13 years of PA/NY road salt winters, it is in great shape.


Matt

 

You are right that the Grand M rides a WHALE of a lot better. Felt like it
was a huge whale wallowing around the sea.

I rented a Grand Marquis back in December for four days. I drove out of Las
Vegas toward Death Valley and the road curved a bit as it climbed over the
mountain. It was real work to keep it between the yellow lines. I was
wishing I was back in my Sonata so I could be going 10 mph faster and have
better control. Nice car for when you take the grandparents out for dinner,
but not what I want under me under serious driving conditions. To each his
own.

 

7 years????? What the hell do you have against that truck Matt, that you're
so damned anxious to get rid of it?

Matt - you require too much vision. You're driving a truck dambit...

Oh man - that would be a major issue for me. I plow *only* in 4 low.
Imagine a day of beep beep beep...

Well, after one more of the upstate NY winters than your truck has Matt,
mine is really showing the signs as of this year. The rust really came
alive over the past year. This summer my truck will see some major
reconstructive surgery. Cab off, some minor frame work and paint, new
doors, new front fenders, and some metal work on the cab corners and on the
box. Like you said - for the money it'll cost me to renew the body on this
truck, I can't even think about looking at a new(er) one.

 

I'm getting tired of green and silver!

What make/model is the truck you are fixing up?

When mine is no longer road worthy, and assuming it still is a reliable
runner, I plan to just drop the license and use it off-road to plow my
driveway and haul firewood. I'm still using my old 1986 Jeep Comanche
for that, but it is getting harder to keep running and the clutch or
transmission sychros are going as it is getting hard to get into 1st and
reverse. I suspect the clutch as when my father-in-law had it (I had it
nearly 10 years and then he bought it for 10 more and then gave it back
to me two years ago shortly before he died) he didn't know it had a
hydraulic clutch. When I got it back, the clutch felt funny so I looked
into the master cylinder. I couldn't even see fluid and it was full of
dried gunk. I filled it up, but it never came back to normal so I
suspect that the seals may have dried out or something. I was going to
try to rebuild it, but decided the truck isn't worth is as the body is
about shot as well as other parts of the truck (exhaust, etc.) and I
figure I'll be able to replace it with the Chevy in the next few years
and buy a diesel for my road truck.

Matt
Matt

 

Reply to message from irwell <> (Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:34:22)
about "Would you buy another Hyundai?":

i> If not, what would be your choice?

Bought 5 to date. New Santa Fe and Vera Cruz both look good and drive well
and my Grand Caravan is on her last legs. So yes I would buy another one.

Do I think that I will buy Hyundais forever? Maybe not. But as long as they
keep offering the excellent mix of good looks, decent price, good quality
and excellent warranty, one would be dumb not to buy / continue to by these
products.

Now I am curious - what is behind your question?

Best Regards
Wayne Moses <> Sun, 08 Apr 2007 12:03:50 -0500

=== Posted with Qusnetsoft NewsReader 3.3

 

Reply to message from "KWW" <kirk.walker ahyt aircooled doht neyt> (Sat, 07
Apr 2007 07:23:27) about "Re: Would you buy another Hyundai?":

K> So either a GM or a Honda would probably be my next car....

He he he ... unbelievable that you would consider these two side by side.
To me they are worlds apart.

Best Regards
Wayne Moses <> Sun, 08 Apr 2007 12:11:20 -0500

=== Posted with Qusnetsoft NewsReader 3.3

 

It doesn't appear that Hyundai will be offering a wagon any time soon.
We checked out all the other lower priced wagons and 5 doors ala
Spectra5, Pontiac Vibe, Mazda3. IMO, they don't offer much over my '99
Elantra 5spd wagon. None of them are as roomy, and the Vibe I thought
was a dog performance-wise. The Mazda gets up and goes, but is kinda
pricey for what you get. Fuel economy is give or take a few mpg. Maybe
a Focus wagon with a 5spd ( no automatics allowed in this family) but
the way it stands right now, I'll save my pennies and go for a Subaru
Outback. I think that they are one nice ride and they suit our
lifestyle.

L.

 

I agree. After the new 84 Accord that I bought when had its top-end
self-destruct at 72,000 miles, I would never insult GM by lumping them
with Honda! What an insult to GM.

Matt

 

'94 Silverado w/350.

 

Sounds close to mine. Mine is a 94 Silverado K1500 extended cab. Mine
has the 4.3L with 5 speed MT8 manual (at least I think that was the
designation for the transmission with the granny gear low). I let the
salesman talk me out of the 4.10 axles for 3.73s and that was a mistake.
A couple of years after I bought the truck, I replaced the ring and
pinions with 4.56s and what a difference that made. No loss in fuel
economy as it was lugging too much in OD (1600 RPM stock and about 2000
RPM after the swap at 55 MPH. And much better performance and in L/4L,
I can get out and walk faster than the truck moves at idle!

I noticed the first rust last fall behind the rear mudflaps. I suspect
the truck will pass inspection for at least 4 more years with no body
work and that will probably be enough for me to just drop the license
and use it for my off-road mule rather than try to fix it up and keep it
street legal. I'll be ready for a new diesel truck by then anyway!

Matt

 

Ive bought a total of 4 Hyundai's ; 2 Sonatas and 2 Santa Fe's . I
would continue to buy Hyundais ; it is alot of value for the money,
reliable, and very long warranty. Stylish autos too.

 

Sorry Matt - I should also have noted that mine is a K1500 extended cab
also. Mine is an automatic though.

I noticed some rust starting - just starting, last year. That was around
the cab corners, and the front fenders. This year those spots are large
holes. The lower doors and the tail gate began rusting years ago - I forget
now how many years ago. I think it must have been 7 or 8 years ago. I
repaired those areas at the time, but not by adding any sheet metal. Just
sandblasted them and applied some POR-15, then worked up from there with
normal body work. That repair was ok, for what it was, in that I got 7 or 8
years out of it for low cost. Now - the lower skins have to be replaced on
the doors and the tail gate is a goner. But - the truck is 14 years old.
It sits more than it gets driven now, except for plow season. I swear -
that's the worst thing that can happen to a vehicle. Sitting just seems to
promote rust.

 

I already did. Now I am close to buying my third. I guess you can
guess if I like them.

 

I know this is way OT, but I've read more than once that the Toyota
tundra 1/2ton probably will also be their 3/4 ton and...

....that they're in talks with Caterpiller to supply a diesel to the truck
in the next year or so. One magazine even commented how a Cummins,
Duramax or a Navistar could easily fit in the 1/2 ton engine bay - even
with an Allison or other HD tranny behind.


So, is Hyundai coming out with a diesel truck?


--
kai
www.perfectreign.com || www.4thedadz.com
www.filesite.org || www.donutmonster.com

closing the doors that surround me
so no one will ever penetrate
complete my retreat just to wait for the day
that never comes so i will laugh alone

 

That explains it! Automatics rust a lot faster than standards!

I had no rust last year on the front fenders, doors or tailgate, at
least nothing visible when I waxed the truck. And waxing tends to give
me a pretty good inspection. The main rust is on the rear bumper,
particularly behind the exhaust pipe on the passenger side. The frame
is getting a fair bit of rust, but the underbody looks like new. I
inspect that pretty well every 10K miles when I put it up on jack stands
to rotate the tires and grease it.

I wonder why yours has rusted out so much faster than mine. I do have a
cap on mine which has been on it since it was new so that keeps the rain
out of the bed and off the inside of the tailgate, so maybe that has
helped. Also, the truck has been garaged almost its entire life, but
I'm not sure that garaging a vehicle in the winter is a good thing.

Mine had rust behind the rear wheels where the holes were drilled for
the mud flaps. The original screws had rusted away and the paint was
flaking around the holes. I greased up the holes again as I did when I
first installed the mud flaps and replaced the original self-tapping
sheet metal screws with SS bolts, washers and nuts. I suspect the
fender will rust away now before I need to replace the mud flap bolts!
I probably should have used SS hardware in the beginning and maybe the
loose bolts wouldn't have worked the paint loose.

Matt

 

Reply to message from Matt Whiting <> (Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:
20:05) about "Re: Would you buy another Hyundai?":


MW> I agree. After the new 84 Accord that I bought when had its top-end
MW> self- destruct at 72,000 miles, I would never insult GM by lumping
MW> them with Honda! What an insult to GM.

Haha ... I was actually ranking them in the reverse to you, for much the
same reasons that the real car mags (C&D, R&T, etc.) and the useless (as
far as cars are concerned, unless you are a soccer mom) Consumer
Reports. ;-)

Best Regards
Wayne Moses <> Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:28:37 -0500

=== Posted with Qusnetsoft NewsReader 3.3

 

One word - New York State Winters.

I have a cap on mine also and before I had the cap, it always had a toneau
cover on the box.

 

None of those magazines look at reliability and CR only does through
user surveys, not their own long-term tests.

My Accord self-destructed at 72,000 miles and required replacement of
the cam and all 16 rocker arms and had metal circulated through the
engine for several miles before it finally completely failed. It was
making noise at 60,000 and I had the dealership listen to it and they
pronounced it normal.

What really irked me was the treatment by Honda. The dealer of course
said it was out of warranty, which it was, but also agreed with me that
this shouldn't have happened. I sent a letter to Honda as the repair
was something like $600 and I didn't have a lot of money in those days.
I thought they might at least meet me halfway and provide the parts
and I'd pay the labor as each was about half the total. Instead, they
sent me a letter (which I think I still have in my files) accusing me of
not maintaining the car properly as the failure appeared to be
lubrication related. This was really dumb on their part as I keep a log
in all of my vehicles and record EVERYTHING including every gas purchase
and I keep a running MPG tally on every tank. I had probably 30 pages
in the book by then so I copied them all and sent them to Honda. I also
sent copies of my receipts for all of the genuine Honda oil filters I
had purchased and the Mobil 1 oil that I used. They did something even
more stupid and wrote a second letter stating that it "appeared" that I
had maintained the vehicle properly but that the engine was out of
warranty and in any event they considered 72,000 miles of service life
to be within "normal manufacturing variance."

Well, I've never had an engine fail that completely before or since and
I don't consider 72,000 miles to be acceptable life for a modern engine
so I decided at that point that Honda's standards simply weren't high
enough for me. I haven't bought a Honda since and never will again.
I've bought five new vehicles since then and Honda could have had
probably three of those sales and maybe more now that they have a
pickup. So, they lost 3-5 new vehicle sales because they wouldn't stand
behind their product with $300 in parts. So, their business sense is as
bad as their consumer affairs.


Matt

 

I drive mostly in NY also. I commute from Lawrenceville, PA to Corning
every day which is 5 miles in PA and 15 in NY and PA uses about as much
salt as does NY and a lot more cinders which is harder on the paint.
Maybe I just got lucky or maybe keeping it in the garage has helped.

Matt