Is a Hyundai a good car?

Question

Is a Hyundai a good car?

Answer 1

So far you've heard from 3 people that haven't even test drove a Hyundai and probably don't even have a drivers license. I bought my first Hyundai in January of 2007, I purchased their luxury sedan the Azera Limited. Previously I had bought new a 2000 Nissan Maxima SE and prior to that owned a 1986 Chevy Cavalier 1987 Chevy Celebrity and 1989 Eagle Premier and my parents had plenty of Honda Accords. My Azera is a better car then any of those in so many ways, comfort, safety, features, power, beauty, handling (Maxima was best). I don't know what Hyundai you are interested in buying, but I suggest you take a look at Consumer Reports and http://www.edmunds.com http://www.hyundaiusa.com so you can comparison shop. You'll see that Hyundai is one of the top brands in the world (#6 in sales), is listed higher then any American/European brand for reliability, gets good gas mileage, has among the best warranties of any company and can be bought for less then similar Japanese cars. Check the prices on used Hyundai's, they hold their value, especially the Elantra/Sonata/Accent, but also make a great value used since you will have some factory warranty left while also paying less then you would for a similar Honda/Toyota. Hyundai continues to grow every year, that wouldn't happen if they didn't make some very good cars and suv's. The Elantra for instance is tied with the Civic for best compact car and the Azera was named best sedan starting under $25,000. Not to mention the new Genesis sedan that has Lexus/BMW ready to cry.

Answer 2

If they are "cheap junk" then I guess all the other cars Hyundai just beat are total crap. This is from the Consumer Reports top picks for 2008: Small sedan Hyundai Elantra SE- Redesigned for 2007, the Elantra is a well-rounded small car. It provides good fuel economy, a comfortable ride, and an interior that’s quiet, roomy, and well equipped. It also has standard electronic stability control, a proven safety feature that’s absent on many other small cars. The Honda Civic EX and Mazda3 are more fun to drive, but lack ESC on more affordable versions. Price: $18,000. Midsized SUV Hyundai Santa Fe Redesigned for 2007, the much-improved Santa Fe edged out the Honda Pilot in our tests. It provides a quiet and roomy interior, excellent fit and finish, a refined powertrain, a relatively good ride, and an optional third-row seat. Standard ESC helps provide secure handling. Price: $22,000 to $31,000. I have a 01' Elantra w/ 130,000 miles on it and is in very good shape. I would say ANY used car w/ over 100,000 miles would have some risk to it but generally if the car was taken care of it will last well into the 200,000 mile mark. There is no real way of telling how long a car will last. Going by a car's reputation alone isn't the smartest way of buying a car. If you see a car you like test drive it, run a Carfax report (or similar service), have a mechanic check it out and if everything seems OK buy it, cross your fingers and hope for the best. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I feel Hyundai is a good car. I bought my 2000 Hyundai Elantra station wagon in 2001. It had 6 thousand miles on it. I still have it 14 years later. Somewhere in those 14 years it needed a new transmission, but a new transmission is less expensive than buying a new car. I was in an accident last January and my Hyundai was still driveable. It needed work from the accident, but it was still driveable. 14 years, over 100,000.00 miles on it, a new transmission, several new parts and a new paint job, and it's still going strong!

Answer 4

I have a 2001 Hyundai Elantra, which I bought brand new in 2001, and am still happy with it. I bought it while I was in college and I now have a family to drive around. I was in a minor car accident maybe 3 and 1/2 years ago and my car was, surprisingly, fine. I keep pretty good care of my car and it takes care of me back. I get good gas mileage, which is nice since gas is so high. So yes, I think Hyundai makes good cars and the new ones are probably much better than my 2001.

Answer 5

Once upon a time there were two companies called Honda and Toyota. These two car companies were just starting out in the US and put out some pretty crappy cars. Nobody liked them or bought them ... and for good reason. Over the years both companies have since brought the level of thier quality up surpassing by leaps and bounds thier domestic counterparts ... Today, theier dominance still exists, and for very good reason.



Hyundai is poised to make the same turn Honda and Toyota did. They are making some of the best cars in thier segments and are backing them with excellent warranties and attractive sticker prices. Hyundai will be the next great car company. Get one cheap while you still can ... the prices will be going up. Just like they did with the Camry and Accord.



My wife and I bought our first Hyundai (Tucson) and are very pleased with it. That is to say, in the first 6 months all it required of us was 1 oil change and gas.



Hope this helped.

Answer 6

Depends on the year.



1980's-1990's Bad cars.

2000-2002 Average cars.

2003-2008 Great cars.



The old days gave Hyundai and Kia bad reputations, but I have driven the old and the new. Now they are great cars. Very reliable, great quality for the price, great on gas, best warranty.



If you think about it, Hyundai would only give a 10 year warranty if they are confident that their cars can last 10 years.



The only problems I have heard about the newer Hyundais are in the Manual transmission versions where the clutch goes bad quickly.

Answer 7

This is from a question I answered similar to yours:



I've had my Hyundai Elantra for 7yrs and drove over 130,000 miles and still going strong.. This, in itself, is pretty impressive but made more so because 6 yrs and 110,000 miles ago I was in a pretty bad accident with a pick-up truck. At the time the Elantra was one of only a handful of small cars that had side air bags. That helped protect my gf in the crash.

The new Hyundai's are better in every way to my 01' and that is saying alot. I would highly recommend them.

You may get people saying dumb things like "Hyundai's are cheap crap" and such but don't let their immaturity sway you. They are just regurgitating negative rhetoric from the 90's. They have no idea how far Hyundai has come because they never owned one or had a bad experience 20 yrs ago and are carrying that over to today.



Well "Tee" you got more then 1 Hyundai owner with plenty of experience with cars so maybe you shouldn't answer any more car questions for a while. My Elantra is the 5th car I've owned and sorry to disappoint you but it happens to be the most durable.

Answer 8

Am on my third Hyundai. Bought the first one in 1988. Will not even consider another brand at this time. Am presently driving a 2001 Tiburon. Have not had to bring it back to dealer excpt for fact that the check-engine light came on when i had it 10 days. I didn't tighten the gas cap enough. So in 7 plus years this car has needed oil changes... (every 10000 miles) a second set of tires at 45000 miles. Just had timing belt changed. 78000 mile. I'm still getting 26-28 mpg. Draw your own conclusions. I'm a satisfied customer.

Answer 9

Yes the morons that write they are bad dont have a clue about cars or maths, one of them mentions poor resale value. Ok 1 The guide books that determine resale values are based on amthematic reductions. 2 If you pay less money for one brand than an other how the hell is it going to cost/value more later on in its life. 3 Hyun dai offer a 5 year unlimited mileage warranty in the UK for all new Hyundai models, is that not confidence ? No one lese offers anything near it Mercedes ? 3 yrs BMW ? 3 yrs all capped at 100k miles plus they are on average 25% dearer with less spec and lets face it they still sit in the same traffic jam as you, but you have a load of bucks in your pocket to make it feel a whole lot better, dont listen to idiots, All cars a re good these days, they have to be . Dont waste your money on a badge, coz thats all they are. Mercedes have a worse relaibilty record than Hyundai - FACT

Answer 10

A brand new or recent year Hyundai is a great car (2000s). Old ones were pretty bad, but the new or newer ones are very reliable, and very nice cars.

Answer 11

Yes, the newer models are mostly very good. Take a look at Consumer's Reports for 2008, and you'll see that they are highly rated.



For our frequent road trips, we bought a new Azera this year after also test driving a Toyota Avalon and a Cadillac DTS. We've made a couple thousand mile trips with it already, and it is great on the highway. My wife loves it so much she keeps driving it even on short little trips instead of her own smaller car.

Answer 12

I have a 2006 that I bought new 2 1/2 years ago. I love it. I like the gas mileage, I love that I have only had to have oil changes and to put in gas. I had one situation with a wiper and it was covered on my warranty. I love everything about mine.



I used to only buy Chevrolets. I always had maintenance issues and spend more fixing them than they were worth. This is the first car that has caused me no headaches.

Answer 13

Well, I purchased a used 2002 Hundai Elantra 3 yrs ago. Over 100,000 miles now, Just Oil changes at proper time with no tune ups and an engine light that goes on since purchased. It does go off when it wants to. Dealer said it had to do with gas cap. Their service station wanted big bucks to fix, but I had warranty. After a day at the shop,they still didn't correct problem. I just changed the air filter cause my buddy gave it to me. Meanwhile it's still running great. Air condition, heater, radio, etc.. Now you tell me, is it a good car?

Answer 14

I have been a GM person (20 years of driving experience and 8 GM models) until early 2006 when I purchased my first import vehicle. I shopped and shopped and finally had limited my choices down to the 2006 Hyundai Tucson (small SUV) and the 2006 Honda CRV (small SUV). After driving both vehicles for several hours and several test weekends my wife and I decided on the Hyundai Tucson. It was cheaper by about $ 2500.00 for the same options, it had a V6 engine as opposed to just a 4 cylinder (we do a lot of highway travelling) and it had a 5 year 100,000 km. comprehensive bumper-to-bumper warantee versus the Honda with a 3 year/80,000 km. warantee. To this date we have 62,000 kms. (40,000 miles) on the Hyundai Tucson in about 29 months of ownership since purchase. I have not had one single thing go wrong with it other than oil changes every 5000 kms. and new tires (can't believe I only got 60,000 kms on the stock ones, but oh well). I have had several of Honda lovers drive with me in my Hyundai and they have been needless to say very impressed. They state for the most part that the Hyundai has a smoother engine and a more comfortable ride overall over the CRV. As for resale value on Hyundai, yeah it is the pits for sure. We could not resell our Tucson now for over $ 15,000 and we purchased it for $ 28,500 in 2006 plus taxes, whereas if we had purchased the Honda CRV it would still be worth (in the same condition as our Tucson) about $ 23,000, but the purchase price of course was $ 31,000. To be quite honest with you, I could care less about resale value in a vehicle because I lease my vehicles for 4 years, then I just re-lease another newer vehicle again and give up my older vehicle to the dealership in the process. Hyundai is the only vehicle that you will get a + 4 year/80,000 km. warantee with if you lease for 4 or 5 years, no other manufacturer gives you that comprehensive bumper-to-bumper warantee and for me that spells peace-of-mind for my 4 year ownership period for the Tucson.



In closing, I would say try one out. If you purchase your vehicles outright and you own them for only 3 years, then rinse and repeat, maybe the Hyundai won't be good for you financially as you will lose too much money on their horrible resale value. But if you drive and pay for vehicles the way that I do, there is no better value or vehicle out there for the price.



Good luck

Answer 15

the car is good COMPARED to the 90s BUT it still has a long way to go to. They offer the 10 year warranty for a reason. the cars are still problematic in the sense that if you dont do replacement of parts at a certain mileage you have the car being a nightmare. for example if you dont change the timing belt at 60K then the engine becomes problematic.

Answer 16

Ihave had two of them and they are crap!....plus it's embarrasing to own one because everyone will think you are poor....trust me I know....plus everything on them breaks CONSTANTLY....my power windows **** me off cause they always break on rainey days and I keep some clothes in my car....DO NOT BUY ONE....you WILL regret it.

Answer 17

No, not a very good car. You will not see anyone fighting over them to drive one either. They are just a raw form of cheap transportation. I bet we should find at least one person to chime in on how great a car they are... Probably their first car.

Answer 18

hyundai's suck horrible resale value, why do u think the one your looking at is going so cheap?

Answer 19

No, it's a bad car. It's a berry berry bad car.