I would look at the Tucson. I have had a couple and they have been very reliable. Stay away from the 1.6 turbo that has the dual clutch transmission. Our family has owned 8 Hyundai/Kias. We have been very happy with them.
Are Hyundais reliable?
- Thread starter Chevelle3221
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I have never paid much attention to the Korean makes. (Kia and Hyundai). They seem to have excellent long term warranties. What is the cost percentage of difference between them, and comparably equipped models from Toyota? Are they that much cheaper?
Find her a good clean Mazda CX-5. Then you won't have to worry about your recommendation.
As always, we can use objective criteria. No bias necessary. H/K falls short of the best, by quite a bit.
Put another way, no manufacturer has had more engine failures or replaced more engines, in outright numbers, or per vehicle, than H/K. They are an order of magnitude worse, using objective criteria than Toyota. To make matters worse, the improved replacement engines don't seem to last longer.
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The theta 2 engine was a disaster in many ways. The ones that failed seem to have no specific reason. Some well maintained fail anyway. The rest of the car seems to be fine.
The smart stream engine has only been out since 2020 and only a few models. Time will tell on it.
If they were a lot cheaper I might chance it but they’re not. Not worth the risk in a small SUV where there are so many better options at similar prices.
The smart stream engine has only been out since 2020 and only a few models. Time will tell on it.
If they were a lot cheaper I might chance it but they’re not. Not worth the risk in a small SUV where there are so many better options at similar prices.
A physician friend of mine had three identical Sonatas. One for him, his wife, and his son. All got the same maintenance. All three were great until one of them blew an engine. The other two are fine. Reading other reviews about Hyundai/Kia echos his experience. They are either great or they blow an engine. My next door neighbor's kids are H/K people. They just bought a new Santa Fe after having a Tucson and a Sonata.
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Service manager ( friend ) where I take my Honda’s said he used to be the service manager at a Hyundai dealership and said they have more a lot more issues than Honda for sure. He said he wouldn’t buy one but people love the longer warranty when buying a vehicle.
Another unpopular opinion, but you could get a 2020-21 Chevy Equinox 1.5T AWD for that price range as well. Are they worse or are they better than a Hyundai? Let the board tell you. I'm kidding mostly.
ls1mike
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I won't speak to H/K. I want to talk about the warranty. My goal is to not have to use it at all which has been the case on just about every GM I have owned except the 98 Z28, some EGR stuff and the broken rear end. The Malibu just hit 105,000 has not been back to dealer for anything. It is great to have warranty, but would not be thrilled to have the dealership have to swap my engine under warranty, wait 1 to 3 months to get it back and hope everything was done correctly. There are plenty of cars that do not have that issue.
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compared to a yugo or a peugeot they are very good
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Some over-caffeinated thoughts:
-- With used cars, I am not saying brand makes no difference, but I would be much more focused on the mileage and the service history of a particular car, more than a brand. Even a relatively low mileage car (30k-40k) can have a lot of damage/wear from hard driving and a lack of service and overall care.
-- I used to always think that extended warranties were a racket, but given the complexity of these cars today, and the cost of fixing some of the high tech features, if she goes to CarMax or a reputable used car dealer, she should be able to find a reasonably priced extended warranty. (The pricing of the extended warranty tells you a lot about the repair history of a particular brand and model, particularly with respect to the factory warranty pricing, because no one has better information on warranty repairs than the manufacturers themselves.)
-- Given the higher cost of borrowed money, she should also check what she can find new - a subsidized finance deal on a new car may not be that much more on a monthly payment basis than a well used car at 8-9 percent. As long as her income is secure and the debt is not too much relative to income and other assets, I would not frown upon financing a new car, so long as it isn't something you do every other year.
-- Related to the first point above, I think that you need to be very careful with late model used cars. If someone buys a car, or leases it, and at the end of a 3-4 year period the car has been rock solid, many if not most times they buy it. If it is a pain in the rear, they turn it in at lease end or trade it. I think you have to be careful to get a service history because many of these clean low mileage cars are sitting on a lot for a reason. So we are back to my first point - get the service history to see what issues the car has had.
Good luck and hope this helps.
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I totally agree as I am a Toyota guy. However she is hooked on the Santa Fe at the moment. LOL
This site reviews engine issues by brand although it may not include more recent engines: https://www.motorreviewer.com/make.php?make_id=19
I can't say if they are reliable or not but I would not buy one used. I have 3 friends who had their engines replaced, 2 were the dreaded 201X and the other was a 2019. I would join a dedicated Hyundai or Kia forum and research a specific model. We all have heard about the engine troubles but i hate to paint the entire brand bad if it's only a specific engine.
Also remember if you do buy used, you only get the 5 yr/60k warranty and not their 100k mile warranty. And make sure you get any maintenance records.
Good luck.
Also remember if you do buy used, you only get the 5 yr/60k warranty and not their 100k mile warranty. And make sure you get any maintenance records.
Good luck.
I bought a Hyundai Venue a year ago (Limited model). I currently drive about 5k miles per year and most of that is local driving. On trips of 1-2 hours it's reasonably comfortable and roomier than you'd think. I'm very satisfied with it and bought it because of the non-direct injected engine (Smart stream). It more than meets my current needs and I like it.
I really think this is a great point - all manufactures make some good/mediocre/not so good engines and over time it will vary. If I had to choose one manufacturer that seems to consistently turn out engines that will run extremely well for a long period of time without issue, it would be Toyota. The ZR2 is my first GM car and it's been pretty much flawless other than a 4wd actuator switch and occasional glitchy radio issues. Minor stuff. Granted it's only been 2 years
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Full disclosure, she bought it used with about 60K miles, but it had all of the paperwork for routine maintenance done at our local Kia dealership.
My mom's 2014 Forte EX (85K miles) 2.0 GDI burns 1.5qts of oil per 300 miles but the transmission is stout. It only gets oil changes (3K OCI 5W30 synthetic Mobil1) for the fresh filter.
The radio, some Microsoft-UVO based 4" display doesn't connect via Bluetooth anymore, and sometimes it needs to be reset with the pinhole button. The back-up camera no longer displays an image, but she has been driving since the 90's so that is no concern for her. The front lower control arms and struts are completely destroyed but that is expected with our road conditions. It's totally Kia-boyable with a regular turn-key ignition. Luckily she has a locked garage space.
It's currently at our local Kia dealership getting an inspection hoping for a warranty engine replacement. I'm not sure if they will warranty it, but with the suspension in the shape it's in I wouldn't be shocked if they told her to junk it.
My mom's 2014 Forte EX (85K miles) 2.0 GDI burns 1.5qts of oil per 300 miles but the transmission is stout. It only gets oil changes (3K OCI 5W30 synthetic Mobil1) for the fresh filter.
The radio, some Microsoft-UVO based 4" display doesn't connect via Bluetooth anymore, and sometimes it needs to be reset with the pinhole button. The back-up camera no longer displays an image, but she has been driving since the 90's so that is no concern for her. The front lower control arms and struts are completely destroyed but that is expected with our road conditions. It's totally Kia-boyable with a regular turn-key ignition. Luckily she has a locked garage space.It's currently at our local Kia dealership getting an inspection hoping for a warranty engine replacement. I'm not sure if they will warranty it, but with the suspension in the shape it's in I wouldn't be shocked if they told her to junk it.
