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All I know is I rented an 07 or 08 Sonata last winter to make a 5+ hr drive, and I totally fell in love. Very nice ride, peppy (it was the v6 ), plus it had lot's of nice creature comforts.
When the Genesis coupes come out, I am gonna test drive one, and if I like it, I will probably wait a year and buy one.
I bought a new Tucson in 06, I love it. I got a V6 and it has a shiftable automatic so it's pretty quick. My sister bought an 07 Tucson with a 4 cyclinder and a shiftable automatic, I was surprised how quick the 4 is. I put mine through hell. I wrecked it once (not my fault) and still haven't had any problems with it. Don't waste your money on a Toyota or Honda. Hyundai gives the most bang for your buck.
We own an 07 KIA Spectra, DIL owns an 07 KIA Rondo which has all the toys including stability control, ABS, six to eight air bags, four wheel discs, etc.
Hyundai bought KIA a few years back, as of 07 the Spectra is actually the last generation (04-06, aka XD2) Elantra chassis and powertrains. Elantras are getting rave reviews these days.
Most Hyundais have KIA twins.
I love our Spectra. I drove an '04 Impala before, before that an '03 Accord 2.4/auto, and before that a Regal 3.8. The Spectra, although 12-24" shorter and several hundred pounds lighter than the aforementiond, is IMO the equal of any of them as a road car. That includes secure cruising at 80 and stability in heavy crosswinds. The doors clunk solidly, the car is very agile and light on its feet, it's a happy car in town or on the road. Its 33.3' turning circle is tight enough to make bat-turns easy.
With a two liter 138 HP four w/four speed automatic and weighing 2900 LBS (scale at the dump), the variable valve timing gives enough low end grunt to be worthy of the name torque. Second shifts out at 75, a great help for those occasions when the nice people on the road don't want you using their highway.
Our DIL very much likes her Rondo, she hauls her two kids/one dawg around in it and all the stability and safety gadgets are good to have.
Right now Rondos are on sale cheap, and if I were looking for a minivan I'd take a close hard look at the Sedona or its Hyundai twin.
A 10 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5 year 60,000 mile bumper to bumper is a Texas big warranty. My challenge is to own the car long enough to run it out of warranty.
It's fun to drive, the controls are logical, brakes solid, and it's paid for!
I owned a 2000 Kia Sportage with just over 180,000 miles on it until several months ago when I totalled it in an accident. It really didn't start breaking down until it hit around 150,000 miles and then it was a series of problems, just normal old age issues, nothing unreasonable. I can think of better quality vehicles, but then you are paying more initially and if you rack up the miles (like I do), then this is a good all purpose vehicle. I was not pleased with the 4 cyl. engine, and unfortunately the Sorrento wasn't availible in 2000 or I would have gotten that model instead. I think Kias have gotten much better since my purchase in 2000. As with any foreign car, parts are more expensive and usually have to come directly from the dealer, so are a little more difficult to obtain. The last part we had to replace on it was a master cylinder. It actually ended up being a 1998 part. After trying two other parts from two other model years, we finally got the right one. From what I hear, this practice is more common than you think. The best vehicle I ever had was a 1991 Nissan Sentra. We had 310,000 miles on it before my husband hit a very large deer and bent the frame. We put very little into it except the usual; tires, brakes, a new clutch and other parts that needed replacing with this kind of high mileage. however, my son bought a brand new Nissan Altima last year and the quality of it really stinks. The door panel is falling off already and it is really a disappointment overall. I don't think they are making them as good as they used to. Good Luck!
My dad is thinking about geting a Sorento or Optima(2008) but he fell in love with there luxury SUV the Borrego and so have i. We are also waiting for The koup and soul!
I like the fact that the Borrego is using the new engine that's also in the Genesis. The Soul is cool because it's dirt cheap and the design actually has a lot of character. I think it looks sharp in the graphite color
I think it's more about the company's progress over time as far as quality goes- the quality is entirely different today from what is was 10 years ago. There's a Hyundai dealership not too far from me and I went to take a look at the Genesis when they first came on the lot and the sales folks were really friendly. I wasn't looking to buy, but they didn't mind me looking and seemed like they had their act together. I bought a used car once from a VW dealership and the service was horrible...I think it just depends on who wants to win your business these days.
I haven't had a chance to go to any of the auto shows to see the Soul in person, but I'd like to test drive one. I'm a loyal Road & Track subscriber and they gave it a solid review so I'd like to see how the quality is in person
Location: Still in Portland, Oregon, for some reason
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I have a 2004 Santa Fe I bought new and it now has 109,000 on it. Here is the (very short) list of things I've had go wrong.
Faulty Radio - $0 (replaced radio under warranty)
Poor Rear Wiper Coverage - $0 (replaced arm assembly under warranty)
Serpentine Belt Tensioner Bearing - $130 parts & labor
Door Marker Light Wire Pinched - $160 labor
Alternator Wore Out: $430
New Battery: $125
Timing Belt & 60,000 mile service - $1,150 (that's a maintenance cost so it's not really a repair)
There's a myriad of oil changes and bulb replacements but that's all that I've had go wrong.
New Sorento owner here. Last October I bought a fully loaded EX 6 cyl AWD for just over $20k with a trade-in '95 Maxima in good shape with 123k on it.
We just went through a pretty wicked winter. Ice and snow both. This thing handled it like a champ! The ESC is amazing, handles great, the AWD makes winter a lot easier to manage, comfortable, has more bells and whistles than I'll ever use, and my wife likes it.
What more can I ask?
Only 2700 miles so longevity can't be measured, but from all the reviews I've read I'll be happy.
I'm in the market for a mid-size SUV and I was set on getting a Nissan Xterra. After hearing more and more of the Hyundai Santa Fe, I changed my mind... but I never gave a thought to a Kia.
Back to the drawing board for me!
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