PsychDoc

First off. let me say that I think they are going to have a very serious uphill battle trying to sell this vehicle from Hyundai dealerships. The salespeople are clueless and certainly not upscale. The layout of the showroom floor is cramped and definitely does not inspire an "upmarket" feeling or mind-set.

Now, on to the car. In a word, I was sorely disappointed. Keep in mind that I had almost definitively made up my mind that this would be my next car when my present lease on the ES350 was up in June '09.

The interior is very stark and rather drab looking. The LCD center stack instrumentation, illuminated by a pale blue backlight, has a decidely 1980's pinball arcade look to it. Very cheap looking. The remainder of the interior is stark and cold. No wood to be found anywhere. In the 6 cylinder model (which is what I drove) there are only seat warmers, no seat coolers (as far asI could tell).

The front seats are very comfortable, clearly far better than those found in the ES350. The passenger front seat, however can only be adjusted for seatback angle and foreward and aft. It's essentially a stripped down version of the driver's seat which has all the expected adjustment options.

The air conditioning is effective but is VERY loud when in the max output condition. The ES350 A/C is equally effective (or even better) and is MUCH quieter at max.

The trunk is huge and well proportioned. The underside of the trunk, however, shows very poor attention to detail as the underside of the speaker just sort of protrudes down with no finishing or cover. Very "afterthought-ey" in my view and certainly not what one expects in a car with luxury pretensions.

Now on to the most important aspect of the car...how it drives. It has plenty of power but the deal breaker for me was that it has horrible transmission lag after you slow down to a crawl at a stop sign. What I mean is that when you begin to accelerate from an almost stop, the engine just spins for a couple of seconds with no effect on the transmission and then kind of slams forward. It's almost impossible to modulate this behavior and is remiscent of what drove me nuts about the 2002 ES300 which is still present (to a far lesser degree) in the ES350. This is utterly unacceptable in a car of this class and, absent everything else I've said so far, would be a deal breaker for me under any circumstances. Now I suppose it's possible this was a defect in this one test vehicle (which, in fairness, hadn't even beeen prepped yet) but it's disquieting enough that even if I was still interested in the vehicle (I'm not sure that I am....that drab, cheap looking interior...ughhh) I'd have to test drive at least 3-4 more to be sure there was no repetition of this problem.

The steering is heavy...very heavy. Now this is maybe something that you could get used to and may not even be a bad thing, but coming from a Lexus, it's heavy.

The brakes are very good but are quite touchy. Again, hard to modulate. Perhaps something that you would get used to but this is certainly not something I'd expect in a car of this class. And it certainly wasn't present in the M-B E-class I test drove or the BMW 5 series prior to buying the ES350.

So all in all I'd say I was sorely disappointed. I guess I really shouldn't have been. After all, how often is it that a comapny specializing in relatively cheap econo-box cars comes right out of the gate with a home run on it's first effort into luxury car terratory? Perhaps only Lexus/Toyota with it's amazing original LS400 (which I was one of the first in the US to take delivery of....now that was a great car) pulled this off.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some random thoughts with you guys after actually getting behind the wheel of the new Genesis.

Good try Hyundai, but I think it's a 'swing and a miss.'

pbm317

Interesting. But I think it confirms what a lot of magazines have noted. On paper, the specs seem to put the Genesis in good company, but in real world execution, it still left a lot to be desired.

newr

what was the listed price?

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Interesting that you mention this, as I saw my first one at a stoplight today. Haven't driven one or sat in one, but I can certainly tell you it has ZERO road presence and this one was black with a deep tint which should look good on any car.

I've been one of few people who hasn't been impressed with the car thus far, and after hearing your review and seeing one in person, I still hold my stance.

RXSF

hyudai=fail

PsychDoc

MSRP on the 6 cylinder without nav was $36k. The 6 cylinder with nav is $40k and the 8 cylinder adds about $2k.

So yes, you are getting a lot of bang for the buck, but I really was underwhelmed overall.

The interior is a real nightmare.

LexFather

Thanks for the review. Maybe it was just that car? I expect them to work out kinks in the next year or so, I cannot recommend being the Guinea Pig here for this car.

i guess most of the pics we have seen are the V-8 one with the leather dash....I have to say the price of 40k for the V-6 is not that attractive but IT IS a lot of car for the money.

I'm still a fan, I need to go drive it.....

PsychDoc

I'm not sure, but I think the V-6 has the leather dash as well and let me tell you, it is NOT very impressive.

RON430

At least the thing is here. If it isn't competitive, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Always a chance of one car with a transmission issue but some of the fit and finish and interior comments are hard to write off to a specific car. Should be interesting to see what happens.

jwaters

What reviews do you speak of?

As for the OP, it sounds like something was wrong with your car. I've heard no such complaints about the transmission (Aisin unit) from any other owners or reviews. My Genesis has great throttle response with smooth, well-timed shifts. FWIW, the cooled drivers seat comes, NAV, HIDs, etc. come as part of the Tech Package. Some of your other comments are so off-base it baffles the mind. It seems to me (at least based on your comments of Hyundai as a brand) that you sort of expected to be disappointed.

As far as the interior, I find it no more stark than my old GS and the interior lighting at least matches (unlike the GS w/ it's green center stack lighting). I can tell you that so far my Genesis has less chassis flex, is noticeably quieter, and has not rattles/squeeks. Something I couldn't say for my 1st-year GS430, which developed squeeks, pops and rattles after a few hundred miles.

Koma

iTrader: (3)

Is yours the V6 or the V8? And how come you haven't told us more about your Genesis!?!

jwaters

Mine is the V6 (the V8 isn't out yet). I'm thrilled with the power and refinement of my V6, but the V8 is a hell of a bargain. At only $2k more than the V6 you get all of the following:

Premium (softer) leather seating, illuminated scuff plates, electrochromatic outside mirrors, wood trimmed steering wheel, lower bodyside chrome trim, split spoke alloy wheels, 4 piston brakes w/ larger rotors, electro-hydraulic steering, ZF transmission, and of course, the all-important V8 engine.

As far as sharing my Genesis with you all, I've been having too much fun driving it! Seriously though, I did add a few posts about my Genesis over on the 3rd-gen GS forum:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...8&postcount=64


No car is perfect, but for me, the Genesis has a very high value-to-refinement & feature content ratio. I can think of few $33-42k cars that do so many things as well as the Genesis. I firmly believe Hyundai's biggest challenge is going to be convincing buyers to shell out this much money only to have it serviced at one of their admittedly un-luxurious dealerships. I've owned 13 vehicles (and driven probably over a hundred), including an Acura, Lexus, BMW and Cadillac. So far the Genesis is one of my favorites. I honestly would place it right up there at the top along w/ my much loved and missed E39 5-Series. The Genesis is simply much better than is being given credit for here, and I can't help but think these are some of the same things people said about Lexus when they debuted. If the Genesis wasn't such a competitve threat, no one would even be talking about it.

Koma

iTrader: (3)

I think some of the reason people feel off about the Genesis sedan is that they think it's an S, LS, 7, A8 competitor. It's competing against E, GS, 5, A6. It's definitely a bargain for what you get but styling (which I know is vain but I rank this high on my list) is just not good to me. I find the Azera a better looking vehicle (strangely enough). The Genesis looks like an awkward Azera and honestly from the exterior looks less luxurious.
I do think the service is probably going to be the hardest thing to get over. It's the same thing for the GT-R in my mind, it should have been an Infiniti. The Nissan dealerships I've dealt with are arrogant and impolite.
Is there a reason you didn't wait for the V8?

jwaters

Didn't want or need the extra horsepower, fuel consumption and insurance cost associated w/ the V8. After driving the V6 I was sold. It feels perfectly matched to the Genesis IMO. I also liked the fact that it's lighter and better balanced w/ less weight over the front wheels.

oldcajun

I'm surprised that PsycDoc disliked the interior so much. I thought it compared pretty well with my ES350 UL interior. True, the wood is fake, but the two tone leather dash looks much nicer than the center stack plastic in the ES. The seats look similar, but I thought the Genesis seats were more comfortable. They are both heated and cooled with the upgrade package. I had no problems with the transmission. It shifted smoothly and pretty quickly. The air conditioner is noisy on high fan and recirc mode, but so is the ES350. Acceleration is just a bit better in the Genesis, but I always felt the ES350 was adequate so no big deal. I do like the rear wheel drive because there is not torque steer.

At the same price, I would still choose the ES350, but they are not the same price. Sticker for the fully loaded Genesis V6 is an even $40,000. My ES stickered at just a bit over $45,000. If I were in the market today, my nod would go to the Genesis.
Steve