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Never buy a Hyundai/Kia. They make the dumbest cost cutting decisions, like their recent immobilizer fiasco. The dealers are also, largely without exception, te

by TylerE 5mo ago

Never buy a Hyundai/Kia. They make the dumbest cost cutting decisions, like their recent immobilizer fiasco. The dealers are also, largely without exception, terrible.

seabass-labrax 5mo ago
Several Kia models produced around 2005 incorporated the questionable design of having the engine control electronics located below the oil sump - as I've seen first-hand what that does to the vehicle's maintenance costs, I'm inclined to agree with you!
- Copernicron 5mo ago
  I know a number of people with this view on Kia and Hyundai. "They were garbage back in 199X or 200X so they're still garbage now." Except that was twenty or thirty years ago and from what I've heard they made advances in design and quality since then.
  - lukan 5mo ago
    Maybe, but anecdotically people I know who bought new Kia's also got rid of them, after trying different models that all had interesting problems.
  - TylerE 5mo ago
    The immobilizer issue I mentioned effects virtually every Kia built between 2011 and 2021. They also do not do well in CR's annual surveys. They're still bad, and there is ample objective evidence.
    - Copernicron 5mo ago
      Most of what I've heard is about the electric vehicles they produce, not the ICE cars. My understanding is their EVs are different beasts and much better.
    - bombcar 5mo ago
      Kia has some competitive vehicles in niches that not many seem to want to service, and I suspect many of their buyers do not live in areas where immobilizers are going to be a major issue. Our dealer was fine, and it's been fine. It's a car car, not really doing anything amazing. Brands, but especially Asian ones, seem to go through cycles - this thing is absolute shit, nobody buy it, company fixes the problems and gets reliable, but still thought of as crap, company keeps improving, people start to notice, becomes known as a real good and reliable deal, company starts charging more and more. Kia's on the ascendant right now, where Toyota was 20+ years ago.
  - Jblx2 5mo ago
    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hyundai+iccu https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hyundai+iccu
  - BoingBoomTschak 5mo ago
    The immobilizer thing isn't due to stupidity, but corner cutting taken to ridiculous extremes. I don't think a company can recover from being run down by bean counters.
lbreakjai 5mo ago
Kia is pretty much well regarded in Europe. It was the first company to offer a 7 years warranty. I've been very happy with mine.
- turtlesdown11 5mo ago
  They offer (still I assume) a ten year warranty in the States. They offer such a long warranty because the perceived reliability of their vehicles is so low.
vlucas 5mo ago
The dealer issues are true, but we have been very happy with our 2021 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy after owning it for 5+ years and 82k miles. Budget luxury with pretty good handling and performance. It's a great value package if you need a 3rd row vehicle (I have 4 kids).

by TylerE 5mo ago

Never buy a Hyundai/Kia. They make the dumbest cost cutting decisions, like their recent immobilizer fiasco. The dealers are also, largely without exception, terrible.

seabass-labrax 5mo ago

Several Kia models produced around 2005 incorporated the questionable design of having the engine control electronics located below the oil sump - as I've seen first-hand what that does to the vehicle's maintenance costs, I'm inclined to agree with you!

Copernicron 5mo ago
I know a number of people with this view on Kia and Hyundai. "They were garbage back in 199X or 200X so they're still garbage now." Except that was twenty or thirty years ago and from what I've heard they made advances in design and quality since then.
- lukan 5mo ago
  Maybe, but anecdotically people I know who bought new Kia's also got rid of them, after trying different models that all had interesting problems.
- TylerE 5mo ago
  The immobilizer issue I mentioned effects virtually every Kia built between 2011 and 2021. They also do not do well in CR's annual surveys. They're still bad, and there is ample objective evidence.
  - Copernicron 5mo ago
    Most of what I've heard is about the electric vehicles they produce, not the ICE cars. My understanding is their EVs are different beasts and much better.
  - bombcar 5mo ago
    Kia has some competitive vehicles in niches that not many seem to want to service, and I suspect many of their buyers do not live in areas where immobilizers are going to be a major issue. Our dealer was fine, and it's been fine. It's a car car, not really doing anything amazing. Brands, but especially Asian ones, seem to go through cycles - this thing is absolute shit, nobody buy it, company fixes the problems and gets reliable, but still thought of as crap, company keeps improving, people start to notice, becomes known as a real good and reliable deal, company starts charging more and more. Kia's on the ascendant right now, where Toyota was 20+ years ago.
- Jblx2 5mo ago
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hyundai+iccu https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hyundai+iccu
- BoingBoomTschak 5mo ago
  The immobilizer thing isn't due to stupidity, but corner cutting taken to ridiculous extremes. I don't think a company can recover from being run down by bean counters.

lbreakjai 5mo ago

Kia is pretty much well regarded in Europe. It was the first company to offer a 7 years warranty. I've been very happy with mine.

turtlesdown11 5mo ago
They offer (still I assume) a ten year warranty in the States. They offer such a long warranty because the perceived reliability of their vehicles is so low.

vlucas 5mo ago

The dealer issues are true, but we have been very happy with our 2021 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy after owning it for 5+ years and 82k miles. Budget luxury with pretty good handling and performance. It's a great value package if you need a 3rd row vehicle (I have 4 kids).