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i'll be moving back to tampa soon and have been looking at cars for myself and the mrs. i have a vw in london and their servicing and spares are ridiculous. then there is the fact that many of the parts and electronics seem to be built to just make it past the end of their warranty. i believe the same to be true of toyotas, hondas, beemers, mercs. i won't buy the big 3 either.
my bud just bought a kia here and got a 7year/100000 mile warranty. in the states, kia offer a 10yr/100000 mile warranty. his car looks like a huge improvement on earlier models but it's their warranty which i find appealing.
Nothing wrong with Hyundai's little brother. One thing I think you will notice is a drastic difference in price between cars in the UK and the US. Vehicles are significantly cheaper to purchase and operate here, then on the other side of the pond.
My only suggestion would be to give a fair shake to some of the U.S. manufacturers. The Ford Fusion is a fantastic car and if you are the type that needs reassurance from magazines, I believe Consumer Reports and multiple others ranked it as the best car in its class. Outside of that, you may want to check out the new Buick Regal. It looks to be a fantastic car, borrowing heavily from the Opel Vectra.
....then there is the fact that many of the parts and electronics seem to be built to just make it past the end of their warranty. i believe the same to be true of toyotas, hondas, beemers, mercs. i won't buy the big 3 either.
I think modern Kias are perfectly reasonable vehicles. But I think your assumption about parts is flat out wrong for Toyotas and Hondas. There are thousands and thousands (millions?) of ten year+ old Camrys, Accords, and Civics on the road today - most of which have had just ordinary maintenance. Hondas need timing belts, typically around 100K miles.
I think you can look at the reluctance of buyers for out of warranty BMWs, M-B, and Audi as a lack of confidence in their maintenance costs. The market for used Hondas, Toyotas, and Subarus is very strong and prices are relatively high because buyers trust these used cars.
Most of the Korean vehicles have long warranties not because they are troublefree for 100K miles - the long warranty is to give the buyer confidence they won't spend a lot of money to keep the car running. The manufacturer has done a very cold calculation of the projected maintenance costs vs. the gain in new vehicle sales, etc. This long warranty was a critical factor in Hyundai's rise over the last ten years.
Kia vehicles have improved significantly. So I think they can be a good choice. But they are not better than equivalent Honda, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, or Ford vehicles.
Hyundais and even Kia's are on my possible buy list as well. I do like their warranty, but that doesn't mean it's more reliable then other cars that only have 3year/36k warranty. I mean, it's quite possible the KIA will break down often, spend alot of time in the shop and you'll probably have to fight every step of the way to make sure it doesn't cost you a dime and that they cover rentals. I am just guessing on how it can go, but I do know that getting warranty work done is not automatic and you better read the warranty and know that any little variance from it can disqaul you from getting warranty service.
The better standard warranty does entice me, but a car like a Honda where I'll probably not need to make use of warranty service is appealing too. Not that Hyundais and KIA's can't have a chance of being as reliable too, but the one friend I have that drives a KIA is always having problems and he already had to replace the motor and said they were trying very hard to make it so it wasn't under warranty. He had to get our legal officer to talk with them and weeks later, they finally agree it was under warranty, but they would not cover him with a rental while the work was done. All that time, my heavily used 160,000+ Honda Civic never had a problem. Warranties are nice, but having a car that never needs it is nice too. Maybe that's hit or miss, but I think some companies...it's alot of miss.
I put warranties right up there with places that sells you stuff using big "mail-in-rebates" that they try very hard not to honor after you buy.
Just remember that the warrenty is highly restrictive, meaning you must prove all maintainance has been done if you ever have a problem and you expect it to be fix. Lots of people have had warrenty problems with getting things fixed because of not having proper documentation.
Kia's are made cheaply. Buy a Honda or Toyota. There are no old Kias on the road--they are all dead. If you are adamant on buying Korean buy Hyundai, but the Japanese cars are still superior.
I am sure a bunch Moderator cut: Not necessary on this forum will say buy American.
Kia's are made cheaply. Buy a Honda or Toyota. There are no old Kias on the road--they are all dead. If you are adamant on buying Korean buy Hyundai, but the Japanese cars are still superior.
I am sure a bunch Moderator cut: Not necessary on this forum will say buy American.
lol! The Sorento is nice, but I'll stick with Honda CRV. Much better built vehicle and has been around for 13 years with excellent consumer reports.
Last edited by bmwguydc; 03-05-2010 at 08:33 PM..
Reason: Edited quoted text
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