adamls2

One of my favorite developing car companies in terms of the cars that they have been producing.

rkyat

Congrats to Hyundai. I'm still enjoying mine,

scgt652

Hyundai is smart enough to realize that marketing and styling are two of the most important ingredients when it comes to selling cars in the US. Audi has also proven this to be true. On the flipside, Acura makes some quality products, but their sales have been stifled by their awful styling and marketing.

IS350jet

I rented a Sonata while I was in California over Christmas. It was, how should I say, an unbelievably nice car. Solid as a rock, even on California's rough roads. Great styling, great gas mileage, and an overall great driving experience. I would buy one in a heartbeat.

LexBob2

As mentioned before, for whatever reasons, Hyundai is now mainstream and isn't going anywhere. They'll have ups and downs like all of the big car makers but right now they are establishing themselves in the market.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i almost spit out my coffee laughing.

how do you know?

people seem to like it and of course what matters is what they do with their new found success for the next gen of everything and new models.

i wouldn't call a kia optima fluff and gimmicky - it's great!

heard that too, but maybe that's a flaw in epa testing guidelines which hyundai is exploiting? not great i agree.

really? seems their quality is better than ever.

you're worried? really?

had some problems it sounds like, but why do you say it's 'awful'?

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Three years is a short time for the product onslaught that Hyundai unleashed. Like I said, I feel like these products weren't fully developed but rather rushed. Coincidentally when Honda was on the decline and Toyota suffered the 2010 recalls. A perfect time to take ground lost by their competitors. New models, revised line-up, power trains, tech, engineering. It took the automotive world by storm, with amazing numbers and specs to boot.

Don't get me wrong, from where they were to where they are now they've done a great job, but I think they grew too fast. Now here we are a few years later and I'm hearing horror stories of slipping gears, paint flakes, deteriorating seats, rattles, dealer service, advertised claims not being met, warranties not honored.

And with the Sonata being such a hot item, the plant in Alabama must be winded trying to keep up with demand. I'm not surprised quality control would be down. They should really divert some of the Korean made Sonatas to our shores.

Hyundai has one of the best marketing teams out there IMO (hamsters and LMFAO anyone? ). They could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman with white gloves

Possibly, with the transition from old to new epa testing, I can see something slipping through the cracks

Dash rattles, clinks, and clangs seem to plague the less Accent, Elantra, and Sonata.

For what its worth, I'm sure the Azera, Genesis, and Equus do not suffer their lesser siblings faults



All the above. + compared to a Camry Hybrid its not very competitive. See motor trends test of the two. Camry cleans house.

____

patgilm

These issues also plague Lexus.

According to the window sticker, my new GX460 is supposed to have better gas mileage than my old GX470 and so far it hasn't. Could this also be a result of new epa testing?

As for the rattles, clinks and clangs, my old GX470 had the infamous TSB dash rattle that required disassembling the whole dash (no thanks, I'll live with it and turn up the radio) as well as the also infamous drive shaft clunk that sounded horrible when you started and stopped. The LS had the valve recall (major engine work), infamous wind noise TSB that was never really corrected by Lexus (someone on the forums actually figured out where the bulk of the noise was coming from), and some owners with AWD suffer from the car shuddering at a certain speed that Lexus calls normal. As much as I love Lexus and although I have stayed loyal to them for ten years now, they are not perfect.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

That's too bad about the GX. Perhaps the engine still needs to be broken in? My IS350 averaged around 15mpg till 20,000 miles!! now i'm around 34,000 and get around 24mpg.

I don't think any manufacturer is. Personally I believe that once say Honda or Toyota for example builds a reputation for quality products, it doesn't mean that as a consumer you have to opt for them. People get this notion that they are perfect, and when something goes wrong they cry foul. There are plenty of Chevy and Ford owners (such as myself) who have never had a problem with the (4 Fords I've owned) they've had. BMW owners may never experience problems while others may and leave the brand for good, or stay away from them because of others experiences. Good companies can make bad cars and vice versa. I just live with the fact that people are stupid

Mr. Burns

Like happiness, perfection is something to endlessly pursue, it cannot be achieved nor has anyone claimed to achieve it.

My view on Hyundai is that they've gone from making cheap, sub-par cars to competitively priced, average cars. The improvements they've made in their products is commendable, as is their commitment to style, but beyond that I see little to write home about. Hyundai saw the automotive landscape and realized their "me too Toyota but for less" approach wasn't exactly working. The ONLY way to stand a chance in segments where people buy from established nameplates for reasons like quality is to bring something new. Hyundai's approach was two fold: style + numbers. They banked on flashy cars and great specs to set themselves apart and it has worked well. Too bad GM couldn't think of this 10 years ago.

Having said that, Hyundai are at their peak now IMO, from here on they will see a steadying out and eventual decline as the lineup gets stale, new products like Fusion and Malibu make impacts, and the media gets bored. It will be interesting to see if they can continue to stimulate consumers and industry, but it will increasingly become a challenge from 2012 on. I think they got a major break with Honda's "new" Civic, if that car was as good as it was supposed to be, things would become a lot harder for Hyundai.

For now I'm still unconvinced that underneath all that flashy styling is an expertly engineered above average car, but I guess we'll find out in the years to come.

spwolf

its all good to give benefit of the doubt, but i had followed Sonata Hybrid closely since April and that car has had at least 10 recalls/serious TSBs in half year on the market... rest of the engines are much much better. so stay away from the hybrids.

caddyowner

The larger Polk loyalty survey for 2011 gives the nod to Ford (again).

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news...polk-j-d-power

https://www.polk.com/company/loyalty_awards

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

The 2011 Tucson my gf has is rock solid and we would get another one in a heartbeat. It was a better deal than any other CUV out there, more standard features, and great warranty. Not a single issue so far. I don't get the advertised mpg, but it gets close enough (I haven't hit the advertised mpg in any of my vehicles). If they offer us an incentive for a newer one, I would seriously consider it. Whether people like it or not, they are becoming a serious player.

spwolf

there is no doubt hyundai is major player, hyundai-kia is 4th biggest company in the world. Outselling Ford.

TRDFantasy

This this this. It is not possible to be pushing out new models so fast, and have them be of high quality and having good long-term reliability, especially not in 4 years like they did with the Sonata. Toyota tried to push out models quickly years ago and it led to a number of various issues on many models. We have already seen some of this on the new Kia and Hyundai models. Some of them have a whole range of issues.

The mpg ratings are inflated, taking advantage of EPA testing loopholes to make the fuel economy numbers seem better than in reality. Their powertrains are tuned for peaky high HP levels, great for spec sheets. Those powertrains though have narrow powerbands, so like the fuel economy ratings, they end up being slower vehicles than the spec sheets suggest.