What do you think of Hyundai? (2009, sedans, mileage, gas)

[RandyWatson13]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

Read up on South Korean chaebol's and you will start to understand why they can do what they do so cheaply. This goes for Samsung and LG as well. It isn't that their products are inferior, it's just that they have no qualms copying ideas and designs and enjoy incredibly robust support from their government. These companies aren't just major companies to the South Koreans, they are essentially the entire South Korean economy or more directly, they are South Korea. They aren't very innovative, but they don't need to be because they can do everything cheaper then everyone else do to the way their businesses are structured and the protections the government creates for them.

To draw a parallel to the US it would be as if Microsoft, Apple, GM, Ford, Exxon, Wal*Mart, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Bank of America, AT&T, HP, CitiGroup, etc. were all united under a handful of multi-faceted mega-conglomerates. These conglomerates were then each controlled by a handful of families or "clans". These families then also ran the government and controlled all the major political offices.

Hyundai for instance isn't just cars. While the Hyundai Group was broken up in 2003 into five components all of them are still tied together in various ways including all of the executives being from the same families. While they do not claim that each business unit is owned by the other, they still operate with an immense amount of synergy.

Hyundai contains the following businesses:

Hyundai Group - Builds elevators and provides container shipping services worldwide.

Hyundai/Kia Automotive - Builds and develops cars.

Hyundai Department Store Group - Operates 12 different business groups ranging from super markets to department stores to home and online shopping channels as well as import/export businesses covering raw and finished materials.

Hyundai Heavy Industry - Owns 8 different business groups ranging from import/export including all of the major port facilities in South Korea. Is one of the worlds largest ship and container manufacturers and one of the worlds largest shipping companies. This group also owns its own banking and investment houses as well as its own oil exploration and refining group.

Hyundai Development Company - Builds and designs everything from apartment complexes to factories to power plants, hospitals and port facilities.

So, imagine if GM essentially owned its entire supply chain from raw material to finished product to the store it was sold in. If they needed to build a factory, their own construction company did it. They needed money, they borrowed it directly from the governemtn, but funneled it through their own bank. They needed to ship a car across the world, it went in their container, on their ship and departed from their port. Their workers lived in housing they built, shopped in stores they owned, the workers kids went to school in buildings they built and receive their healthcare in hospitals they built. All the while the CEO of GM's brother was the President of the country and his cousin was the Finance Minister and his best family friend was the Prime Minister. Anything GM needed, anything that stood in the way of their success was legislated and removed. On top of that when they needed something they didn't actually make themselves like a radio or LCD screen they went to another mega-conglomerate whose CEO was married to the CEO of GM's sister and bought it for far less then any other competing company could.

That's how Hyundai makes a cheap car. That's why Samsung and LG electronics and appliances cost less than others, etc.

Originally Posted by Tourian

Which is why it is so ironic to hear a person call GM "Government Motors" as an epithet and then praise the Koreans and Japanese for their business prowess. The Japanese did/do the same thing with their zaibatsus, the Koreans have just undercut them even further. The Chinese are lining up to go one step beyond them.

Gotdamn we all agree. It must be 2012

Great posts.

[jobaba]

Originally Posted by daellis99

Lately I have been noticing a lot of media buzz on Hyundai? It looks like they are starting to crank out some pretty good looking cars packed with features. So what do you think of them? Is a $35,000 Azera worth the price over a LaCrosse or Avalon? Is a Genesis worth the price? How about a $60,000 Equus?
I am thinking of getting rid of my Fusion Sport next year and I am really starting to give them a serious look. ..even more so than Audi, which I adore

My opinion on Hyundai is that the quality of the car at this point is probably as good as Toyota or Honda, but you are going to lose thousands of dollars on the resale value when you sell it and have a harder time selling it.

That's a big deal...

[bmd69]

Genesis and Sonata looking for restyles for 2014.

[daellis99]

Well when I go back to the states this year I am going to test drive the Azera, Genesis, New Fusion, Maxima, Taurus, and Charger. For some reason the 8 speed Charger peaks my interest as well.

[SpeedyAZ]

Originally Posted by jobaba

My opinion on Hyundai is that the quality of the car at this point is probably as good as Toyota or Honda, but you are going to lose thousands of dollars on the resale value when you sell it and have a harder time selling it.

That's a big deal...

Doesn't Hyundai have that buy-back program? They guarantee a price for your used Hyundai if you purchase another one?! I'm sure there are limitations, time restraints, etc.

Actually this sounds like a poorly-planned attempt to hyper-inflate prices of used Hyundai's and maintain a perceived value for cheaply-built cars.

[destiny826]

When is the next generation of Hyandai Veracruz coming out?

[latetotheparty]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

I'd chalk it up to the average age of the buyer being the culprit. Kia owners are quite likely younger, drive harder, and defer maintenance more than a typical Hyundai owner. Back when GM had Olds and Pontiac, typically the Pontiac's and Chevy's had younger owners, and the cars had worse reliability than their Buick and Olds kin. Same for when Ford still had Mercury. The Mercury's were usually rated higher than Ford, due to average age being higher.

interesting.... and makes perfect sense....

Originally Posted by Mr Yuk

I hate Hyundai. The 2001 Elantra I owned was the most cheaply made unreliable POS I ever owned and the dealer and company do not stand behind their product. There are so many loopholes and fine print in that warranty, its not even worth it.

The movie Tommy Boy sums up Hyundai's gimmick warranty perfectly:

But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of sh*t. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

I took that advice of buying a quality product, ditched the Hyundai and now happily own both a Toyota and a Honda. Plus, with Honda or Toyota, the resale value is much better...you'll thank yourself, for 1. buying a reliable car that won't require much beyond basic maintenance, and 2. a car that will get you something back when you sell or trade it.

I could say the same exact thing about the 1987 Toyota Tercel I bought BRAND new.... Toyota spent more money doing warranty work on that car than I paid for it.... and it was still NEVER a good reliable car..... I was never so happy to get rid of a car as I was that one.....

I have a 2007 Sonata that I bought with 30K miles on it in August, 2008.... It now has 148K miles on it and is going strong.... i am good about keeping up on the maintenance and so far, my only real complaint was that it seemed to blow headlight and tail light bulbs ENTIRELY too often.... I have since changed my headlight setting to "auto" (they come on at a given level of darkness) and have not had a problem since.

Hyundai did have to fix 2 warranty problems with the car (sunroof and passenger side airbag), but it was easy peasy, no problem at all to have either taken care of.....

As far as resale, that is not something that really concerns me as I plan to drive this car until the doors fall off .... and then buy another Hyundai.....

[NOEM1226]

I had a 2009 Elantra touring until 2 weeks ago when someone hit me and totaled it. As far as cars go- it was my favorite I've ever owned and left me plenty of $ to spend on other things. It's cabin space & hatchback made a compact car feel big enough, even with 3 kids. Loved that car. Considering buying it again.

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

interesting.... and makes perfect sense....

...if it was at all true. See post #31.

[Huckleberry3911948]

great new car-- but major problems after 100k miles.