kia engine issues...really serious or overinflated?

I've had four Hyundai Elantras a Kia Forte, and a Kia Rio, and I never had anything but routine maintenance on any of them. I drive my current 2020 Hyundai for work and I'm at 41,000 on this one and it is my favorite. It is just a simple car and I love the powertrain on this one with the Hyundai CVT. Maybe I'm just a contrarian because I know I'm not supposed to like either Hyundai or CVTs.
It gets great fuel mileage, I average around 38 MPH mixed. It has great power delivery, and about the only thing I don't like on this car is the electronic ******** that is supposed to save my life. The **** steering wheel is always beeping at me if it thinks I'm not holding it tight. The blind spot monitoring is not up to snuff either.
Mechanically though it is solid so far and I've owned enough Hyundais that I'm happy for those of you who won't buy them. LOL...... I spent $13K on this one new right at the beginning of COVID when everyone thought the sky was falling. I test-drove Honda Civics, Insight, and the Accord. I like the Accord... but don't like the Honda 1.5L. I'll keep my NA port injected Hyundai thank you very much.
 
Why bother with the Korean makes at all? There are plenty of other known reliable makes to choose from...the hoards of people who flock to the Korean makes are more like sheeple thinking they're part of the "in" crowd now...
They're cheap, they're available, and there are lots of non-Korean brands with big issues too who don't give a 10y/100K powertrain. Buying a Ford is a whole lot riskier IMO.
 
I've owned several H/K cars and had good experiences with all of them. I can't say the same for a number of other brands we have owned. We drive maybe 8-10k miles per year so until 2031 any catastrophic failure on the Forte would be on Kia's dime. The likelihood of us keeping a car for that long is almost zero anyway. They're certainly not perfect but there are other manufacturers that have been churning out garbage for a century that don't get ragged on here every week. H/K is just the current favorite to hate on here for whatever reason.
 
They're cheap, they're available, and there are lots of non-Korean brands with big issues too who don't give a 10y/100K powertrain. Buying a Ford is a whole lot riskier IMO.
The bulk of my vehicles have been Japanese makes, and all have been pretty much trouble-free. Most of my not-so-reliable vehicles have been from the big 3. I hear too many horror stories about the Korean makes and their junky engines...
 
That's untrue.....I've had more than one customer get a brand new 2.4L installed at no cost & weren't the original owners. 2 in the last year in fact.
We owned a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport with the 2.4L and I was actually upgraded to the lifetime warranty for the engine. However, went in with other small issues and I had to push hard and talk to the owner of the dealership, and sometimes wait for a week or two to get approval for a repair. There are a few issues, like the transmission, that Hyundai weaseled their way out of. That's why I said that for the most part, it's not that great. In fact it's gotten worse, and I heard that now they've gotten stricter even with the Theta II replacements.
 
Awesome. What year, and drive train? I would consider a (new) Corolla if needed to buy a car and couldn't find something used that I liked at a non - inflated price.
'04 1.8L auto...right now is the worst time in history to buy any vehicle, new or used...
 
I am probably considered a H/K hater but my 2c is that if you value fancy aesthetics and gadgetry bang for buck as well as only buy new or lease cycle every 2-4 years, then that is the only situation that I think getting one MIGHT be an ok idea if you get a good deal.

There are alot of fans of H/K these days and they seem to think that people like me that are leery of them are positing that all of them catastrophically fail. What I am really saying is other OEM's in the same segment sell vehicles that have very low chance of failure and have solid mechanical engineering. H/K have a low-moderate chance of failure and prioritize aesthetics and gadgets/dollar at the cost of mechanical engineering. This isnt saying that a toyota has a 0% of failure and hyundai is 50%, its more like the difference between 1-2% and 5-8%.

Besides the mitsubishi licensed motors H/K used 20 years ago, they have never produced a 4 cylinder(which power almost all their cars) that has had a average or lower than average tendancy to have a major mechanical issue. This isnt just the distinct eff-ups(bearing de-burring fiasco w/ some theta 2's etc), they simply don't prioritize engine development as much as most other makes in their segment. The auto market is ultra competative and mature, the savings are coming from somewhere. The evidence for this comes from all angles: the massive number of anecdotes, the mountains of blown or junk engines at their dealerships, the extreme backorder and high cost due to demand of their replacement engines, engine teardown vids showing how they cut costs wherever they can, and korean mechanic youtubers who expose the design flaws a year before the new powerplants hit american shores, and the fact that one of their main selling points is STILL a mega-warranty.

All manufacturers have made flawed 4 cylinders in the past 20years because of emissions regs and CAFE stuff, but their problems are usually limited to oil consumption and fuel diluation that hasnt led to large numbers of complete failures. You can buy Toyota 4cylinders for a few hundred bucks, because theres low demand for replacements. Hell, you can buy Honda 4cylinders for under a grand still even though the tuning crowd buys up K-series like no tomorrow for turbo builds.

But like anything, what one buys and what works for an individual is based on their priorities. If your priorities align with H/K's, you get a car that punches above its weight in terms of ameneties and looks per dollar. But it does come at a cost.

Like others have said, IMO if you want a car with a nice interior, good looks, and high reliability but doesn't suffer from the typical Honda/Toyota dealer markup, I'd say look at Mazda.
 
I am probably considered a H/K hater but my 2c is that if you value fancy aesthetics and gadgetry bang for buck as well as only buy new or lease cycle every 2-4 years, then that is the only situation that I think getting one MIGHT be an ok idea if you get a good deal.

There are alot of fans of H/K these days and they seem to think that people like me that are leery of them are positing that all of them catastrophically fail. What I am really saying is other OEM's in the same segment sell vehicles that have very low chance of failure and have solid mechanical engineering. H/K have a low-moderate chance of failure and prioritize aesthetics and gadgets/dollar at the cost of mechanical engineering. This isnt saying that a toyota has a 0% of failure and hyundai is 50%, its more like the difference between 1-2% and 5-8%.

Besides the mitsubishi licensed motors H/K used 20 years ago, they have never produced a 4 cylinder(which power almost all their cars) that has had a average or lower than average tendancy to have a major mechanical issue. This isnt just the distinct eff-ups(bearing de-burring fiasco w/ some theta 2's etc), they simply don't prioritize engine development as much as most other makes in their segment. The auto market is ultra competative and mature, the savings are coming from somewhere. The evidence for this comes from all angles: the massive number of anecdotes, the mountains of blown or junk engines at their dealerships, the extreme backorder and high cost due to demand of their replacement engines, engine teardown vids showing how they cut costs wherever they can, and korean mechanic youtubers who expose the design flaws a year before the new powerplants hit american shores, and the fact that one of their main selling points is STILL a mega-warranty.

All manufacturers have made flawed 4 cylinders in the past 20years because of emissions regs and CAFE stuff, but their problems are usually limited to oil consumption and fuel diluation that hasnt led to large numbers of complete failures. You can buy Toyota 4cylinders for a few hundred bucks, because theres low demand for replacements. Hell, you can buy Honda 4cylinders for under a grand still even though the tuning crowd buys up K-series like no tomorrow for turbo builds.

But like anything, what one buys and what works for an individual is based on their priorities. If your priorities align with H/K's, you get a car that punches above its weight in terms of ameneties and looks per dollar. But it does come at a cost.

Like others have said, IMO if you want a car with a nice interior, good looks, and high reliability but doesn't suffer from the typical Honda/Toyota dealer markup, I'd say look at Mazda.
I have mainly had Hondas and Toyotas, but I've also had a couple Mazdas, and they have been every bit as good as the H and Ts, and in some cases better. The 2003 we had suffered from a severe case of rust, but our '17 CX-9 seems to be holding up much better against corrosion. You hit on a lot of good points, many are the same reason I'm leery of the H/Ks...
 
I have mainly had Hondas and Toyotas, but I've also had a couple Mazdas, and they have been every bit as good as the H and Ts, and in some cases better. The 2003 we had suffered from a severe case of rust, but our '17 CX-9 seems to be holding up much better against corrosion. You hit on a lot of good points, many are the same reason I'm leery of the H/Ks...

Up until about 2000ish some Japanese OEMs still didn't fully comprehend the conditions present in the rust belt. It's simply a problem that doesn't exists in the Japanese domestic market(and almost all other markets). Every OEM has it mostly figured out when it comes to that, although in the midwest all cars rust out over a long enough time period.
 
Kia and Hyundai have come a long way. I remember when lived in Springfield’s Missouri during from 1997-2000… Kia had a deal on one of their hatchbacks but one get one free.
 
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