Review: 2007 Hyundai Entourage GLS
05-30-06, 08:00 AM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
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Review: 2007 Hyundai Entourage GLS
http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicle/en.../trim/gls.aspx
In a Nutshell: A relatively nice people-mover with good value and the excellent Hyundai warranty.
OK, guys......keep the chuckles and the LOL's down, please. Admittedly, this vehicle, like virtually all minivans, is not exactly the epitome of automotive testosterone or driving excitement, and of course it was not intended to be. There are people who want ( or need ) a good, efficient, reasonably-priced family and vacation-mobile for the wife, kids, luggage, and pets, or to haul the ball team around. You can drool over that Corvette or Dodge Viper all you want but sometimes reality dictates a different purchase...especially for those who, for whatever reason(s), cannot afford two or more vehicles at once. And...yes....I did receive a couple of requests to check this vehicle out from some potentially interested CL members....so here you are.
( And by the way, for those of you whose circumstances DO allow some driving excitement, see my former reviews of the 2006 Corvette C6 and Dodge Magnum Hemi R/T )
The 2007 Entourage is Hyundai's first release of a traditional minivan in the American market under their own nameplate. Despite the attempts of some Hyundai salespople to convince you to the contrary ( and you can trust me on this ), it is essentially the same vehicle as the new Kia Sedona minivan, with the same platform, body shell, and drivetrain, with some slightly different exterior and interior trim pieces...I included the Kia Sedona web site for comparison.
http://www.kia.com/06sedona/index.php
As this is Hyundai's first U.S.-market minivan, the spiritual father of this new minivan is the old Kia Sedona, which was a whale of a bargain at around $19,000 in its base form and included a standard V6, 5-speed automatic, Captain's Chairs, front and rear air conditioing, and a full power package with power mirrors, door locks, and windows. Not bad, eh? And that included the famous Huyndai / Kia 10 / 100 drivetrain warranty and the 5 / 60 total-vehicle one as well. A co-worker of mine bought an end-of-model-year 2003 LX for $18,200 out the door....... tax, tags, everything, including a $1900 rebate. I helped him find the vehicle and make the deal. So far it has been reliable except for warped brake rotors and one or two loose trim pieces.
However, the old Sedona lacked one important thing that has become a MUST for many minivan buyers today ( and this was one of the things that kept its price so low ) .....the fold-down 3rd-row rear seat that was originally poineered by the Honda Odyssey / Isuzu Oasis minivans in the mid-1990's. ( The Oasis was a rebadged Odyssey ).
The old Sedona lacked this feature. You had to unbolt the third seat, lift it out of the vehicle, and find a place to stow it...usually in the garage. That was fine for a young, strong teen-ager...not-so-fine for older adults with arthritis, weak backs, or other physical problems.
So, Hyundai and Kia ( Hyundai, of course, is the parent corporation ) realized that the lack of this feature, even with the low price, was costing them minivan sales ( even as the rest of the Hyundai / Kia line was running up record sales year after year ) so it was obvious, in order to keep up with the Jones's, that the the Sedona's replacement was going to have to have this feature.....and of course both the new Sedona and Entourage do. It is standard equipment even on the base models. Of course, the price has risen somewhat as well, ( that was to be expected ) but considering the level of standard equipment and the waranty on these vehicles for the price, I still rate them as bargains.
The new Entourage comes in three price levels, with the base version, the GLS, starting between $23,000-$24,000. Even in base form the GLS is quite well-equipped. There is a 3.8L V6, 5-speed automatic with manual sport-shift ( sport-shift in a minivan ? ) 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS, active front head restraints, Captain's Chairs front AND rear, windshield wiper de-icers, front / rear air conditioning, full power package ( doors locks, windows, and mirrors ), dual manual sliding doors, a six-speaker stereo, electronic stability control, the usual front / side / curtain airbags, and many other features as well, including, of course, the aforementioned folding 3rd-row seats.
Moving up to the SE and Limited models adds, depending on model, heated mirrors, automatic climate control, solar glass, chrome inside / outside door handles, woodtrim / chrome or brushed metal / chrome interior trim depending on color, fog lights, memory seats ( with Mercedes-style door-mounted power seat-profile controls), DVD entertainment system, premium stereo, power rear glass or power liftgate, leather seats, electroluminescent gauges, and automatic headlights. All three versions use the same body, drivetrain, and wheelbase.
I chose the base GLS for review because I felt that for most families, unless they wanted or needed the DVD system for the kiddies or wanted the nicer interior and extra features of the upmarket models, the GLS would do just fine...at a lower price, although I consider all three models to be a bargain for what you get. GLS models start out between $23,000 and $24,000, and even fully loaded Limited models run $33,000-$34,000.....several thousand less than upmarket Siennas, Odysseys, and Chrysler Town and Countrys. So one of the nice things about this vehicle is that you can get the top version for what the medium version of some other minivans cost...and with a much better warranty to boot.
However, none of the three versions offer AWD...and Hyundai as yet has not made any announcements as to this regard. The underfloor space required for the flolding rear seats sometimes precludes the installation of the hardware need for AWD. And, among current minivans in the U.S. market, only the Toyota Sienna has found a way to offer AWD with a folding third-row seat...for an extra price, of course.
OK......now to examine the Entourage in detail:
Model Reviewed: 2007 Hyundai Entourage GLS
Base Price: $23,775
Major Options: None
Freight: $700
Sticker price: $24,475 ( a $500 rebate is currently in effect )
Exterior Color: South Pacific Blue
Interior: Beige Cloth
Powertrain: 3.8L V6 with Variable Valve Timing, 242 HP @6000 RPM, torque 251 ft.-lbs. at 3500 RPM, 5-speed automatic transmission with Sportshift, Front-wheel drive
PLUSSES:
As usual for Hyundai / Kia, great value.
Smooth, quiet transmission.
Folding 3rd row seat ( finally ).
Well-applied paint.
Relatively comfortable and supportive Captain's chairs.
Verstile front seat allow rear access
Good assembly quality.
Attractive two-tone dash and interior...naturally, even nicer on the upmarket models.
Excellent gauges.
Generally good interior and exterior hardware.
Controls all easy to use with a few exceptions.
70-series tires on base model give a relatively smooth ride.
Excellent handling by minivan standards.
Good but not excellent brakes
Numerous airbags and safety equipment.
MINUSES
Doors could feel and shut more solidly.
Turn-signal lever needs a better return spring.
Difficult to turn fan switches off.
Power steering way overboosted.
Ugly, triangular headlights similiar to the present Honda Accord
Typical minivan funeral-home paint colors.
Captain's Chairs limit second-row seating to two people.
Underhood access to top of engine encumbered by the large, needless plastic engine cover.
(This is becoming a problem with more and more vehicles )
OK...the first thing that impresses you about this vehicle as you first walk up to it is its generally handsome shape....a shape that, unfortunately is marred in front by the ugly ( IMO ) triangular up-sweep headlights that more and more auto manufacturers seem obsessed with nowadays. Get past that eyesore and it is a pretty good-looking vehicle. I don't care for the general body lines quite as much as I did the old Sedona, which this vehicle ( and the new Sedona of course ) replaces, but the general overall look is positive. The South Pacific Blue paint on the test vehicle ( actually a nice blue-silver ) was well-applied, with a smooth texture, almost no orange-peel, and evenness of coat....almost Lexus like. The exterior hardware was also well-done, although the base GLS version lacked the exterior chrome trim of the upmarket models.
The aluminum hood, though lightweight like on a growing number of today's vehicles, opened and shut with the solidness and precision of a Swiss watch.
Unfortunately, the Swiss-watch solidness and precision of the hood did not seem to extend to the other outside doors as well....both front doors, both manual sliding doors and the manual liftgate ( gotta get the SE or Limited for the power ones ) felt and sounded rather cheesy as they opened and shut. I've seen worse ones.....these are not the worst ones I have used, but with these doors you just don't get the satisfying " Thunk " you do with some vehicles...like even with the last-generation of Hyundai's own entry-level $10,000 Accent, for example.
Inside, there is plenty of room, which is more or less expected in a minivan. Headroom, shoulder room, and legroom are no problem....and the lack of a sunroof in the base verion, of course, adds even more to the headroom. The 3rd row seat, as with other minivans, is best left for children or small adults. The jack is stowed in a plastic-doored compartment on the left wall just inside the liftgate. The Captain's Chairs, of course, increase the comfort for two in the middle-row seats at the expense of carrying three.
The seats, in the base version, are all covered in a nice durable-looking and feeling cloth, with cloth-upholstered pull-down armrests. Cupholders, as expected in a state-of-the-art minivan, are to be found for every seat. The gauges are excellent....some of the best I've seen. You couldn't ask for anything clearer or easier on the eyes, even in the non-electroluminescent base version. The speedometer, besides being ultra-clear, also bucks the annoying tendency I see in so many of today's vehicles to use the 20-MPH increements...it has numbers starting from 10, 20, 30, etc...instead of 20, 40, 60. This, IMO, makes your speed easier to read at a glance. Being a licensed airplane pilot with some instrument training , I for one appreciate gauges like this that are decipherable at a glance. The rest of the two-tone dash, IMO is quite attractive, with well-done and solid-feeling two-tier glove box doors containing useful mini-compartments within, generally good hardware throughout, easy-to-use controls ( with one or two exceptions...I'll get to that in a minute ) high-quality materials, good fit-and-finish, and generally good attention to detail....though the base GLS version naturally lacks some of the warmth and glitter of the wood-trim and brushed metal / chrome interiors of the two upmarket models.
There is no push-button ignition...you use an old-fashioned key. The stereo controls and hardware are pretty much the same ones used in the Sonata and Azera. The stereo itself, while I wouldn't necessarily consider it a " killer " stereo like the Lexus Mark Levinson system, is quite a good one for the money....certainly better-than-average for a low-priced minivan. The front and rear climate controls, right below the stereo, are generally easy to use except for turning the fans off...it is rather difficult because you have to hunt for a tiny little " O " on the **** that is almost invisible...especially as I imagine it would be at night. ( I reviewed the vehicle around noon )
The turn-signal lever on the left side of the steering column could also use some improvement. The return spring is quite weak....so when you push down or up on it for a simple lane-change flash, it is very easy to go past it and click the detent, so you either have to un-click it by hand or turn sharply enough for the steering wheel to un-cancel it. That and the fan switches, though, are just a couple of minor annoyances in an otherwise well-done interior.
As it was a 90-degree day in Washington with a very bright sun ( and the base model doesn't come with solar glass ) it was a good test of the dual front / rear A / C, which generally worked OK but naturally took awhile to start to cool down that large interior. No one else on the road, though, seems to make as good an A/C system as Lexus...and this vehicle is no excepton.
In between the two front seats, the front cupholder assembly swings down out of the way at the flip of a lever so Mom can get up if necessary and crawl back to tend to Junior in the back seat...or to break up the inevitable intra-sibling rivalries and squabbles on a long trip. If this is going to be a recurring problem, perhaps the upmarket SE and Limited models with the DVD entertainment systems would be worth considering.
On the road, this is, of course, a minivan, so driving it is not exactly the peak of automotive excitement, but by people-mover standards, it runs quite well. The only really annoying thing is the grossly overboosted power steering.....there is about as much road feel from the front wheels through the steering wheel as driving on glare ice. But the handling is first-rate by minivan standards.......good response with a minimum of understeer and low levels of body roll.....unusual in tall, high-center-of-gravity vehicles like these, especially with the high-profile 70-series tires standard on the base model ( the other two get 60's ). The high-profile tires give a generally smooth ride, though my test vehicle showed some impact harshness and noise from road irregularities and bumps.....probably not so much from the tires themselves as from the fact that many dealerships forget to adjust the pressures to their proper level when they come off the truck, and they were as a result probably a little more pumped-up than they should ave been. I did not adjust them as I usually do because, as already mentioned, the vehicle had been sitting in the hot sun baking the black rubber tires and I couldn't get accurate pressures anyway.
Ride quality, with the above exception ( and, as noted, it may not really be an exception ) was quite good. Road noise except for bump impacts was subdued, as was wind noise as well. So......even though the doors, as previously mentioned, didn't FEEL solid when they shut, they DID seal up well.
The 3.8L V6 had enough torque for all normal stop-and-go driving and moderate cruising speeds. Acceleration with my lightly-loaded vehicle ( just me ) was plenty adequate in most conditions....I don't know what it would do with 5-6 people and luggage on board. However, this is not a light vehicle even empty ( 4500 lbs +/-) so the engine has its work cut out for it. The 5-speed transmission with Sportshift is a gem.....smooth, quiet, Lexus-like with almost imperceptible shifts under light throttle. ( Still, I don't understand why both Sportshift and a tachometer are standard in this vehicle, though......most drivers will neither use them nor have a need to ).
Brakes are good but not excellent overall...OK response, smooth pedal, a little bit of slop, fairly even response, average stopping distances ( I don't test them full-force on a new vehicle ) but certainly much better than the awful Sponge-O-Matic brakes on, say, the big GM SUV's.
The verdict? A good people-mover at a good price with a good warranty with fairly good ( by minivan standards ) road manners apart from the overboosted steering, a generally well-done interior even in the base version, and of course the excellent Hyundai / Kia warranty. Hyundai and Kia have finally addressed the previous model's biggest shortcoming....the lack of the folding 3rd seat ....and the present model, in my opinion, needs only a little more solid-feeling doors, a better return spring for the turn-signal switch, clearer fan switch markings, and a little more powerful fan motor for hot days to cure what few glitches it still has.
Next Scheduled Review: Honda Fit.
In a Nutshell: A relatively nice people-mover with good value and the excellent Hyundai warranty.
OK, guys......keep the chuckles and the LOL's down, please. Admittedly, this vehicle, like virtually all minivans, is not exactly the epitome of automotive testosterone or driving excitement, and of course it was not intended to be. There are people who want ( or need ) a good, efficient, reasonably-priced family and vacation-mobile for the wife, kids, luggage, and pets, or to haul the ball team around. You can drool over that Corvette or Dodge Viper all you want but sometimes reality dictates a different purchase...especially for those who, for whatever reason(s), cannot afford two or more vehicles at once. And...yes....I did receive a couple of requests to check this vehicle out from some potentially interested CL members....so here you are.
( And by the way, for those of you whose circumstances DO allow some driving excitement, see my former reviews of the 2006 Corvette C6 and Dodge Magnum Hemi R/T )
The 2007 Entourage is Hyundai's first release of a traditional minivan in the American market under their own nameplate. Despite the attempts of some Hyundai salespople to convince you to the contrary ( and you can trust me on this ), it is essentially the same vehicle as the new Kia Sedona minivan, with the same platform, body shell, and drivetrain, with some slightly different exterior and interior trim pieces...I included the Kia Sedona web site for comparison.
http://www.kia.com/06sedona/index.php
As this is Hyundai's first U.S.-market minivan, the spiritual father of this new minivan is the old Kia Sedona, which was a whale of a bargain at around $19,000 in its base form and included a standard V6, 5-speed automatic, Captain's Chairs, front and rear air conditioing, and a full power package with power mirrors, door locks, and windows. Not bad, eh? And that included the famous Huyndai / Kia 10 / 100 drivetrain warranty and the 5 / 60 total-vehicle one as well. A co-worker of mine bought an end-of-model-year 2003 LX for $18,200 out the door....... tax, tags, everything, including a $1900 rebate. I helped him find the vehicle and make the deal. So far it has been reliable except for warped brake rotors and one or two loose trim pieces.
However, the old Sedona lacked one important thing that has become a MUST for many minivan buyers today ( and this was one of the things that kept its price so low ) .....the fold-down 3rd-row rear seat that was originally poineered by the Honda Odyssey / Isuzu Oasis minivans in the mid-1990's. ( The Oasis was a rebadged Odyssey ).
The old Sedona lacked this feature. You had to unbolt the third seat, lift it out of the vehicle, and find a place to stow it...usually in the garage. That was fine for a young, strong teen-ager...not-so-fine for older adults with arthritis, weak backs, or other physical problems.
So, Hyundai and Kia ( Hyundai, of course, is the parent corporation ) realized that the lack of this feature, even with the low price, was costing them minivan sales ( even as the rest of the Hyundai / Kia line was running up record sales year after year ) so it was obvious, in order to keep up with the Jones's, that the the Sedona's replacement was going to have to have this feature.....and of course both the new Sedona and Entourage do. It is standard equipment even on the base models. Of course, the price has risen somewhat as well, ( that was to be expected ) but considering the level of standard equipment and the waranty on these vehicles for the price, I still rate them as bargains.
The new Entourage comes in three price levels, with the base version, the GLS, starting between $23,000-$24,000. Even in base form the GLS is quite well-equipped. There is a 3.8L V6, 5-speed automatic with manual sport-shift ( sport-shift in a minivan ? ) 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS, active front head restraints, Captain's Chairs front AND rear, windshield wiper de-icers, front / rear air conditioning, full power package ( doors locks, windows, and mirrors ), dual manual sliding doors, a six-speaker stereo, electronic stability control, the usual front / side / curtain airbags, and many other features as well, including, of course, the aforementioned folding 3rd-row seats.
Moving up to the SE and Limited models adds, depending on model, heated mirrors, automatic climate control, solar glass, chrome inside / outside door handles, woodtrim / chrome or brushed metal / chrome interior trim depending on color, fog lights, memory seats ( with Mercedes-style door-mounted power seat-profile controls), DVD entertainment system, premium stereo, power rear glass or power liftgate, leather seats, electroluminescent gauges, and automatic headlights. All three versions use the same body, drivetrain, and wheelbase.
I chose the base GLS for review because I felt that for most families, unless they wanted or needed the DVD system for the kiddies or wanted the nicer interior and extra features of the upmarket models, the GLS would do just fine...at a lower price, although I consider all three models to be a bargain for what you get. GLS models start out between $23,000 and $24,000, and even fully loaded Limited models run $33,000-$34,000.....several thousand less than upmarket Siennas, Odysseys, and Chrysler Town and Countrys. So one of the nice things about this vehicle is that you can get the top version for what the medium version of some other minivans cost...and with a much better warranty to boot.
However, none of the three versions offer AWD...and Hyundai as yet has not made any announcements as to this regard. The underfloor space required for the flolding rear seats sometimes precludes the installation of the hardware need for AWD. And, among current minivans in the U.S. market, only the Toyota Sienna has found a way to offer AWD with a folding third-row seat...for an extra price, of course.
OK......now to examine the Entourage in detail:
Model Reviewed: 2007 Hyundai Entourage GLS
Base Price: $23,775
Major Options: None
Freight: $700
Sticker price: $24,475 ( a $500 rebate is currently in effect )
Exterior Color: South Pacific Blue
Interior: Beige Cloth
Powertrain: 3.8L V6 with Variable Valve Timing, 242 HP @6000 RPM, torque 251 ft.-lbs. at 3500 RPM, 5-speed automatic transmission with Sportshift, Front-wheel drive
PLUSSES:
As usual for Hyundai / Kia, great value.
Smooth, quiet transmission.
Folding 3rd row seat ( finally ).
Well-applied paint.
Relatively comfortable and supportive Captain's chairs.
Verstile front seat allow rear access
Good assembly quality.
Attractive two-tone dash and interior...naturally, even nicer on the upmarket models.
Excellent gauges.
Generally good interior and exterior hardware.
Controls all easy to use with a few exceptions.
70-series tires on base model give a relatively smooth ride.
Excellent handling by minivan standards.
Good but not excellent brakes
Numerous airbags and safety equipment.
MINUSES
Doors could feel and shut more solidly.
Turn-signal lever needs a better return spring.
Difficult to turn fan switches off.
Power steering way overboosted.
Ugly, triangular headlights similiar to the present Honda Accord
Typical minivan funeral-home paint colors.
Captain's Chairs limit second-row seating to two people.
Underhood access to top of engine encumbered by the large, needless plastic engine cover.
(This is becoming a problem with more and more vehicles )
OK...the first thing that impresses you about this vehicle as you first walk up to it is its generally handsome shape....a shape that, unfortunately is marred in front by the ugly ( IMO ) triangular up-sweep headlights that more and more auto manufacturers seem obsessed with nowadays. Get past that eyesore and it is a pretty good-looking vehicle. I don't care for the general body lines quite as much as I did the old Sedona, which this vehicle ( and the new Sedona of course ) replaces, but the general overall look is positive. The South Pacific Blue paint on the test vehicle ( actually a nice blue-silver ) was well-applied, with a smooth texture, almost no orange-peel, and evenness of coat....almost Lexus like. The exterior hardware was also well-done, although the base GLS version lacked the exterior chrome trim of the upmarket models.
The aluminum hood, though lightweight like on a growing number of today's vehicles, opened and shut with the solidness and precision of a Swiss watch.
Unfortunately, the Swiss-watch solidness and precision of the hood did not seem to extend to the other outside doors as well....both front doors, both manual sliding doors and the manual liftgate ( gotta get the SE or Limited for the power ones ) felt and sounded rather cheesy as they opened and shut. I've seen worse ones.....these are not the worst ones I have used, but with these doors you just don't get the satisfying " Thunk " you do with some vehicles...like even with the last-generation of Hyundai's own entry-level $10,000 Accent, for example.
Inside, there is plenty of room, which is more or less expected in a minivan. Headroom, shoulder room, and legroom are no problem....and the lack of a sunroof in the base verion, of course, adds even more to the headroom. The 3rd row seat, as with other minivans, is best left for children or small adults. The jack is stowed in a plastic-doored compartment on the left wall just inside the liftgate. The Captain's Chairs, of course, increase the comfort for two in the middle-row seats at the expense of carrying three.
The seats, in the base version, are all covered in a nice durable-looking and feeling cloth, with cloth-upholstered pull-down armrests. Cupholders, as expected in a state-of-the-art minivan, are to be found for every seat. The gauges are excellent....some of the best I've seen. You couldn't ask for anything clearer or easier on the eyes, even in the non-electroluminescent base version. The speedometer, besides being ultra-clear, also bucks the annoying tendency I see in so many of today's vehicles to use the 20-MPH increements...it has numbers starting from 10, 20, 30, etc...instead of 20, 40, 60. This, IMO, makes your speed easier to read at a glance. Being a licensed airplane pilot with some instrument training , I for one appreciate gauges like this that are decipherable at a glance. The rest of the two-tone dash, IMO is quite attractive, with well-done and solid-feeling two-tier glove box doors containing useful mini-compartments within, generally good hardware throughout, easy-to-use controls ( with one or two exceptions...I'll get to that in a minute ) high-quality materials, good fit-and-finish, and generally good attention to detail....though the base GLS version naturally lacks some of the warmth and glitter of the wood-trim and brushed metal / chrome interiors of the two upmarket models.
There is no push-button ignition...you use an old-fashioned key. The stereo controls and hardware are pretty much the same ones used in the Sonata and Azera. The stereo itself, while I wouldn't necessarily consider it a " killer " stereo like the Lexus Mark Levinson system, is quite a good one for the money....certainly better-than-average for a low-priced minivan. The front and rear climate controls, right below the stereo, are generally easy to use except for turning the fans off...it is rather difficult because you have to hunt for a tiny little " O " on the **** that is almost invisible...especially as I imagine it would be at night. ( I reviewed the vehicle around noon )
The turn-signal lever on the left side of the steering column could also use some improvement. The return spring is quite weak....so when you push down or up on it for a simple lane-change flash, it is very easy to go past it and click the detent, so you either have to un-click it by hand or turn sharply enough for the steering wheel to un-cancel it. That and the fan switches, though, are just a couple of minor annoyances in an otherwise well-done interior.
As it was a 90-degree day in Washington with a very bright sun ( and the base model doesn't come with solar glass ) it was a good test of the dual front / rear A / C, which generally worked OK but naturally took awhile to start to cool down that large interior. No one else on the road, though, seems to make as good an A/C system as Lexus...and this vehicle is no excepton.
In between the two front seats, the front cupholder assembly swings down out of the way at the flip of a lever so Mom can get up if necessary and crawl back to tend to Junior in the back seat...or to break up the inevitable intra-sibling rivalries and squabbles on a long trip. If this is going to be a recurring problem, perhaps the upmarket SE and Limited models with the DVD entertainment systems would be worth considering.
On the road, this is, of course, a minivan, so driving it is not exactly the peak of automotive excitement, but by people-mover standards, it runs quite well. The only really annoying thing is the grossly overboosted power steering.....there is about as much road feel from the front wheels through the steering wheel as driving on glare ice. But the handling is first-rate by minivan standards.......good response with a minimum of understeer and low levels of body roll.....unusual in tall, high-center-of-gravity vehicles like these, especially with the high-profile 70-series tires standard on the base model ( the other two get 60's ). The high-profile tires give a generally smooth ride, though my test vehicle showed some impact harshness and noise from road irregularities and bumps.....probably not so much from the tires themselves as from the fact that many dealerships forget to adjust the pressures to their proper level when they come off the truck, and they were as a result probably a little more pumped-up than they should ave been. I did not adjust them as I usually do because, as already mentioned, the vehicle had been sitting in the hot sun baking the black rubber tires and I couldn't get accurate pressures anyway.
Ride quality, with the above exception ( and, as noted, it may not really be an exception ) was quite good. Road noise except for bump impacts was subdued, as was wind noise as well. So......even though the doors, as previously mentioned, didn't FEEL solid when they shut, they DID seal up well.
The 3.8L V6 had enough torque for all normal stop-and-go driving and moderate cruising speeds. Acceleration with my lightly-loaded vehicle ( just me ) was plenty adequate in most conditions....I don't know what it would do with 5-6 people and luggage on board. However, this is not a light vehicle even empty ( 4500 lbs +/-) so the engine has its work cut out for it. The 5-speed transmission with Sportshift is a gem.....smooth, quiet, Lexus-like with almost imperceptible shifts under light throttle. ( Still, I don't understand why both Sportshift and a tachometer are standard in this vehicle, though......most drivers will neither use them nor have a need to ).
Brakes are good but not excellent overall...OK response, smooth pedal, a little bit of slop, fairly even response, average stopping distances ( I don't test them full-force on a new vehicle ) but certainly much better than the awful Sponge-O-Matic brakes on, say, the big GM SUV's.
The verdict? A good people-mover at a good price with a good warranty with fairly good ( by minivan standards ) road manners apart from the overboosted steering, a generally well-done interior even in the base version, and of course the excellent Hyundai / Kia warranty. Hyundai and Kia have finally addressed the previous model's biggest shortcoming....the lack of the folding 3rd seat ....and the present model, in my opinion, needs only a little more solid-feeling doors, a better return spring for the turn-signal switch, clearer fan switch markings, and a little more powerful fan motor for hot days to cure what few glitches it still has.
Next Scheduled Review: Honda Fit.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-30-06 at 08:40 AM.
05-30-06, 01:26 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
If anyone has any upcoming info on AWD availability for this vehicle, feel free to post it. Hyundai and Kia have not said anything publically yet that I could find. So far they have confined AWD to only the Santa Fe and Tuscon.
05-30-06, 06:41 PM
#3
Lexus Champion
Join Date: Dec 2002
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That's a really low MSRP for all that car. I'm curious what they are really going for off sticker and how their resale value will hold up. Last I checked (and it has been a couple of years) a Dodge minivan lost serious value over the first three years.
Nice write-up BTW.
Nice write-up BTW.
05-31-06, 10:53 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by doug_999
That's a really low MSRP for all that car. I'm curious what they are really going for off sticker and how their resale value will hold up. Last I checked (and it has been a couple of years) a Dodge minivan lost serious value over the first three years.
Nice write-up BTW.
Nice write-up BTW.
Many Hyundais and Kias, unfortunately, still do not really command the respect and value on the used-car market they now deserve, and that shows up in generally low trade-in and retail values. Much of the potential worry about repairs in buying a used Hyundai or Kia, however, is covered by the long 5-year total-car and 10-year drivetrain warranties, but it must be noted that those long warranties, in some cases, can be transferred only to immediate family members. Why Hyundai has this restriction, I don't know in detail, except that it might have something to do with the fact that it is sometimes ( not always ) easier to track a car's service history if it stays in the family ( especially at the same address ).
It also must be kept in mind that Hyundais and Kias have shown good quality only relatively recently....within the last 5-7 years. The first real evidence I remember seeing of any improved quality at all was the first 1997 Tiburon. But like I said, you really didn't start to notice it until around 2000 or so. Before that they built some of the worst junk in the marketplace.
So, naturally, there is a general reluctance on the part of a good chunk of the public to invest in either a new or used Hyundai because they still remember all those lemons that the company produced for so many years, and this of course affects their resale value. However, the word about the quality of NEW Hyundais today seems to be getting out.....that, and of course the 10 / 100 drivetrain warranty are big selling points. Enough people are buying new Hyundai products today that it is not only one ofthe fastest-growing companies on the market but is now also the 6th largest automaker in the world.
Unfortunately, one of Hyundai's top officers was recently arrested and charged with corporate crimes...we'll have to wait and see what this does to the company. Finbarr O'Neil, when he ran the company before he went to Mitsubishi, did an outstanding job....but his regime is of course history.
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mmarshall
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11-11-06 02:45 PM
