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Thoughts on Hyundai cars?

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Hyundais are such great cars now.

If you had asked this even 10 years ago you would've been told they are trash/garbage, since the 2010s they seem to have rejuvenated their business.

I have an Elantra GT right now and I love it. Got it used at 80k KMs up to 102k right now but haven't had any issues.
 
We drive a 2013 Accent SE (hatchback) that we bought new. I put close to 50-60 miles on it a day, hit 67500 miles this week. Aside from routine oil changes and new tires, it hasn't needed any attention at all. Nearly 40 MPG and I think it was only somethin like $18k new from the dealer.

Only problem is a shitty design flaw on the lower bumper cover (that the fog lights attach to), it's held to the wheel well guard with these awful cheap plastic bolts that basically sheared off about 2 weeks after getting it when my gal pulled over a curb, so over time the wheel well guard has fallen down and the bumper cover sides (which are held in with plastic tabs) have begun to wear/break off. So I have to knock the bumper cover back into place every now and then. I think this is actually kind of a common design flaw with a few manufacturer's cars lately though, I have noticed more and more vehicles with exactly the same problem.
 
My workspace seems to be being taken over by Elantras. Everyone who got one loves it. They're very much no longer the cheap dinky cars, they can compete with the top in class.

Personally I still like the new civic and Mazda 3 better, but Hyundai is certainly competitive.
 
I had a 2015 i30 (not sure they selling those in the us).
Good build quality, reliable and awfully boring.
Perfect for commuting, but avoid like the plague if you want a driver's car.
 
2010 Elentra

Its nothing flashy but great gas mileage and reliability--I haven't had any major issues except my fuel pump went out recently, thankfully the dealership fixed it under warranty. Great value for a car but the prices have gone up year after year, I bought mine new for $14000 in Jan 2011

Not bad for 90k miles imo
 
My 2012 Elantra hasnt had any issues, extremely reliable.

BlackSalad said:
2010 Elentra

Its nothing flashy but great gas mileage and reliability--I haven't had any major issues except my fuel pump went out recently, thankfully the dealership fixed it under warranty. Great value for a car but the prices have gone up year after year, I bought mine new for $14000 in Jan 2011

Not bad for 90k miles imo
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Wow I got mine Aug 2011, I only have 45k miles! Haha
 
AstroNut325 said:
Let's see your tune after you're out of the warranty period.

People saying they're good cars haven't owned one for more than 10 years yet.
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Okay sooth sayer. Hopefully this is the last car I will ever own anyway.

I don't think a lot of people have cars much longer than 10 years to be honest. That seems to be bear when someone may sell, trade or need to change their car out.

Anecdotal but my moms elantra has been working like a charm since 2007.
 
I had a 2003 Hyundai Accent that lasted 13 years and it had 80k miles to start with. Vash, my car, was technically totaled due to storm damage, got t-boned, and got a bent hood from hydroplaning into a truck. Damn thing finally gave out after several alternators burned out within a year of each other. I just leased a 2016 Sonata that is damn nice ride.
 
My mom got a Kia for Christmas which made 4 Hyundai/Kia cars in the family. Only my little sister is missing one. I was just mentioning to my mom yesterday that none of us have had any major problems. My dad is about to hit 4 years with his Sonata and my sister is around 4 or 5 with her Tuscon. My Elantra has been great since I got it a year and a half ago.
 
peppermints said:
The lease on my CR-V is up in April. Wife and I are looking to upgrade to a little bit of a bigger car and found a fully loaded 2014 certified preowned Santa Fe at a good price (~$27k).

I got the feeling that the consensus on Hyundai used to be that they were cheaply made and not very reliable. Is that no longer true? Anyone have good experience with Hyundais?
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I went from a Honda CR-V to a Hyundai IX-35 (I think it's the Tucson in the USA) 4 years ago. I really like the IX-35, it was great value for money with the amount of kit it came with and it handles like a much smaller car. Haven't had any major issues other than the reverse parking camera not always working, but they sorted that out because it was a known issue.
 
I got a 2013 Santa Fe 2.0 Turbo, going on to year 4 in a couple months. Great car, no troubles. The only gripe I have with it is that the interior materials and finishing isn't the best quality but for what me and the wife wanted, it's perfect.
 
I've owned a 2011 Elantra for 6 years almost. No work besides normal maintenance stuff. The car has been great for what I need which is just getting around to work, dinner, etc.

I'm going to be getting a new car again in the next year or two and I'm seriously looking at just getting a newer Elantra. They're cheap, reliable, roomy, and have decent features.
 
SCHUEY F1 said:
I like my Elantra GT for the most part. I'm wintery roads however the suspension feels terrible.
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This. Love my 2012 Elantra but it feels like back in Disneyland riding the Indian Jones ride when I'm driving through rocky terrain or bumpy roads.
 
Reliable cars without personality or excitement. They are good first cars or cheap-o commuters.

They are vastly better than they used to be but they have a long way to go IMO.
 
Funny, was given a 2015/6/7 Sonata as a rental last week and was considering making a thread on what I thought about it.

Overall, I was impressed. Still some cheap hard plastics around, but it is only a $20k car or so.
 
Own a 2013 Accent.

Decent car for a decent price. No issues so far at 58k miles. Only really feel burned that they exaggerated their city MPG on the sticker and later got sued for it (which, as a used owner, i didn't get a chance to claim)
 
peppermints said:
I wasn't planning on paying sticker price, but what sort of price do you think would be fair? I've never bought used before.. bought a new Mazda 3 in 2012 and we leased our CRV 3 years ago, so not sure what to expect.

Seems like the consensus here is that they're as good as anything else. It still carries the Hyundai warranty for the remainder of the 100k miles (it's ~42k).
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I'm pretty sure that's only for the original owner.
 
AntoneM said:
I'm pretty sure that's only for the original owner.
Click to expand...
If you get a certified pre-owned car, you get the remainder of the warranty. I got a used 2013 Sonata that had 35k miles that was originally an Enterprise rental car, and I have the rest of the warranty according to all the paperwork. Not that I'd be able to confirm, I haven't had any warranty repairs yet and I'm at 80k now.
 
My first car was I think a 2002 Hyundai Sonata

It was a fairly good car although it eventually had transmission problems were it would every once in a while get stuck in 3rd gear due to some kind of safety feature so as not to destroy the transmission. Dealer couldn't figure out how to fix it.

My family drove it for like 10 years I want to say and it wasn't a bad car.

If hyundai has worked out some of their QC issues I think they were known for back in the day I think their cars would be fine.

My brother has a new Kia and loves it
 
Good bang for the buck.. and their sister company Kia is even better bang for the buck though Kia resale value isn't great compared to Hyundai so it balances out.

I was really interested in a Niro, but they weren't available last year when I was in the market so ended up with a RAV4 Hybrid.. also disappointed the Niro doesn't have all wheel drive.. maybe they will correct that when they come out with the Niro PHEV version.. if they do I will probably trade up.
 
Love the cars. The warranty is boss. At work they call them burners cause the value doesn't hold well like say toyotas. I work in car insurance. So if a hyundai totals the value isn't as high as other sedans. Still I have a 13 Sonata and its been pretty good.
 
My mechanic helped me pick out a new car and told me in the years he has been working on cars he has never had to fix the air conditioning on a hyundai.

I currently drive a 2013 Sonata GLS.
 
I had to remove part of a radiator and the battery to change a headlight on a Hyundai Accent. That's the beginning and ending of my thoughts on Hyundai
 
HenryGale said:
Okay sooth sayer. Hopefully this is the last car I will ever own anyway.

I don't think a lot of people have cars much longer than 10 years to be honest. That seems to be bear when someone may sell, trade or need to change their car out.

Anecdotal but my moms elantra has been working like a charm since 2007.
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While true that probably the majority of people don't a car much older than 10 years old. There are still a lot of people, myself included, that do own older cars, so long term reliability is important. While Hyundai/Kia have improved quite a lot recently, I'd still say they're a bit of an unknown.

Their cars from the 90's are pretty much non existent on the roads these days, and when I go to the junkyard, the newest cars there are always Hyundai or Kia.

These are the reasons that I currently wouldn't buy one. Why buy a car from a manufacturer that could be good, when I can buy a car from a company that has a proven track record of making reliable cars for decades.
 
shiftplusone said:
she has a 9 year old car and only has 125k miles on it?

my 2014 elantra is at 75k, bought with 18 on it.

maybe I drive too much

to OP, my parents bought a santa fe in like 2013 and like it a lot, i've gotten an elantra and its fine(not my choice but what I got stuck with and I don't hate it). My wife got a kia box thing and she loves that too.
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My 2008 Elantra has about 70K I think. Just need to get maintenance done on it but still going alright. Biggest complaint was the sun visors just straight up broke on both sides.
 
My friend had a 2006 Hyundai accent and it was such a piece of shit I said I would never own a Hyundai because of how horrible they were. Today I am driving a Hyundai. Only 50k miles atm, but no issues yet and the warranty is solid.
 
nabe_shogun said:
While true that probably the majority of people don't a car much older than 10 years old.
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http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/28/americans-holding-onto-their-cars-longer-than-ever.html

Article is almost 2 years old.

As the average age of vehicles on the road has climbed to an all-time high of 11 1/2 years—up about one month compared to last year—nearly one out of every four vehicles in the U.S. was built before the year 2000.
Click to expand...

There's a newer WSJ report behind a paywall.
 
I have a used 2012 Hyundai Accent with 45,000 miles on it and I've taken it up to about 75,000 since then. Had some horrible transmission issues for awhile where the car would jolt every time it changed gears, and it cost us about 2,000 bucks to get the transmission replaced. Other than that significant repair, it does run pretty well and haven't had many issues with it.
 
AstroNut325 said:
They're good while under warranty. Outside of warranty, they're not good.

Former owner of a 2004 Hyundai Sonata that I bought brand new.

Edit:

How do you know current gen is ok?
Click to expand...
Current gen is great. World renown and award winning. 2004 was in their shit period. So Im not surprised.
 
peppermints said:
The lease on my CR-V is up in April. Wife and I are looking to upgrade to a little bit of a bigger car and found a fully loaded 2014 certified preowned Santa Fe at a good price (~$27k).

I got the feeling that the consensus on Hyundai used to be that they were cheaply made and not very reliable. Is that no longer true? Anyone have good experience with Hyundais?
Click to expand...

how is that a good price? I recently just purchased a brand new fully loaded turbo 2017 Subaru Forrester for ~$30k with 0% financing through Subaru.
 
I've had a 2010 Sonata since 2012. It's generally been pretty good. Last year the foamy plastic in front of the tire and behind the bumper started shearing off, so I taped it together. A couple months ago, it started doing a thing where it downshifts hard when slowing around 20mph (oddly, my 2003 Mazda MPV has a similar but opposite problem where it upshifts hard when accelerating around 20mph). Other than that, it's behaved generally well.

Sadly, my partner crashed it into a jeep a couple weeks ago, and it's probably totaled. I'm looking at a 2015 Hyundai Accent (a hatchback this time) from Hertz, as it ticks most of my boxes for under ten thousand dollars.
 
Has anyone had problems with owning a foreign car in a rural area? It seems like all the garages around me will only work on domestic cars. That shoehorned me into getting my 06 Ford Taurus, at least until I move.
 
For what its worth, I owned a 2006 Tiburon V6 and it needed it share of repairs...new brake master cylinder, cracked radiator...once a fuel line dried and cracked and sprayed fuel all over the engine bay. Also I had to change out the clutch at 50k (which is awfully quick) and the camshaft positions sensor broke so that every time it got wet, the computer thought something was horribly wrong and would put the car in "limp" mode until I unplugged the battery and reset the computer.

Oh...the passenger's door handle snapped in my hands when I was simply trying to open the door...the a/c worked but the knob had a broken contact so I had to "jimmy" it to get it working. The sunroof had a hitch in it so I had to be careful how I opened it otherwise I'd break it. Once I reached 70K miles, the car started shaking once I hit 60mph which was all the time for me. It also had an oil leak somewhere...It was a hose deep in the engine that was only accessible from under the car and it was never so strong a leak that I felt it necessary to repair. Oh...and the radio broke the first week I that I bought it.

Besides that, the car was great!

I bought the car used at 24.5K and treated it very well...It was strictly a commuter car for me...no racing or anything like that. I got rid of it at 130K and generally speaking the car never left me stranded. The engine was still very strong and when I swapped out the timing belt (at 120K), the old one still looked pristine. So my $0.02 is that they've been good and have improved but there are some quality issues especially when it comes to peripheral parts but the actual drivetrain is pretty solid.
 
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