I own a hyundai back in 2001 i sold the car cause i didnt like it , now i am looking at the new hyundai cars and Kia cars specially the Kia Rio wich i really like it look somhow nice i dont like the new shape of the accent , but the question is do they continue to be the same crappy cars that i drove back in 2001 any experience with them?
I cannot comment on the Kia , although Consumer Reports seems to think they are improving, but Hyundai appears to have significantly improved their offerings and quality over the past decade. The Elantra is now Consumers top rated small car with features and warranty unmatched by the competition. I suspect that soon they will be considered the equal of the japanese competition
Don’t put a lot of stock in Consumer Reports.
The Korean cars were junk when introduced here in the USA but the quality has risen a lot.
Kia in general are about 3-4 years behind Hyundai, mainly because Hyundai didn’t buy Kia until 2003, while Hyundai has been making good cars since 2000.
Hyundais are very reliable, cheap to operate and insure, and offer good standard option packages as compared to the competition. They are also, as I’m sure you know, very cheap to buy. But they are as reliable as the Asian competition.
If you’re looking for a small car, I’d go with the Elantra. The Accent and Rio are good cars, no doubt, but the Elantra gets similar gas mileage, but has more useable space, amenities, and comfort over the subcompacts. And the price of a barely used version is quite low - you can get a low mileage 06 or 07 for around $10,000, maybe less.
I have a 2007 Accent, three-door liftback version; great car for everyday transportation. Based on other cars I considered in its class, it is comfortable, fairly quiet, solidly built, and very cheap to operate. Not only that, but it was less expensive to buy than its Honda, VW, Chevy, Ford, Mazda, Dodge and Toyota competitors.
I worked for KIA in 2003 I was not dissapointed with the cars we had good tech support. The Rio was the bottom of the line then,I wouldnt have been happy with it in 2003.Both Kia and Hyundai have invested much (new test center in CA.) no reason to expect that the cars have not evolved into a even better product.The Rio had no where to go but up,this was the car the would advertise new at some really low price to get you in the door. Whats going on with you your mechanic and your Echo? after all that cheap work and Car Talk advice you are going to bail on it?
My family has had 3 Hyundais. Reliabel, great mileage and not much less comfortable than Civics. At that level I say why risk a Kia.
We had a Rio which we traded for an Optima in 2005. We have loved the Optima until this point. It reached the time to change the timing belt which we have done. Now it has a distinctive whirring noise that is intermittent. It has been in to the shop twice to be fixed and the last time they replaced a pulley and clutch. The noise continues. A mechanic friend says the it is either the alternator or the water pump. Any ideas?
Kias are getting better very quickly. Kia is also the fastest growing car company in Amercica in terms of sales. Kia quality will be equal to Hyundai before too long. If I had to choose between a Kia compact and a GM one, it would be no contest. For the time bing, I would still favor Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Mazda.
The echo is running better than ever it feels great to be honest with you i dont want to sell or junk it it was the first car i purchase with my own money so i think on keep it even if dont use it anymore , the kia is for my wife he has just learn to drive and we are looking for a car and a Rio or accent seems a good choice for a novice driver
I think both brands are pretty decent quality-wise. When browsing at dealerships recently, I noticed that they put a mark-up on the sticker. They refer to it as a “market adjustment,” I think. The Kia Spectras I looked at averaged around $1400 for this mark-up. Yesterday a Hyundai dealer in Limerick, PA showed a “market adjustments” of up to $2400 depending on the model. If I were you I’d do some homework first. Other cars - a Nissan Sentra for example, might be less because of the mark-ups that Kia & Hyundai have.
Consumer Reports agrees with you that Korean cars, like the infamous Hyundai Pony, were junk. Since that time they have kept track of all Korean models and are happy to report that Hyundais are now much more reliable than Mercedes and Volkwagen cars, and are beating nearly all American cars.
Kia is also much improved and will no doubt be even with Hyundai soon, since they are owned by Hyundai.
Korean cars made by General Motors (Daewoos) are still somewhat flimsy, but are improving.
In case you are interested, the time lag between perception and reality is about 8 years; 8 years after Japanese cars surpassed American cars in quality (in the early 80s) the man on the street finally believed it.
It took about 8 years for Mercedes aficionados to realize they were driving expensive, substandard machines.
California drivers are normally ahead of the pack in realizing changes in the marketplace and products. They were the first to espouse the VW beetle, and those funny Japanese cars.
It took 8 years for the US public to catch on that those famous Maytag appliances were unreliable and short lived.