It's always a toss up between multiple uses.. commuting vrs towing. I know a few people who tow with escapes, and other small to mid size suvs. Granted they aren't going to pull 5000lbs but then if that was what was being towed you're right a purpose built vehicle is required.
After seeing the specs of vehicles like the escape and dodge nitro.. both with 3500lbs ratings i'd edge towards them as a next vehicle simple because the santa fe isn't quite in the same playing field.
Thanks for your input though as it makes perfect sense.. even if for 90% of my use towing isn't a requirement.
I can't remember if you have standard shift or automatic. With an automatic, it would likely not be an issue and I didn't notice it with the two automatics I test drove. I suspect it is amplified with standard shift. You drive a BMW and then the Sonata and the difference is night and day. BMW knows how to do standard shift right and Hyundai hasn't a clue.
2006 Tucson. Have not had to take it back to dealer for any service except for a factory recall to replace the passenger airbag. The little SUV has been perfect and trouble-free. Really good value for the money so far.
Matt Whiting wrote in news:6BMzi.95$ snipped-for-privacy@news1.epix.net:
Well, I have an automatic and the throttle sensitivity is still an issue for me. Yes, I have gotten used to it, but there are still times, especially after driving another car of just about any make or model, when I am still stunned by it. I can't imagine how you engage the clutch without chirping the tires or stalling on almost every 1st gear start.
And not to argue the point about BMW's, but I personally think Honda has the best manual on the market. But I know you are a little anti-Honda, Matt.
I have auto. I've either gotten used to it or it smoothed out over time. It was a PITA the first month or so. Going from one car to another does not seem to make much difference though. I may have mention it before, but the wife of a guy at work got rid of her 06 LX after six months solely because of the throttle.
No doubt the BMW is much better. I've not driven one for a while but performance was better than the Sonata, but the price tag was much different also.
I've gotten fairly good at starting out, unless there is a lot of noise around like a large truck or Harley sitting beside me. Neither the clutch nor the throttle gives any tactile feedback, unlike every other standard shift car or truck I've driven. So, without aural feedback, it is easy to either stall the engine or race it to 2,000 RPM when starting out.
Actually, the most troublesome area for me is still the 1-2 shift. I rarely get that done smoothly. 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5 aren't bad now.
I've never driven a stick shift Honda so I have no basis for comparison. Of all the cars I've driven, the BMW is the best. For trucks, my current Chevy K1500 with the MT8 transmission is the best.
According to Consumer Reports (who, for better or worse is very impressed with the redesigned Santa Fe), towing is rated at 3,500 pounds with the V6 engine.
We currently have a '99 5 spd Elantra wagon which we bought new.(A leap of faith at the time) Not a whole lot to complain about in 8 years and
122K miles. Replaced upstream O2 sensor which corrected the check engine and also the cold start valve. The paint and power window regulators are subpar. We drive easy road miles mostly and are still on original clutch, brakes, exhaust and struts. The time and alarm module is shot, but I found one on Ebay.
I think cars are made so well now that I'll probably buy used next go around. The likely candidate is a Hyundai kissin' cousin, Kia Spectra5, which I feel is a heck of a lot of car for the money.....but I'll give the re-introduced Elantra wagon a chance to tempt me.
I own a 2005 Tucson and it's the first and last Hyndai that I buy. Fuel consumption is terrible, I had problem with the wheel alignment and customer service is the worst I have seen. I previously own a Toyota RAV-4 and a Honda Accord wich I consider a better product than Hyundai.
"desgnr" a écrit dans le message de news: coAzi.4814$Wr3.1689@trndny03...
Reply to message from "desgnr" (Fri, 24 Aug 2007 07:
43:52) about "Would you buy again ?":
d> Do you guys recommend buying a Hyundai ?
Are you going to base your decisions on the responses of a bunch of 'names' in an Internet newsgroup? Could be trolls in here and people with agendas other than providing an unbiased response.
While I loath to do this let me suggest you consult Consumer Reports while taking any negative responses here with a grain of salt.
I have personally owed 5 Hyundais so far and if they have one to fit my needs next time I am in the market I will certainly buy it.
Regards Wayne Moses Sun, 26 Aug 2007 08:34:35 -0500
Also take Consumer Reports with a large dose of salt. They are quite biased and don't track the long-term reliability of vehicles. And there data is from a bunch of "names" who are their subscribers and thus aren't necessarily a representative sample of drivers nationwide.
I've own two cars that were at nearly opposite extremes of CR ratings: a
1984 Accord and a 1989 Acclaim. The Accord, though drooled over by CR, was a POS. The day I traded it on the Acclaim was one of the happiest days of my life. CR constantly panned the Acclaim, but that was the best car I've ever owned. The Sonata may supplant it, but I'll need at least another 100K miles before making that assessment.
The Acclaim was bullet-proof. When my wife totaled it in a deer accident at 143,000 miles, it still had the original exhaust system and the only thing it had required other than normal maintenance and wear items was a new flex plate that cracked at around 100,000 miles. The Accord had required more repairs in the first 60,000 miles (including a $900 exhaust system and that was back in the 80s!) than the Acclaim required in its entire life. The Accord engine failed at 72,000 miles and required a new top end (camshaft and complete set of rocker arms), whereas the Acclaim engine was absolutely bullet-proof up to 143,000 miles. Change the oil and filters and run it. Even the engine accessories were original when it was totaled.
So, take CR with a BIG dose of salt. They give you their initial impressions in their tests and then depend on subscriber surveys for data longer term, but even that ends at 5 years as I recall.
Personally, I've found the "long term" (typically still only a year or so) tests that Popular Mechanics runs are much more useful that CRs results. And PM isn't afraid to also criticize Japanese cars unlike CR who seems to think the Japanese can do no wrong.
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