Lets see, I have a 2018 Santa Fe with 45,000 trouble free miles and a 2004 Sonata with 121,000 miles with routine maintenance and a few parts here and there in my driveway now.
My mom has a 2018 Kia Soul with 40,000 trouble free miles.
My sisters both have Santa Fe's, and 2009 (150,000 miles) and 2010 (197,000 miles). The 2009 has never had anything major go wrong, and only real abnormal issue on the 2010 was the intake manifold @ 180,000 miles (one of those dual length things, common issue on many brands).
I had a 2004 Elantra with over 130,000 miles with the only issue being a transmission solenoid going out @ 99,850 miles and replaced under warranty.
Also had a 2005 Tucson, but only had that for ~15,000 miles before trading it on a van.
So guess I am lucky never having an issue on Hyundai/Kia vehicles.
I did have a co-worker that had one of the Sonata's with a bad engine, replaced by the dealer with 135,000 miles on vehicle, and still driving it 2 years later with another 30,000 miles or so on it.
Also had another co-worker with a Kia Soul with a bad motor, but she was horrible with maintenance.
When she said her motor was "messed up", I asked her when was her last oil change.
She said "I don't know, maybe a year ago", asked how many miles she drives a year, she said around 12,000.
Then I asked when was the last time she checked her oil, and of course deer in headlights, umm, why would I do that.
So that one is not on Kia.
But as said, there are many brands that have issues with certain engines. Look at the Ford 5.4 3 valve with the oiling, phaser, and VVT issues. Or the Toyota 2AZ-FE engine with all its oil burning issues (yet I own 2 of them).
Yes Hyundai/Kia has had a bad run, as every other manufacture has at times. But not all their vehicles have issues.
As mentioned above, H/K is a value vehicle, and those vehicles tend to be abused more, and have more issues from that.
My mom has a 2018 Kia Soul with 40,000 trouble free miles.
My sisters both have Santa Fe's, and 2009 (150,000 miles) and 2010 (197,000 miles). The 2009 has never had anything major go wrong, and only real abnormal issue on the 2010 was the intake manifold @ 180,000 miles (one of those dual length things, common issue on many brands).
I had a 2004 Elantra with over 130,000 miles with the only issue being a transmission solenoid going out @ 99,850 miles and replaced under warranty.
Also had a 2005 Tucson, but only had that for ~15,000 miles before trading it on a van.
So guess I am lucky never having an issue on Hyundai/Kia vehicles.
I did have a co-worker that had one of the Sonata's with a bad engine, replaced by the dealer with 135,000 miles on vehicle, and still driving it 2 years later with another 30,000 miles or so on it.
Also had another co-worker with a Kia Soul with a bad motor, but she was horrible with maintenance.
When she said her motor was "messed up", I asked her when was her last oil change.
She said "I don't know, maybe a year ago", asked how many miles she drives a year, she said around 12,000.
Then I asked when was the last time she checked her oil, and of course deer in headlights, umm, why would I do that.
So that one is not on Kia.
But as said, there are many brands that have issues with certain engines. Look at the Ford 5.4 3 valve with the oiling, phaser, and VVT issues. Or the Toyota 2AZ-FE engine with all its oil burning issues (yet I own 2 of them).
Yes Hyundai/Kia has had a bad run, as every other manufacture has at times. But not all their vehicles have issues.
As mentioned above, H/K is a value vehicle, and those vehicles tend to be abused more, and have more issues from that.