Should I replace the Sonata?

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Drive on. Of course sock money away for repair or replacement and maybe none will occur on engine and you'll have a nice rainy day fund.
 
Hopefully you won't have any issues? I wonder if anyone has actually determined what the ACTUAL cause of failure is? H/K says "metal residue in block", but we all know that's a total lie-is it connecting rod or crankshaft cracking/failure? Bad or under-engineered bearings? These engines seem to fail catastrophically with little or no warning, that sounds like con rod fracture to me.
 
If you decide to do the engine swap, I'd go for a used 2016 or 2017 engine if they fit, rather than one from the known problem years. However, if you're at about 120,000 miles with no engine problem to date, you may be out of the woods.
 
As a general rule, I don't make major decisions on a "what if".

However, it's a 5 year old Hyundai, with high miles and known engine issues, and we do know that even frequent synthetic oil changes won't eliminate the problem of blown Hyundai engines. Let's not forget the other upcoming maintenance issues older, high mile cars have. Note: The Corolla is known for carboned up pistons/rings and oil consumption. In a Corolla, the use of synthetic and frequent oil changes solves the issue.


So, let's look at it another way. Cost per mile. Fuel, capital cost, insurance, maintenance and consumables and your car's resale value. I very much prefer NOT to have to deal with major maintenance issues, as they have hidden costs too, such as rental cars, miles on another vehicle, and the very real risk of poor quality work. The cost per mile is never more than 5c per mile different whether you keep an old vehicle or purchase a similar vehicle brand new when on sale. People concentrate on capital costs, ignoring the fact that the other costs outstrip the cost of a vehicle. Please, do an accurate cost per mile comparison, include the selling price of your current car.

You may find that a well chosen new car won't cost you significantly more per mile, and will be covered by warranty.

In some states, the sales tax is also deductible.
 
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Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Hopefully you won't have any issues? I wonder if anyone has actually determined what the ACTUAL cause of failure is? H/K says "metal residue in block", but we all know that's a total lie-is it connecting rod or crankshaft cracking/failure? Bad or under-engineered bearings? These engines seem to fail catastrophically with little or no warning, that sounds like con rod fracture to me.


If this is the case, then all of the replacement engines available (used) would be ticking time bombs as well IMHO. It also means that as an owner, there'd be nothing proactive anybody could do to mitigate it.
 
The vast majority of those engines are running problem free. Get the update and enjoy the car.
 
I always wonder why folks give up on their cars so quickly. I know lots of folks seem to unload their cars before "something big and expensive breaks".

My wife's 2008 Subaru had oil weeping from the head gaskets on a car that was known to have head gasket issues. We could have replaced it with a new car, but I do all the maintenance on the car on schedule (or ahead). The whole car was in good shape, so we elected to have a shop replace the head gaskets along with timing belts, water pump etc. $2100.

If we replace the car with a new one, that would have been $25000 plus interest, insurance, taxes etc.
If we replaced it with a used car, who knows what problems might be lurking under the skin?

I think the Sonata is a great looking car and overall a good machine.
I would be inclined to keep it and enjoy it as long as possible while saving money..
 
If the car is in good shape and you like it I would suggest reman over used engine. The reman will use different parts to hopefully avoid the poorly engineered parts in the original engine. Labor is the same. A little more for the engine. That is what Jasper claims.
 
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