You wouldn't think Hyundai would be successful with its $58K Equus....

Jstas

brettw22 wrote: »

I drive Sonata's quite a bit as rentals for long periods of time and while the styling is ok on the outside, they have one big carryover problem from the previous design: the front suspension is HORRIBLE.

I've been spoiled in that I've driven an Accord for 10 years, but the way an Accord will take a bump/dip in the road compared to the Sonata is night and day. The sonata feels like I just rolled over a pothole with a solid axle on my front end and it feels clunky compared to the VERY smooth Accord which has no mechanical noise.

Also, I don't personally find it cute to have a stick person in recline mode with a circle head taking up 6" of my dash so I can have a gigantic figure to point where I want the air to blow.

I will always like blue lighting in cars, but the quirkiness is annoying IMO.

OH, and if you EVER want to feel like your **** doesn't exist, go ahead and get angry at someone and honk the horn on the Sonata......I guarandamntee you that YOU will question whether you have a ****.......(this aside from this question being raised if you buy a Sonata in the first place.....ha)

Hmmmm...I'm getting the feeling that you don't like Hyundais?

So, what are you thoughts on Kias?

newrival

hahaha. I know the Kia has a weak-**** horn in it too. Although, at no point do I ever forget that I have a ****.

brettw22

Overall, as rentals, I do like the Hyundai Sonata.......it's a good size car and has a peppy engine.

IF they fixed their front suspension, that would be a huge improvement IMO. I mean, if you want to be an upscale sedan type company, your AC controls should not be pointing to a giant blue outlined stick person with arrows pointing to your head.......class it up a bit more and they'll be there I think.

I honked the horn while driving around once in one of those things......I quickly went bug eyed and gave an apologetic wave for the tragedy that was the noise coming from the front of the vehicle......lol.....I guess you can always upgrade a horn, but whomever opted for the one they chose isn't doing Hyundai any favors....

blueboxer

When I was shopping for a 5 series or A6, I decided to test drive the Genesis Sedan. I was very impressed with the loaded version, but the basic model left me unmoved to say the least. The leather interior and dash layout was beautiful, actually my favorite of the three makes, but the steering wheel, stalks, and other little details still smelled of budget Hyundai. Overall, the car was lovely and would have been a strong contender if I was a decade older. The BMW and Audi were just a much more involving car to drive and provided much more feedback to the driver.

All things being considered, the Hyundai was a impressive car and definitely shamed domestic models in terms of quality and value. They have become a major player by actually trying to give people more for their money and having a great loyalty in their home market where buying domestic is a religion. I think Ford and Chevy have made some nice strides forward as of late, but only as an absolute need for survival. If they had been quality driven and innovative to give consumers the best value for the last three decades they would have probably experienced much less of the disaster that they had become the last decade, but they chose to stay complacent and maximize profit returns instead. The end result were car designs that were laughable when compared to the competition.

Sherardp

BMW 7 series is driving the dream, but those freaking parts will kill you. I had to replace my battery and alternator plus have the car reprogrammed to accept the new parts. Battery was 560.00, alternator was 1200, I said screw you BMW dealer and bought the parts new from the US for 300.00. Reprogramming was 200.00. The cost of owning a flagship is insanely expensive. I'm thinking of the Lexus LS460/600, Mercedes S350/550 but it would still be the same.

If Hyundai can make a great car, with cheap maintenance costs I'd definitely consider.

treitz3

tony millard wrote: »

This thread is very interesting in that a company with this strange name is still around and even doing better than Americas' majors in some respects.

Remember Nissan? Who in the hell were they? Back then it was Datsun...which wasn't necessarily the cream of the crop. You know, rust barrels? Then came Nissan....WHO?

This company apparently has it going on not only with style but with new loyalty. That says something. Tony, I have been watching like you and while I turned a blind eye at first?......

BuckeyeTim

jinjuku wrote: »

You don't happen to work for Varbros or Forest City Auto?

Nope, I am in north central Ohio. We are a tier one supplier of drive train components. I actually work for one of the ten richest women in the world. We have been so busy lately that for the last 3 months or so, we have had people working 60+ hours per week. Even now, overtime is virtually unlimited.

We conducted interviews with another 37 people this week.
I don't know who is buying all these new vehicles, but keep it up!!

punk-roc

auto sales are really starting to pick up apparently.. I was reading some random article in a business rag and they were discussing that trend and the fact that financing for auto's has thawed nicely...

Americans are putting themselves in debt once again, lol, time to rejoice hahaha

Jason

concealer404

newrival wrote: »

I guess not technically the exact same motor from the vette. From my understanding, the minimal detuning the LSA got was to make it quiter, overall.

Look back at my last post on the first page.

LessisNevermore

concealer404 wrote: »

Look back at my last post on the first page.

Ben, you and John need to get a room and a tape measure, and settle it once and for all.

tonyb

Sherardp wrote: »

BMW 7 series is driving the dream, but those freaking parts will kill you. I had to replace my battery and alternator plus have the car reprogrammed to accept the new parts. Battery was 560.00, alternator was 1200, I said screw you BMW dealer and bought the parts new from the US for 300.00. Reprogramming was 200.00. The cost of owning a flagship is insanely expensive. I'm thinking of the Lexus LS460/600, Mercedes S350/550 but it would still be the same.

If Hyundai can make a great car, with cheap maintenance costs I'd definitely consider.

The Lexus LS460 is a sweet ride. When it comes to repairs/parts,all flagship cars cost a ton of coin but then it comes down to reliability,how often are you going to have to repair/replace parts. In my opinion,Lexus stands out in this area, you could easily go 10 years and not replace a single part,aside from regular stuff like tires,wipers,filters, and such. Not too many keep a car anymore beyond 10 years, hell,let alone 5 these days. I'm going on 15 years with mine and have yet to replace any major parts, well, the battery only and 15 years out of a battery is pretty darn good. I always go to the Lexus drive and compare events, you get to drive the cars you like from the top competitors too.

concealer404

LessisNevermore wrote: »

Ben, you and John need to get a room and a tape measure, and settle it once and for all.

Eh, it's merely just about the different definition of "tweaks" really. No beef here.

Unless you're talking about other John?

I may just get excited when car stuff comes up. Audio is actually my secondary hobby to all things automotive. :biggrin:

exalted512

I went to a Hyundai dealership today to check out the new Elantra's. Unfortunately, they didn't have any in stock at the time.

The Elantra's are good looking cars from the pictures I've seen, and the reviews of it are very good as well. And 40mpg would be awesome.

Anyway, they didn't have any of the Equus' there (they didnt have a lot of anything to be perfectly honest, lol). The salesman said you have to be a stand-alone dealership to get the Equus. They also deal BMW, VW, and Mazda, so they are not able to get them.

He did mention some stuff about them that I thought was cool. The owner's manual is an iPad. The first 60k miles is completely covered for maintenance (oil changes, etc). And when you do need to get it taken care of, the dealership will come to your work/home and drop you the keys to a Genesis while they take your car back to get serviced.

I thought that was pretty cool. The salesman also said the Accent should be getting a nice makeover in 2012. Good thing because its hideous.

I sat inside a Sonata and it was pretty nice. Finish and trim seemed to be very good. Overall, I was impressed, although I didn't drive one (or honk the horn...lol).

If I do end up getting a job where I'll be driving a lot, so far, the Elantra is on the top of my list. Great price, large interior, amazing gas mileage and a fantastic warranty.
-Cody

cokewithvanilla

I think the thing is plain ugly. a 7 series is worth the extra cash simply because it looks so much better :P

I never understood why companies make ugly cars. The cost of making an ugly car vs a nice looking car shouldn't be much different. I don't see why even the 20,000 cars can't be good looking... maybe because there wouldn't be much incentive to buy a 50k car.