Any Kia or Hyundai Owners?

[joesregalproject]

So my dad leased a '15 Camry a few years back, and his lease is almost up. He wants to buy this time around as opposed to leasing again. As per usual, he put me in charge of car shopping for him.

Now when it comes to commuter cars, I'm a Toyota guy through and through, and I'm tempted to steer him in the direction of a Toyota again. However, the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima are both pretty nice looking vehicles, and they are both offering some really aggressive sales pricing.

Now here is my experience with Kia and Hyundai. My mom bought a brand new Kia Sedona in 2006, and it was terrible. It needed fuel injectors, engine wiring harness, PCM and a throttle body before 40,000 miles. At 65,000 the transmission went. All replaced under warranty. At 70,000, the front A-arms rusted out and could've killed someone. They were replaced under recall. At 93,000, the transmission went again, and we got rid of the car. It was also rusting apart at the seams by that point. That was in 2015, and my mom traded it on a new Subaru.

At the time my mom bought the Sedona, people were saying Kia and Hyundai were much better than they were 10 years before. People are still saying that today about Hyundai and Kia and I'm wondering if there is any truth to it before I consider them for my dad's next vehicle. I lurked around on a Kia website and there were still a lot of people in newer models who had major components being replaced under warranty at very low mileage. I'm very leery of Korean cars after the Sedona.

Any satisfied Kia or Hyundai owners?

 

[Turbolq4]

The Optima is a pretty nice car. I don't have one but have a couple friends with them. Is it a Camry? No. I like the way they drive better though. I rented a sonata and didn't like it's steering feel compared to the Optima but it got great mileage (35) over the 1700 mile weekend.

 

[CaliWagon83]

I’m a recent Hyundai owner. Was fairly satisfied with it. I wouldn’t say it was the most trouble-free car I’ve ever owned, but it was far from the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. Also had a pretty positive dealer experience, although that can vary a lot dealer-by-dealer.

I think they’ve come a long way in the past decade. I would consider buying another. I had a 2011 Hyundai Sonata turbo.

 

[Turbolq4]

That's a mean looking Camry!

 

[CaliWagon83]

Yeah, Toyota has definitely cranked up the sportiness on the ‘18 Camry. Still a Camry, though.

 

[DRIVEN]

Not an owner but have worked on a bunch. The saying you quoted from years back still holds true. They're better but still not as good. They seem okay out the gate but just don't age well. Spend the extra money for a Toyota.

 

[Jim hopper]

So my dad leased a '15 Camry a few years back, and his lease is almost up. He wants to buy this time around as opposed to leasing again. As per usual, he put me in charge of car shopping for him.

Now when it comes to commuter cars, I'm a Toyota guy through and through, and I'm tempted to steer him in the direction of a Toyota again. However, the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima are both pretty nice looking vehicles, and they are both offering some really aggressive sales pricing.

Now here is my experience with Kia and Hyundai. My mom bought a brand new Kia Sedona in 2006, and it was terrible. It needed fuel injectors, engine wiring harness, PCM and a throttle body before 40,000 miles. At 65,000 the transmission went. All replaced under warranty. At 70,000, the front A-arms rusted out and could've killed someone. They were replaced under recall. At 93,000, the transmission went again, and we got rid of the car. It was also rusting apart at the seams by that point. That was in 2015, and my mom traded it on a new Subaru.

At the time my mom bought the Sedona, people were saying Kia and Hyundai were much better than they were 10 years before. People are still saying that today about Hyundai and Kia and I'm wondering if there is any truth to it before I consider them for my dad's next vehicle. I lurked around on a Kia website and there were still a lot of people in newer models who had major components being replaced under warranty at very low mileage. I'm very leery of Korean cars after the Sedona.

Any satisfied Kia or Hyundai owners?

I'm on my second Kia Soul I had a 2010 and now I have 2017 soul turbo and I love it never had any problems just routine mantnence grate car

 

[axisg]

Other than new car smell ( and payment ) is there a reason why not to buy out the existing lease on the Camry he has now ?

 

[CaliWagon83]

Jim hopper, I've been curious about the Soul Turbo. Seems like a great, quick little runabout.

 

[UNGN]

I used to go to Japan and Korea a lot for business. In the mid 2000's, If Japan was the equivalent of the US, Korea was like their Mexico (but without the drug/murder problems). Not quite ready for prime time but with a ton of potential if they could only get their act together.

Korea is definitely getting its act together and unlike the Japanese, they drive on the same side of the road we do, so they can actually drive the same cars they make for us and nothing gets lost in translation.