Hyundai experience?

[SAJEFFC]

Hi guys. Anyone have any info or tips to share on a 2008 Hyundai Tiburon. Just snapped up a trade in thats 4 month s old and 4000 miles. Car is essentially new. Its the GS base model with the 2.0l 4 cyl and automatic. Picked it up for my college daughter to get her out of an 04 V-6 Accord with 90k miles. The tranny horror storys on Accords got to me! Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[sciphi]

The Beta engine in that is bombproof. Make a note to do the timing belt at 60k miles, as it is an interference engine. The slushbox kills the fluid rapidly, so 15k drain-and-fills are recommended on OEM fluid. Might want to investigate better ATF than the SP-III trash that's in it. Beyond that, it's a typical Hyundai. You'll tire of it before it wears out. Your daughter won't win any drag races, and she won't be complaining it's a fuel hog.

 

[XS650]

They are good cars. Be sure you keep service up to date on it and keep good records, they are real fussy about that at warranty coverage time.

 

[StevieC]

I'm a huge Hyundai fan because I feel the quality can't be beat for the price. I'm currently almost 200K KM (120K miles) in on my Santa Fe with a 2.7 litre V6 and have made 0 trips to the dealer for warranty repairs. The advice I can give you is: Your 4-banger engine is bullet proof and with normal proper maintenance intervals, it will see a very long life. If your Tiburon isn't equipped with an axillary transmission cooler I would drain/refill the transmission with an SP-III rated fluid at no more than 30K miles. (regardless of what it looks like) Or sooner if changing colours. If it has an axillary cooler you can push that to 50K miles. (again assuming it's not changing colours) This is all assuming that you are driving normally and not pounding the $!#@ out of it! Do Not let quick lube places talk you into a fluid that doesn't specifically meet SP-III requirements or that they can add an additive to make it meet the requirements as in my experience this is disastrous! Change the PCV valve every 30-50K miles or every 2 years whichever comes first as these engines seem to be harder on the PCV's for some reason, just from the ones I have seen. Always use one from the Dealer to ensure proper specs. I would love to see pictures of it here! Steve

 

[Shannow]

My parents bought an Elantra at the same time as FIL bought a V-6 Accord. It was a bit of an eye opener to me. Both cars have leather trim, and are similarly equipped. Honda's fit and finish was better, Honda had split system climate control rather than straight air con...you get the drift, I'm saying similar, not the same. Honda was $40k drive away, Hyundai $19,999 drive away (Dad negotiated a towing pack tranny oil cooler into the price)... The Honda is certainly not twice the car the Hyundai is. They've put 100k on the hyundai, 90k (km) on the Honda, both very satisfied, although my parent's hyundai needed a $1300 brake job late last year.

 

[Shannow]

 Originally Posted By: SAJEFFC

Picked it up for my college daughter to get her out of an 04 V-6 Accord with 90k miles. The tranny horror storys on Accords got to me! Thanks in advance for any input.

What are the horror stories ?

 

[The Critic]

The Accord is a much nicer car. I think she's better off with it, even if she needed to rebuild the transmission at 150k. The Tiburon isn't one of the better Hyundais, IMO. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of the newer Hyundai designs (i.e. Genesis or Sonata), but I wouldn't be too thrilled about owning a Tiburon.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

 Originally Posted By: The Critic

The Accord is a much nicer car. I think she's better off with it, even if she needed to rebuild the transmission at 150k.

Ditto

 

[Papa Bear]

Shannow, how in the world could a person spend $1300. on a brake job ??!! Did that include new tires as well...

 

[dishdude]

 Originally Posted By: Shannow

 Originally Posted By: SAJEFFC

Picked it up for my college daughter to get her out of an 04 V-6 Accord with 90k miles. The tranny horror storys on Accords got to me! Thanks in advance for any input.

What are the horror stories ?

My dad was on his fourth transmission in his 2001 Acura TL at 109k miles.

 

[StevieC]

 Originally Posted By: Papa Bear

Shannow, how in the world could a person spend $1300. on a brake job ??!! Did that include new tires as well...

I did all 4 wheels on my Santa Fe with new Pads and Rotars (4 wheel disc) and flushed/filled the fluid for a total of $300 in parts and I did the labour, so I don't see $1300 either, especially in USD when I paid $300 CDN in parts. My Santa Fe uses very thick rotars and bigger ceramic pads so I would imagine my parts are way more expensive that yours

 

[XS650]

 Originally Posted By: Papa Bear

Shannow, how in the world could a person spend $1300. on a brake job ??!! Did that include new tires as well...

That's Oz dollars. It was only $1080 USD

 

[BearZDefect]

Before some reader is led to believe that Hyundai has taken a lead, please go drive the offerings from several manufacturers. In the past 15 years: - Honda quality has gone down significantly. - Hyundai has improved overall. That does not make them equal. Drive both, and other brands too. You might end up buying a Ford, if you can forgive what they did to you 15 years ago that made you ditch your last Ford for a Honda. They have all evolved. Just my opinion.

 

[mstrjon32]

 Originally Posted By: BearZDefect

They have all evolved. Just my opinion.

+1. Or 'devolved', as it may be.

 

[tom slick]

 Originally Posted By: Papa Bear

Shannow, how in the world could a person spend $1300. on a brake job ??!! Did that include new tires as well...

Although not exactly the same, dealer prices for 4 rotors and f/r pads on a newer 2wd F-150 and it adds up to $840 in parts, it wouldn't be hard to add $200 labor. F rotors = $250 each = $500 R rotors = $100 each = $200 pads = $70 a set = $140 Add a sensor or caliper and it'll be $1300.

 

[StevieC]

 Originally Posted By: BearZDefect

Before some reader is led to believe that Hyundai has taken a lead, please go drive the offerings from several manufacturers. In the past 15 years: - Honda quality has gone down significantly. - Hyundai has improved overall. That does not make them equal. Drive both, and other brands too. You might end up buying a Ford, if you can forgive what they did to you 15 years ago that made you ditch your last Ford for a Honda. They have all evolved. Just my opinion.

I completely agree. When I hit 500K KM (300K Miles) on my Santa Fe and I'm willing to part with it for a newer vehicle I will be checking out all the show-rooms of all "domestic"/"foreign" makers to see what they have to offer for the price. I will then do my research and see whats the best value for the true cost of ownership and then make my choice based on that. I chose the Santa Fe because I was in a bit of a pinch when I hit the deer with my Tempo and it was totaled, and my work would only pay for a car rental for so long. I had to buy something that was on the lot and Hyundai seemed to offer a great value to me and had an SUV that met my needs for the price I wanted to spend. (actually less). So I purchased it. I speak highly of Hyundai on the board because I like their products and what they have done to their brand and the value they offer, but if someone comes along and offers me something that better meets my needs and pocket-book then I would switch brands. To me as long as a car gets you from A to B reasonably comfortable and is reliable and has a reasonable cost of ownership I'm all for it regardless of the brand. Cars are a means to travel and shouldn't be treated as luxury homes with the latest and greatest as far as I'm concerned.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

I wonder if Honda and Toyota will start becoming more competitive (lowering prices, improving materials quality, etc) in the future to fend off losing sales to Hyundai and possibly Ford now.

 

[SAJEFFC]

Sorry guys, been busy waxing the new ride Trust me I never thought I'd buy a Hyundai but this is a dang nice little car. Good to hear its pretty bulletproof. I am hugely anal about maintenance so it will be well kept. The Accord was a nice car too but I have spent some money on it. Bought it a year ago with 68k on it (1 owner) and it had 89k this weekend when traded. I had to put a $600 P.S. pump on it and it had a airbag recall done. Also did the brakes at 85k (originals) which I didnt mind. The auto tranny is what scared me away. Didnt know about all the problems till AFTER we bought it Just go to carcomplaints.com or google accord transmission problems and hold on to your computer! Ours worked fine but I'm not going to risk a $2800 tranny job on top of college expenses. All in all I'm very happy. Keep the info coming.

 

[AdRock]

I bought a 2003 Tiburon about 10 months before they were supposed to hit dealers. It was a great car. I ended up trading it in in November of 2003 for my Mustang. If that Tiburon wouold have been RWD I would have kept it. i just couldn't take a front wheel drive car anymore. Those Tibs are well worth the money. Hyundai has come a verey long way from the Excel that couldn't get out of it's own way. I've been eyeing the new Genesis. I haven't gone to test drive one because I'm afraid I'll like it better than the Mustang. My Mustang is paid off and I don't need a car payment so I'm not tempting myself.

 

[SAJEFFC]

Thought I'd throw out another question here. The owners manual says you can use 5W20 OR 5W30 OR 10W30 if the 5's are not available. I'm very happy about that but am wondering if the 5W20 might sqeeze out a little more power and mileage(its not exactly eaten up with horsepower!) Anyone else with this motor?