liquidsilver

Yeah, Hyundai has improved for sure. My buddy drives 2000 Corolla and his dad bought 2001 Elantra GT...let me just tell you that Hyundai has smaller and better panel gaps and it handles much better than Toyota. Hyundai Has brighter head lights for better night vision as well as better laid out interior.....its feels just as tight as Corolla, if not better.

Now, this was back when both cars were fairly new but after 4-5yrs of its duty my friend tells me that Toyota is more reliable then Hyundai......not by much though. Both cars are still rattle free and tight as hell.

LexFather

I had a Hyandi Scoupe Turbo in H.S/College before I traded it in for my ES 300. WORST CAR/DEALER/EXPERIENCE EVER

And I don't care how much they improved, I will NEVER recommend them.

spwolf

Dont get me wrong - they are not trashy cars by any menas, BUT they are not quality cars people want to believe... stats tell it all - 2004 JD Power ratings for RELIABILITY says they brake 3x more than Toyota on average. In 2004 TUV RELIABILITY ratings, best Hyundai vehicle is in 80th place. Worst Toyota came in 11th - rest were 2nd, 5, and 2x 6th. Dont get me wrong - best BMW was 71st on that list as well, but then we are not saying they are reliable either, are we? :-).

German TUV in 2004 (govt technical inspection company) found that almost every Hyundai that comes at first techinical test (required at 2nd year) does not pass it because of the issues with lights.

Hyundai is getting better but is far away from being even close to the top in reliability, and in most cases it find itself at the lower bottom of the scale.

What you are talking about is perception of quality which is what people think of when they think about quality in cars. Now you might find their perception of quality much higher than before, which is also an great advance, however perception of quality has nothing to do with reliablity.

My only problem with Hyundai is that together with quality, their prices are going well up as well.

Basically, what I am saying is that they are ok cars, for ok price with ok reliability.

mmarshall

I'm sorry you feel that way. Have you looked at any new ones or driven them? I once felt the same way you did...especially after driving the 1st-Gen Excel....a POS if there ever was one. The Scoupe, as you saw yourself, wasn't much better. Only one other new car I thought was worse..the Pontiac Fiero. It took a dozen years to really start to see some improvement, but when that improvement came, it came in spades.

And....by the way......a lot of CL members he may not be aware that the 1st-generation Excel..... and to a lesser extent the Scoupe............. were just rebadged versions of the Mitsubishi Precis. The two cars were virtually identical.

mmarshall

You're right that Hyundai prices have risen some in the last few years but they are still a bargain.

I don't talk about the new reliability of Hyundais on my own. You can find it in Consumer Reports. Their record is improving so fast that much of the data that people are looking at today is already outdated for them.
Anyhow, I don't expect people to take my word for it. You can go see the cars for yourselves.
Listen, I'm not a Hyundai salesman. And I know this is not a Hyundai but a Lexus forum.
All I'm saying is they make a rather impressive product today on the outside and at least a respectable product underneath...that's all.
Are perfect? Of course not. One thing about Hyundais that STILL doesn't impress me is their low power...they tend to be a little sluggsh.

mmarshall

Check this site out:

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5855

NeverSatisfied

At first glance, I thought Infiniti G20

videcormeum

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I always thought the G20 was an attractive car - just not worth what Infiniti was charging for it.

M.

Technics

Damn, that's just a blatent copy of the rear end, they didn't hold anything back.

Have to admit, that is the best looking Hyundai I've ever seen. Still wouldn't cop one though.

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

It gets much worse my friend... i was driving in the cape on vacation last week with my g/f, and I looked on top of a hill I was approaching a few hundred yards away, and swear I saw some sort of rolls royce. I was shocked, i only see about 3 or 4 every year... but as I got closer... I began to realize that it was not an RR but a...



Hyundai XG350

videcormeum

The 2006 Hyundai Sonata will now come with a choice of either a 3.3 liter V6 producting 237 horsepower (228 tq) or a 2.4 liter inline-4 producing 162 horses (164 tq) ....

That's impressive output for a company moving from a 2.7 liter producing only 170 hp (180 tq).

Hyundai will also offer, standard on the LX model and available on the GLS model, a new 5 speed automatic transmission (available only with the 3.3 liter V6).

A 4-speed automatic will be standard on the GLS model (4cyl) and available on the base model; a 5 speed manual transmission is included w/ the base model.

More specs here:

http://www.hyundaisonata.com/Specifications.aspx

I'm not joking around when I say that this very well may be my next vehicle.

M.

Shyne

if you guys are sick of hyundai, you would really be tired of them if you lived in my town...Montgomery, AL is where the 1st hyundai plant is located in the U.S....In all of my business classes they refer to hyundai constantly...To me they are a solid company that basically benchmarks (copies) other successful companies...I can't hate on the company because they are bringing in huge economic growth and opportunity for entreprenuers like me to excel in many areas of business right here in my town...All of the top level korean executives play golf at the country club in my neighborhood and drive a new hyundai every day...Very nice people...If you look at where they have come from to what they are now, you would understand that they have grown up fast...The major reason why they have chose foreign direct investment in this country is because it lowers their transportation costs...They are trying to sell cars to the mexican/south american markets as well...Koreans are not dumb, they are opportunists... I see them doing yoga in the morning when im coming home from the club and I wish I was as disciplined as them sometimes...Shyne

SecPole14

Most unfortunate that this car was not around when I was shopping. I've come to realize that my F-XT is way overkill, and I would do things a lot differently if I were to go through the process again.

Hyundai gets a from me, especially with the new motors and so many standard features.

-J-P-L-

The rear of the Sonata looks nothing like the new GS's.
The taillights are twice the size for one thing and the overall shape of the rear is nothing alike.
It's not nearly as attractive.

On another note, anyone notice the 160 mph speedo? In a Sonata!?
Like it can even get close to 160.

SecPole14

Aw gross it's going to be made here...