Hyundai's top quality?

I don't know but my daughter has a Santa Fe with 60,000 miles and no problems compared to another neighbors 1999 Forester. A neighbor has 89,000 miles on a Santa Fe and his only problem was squcky brakes which the dealer fixed with an apology. Things do change. My 2000 Forester now has 76,000 relatively trouble free miles so my forester is as go as a Hyundai so far. Eddie

Doc,

Don't know if you're trolling or not, since this is posted on at least one other auto group, as well.

But let's say you're not: yes, Hyundai HAS come a long way. Early examples were horrid, and they're not out of the woods yet. But the extended warranties can be looked at in a coupla ways, IMO. First is a marketing ploy, trying to gain/regain customers who've heard bad things about a marque (VW and Chrysler come to mind.) It seems Korean cars in general have fallen into this venue--most are getting better, but I believe all have a history of producing some crappy cars, so they've got to overcome the bad rep.

The other is a learning tool for the mfrs: by warranting a vehicle longer than usual, they'll see more of what problems pop up. For example, the transmission in a friend's 2000 Hyundai Sonata went out a coupla weeks ago. It was way beyond what would have been the warranty period on most makes, but still under warranty for her. The miles were less than what one would normally expect from a trans, though, so Hyundai gets a better firsthand look at how their product holds up. Properly handled, it should be a win-win for both the consumer and the mfrs.

Rick

I don't think he meant it as a joke. Oddly enough, Hyundaii and Mitsubishi have both been jumping way up in quality but Mits's still in the absolute crapper in terms of buyer satisfaction and resale. I remember a few years ago that several magazines compared the Hyundaii XG-350 with several other full-sized 4-door sedans including the Accord, Camry, Taurus, etc. "Price no object and even if the badges were removed we'd take the XG. It's the better car across the board" was something close to the quotes. I don't thrill over the ripped off E-class looks but it's a hell of a nice car.

Remember, when they first came to this country Honda and Toyota were the jokes of the industry. Kia is even coming along as is Suzuki. Daewoo is back and selling under the Chevy banner (remember the Geo's where they sold rebadged Suzuki's and Toyota's?). If the industries don't improve then they tend to disolve. I wonder how long it will be before the first crappy Iraqi cars hit the market and if it's 1-2 decades before they shape up to have a good reputation. Seems every time we (US) get into a war with a country and help rebuild it we end up favoring their cars...

Hyundai warranty in Oz has been 5 years/130,000Km overall since 1999 - certainly hasn't hurt their sales!

I have 2 Sube's and one 02 Hyundai Santa Fe. I have no complaints of any of them. I actually bought the Santa Fe in January with 33K miles on it. It had been rolled in the snow with damage to every fender door and roof. It has been on the road now with a rebuilt title for 9 months and 6K miles without any problems. The dealer said they would honor the warantee for the rest of the 100K miles where they could show the accident didn't effect the car mechanicals. It actually placed 2nd for SUV's in one survey I read. This was an experiment because the price was right.

I love my Sube's and have no plans to get rid of either one....a 97 OBS and a 2K OBW

Regards, Jim

Now it's a joke with a warranty that's only as good as it's funny fine print.