Would you buy another Hyundai?

replaced 99 Accent with 2006 Elantra hatchback. Wondering what I will replace the Elantra with as they drop the hatchback option adnd I don't need the SUV drop in performance. maybe a Tiburon as I can get a manual trans with a decent engine but the back seat is small. I'll just have to see if Hyundai gets smarter in the next couple of years. (35K+ miles / yr)

At this point, I'd have to say "it remains to be seen". I bought my first Hyundai, an '07 Elantra, about 2 months ago and had to have it towed in to the dealer last Monday as it appears the anti-theft kill switch wasn't disengaging. The dealer says this is a minor repair, it's covered under warranty (including the tow) and they'll have it fixed by Friday (waiting on a part). All this is fine as long as it's not an omen of things to come. Reliability is very critical IMHO, plus in all other ways the car seems pretty terrific.

A.

Reply to message from Matt Whiting (Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:

11:22) about "Re: Would you buy another Hyundai?":

MW> What really irked me was the treatment by Honda.

Now that I can understand because both in Canada and here in the US I am yet to go into a Honda dealership and not see some degree of smugness. I also went into a GM (yeah GM!) dealer once and encountered that same bullsh*t. Full of themselves they were and had no time to even bother themselves to come over to me to see if I needed any assistance.

MW> Well, I've never had an engine fail that completely before or since MW> and I don't consider 72,000 miles to be acceptable life for a modern MW> engine

Well, based on your description of the level of care you gave that car, it certainly appears to have failed prematurely. I think that Honda could have done a heck of a lot more in the interest of customer relations in your case.

MW> I haven't bought MW> a Honda since and never will again.

I understand. I think that Honda could have done a lot more to avoid that and the possible loss of business due to word of month.

All of the above aside, I am _totally_ unconvinced that model on model GM engineering can be compared with Honda *or even Hyundai*.

The arguments you made easily indicate you had a crappy Honda and their handling of the issue was just as crappy, but it did not prove that GM vehicles in general, and model for model, were more reliable or better by any yardstick than Honda. I have had friends recount similar experiences with their GM cars as you had with your Honda.

Best Regards Wayne Moses Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:25:30 -0500

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Reply to message from Harry Smith (Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:50:48) about "Re: Would you buy another Hyundai?":

HS> Our family owns several Sonatas and love them. We still have a 1989 GL HS> with over 311K miles on it, and it runs great, all the power stuff HS> works, etc.

Hey a 1989 Sonata GL eh? That was the car that started it all for me. Black

5-speed with A/C and no power anything other than steering. Great basic car.

Best Regards Wayne Moses Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:09:09 -0500

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My GM experience has been more with trucks than cars. A Chevy truck is hard to beat, I don't care what anyone says. I had to laugh as the Toyota salesman was salivating when he saw that my current vehicle was a

1. He made some comment about my current truck being about done in, and I said that it was just getting broke in! And I wasn't joking. It runs like a top and has almost no rust and the interior looks like new other than a few stains on the carpet. The drive train has only required replacement of one U-joint on the front drive shaft and brake pads and shoes in 95,000 miles of plowing snow and hauling firewood. The clutch is original, the shocks are original, the engine is basically untouched (yes, original water pump, starter, alternator, etc.) other than maintenance items like hoses, belts, spark plugs and filters. This truck sees more time in 4-wheel drive in one winter than most Toyota or Nissan trucks see in a lifetime of running to the mall! :-)

I'm less impressed with GM's cars as I get Pontiacs as rentals all the time, but I had a Buick Park Avenue rental a few years ago for a fairly long trip and it wasn't a half bad car. Other than steering that was too vague and a ride that was too mushy, it was a decent car. And it got 30 MPG running at 80 MPH on a 7 hour trip! And this for a large car that had pretty good performance. It got as good a mileage as my standard shift, 4 cylinder Sonata gets!!

I personally believe that the engineering of the American brands is still as good as anyone, even the Japanese, but the assembly just isn't up to par. I still pretty much believe the old saying though that "A GM will run bad longer than most cars will run."

Matt

so far I haven't had any salt/cinder problems here in the winter in San Diego!!

One anecdotal data point is essentially meaningless in the overall context of product quality. Defects happen. The difference is that serious problems like yours are considered rare for Honda, but it would be run-of-the-mill for GM. While you have every right to be angry at Honda and refuse to buy their products in the future, don't kid yourself that you'd get a better product by buying GM. The fact that Honda is thriving and GM is still on the verge of going belly-up should tell you something.

Well - I wouldn't go that far Brian. GM certainly does have some longstanding issues that have earned them some of the public mistrust that they are currently subject to, and I'm happy they're reaping the rewards of some of their heavy handed, customer last attitudes of recent times. That said, the experience of the previous poster is in no way typical of GM owner experiences. I've owned plenty of GM's and have lots of family and friends who have owned plenty of imports of all sorts, Honda well included. GM buyers have enjoyed a great deal of solid design and build, long lived, excellent cars. That includes cars of the most recent vintage, despite some of the problems that should have been fixed long ago. I certainly would not characterize GM products as inferior to any other. GM corporate attitudes, and the manner in which GM has responded to its customer base? Well, that's a different story.

Reply to message from Matt Whiting (Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:

36:00) about "Re: Would you buy another Hyundai?":

MW> My GM experience has been more with trucks than cars. A Chevy truck is MW> hard to beat, I don't care what anyone says.

Apparently Ford owners see things very differently. The Ford F-150 is the US best selling vehicle (not just truck) for the past 24 years.

I would also not dismiss the 2007 Toyota Tundra.

Best Regards Wayne Moses Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:57:27 -0500

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All things must come to and end.

Also, often the Ford sales figures are compared to Chevrolet only, not to GM, which includes both the Chevy and GMC brands. Also, folks that buy Fords aren't known for having high IQs. :-)

I won't ask you to dismiss it, but I've already dismissed it. It didn't impress me overall any more than my current 1994 Chevy. Have you driven one?

I'm hoping that Hyundai produces a pickup before I need to replace mine. However, if it looks anything like the Kia concept pickup ... I won't touch it with a 10' pole. That thing is butt ugly.

Matt

Matt Whiting wrote in news:_9fTh.3711$ snipped-for-privacy@news1.epix.net:

Hey! I resemble that remark :-) OK, I confess to dumbing down to an F-150 in 1999. I leased it too (what a dumb move that was). I also got rid of it before the lease was up because of too many problems to list here. It was a POS.

The biggest problem I had with that truck was that a welded seam on each door (first the driver side, than about 6 months later the passenger side) cracked/split on me. It took two months fighting with Ford to get them to fix it the first time. And that was only after I had proof from two other people that Ford had already paid to fix the same problem on their trucks.

It was a fiasco to say the least.

But at the time, the F-150 really drove better, and offered more for the money, than the Chevy.

Can I qualify for an IQ boost now since I got rid of the thing?

Eric

Certainly! And if you buy a Chevy, you'll gain another 10 points!! :-)

I have nothing against Fords, but the only vehicle they make that I really like is the Mustang. Everything else is pretty pedestrian.

I'm still hoping the Hyundai and Chrysler get together. I think that could be a really nice combination! Take a Dodge Ram and give it Hyundai assembly quality and that would be a killer truck. Same with a the Chrysler minivans, although the Hyundai minivan is pretty good already, I still like the Chrysler design better.

Matt

Reply to message from Matt Whiting (Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:

36:10) about "Re: Would you buy another Hyundai?":

MW> I won't ask you to dismiss it, but I've already dismissed it. It MW> didn't impress me overall any more than my current MW> 1994 Chevy. Have you driven one?

I am afraid not. I have no interest in pickup trucks at this time and when I retire and get a 5th wheel I would be looking for a dualie. Most likely not a GM unless their designers smarten up and continue the new direction that they appear to be taking with the new Silverado. At this time I admire Ford dualies.

Best Regards Wayne Moses Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:35:02 -0500

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All Mercury Grand Marquis' are not created equal. My wife's 2000 Grand Marquis came with a handling package that included air ride suspension, 373 Rear, dual exhausts, speed rated tires and traction assist. It is a BIG, fast, comfortable, reasonably handling car. At 107,000 miles it will soon need spark plugs. It has been extremely dependable and will probably be replaced with something similar when it gets to around 200,000, as was her last 1992 Crown Victoria. My pickup truck is a

1999 F250 4X4 V-10 Ford Super Duty which will most likely outlast me. It has close to 100,000 miles on it now, about 65,000 of those towing a 30' travel trailer. The only reason I bought a Hyundai was gas mileage (30 as opposed to 10 with the pickup) The Hyundai (2005 Accord) Has been very reliable so far, and I drive it 80 miles a day back and forth to work. The only complaint I have is one I have heard from almost half of the Hyundai owners I know, Poor dealerships. I wanted the cheapest car I could buy that had a big warrantee, Then the dealer tried to bury us with things that I did not want or need. Be careful what you sigh, make sure all the spaces are filled in and re-check all the paperwork when you get home. I have been buying new Fords since 1977 and NEVER had a Ford dealer try to pull what the Hyundai dealer did. The Hyundai rides like a buckboard, and it is more like wearing it than driving it, But it is very reliable and cheap to operate.

Jack Cassidy

My condolences. :-)

Matt

In the words of former GM exec Alfred Sloane "General Motors is not in the business of making cars, it's in the business of making money." It's pretty obvious that they still live by that philosophy. I would never trust any company that demonstrates the level of contempt for their customers that GM has for decades. No matter how many times they get hammered in the marketplace, they just never learn. The best thing that could happen to GM is for them to get bought out by Honda, Toyota or Hyundai. Clean out the upper management, tell the UAW to take a hike, let the people who actually care about cars, quality and customers run the place and you might actually end up with a decent company.

Best car ever !!!!!!!! had a 1958 Nash Metropolitan that I put 230,000 miles on ...... Only problem I had in 230K was I had to replace the generator and of course the brakes and tires..... After all that it dies with the original engine and original exhaust ... Oh for thye good ole' days when They knew how to make REAL cars although I do have a 2005 XG350L that is 3 years old and just turned 15K and hasnt been back to the dealer for anything other than oil changes.

Matt Whiting wrote in news:wufTh.3712$ snipped-for-privacy@news1.epix.net:

I bought an '88 Chevy in '02, does that count? Just over 200K on her now.

Agreed. I like the Lightning truck they sold a few years back too, but not very practical to say the least.

I have to agree with you there too. Maybe a REAL Nitro would be good too :-)

Eric

I would for reliability but the milage is lousy on my 2003 XG350 with a 3.5 litre V/6. My wife's Buick Regal with a 3800 GM V/6 will get 30 MPG on the Hgwy and the Hyundai will do good to get 22. In town the Hyundai is geared way to low and uses more gas than a 91 Ford Crown vic with a V/8 in it. Lousy milage.

My next one will be a Hybrid and one not geared so low that it pops your neck on take off like the Hyundai. The XG 350 runs about 2100 RPM and my wife's car runs about 1700 at the same speed on the highway. It (the Hyundai is a good car) but lousy milage.