"test-drove" a Sonata

A friend bought a used Kia (cheaper make by the same company). He loves it and it has been reliable. He used to drive Mercedes when he had more money.

I would rather drive a Korean car than Big 3

I think Kia is part of the Hyundai group? Hyundai has the highest JDPowers initial reliability rating last year for an economy brand. Top luxury brand was Porsche. Great initial reliability, but the Koreans should hire Italy's Parafinini to help out with the styling.

http://www.c> A friend bought a used Kia (cheaper make by the same company). He loves it

A year ago I wouldn't drive past a GM lot. But the corporate turnaround over the year was quite impressive for the troubled company. I particularly like the new Epsilon platform (like the Saturn Aura) and the Lambda platform (like the GMC Acadia). I would pick one with the amazingly compact, maintenance free clutch-to-clutch 6-speed tranny (new 6T/6L series) with Tiptronic-like manual mode. I'm sure it beats the gear-skipping Toyota U-series tranny in the 2007 Camry where the only fix is to junk it for a new replacement (according to Toyota

1/2007 TSB).

Well, then why don't you just f*ck on over to the HYUNDAI ng? THIS IS TOYOTA.

I test drove all three Aura's. Found that they are just not compelling; they are not 'gotta have one' cars. The seating in all three trims was uncomfortable, and they're narrow.

The "hybrid" is too gutless, but has the nicest ride of the three. Has no battery propulsion, and the 4-speed a/t cripples what little power there is.

The XE is a competant, boring car. Grocery getter. Malibu with different exterior. The V-6//4speed combo feels weak and slushy, and the ride was too bobbly for my taste.

The XR has a lot of features. But the ride is way too stiff. The car feels heavy, the engine was powerful, but thirsty. The tranny was slow to shift. Lots of delay using the paddle shifters as well. Again that stiff jarring ride over tougher pavement killed it for me, as did the uncomfortable seating.

According to owners forums the fuel mileage isn't too great on XE or XR, with the minority obtaining near-EPA ratings. Wipers don't lift to clean windshield. Gotta pull the front bumper//fascia to change a headlight bulb. Meh. Cheap suspension noises over wider road cracks.

Only the XE demo was free of interior clicks and clacks. The other two had them.

Six months supply of these cars on the ground.

When GM puts a respectable car on the road, I'll come back and look. Their parts-bin designs just aren't cutting it in my book. Too many other better alternatives out there.

Later test drove Caddy CTS and Camry, and Nissan. The Caddy was a float-a-boat ride, sloppy feeling, and the small V6 was straining. Too-few features in the models just over $30k. The Nissans are noisy inside, and except for poor seating in the 2.5 I drove, seemed well built and peppy (and probably thirsty).

Bot a Hybrid Camry. Winner hands down.

I believe the poster was just making an intelligent comparison.NOT denigrating Toyota. (I own a 2002 Camry 4)

If theres a better product out there I will buy it~! and you cant beat Hyundais 10 year 100,000 mile power train warranty~!(In the US)Lets see Toyota top THAT!!!!!

Toyotas are good cars, better than the Big Three in NA.My first Toyota was a 1959 Toyota Corona 4

As a matter of fact Kia and Hyundai are sister plants

BUT Hyundais quality control NOW , is said to top Toyotas and Hondas( JD Power and Associates)

Kia doesnt have the same type of quality for some reason.

Ed

You know, I thought Hyundai's 10-year power train warranty (reduced to only 5 or 6 years, by the way, if you're a second owner - per the docs in the manual) was because of reliability problems in older Hyundai trannys. I hope those have all been fixed...

Michael

Ah there it is...

"But at Hyundai, which has the longest limited powertrain warranty in the industry-lasting 10 years/100,000 miles-a vehicle's powertrain coverage drops to 5 years/60,000 miles if the vehicle is sold before the original warranty expires."

The early media test cars had some trim problems and some griped about the stiff German ride. But corporate specifically wanted minimal changes.

The real deal in the different trims is the XR with the new 3.6L and

6T series tranny. I wouldn't touch the others using older technology. Current GM hybrids are stop-gap measures (some call them green-line jokes) until the two-mode design with cylinder deactivation (similar to the ones driving buses in Seattle) comes out in a year or so. That's the real GM hybrid.

Yeah, GM's come a long way in the past year and still has ways to go. But I'm going to check out the 2008 Saturn Aura and the Chevy Malibu.

Actually, I think that Toyota dropped the ball with the latest Celica design, and that Hyundai, after first making ugly copies of the '90's Celica, now makes one that looks better than the current Celica.

Isn't the Celica discontinued?