Anybody have good luck with a Hyundai?

My 5 year old Saturn is starting to fall apart and I'm considering a Hyundai Santa Fe or XG350.

Anybody have a success story on either model? I'm not interested in the cheaper lines.

Marty

Rode in a Hundai of some sort today, and found it most comfortable. And I normally drive a full-size car, if that gives you any indication. .

A friend at work just bought his second Santa Fe. He put over 100,000 on the first one with no problems. He liked it enough to buy another one

My neighbour has a hundai accent that has 208,000 miles on it . I think it is a 97 model . He says it drives like a champ and he does'nt take great care of it either.

Check out the reliability rating in Consumer Reports magazine. That will be more statistically significant than the experiences of a few people that might post in this thread.

Good luck.

Hyundai has made huge improvements since they built cars int the 80s. Consumer reports puts them up with Toyota, Honda and Subaru now. A car that comes with a 10 year 100,000 mile powertrain warrenty can't be too bad.

Very good luck with my 2003 Sonata. The only downside is the resale value. If you plan to keep it for the length of your loan you're fine. If you plan on or need to trade it in before it's paid off you may be in for a suprise. I don't think I would get another one just because my tastes have changed but it's a very reliable car and you get a lot for your money.

Eric

My wife rented a Hyundai Sonata this last weekend. She liked it a lot. She normally drives a Toyota Camry.

Daniel

Wife drives a Santa Fe, my dad also drives one no problems
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Both me and girlfriend drive sonatas. Could not recommend them higher. They are a great car, although not as cheap as you might expect.

Scott.

My (cousin) had a Hynudai years ago. She was stopped in the road to turn left into her drive. A Ford F150 or F250 rear ended her at 40-50 MPH. Popped the rear hatch open and did a tremenous amount of cosmetic damage. Car was still driveable and her Dad and I re latched the hatch just by lowering it. And no physical damage to the passengers. TANK.

Everybody I know that has a Hyundai swears by them....very reliable cars they are.

My friend's family has a Hyundai dealership. He complains that the cars are getting so good the service department is suffering.

Seems that in years past the 10 year warranty used to keep them busy with warranty work, not so much lately.

I used my ten year warranty up on my Rio in 5. I drive too much.

I've got a '93 Excel (bought new). About the only major problem happened when it was about a year old - had to get a Ford van removed from the trunk (interesting that the other collision experience mentioned here also involved a Ford). There were a number of minor issues, and dealership mechanics don't seem to be very good at diagnosis (couldn't track down an intermittent "click" when stepping on the clutch - I found a cotter pin that occasionally hung up on the brake pedal, and installed a dashboard clock so it dimmed when I stepped on the clutch - couldn't see that they were working with a mirror-image wiring diagram because the "wrong" side of the connector was easier to get at, and the "dimmer" line should have gone to the headlight switch). Get a decent independent mechanic and you shouldn't have any problems.

Check out the Toronto Star "Wheels" section from May 14th (page G16) - the used-car feature in that issue deals with the Santa Fe. They missed a problem with the tailgate (I measured one at the auto show), which has an opening 47 1/2 inches wide (the "U" in "SUV" is supposed to be "utility", and sheet goods are 48 inches wide), and they say that clutches don't last very long. Personally, I can't tell you how long Hyundai clutches last - my car is still on the original.

One thing to watch out for is that the dealer chain (in Canada, at least) discontinues touch-up paint 2 years after the colour is no longer used on new vehicles. That's about the time when you start needing it on a regular basis (stone chips, etc.).