Hyundai ties Honda in quality survey

CNN:Money ^ | April 28, 2004 | Les Christie

[ThePythonicCow]

In the meantime, many miles north

Yes - that is my favorite example for teaching the evils of communism (aka tyranny) to the many non-believers in my neck of the woods (left coast Kalifornia).

One people, one geography, one history, one culture, separated 50 years ago by war into free and communist halves.

Now satellite photos at night show a prosperous, well lit up South Korea, and a totally dark North. Unseen on the photos are the people feeding dirt and grass to their children, starving in abject poverty and terror in the cold.

An amazingly sharp contrast.

[ThePythonicCow]

The Honda is far better.

How old was the Hyundai - what year was it?

[TexasRepublic]

The Hyundai was a 1989. The plastics were terrible and began discintigrating within a year - I kept replacing plastic trim parts over and over. The metalurgy was poor, too. Parts would fail suddenly without any warning. I understand the brand has improved, but I will not chance finding out how much. Honda is worth the premium over Hyundai. "Your mileage may vary".

[Moonman62]

Now satellite photos at night show a prosperous, well lit up South Korea, and a totally dark North. Unseen on the photos are the people feeding dirt and grass to their children, starving in abject poverty and terror in the cold.

But think of all that energy the commies are conserving. The leftists should go join them.

[biblewonk]

car ping

[biblewonk]

I love those little Echo's. Imagine that car with a well build German diesel engine.

[crv16]

Unfortunately, there is a difference between saying that the car Hyundai sold 3 years ago is showing problems now, and saying that the car Hyundai is selling now will have problems in 3 years. My impression is that Hyundai has sharply improved their reliability over the last few years. It will take a couple more years for the long term stats to show this, if so.

Full disclosure: I've got 30,000 miles and 2 years on my Hyundai Elantra - I hope I am right. So far so good. Flawless.

Initial quality ratings, in my mind, are only "assembly quality" -- how well it was screwed together. It says little of the quality of the parts used, or the design. Cars like the Mercury Sable and the like traditionally do really well on IQS, simply because they have been made for so many years without change, and the assembly lines have been perfected and workers know how to do it well. But throw 3-5 years of use at those cars and long term ratings are average at best. Long term quality ratings show the quality of components used, and design.

That said, the Koreans have come a long way. They have improved a lot faster than the Japanese did.

[newgeezer]

Let's put nice fat tariffs on Korean goods.

Why? Is the Korean gov't subsidizing their manufacture? Are they "dumping" their goods here (selling at a loss)? Some other reason?

[newgeezer]

Even the Dodge Neon now sits at average.

My 2000 Neon (second generation, not the rattle trap which first wore the Neon name) has been perfectly reliable for all its 35K miles.

Admittedly, that's likely due in part to the fact that it has a manual transmission (the only way to drive!).

[ThePythonicCow]

Yes - there is a difference between initial and long term quality. My point was that long term quality is difficult to predict in some cases, such as for a rapidly improving (or deteriorating) manufacturer.

[ThePythonicCow]

The leftists should go join them.

Yup. One of the bumper stickers on my car reads:

[ThePythonicCow]

The Hyundai was a 1989.

Knock on wood ... er eh plastic. My 1992 Hyundai is still looking good. Not a single piece of plastic has broken or obviously aged excessively.

[ThePythonicCow]

Oops - I just confused North Vietnam with North Korea.

[Myrddin]

My wife and I bought a 2002 Hyundai Elantra GLS for my son to drive to college. After he put 4,000 miles on it, my father purchased another one for him...and left us holding the bag to finish paying for the $14,000 car. My son now has 50,000 miles on the car. Thus far, he has had a $750 clutch job and had a major brake job at 45,000.

We ran "our" Elantra GLS to 30,000 miles, then traded it for a 2003 Ford Escape 4X4. The Elantra gave us 38 mpg, a strong engine, good heating and air conditioning. The seats were a little hard. It would have been a fine car for commuting in San Diego. It was not a great choice for slogging through snow in Idaho. We needed a vehicle that could comfortably seat my 6' 3" 16-year old in a back seat and his older brother at 6 ft. The back seat room in the Escape fits the bill and the 4X4 won't get stuck in the snow.

[Judith Anne]

I've had wonderful results with Hyundai Excel, and Hyundai Elantra. Now I hear they are opening a plant to employ 4000 in Alabama.

Those cars are tough. I hit a deer with my 2002 Elantra this year, only thing that broke was a headlight. It still worked, but the glass cover was cracked. Not only that, it stopped on a dime, or there would have been a lot more damage.

And you can't beat the price. We got 3.4 financing, and the car, brand new and perfect, was under 12K, AC standard, many extras.

[Myrddin]

Your Elantra GLS is about the same vintage as the one I just traded. My son reported problems accelerating in the vehicle. That was diagnosed as a worn out clutch at 50,000 miles. We were just sensing the first indications of a need for a brake service at 30,000. Your future experience may vary.

[ThePythonicCow]

Yeah - your son, you say. I went through brakes and clutches every 30 or 40 thousand miles in my youth too. They are making these parts much more reliable now ;).

[Myrddin]

Yeah - your son, you say. I went through brakes and clutches every 30 or 40 thousand miles in my youth too. They are making these parts much more reliable now ;).

Are you questioning that my son did the driving? I have 4 cars. My "daily driver" is the 1994 Saturn SL2. The Elantra was purchased for my 20 year old son. When his grandfather purchased one for him, the Elantra became the "daily driver" for my wife. Especially after her 1999 Saturn SW2 was totaled by a 17 year old drunk driver in San Diego on July 26, 2003. My time in the driver's seat of the Elantra was limited to one trip from San Diego to Pocatello and a second "day trip" between Pocatello and Yellowstone National Park.

My Saturn SL2 has 103,000 miles on it now. My wife put the first 35,000 on it. My son added another 11,000 miles to that. I had a brake job done at 45,000 miles. The 6 year old battery was just replaced last month. I change the oil every 3,000 miles. At around 100 miles per month, it should be suitable for many more years. I do need to find a home for my 1974 Porsche 914. It's not a good fit for Pocatello.

BTW, I'm 47. I have 3 sons: 24, 21 and 16. Only the 21 year old has a license. He lives on his own nickel in San Diego. The other 2 live at our home in Idaho. Neither has a requirement for a car.

[Mears]

Daewoo?????? I thought that was something you ate!

[Jorge]

The new Hyundais (other than the low-ball Accent) are VERY good cars in my opinion. The Accent is merely "decent". I own a 1999 Accent, and it has been above average, but not stellar.

I owned an Excell that totally died at around 45,000 miles. It was well maintained, but of course it was nearly 10 years old and I bought it from my Mom for only $600. Still, I would never buy a Hyundai again.

I've had great luck with Fords.
I had an Escort (inexpensive little car) that I drove like a nut and rarely ever changed the oil, and had virtually not problems with for 120,000+ ,miles.