Hyundai's Progress worldwide

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Good article with real facts/figures/charts. thanks, alan.

I'm also impressed with what Hyundai has done to improve quality over the past few yrs, and wife's 2003 Elantra has been such a good car. I know I've said that many times, but I'm glad we made a good choice. It really does have all the good things standard (incl.4 air bags and heated mirrors, for a budget car, that's pretty cool, I think), and is pretty fast, too. It's still young (40k miles), but not a single repair yet, and I know a quite a few people whose "ultra-reliable" japanese cars that had/have trouble before that mileage (these brands are so much better at hiding their non-reliable issues, imo. afak, Honda and BMW are/were the only 2 brands that don't allow alldata to make their detailed TSB's publicly available).

However, be prepared for Toy/Honda/Nissan lovers & Hyundai bashers to attack this thread...no matter what the facts say, they'll never stop hanging on the traditional names.

I wish we got a GT Elantra with leather/CD/cruise etc...and of course the nicer wheels and the great looking dash
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It all depends on whose data you look at. NHTSA gives it 4 and 5 stars.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/NCAP/Cars/2814.html

I have been very happy with both my Hyundai's. 25k on the Elantra with 3 dealer visits (2 recalls and a CD player replaced), 7k on the Tucson with 1 recall done at time of first free oil change.
My biggest gripe is the higher than average insurance and replacement parts cost. I had a minor fender bender, it was $2400 for a hood, bumper, fender, headlight, and paint.
 
Too bad they handle like poo. They also sustain excessive amounts of damage costs in low-speed impacts. These cars did not even have ABS until this year.
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One good reason to keep bashing Hyundai is on safety. Even with the standare side curtain airbags, Elantra still rates a 'poor' on IIHS side impact tests.

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=273

Of course, they are not alone... but the Corolla's side airbags perform a lot better.

Hyundai is making progress very quickly though, they'll be among the top soon enough.
 
AJ,
I see your point but I've owned both Hyundai's and VW/Audi products.I have found the Hyundai's to be more reliable and less with annoying problem prone than a much more expensive VW/Audi products.

I still like VAG products but reliability wise they aren't better than Hyundai's overall.
 
In looking at the graphs from the link in the original post, in 1998 there seems to be some kind of industry-wide upheaval in quality problems reported, along with a one year sales dump for Hyundai and Kia. What happened then?
 
I passed the new Sonata on the way home from a long trip Wednesday night and had to slow down to get another look at it. It is a nice looking automobile. I don't know what they cost, but they look better than the current Accord or Camry. It is the first Hyundai that I have ever seen that makes me want to test drive it.

I wouldn't be surprised if they grow very quickly over the next few years.
 
By 97tbird,

"However, be prepared for Toy/Honda/Nissan lovers & Hyundai bashers to attack this thread...no matter what the facts say, they'll never stop hanging on the traditional names".

It seems you certainly have a point there. I love my Nissans and Hondas have done excellently in my family. However, I'm very happy to see Hyundai become a serious contender in the marketplace. I certainly do not rule out the possibility of considering one of their cars for my next purchase. When I see what seems to be reliable information on them it seems they have come a long way from their less than glamorous beginnings.

More serious competition has a slightly dampening effect on the spiraling costs of automobiles. Costs going to climb anyway, but more serious competitiion is in the consumers' better interests. I'd like to see the Hyundai continue it's increasing market share with good value.
 
Reliable, compared to??? Honda, Toyota...etc. I can't actually think of anytime I have been stuck in an "unreliable" car situation. My one car has 210k, starts and drives perfect. If by reliable you mean, "not bothering to fix things", I agree, Hundais are better junked and replaced than spending $1000 on timing belts, suspension repairs and upgrades like I do at the drop of a hat. Crunching the numbers, I spent under $.05c a mile to keep my premium car on the road with everything tight and functioning, isn't that what and economy car is supposed to cost? Way under $4000 in 89,000 miles.
 
From my understanding (which may be wrong), Hyundai gains a nice little edge over the competition abroad because of the protection they receive at home....ie, I don't think Ford can sell vehicles over there. I could be wrong...and please correct me...but if they don't want to play fair, I ain't buying.
 
Around here, discounts abound on Hyundais/Kias while Nissan/Toyota/Subaru dealers remain arrogant. Also, besides the better warranty, anyone else notice that financing is a lot easier with Kia/Hyundai?

Everyone that I know that has a Korean car couldn't get a reasonable price or financing from the other car companies. Seems that they are doing a good job targeting the market. Not all of us have perfect high paying jobs and squeaky clean credit reports.

I think that Toyota was smart to create Scion which might help them win back some sales. Toyotas are overly bland.

My only issue with HyunKia is that they seem to require a little more TLC and might be less forgiving to neglect. And, there is still an aftertaste from watching way too many Excels fall apart.
 
In are local paper Hyundai has a big ad campaign for the double advantage warranty for all 2006 Hyundai's. The powertrain warranty is up to 200,000 miles or 10 years. I still would not buy one.
 
Hyundai's newest models have received excellent NHTSA scores - 5 stars for front and side-impacts from NHTSA.

Still waiting for IIHS test results for these new models, but the NHTSA testing at least shows that progress is being made...
 
quote:

In are local paper Hyundai has a big ad campaign for the double advantage warranty for all 2006 Hyundai's. The powertrain warranty is up to 200,000 miles or 10 years. I still would not buy one.

That's a dealer campaign, not sponsored by HMA.

What you buy is your perogative, but the fact is Hyundais have turned the corner on quality, as indicated by industry surveys... I would venture to say that huge year-over-year sales growth in a flat market is also indicative of something positive.
 
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