Honest John?

I regularly read Honest John's pages in the Telegraph and I have noticed that he nearly always recommends people buy a Hyundai or Kia.

Is he a main dealer for Korean cars or on their payroll? Or are all his readers on their last legs and want a dull car whose warranty is longer than their own expected longevity and therefore have no concerns about depreciation?

Reply to
fishman
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He's obviously been taking Clarkson too seriously.....

"Buy a Kia. It'll see you out."

Reply to
AstraVanMann

Maybe, maybe not. Some people will happily trade some depreciation for the peace of mind of a comprehensive 5 or 7 year warranty. If you're prepared to own something for 7 years, depreciation probably isn't too big an issue, either.

Reply to
DervMan

And Hyundai and Kia have been making some much better cars of late. The Hyundai Coupes have improved year on year as have the 4x4s, and I read a decent review of Kia Pro-Ceed (not the ordinary Ceed) and it looks tidy. And the hot model is a turbo diesel. It was given a fair handling review when compared to a focus too, and the focus has a reputation of being a handler.

Reply to
Elder

Yes. Not that the C'eed is a disaster though.

Reply to
DervMan

Oh no, it is a nice looking family budget hatch. But the proceed has gone beyond that and made a good crack at trying sexy.

Reply to
Elder

Edited for accuracy.

Reply to
SteveH

It looks far better than the A3 though.

Reply to
Elder

It's not like the A3 is regarded as a pile of crap either.

Reply to
Douglas Payne

Edited for accuracy and entertainment.

Reply to
DervMan

Depends on who you speak to. Upmarket Golf / expensive Skoda / underpowered Seat / couldn't-afford-a-bigger-Audi / didn't-want-a-BMW / trying-to-nod-towards-carbon-footprint-bollucks. :o)

Reply to
DervMan

Aye, but none of that makes it crap, it doesn't have a reputation for rust or unreliability, it's not known for it's woeful lack of grip or unpredictable handling.

The styling isn't very exciting, but if that's the worst thing you can say about a car apart from the 'Harris from sales' car park pissing contest perception stuff then copying it doesn't seem like such a bad idea if you're a far-eastern car manufacturer.

Reply to
Douglas Payne

The Koreans etc are coming on in leaps and bounds.

Not sure about the small Hyundai hatches, but the Sonata is kind of starting to make sense, as you get something the size of a Mondeo, stacked with kit, for the price of a Focus. They even do diesel slushomatic versions these days. As for the Coupe - I think everyone knows that I have a real soft-spot for it.

The Pro Ce'ed (Spelling?) looks good, comes with plenty of kit and, despite having horrendous percentage residuals, will probably lose less hard cash than any number of mainstream hatches.

It wasn't really a dig at Kia, 'cos they've made a very decent looking car - if people could look beyond the badge they have the potential to do a lot of damage to the sales from mainstream manufacturers.

Reply to
SteveH

I think it looks better.

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I've not sat in a new Kia or Audi so I can't compare materials or build quality, but I have said for quite a while now that the Koreans are going to do in the early 21st Century what the Japanese did in the late

20th century. They will take the build quality/longevity that japanese mastered, add features that people didn't know they wanted but won't live without once they have it, and sell it at a price that even the snobs won't be able to ignore. Just like the japs the koreans started by licensing technology improving on it and making dubious but destinctive designs, and then refining it as they gain experience and confidence.

There is actually quite a large luxury car segment using home grown cars in Korea because there are punitive taxes on imported cars.

Reply to
Elder

He's a professional fuckface.

As per Mr Firths comments, when you're very familiar with a particular model of car and then read the reviews he's done on them, they are invariably littered with inaccuracies.

I bothered to email him once to point out what they were for one particular car, and never even got an acknowledgement and noted the inaccuracies weren't then changed either.

Like I said... a fuckface.

-- JackH

Reply to
jackhackettuk

Under powered Seat?

Reply to
DanB

Problem will always be the residuals though heh - partly cos they're so cheap (and probably discounted) new and partly because average Joe is too big-a percentage of the population and just thinks "Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!". Ssang Yong seem to be the ones with the least idea heh.

Reply to
DanB

Some A3s can look cool though, the S3 does heh, but I suppose at £32k or whatever they are it bloody wants to. In white and 3dr, with the optional darker wheels and RS4 seats, they look cool inside and out. They even have the Gallardo flat bottomed steering wheel - but then so do all RS/S Audis. The S-Line though can be cheap, you can get 1.6s of those can't you? Mind you that'd be painfully slow given the lardassy-ness.

Reply to
DanB

Doesn't that make the car uncomfortable to drive?

Reply to
Steve Firth

One of my colleagues reckons that money for money, Audis are merely underpowered Seats.

Reply to
DervMan

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