Thank God We Own Toyota's and NOT HYUNDAI'S

[KAA]

After reading this I went out and dusted off our Aurion, Gave it a kiss and raised my hands to the sky and said TY

Keep Safe

KAA

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-05/hyundai-tucson-recalled-over-risk-of-engine-fire/13124634

[campbeam]

In recent years, I have been keeping an eye on Hyundai and Kia as benchmarks to Toyota. Just when I think that they are worthwhile considering as an alternative, I then find out about a major/significant recall. Still yet to have my bubble burst on the Kia Stinger.

The other great surprise is that China based suppliers are now no.4 in the Australian market. Guess it all helps with competition but I will stick with proven quality vehicle manufacturers.

In the meantime, I will be giving my Aurion ["mechanical girlfriend"] and the backup project Aurion lots of TLC while I await the arrival of practical, affordable electric cars in 2035.

[KAA]

Yes Ash well said, I too will be treating our lady to lots of TLC..she has lasted well and age isn't depleting her beauty and class so she will last a long time yet

KAA

[Tony Prodigy]

This is why I plan on keeping my Aurion long term. I just don't have the confidence in any other brand.

By the way, Hyundai said that their car is still 'safe to drive',.... Yeah. Just don't park it in your house garage incase it catches fire and burns your house down and your family die. Park it in an open space 

[bob007]

I saw this on TV, I had to laugh when they said to park it outside because if you have it in the garage it might burn your house down. 

[campbeam]

3 hours ago, bob007 said:

I saw this on TV, I had to laugh when they said to park it outside because if you have it in the garage it might burn your house down. 

What a marketing disaster!!!

This is worse than those Takata airbags deploying on their own in certain vehicles such that owners advised to stop driving and have the vehicle towed to a dealership for repair. 

5 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

I plan on keeping my Aurion long term. I just don't have the confidence in any other brand.

My long term plan has been to wear out my 2 Aurions which will probably take me 30 years. Maybe by then I will need an autonomous electric [Toyota] vehicle so I can keep my driving license privileges. 

[KAA]

Same here Ash, enjoy the time seeing my beauty age well, and then see what is around to ease me into my old age, while I watch the bonfires of Hyundai's burning in the streets as their engine systems blow up 🤣😆🤣🎆🎆🎆

KAA

[JamesBrown89]

That's the news, it's awful, my friend's Hyundai Sonata is a hybrid and he's very happy with it, although he already likes Toyota a little more, he says he'll buy a Camry next

[Tony Prodigy]

On 2/12/2021 at 11:47 PM, JamesBrown89 said:

That's the news, it's awful, my friend's Hyundai Sonata is a hybrid and he's very happy with it, although he already likes Toyota a little more, he says he'll buy a Camry next

I wouldn't think twice about buying a Camry. It is a world class car with Toyota's legendary quality and reliability.

[Gosees]

My Camry hybrid 2013 has only done 60000k so should last us another 10 years at least. Have owned Toyotas most of my life including celiacs, land cruisers,  

and now waiting for my new RAV 4 AWD, also had a Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Isuzu and fords in the past. Toyotas have been by far the most reliable of the lot.

[ZZT86]

I saw this back then, even my work colleague got the Kia version with same issue.

Recently my mate mechanic had the Hyundai version for some exploratory surgery for another major/common fault - dead/non responsive accelerator pedal, cos the selling dealer had no idea how to fix it !

I think the Koreans still have a way to go when it comes to engineering.

[Tony Prodigy]

On 7/3/2021 at 12:16 AM, ZZT86 said:

I saw this back then, even my work colleague got the Kia version with same issue.

Recently my mate mechanic had the Hyundai version for some exploratory surgery for another major/common fault - dead/non responsive accelerator pedal, cos the selling dealer had no idea how to fix it !

I think the Koreans still have a way to go when it comes to engineering.

I've never really had any desire to own either a Kia or Hyundai to be brutally honest. I have always had Toyotas mostly and have never had any grief during any time of ownership. Just routine maintenance and consumables.

The Aurion has been impeccable to date and I always drool at my friends 2018 SL Camry V6. That car is the epitome of perfection in my mind.  If he ever decides to sell, I'd be the first to buy it. He purchased it new and was one of the first batches to arrive from Japan when that new model was released. Pearl white with all the trappings of a luxury car. Just Beautiful. The engine sounds much smoother and quieter than the 2GR-FE in the Aurion. A little bit more refinement from Toyota. I just wish they made another Aurion car, but the Camry V6 is as close as we'll get, even it's fate has been sealed which is kind of sad.

Edited July 4, 2021 by Tony Prodigy

[campbeam]

Earlier 2021, Hyundai had a global recall for their Electric Vehicles to replace battery packs and their battery management systems. It would have been an interesting conversation with their Korean battery supplier LG Chem.

Toyota is yet to release their EV onto the market and they are using different battery suppliers; BYD and Panasonic. One advantage of being slower to the market is that you can learn from other's mistakes whether it be a supplier related issue or how consumers actually use your product.

It will be interesting to see how well the Toyota EVs are engineered for longevity compared to Hyundai/Kia.

Similar to Tony, I previously would have been interested in upgrading to a recent Camry V6. Now I am more focussed upon an affordable EV that can outperform the V6 on the open highway. I previously mentioned 2035 but I am more thinking 2030 as a target year depending upon financial priorities.

[campbeam]

This YouTube video is doing a tear down of a common Hyundai/Kia engine. Early commentary is enlightening about the expected longevity. Will have to watch the rest of this video later.

 

[AurionX2]

Owned a 2007 Sonata NF 2.4 litre for almost 10 years and nearly 190.000km, the most trouble free car I've ever had in my life. Great build quality and unbelievably reliable. Until one day when my wife heard a loud bang while driving it and then the car suddenly lost power, then the engine started to sound like it spat a rod or something, sounding worse than any 1950 unmaintained diesel tractor started on a -25 degrees Celsius Christmas day :)) She managed to somehow drive it home and few days later the thing went to the wreckers (the car, not my lovely better half!), the engine was done, rebuilding it would cost more than the car's value at the time and selling it as parts would have taken years. It kind of started to give some early signs of failures around 160k mark with pinging / knocking some times and the oil level would drop towards min mark on the dipstick after 6-7000k. Lessons learned?

- Don't put 91 unleaded in that engine, should have used 95 all along.

- Don't trust the stealership for servicing, they'd put whatever crappy drum mineral oil they had in stock every 15k kms oil change, as per the service schedule. At the 135k service the dipstick already had some dark brown varnish on it where the min/max marks were. The car should have been services every 10k max with quality full synthetic.

The car could have easily lasted past 300k mark if I had these 2 covered, but I left it to the pros at the time and it showed. Blessing in disguise, my wife now drives the 2013 Aurion we bought after the Sonata went, better car overall, but we still remember how well built the Sonata was and the interior finishing quality, well above Camry/Aurion.

Even since I've decided I won't trust the monkeys at the stealerships and their extended service schedules which will only set your car up for failure. I'll be doing my own oil/filter changes at shorter intervals for as long as I'll be able to do so.

Edited July 30, 2021 by AurionX2

[campbeam]

1 hour ago, AurionX2 said:

Owned a 2007 Sonata NF 2.4 litre for almost 10 years and nearly 190.000km, the most trouble free car I've ever had in my life. Great build quality and unbelievably reliable. Until one day when my wife heard a loud bang while driving it and then the car suddenly lost power, then the engine started to sound like it spat a rod or something, sounding worse than any 1950 unmaintained diesel tractor started on a -25 degrees Celsius Christmas day :)) She managed to somehow drive it home and few days later the thing went to the wreckers (the car, not my lovely better half!), the engine was done, rebuilding it would cost more than the car's value at the time and selling it as parts would have taken years. It kind of started to give some early signs of failures around 160k mark with pinging / knocking some times and the oil level would drop towards min mark on the dipstick after 6-7000k. Lessons learned?

- Don't put 91 unleaded in that engine, should have used 95 all along.

- Don't trust the stealership for servicing, they'd put whatever crappy drum mineral oil they had in stock every 15k kms oil change, as per the service schedule. At the 135k service the dipstick already had some dark brown varnish on it where the min/max marks were. The car should have been services every 10k max with quality full synthetic.

The car could have easily lasted past 300k mark if I had these 2 covered, but I left it to the pros at the time and it showed. Blessing in disguise, my wife now drives the 2013 Aurion we bought after the Sonata went, better car overall, but we still remember how well built the Sonata was and the interior finishing quality, well above Camry/Aurion.

Even since I've decided I won't trust the monkeys at the stealerships and their extended service schedules which will only set your car up for failure. I'll be doing my own oil/filter changes at shorter intervals for as long as I'll be able to do so.

Thank you for the laugh.

Exactly why I do not let anyone drive my Aurion, especially the girlfriend. Reckon she would have the engine redlining if she drive it like her Yaris.

Plenty of experiences and learnings in your post. Certainly agree with your comment that extended service schedules set the car up for failure.

Admittedly biased but I keep finding more evidence/support for the old school approach of an oil/filter change every 5000 kms if you want to have engine reliability and longevity.

[Dankoozy]

On 6/23/2021 at 4:57 AM, Gosees said:

including celiacs,

Only runs on gluten-free petrol presumably

[ZZT86]

As I've said many times before, Hyundai/Kia have a long way to go in the engineering department, their engines are ordinary, rough & inefficient. My 1.55 tonne 3.5L V6 Aurion is almost as efficient as a current day 4pot Cerato that weighs 200kg less with far less power & torque, not to mention engine smoothness. My old 1.8L Celica was also far smoother & far better engineered 20 years ago.

I love Speedkar's videos, so knowedgeable, detailed & well explained - it's a great heads up / reminder to all would be Hyundai/Kia owners. The the main reason why I have been a Toyota owner since 92, which is most of my driving life, Toyotas are generally bombproof.

[AurionX2]

On 7/30/2021 at 5:37 PM, campbeam said:

Thank you for the laugh.

Exactly why I do not let anyone drive my Aurion, especially the girlfriend. Reckon she would have the engine redlining if she drive it like her Yaris.

Plenty of experiences and learnings in your post. Certainly agree with your comment that extended service schedules set the car up for failure.

Admittedly biased but I keep finding more evidence/support for the old school approach of an oil/filter change every 5000 kms if you want to have engine reliability and longevity.

My wife is actually a pretty calm driver, she was just unlucky on the day :)

On 7/31/2021 at 9:50 PM, ZZT86 said:

As I've said many times before, Hyundai/Kia have a long way to go in the engineering department, their engines are ordinary, rough & inefficient. My 1.55 tonne 3.5L V6 Aurion is almost as efficient as a current day 4pot Cerato that weighs 200kg less with far less power & torque, not to mention engine smoothness. My old 1.8L Celica was also far smoother & far better engineered 20 years ago.

I love Speedkar's videos, so knowedgeable, detailed & well explained - it's a great heads up / reminder to all would be Hyundai/Kia owners. The the main reason why I have been a Toyota owner since 92, which is most of my driving life, Toyotas are generally bombproof.

Yeah, so true, the Sonata was harsher and just as thirsty as the Aurion around town and slightly thirstier on long drives, guess the substandard 2.4l engine and 4 speed gearbox played a role. But boy, still miss that interior, really had a Honda/Acura feeling 🙂

Edited August 2, 2021 by AurionX2

[Noodle Boy]

1 hour ago, AurionX2 said:

My wife is actually a pretty calm driver, she was just unlucky on the day 🙂

Yeah, so true, the Sonata was harsher and just as thirsty as the Aurion around town and slightly thirstier on long drives, guess the substandard 2.4l engine and 4 speed gearbox played a role. But boy, still miss that interior, really had a Honda/Acura feeling 🙂

Hence why I'd still rather an Accord Euro over a Hyundai Sonata, despite Honda no longer making that model anymore. Our one is a CL9 from 2003 and the interior was well laid out and stylish for the era. 

[campbeam]

41 minutes ago, Noodle Boy said:

Hence why I'd still rather an Accord Euro over a Hyundai Sonata, despite Honda no longer making that model anymore. Our one is a CL9 from 2003 and the interior was well laid out and stylish for the era. 

I previously had a Honda Prelude but sold it before the timing belt needed to be replaced. It has an interference engine so it causes plenty of bent valves when the timing belt fails. I have looked at the V6 Honda Accord but it has a timing belt.

Having a timing chain is a big reason why I am staying with my Toyota.

[ZZT86]

Hondas are great, just more expensive to buy & maintain 😉

Current day Hyundai/Kia's are fine cars to drive, just not great under the bonnet. Makes me wonder how the highly strung N series cars will do which are supposedly warrantied for track use. And there's more coming interestingly enough.

I like this but how long will it last ? https://www.goauto.com.au/new-models/hyundai/special-edition-marks-end-of-hyundai-i30-fastback-n/2021-07-26/85555.html#!prettyPhoto

https://www.goauto.com.au/future-models/hyundai/i30/n/hyundai-reveals-i30-sedan-n/2021-07-14/85503.html

Edited August 2, 2021 by ZZT86

[AurionX2]

On 8/2/2021 at 5:17 PM, Noodle Boy said:

Hence why I'd still rather an Accord Euro over a Hyundai Sonata, despite Honda no longer making that model anymore. Our one is a CL9 from 2003 and the interior was well laid out and stylish for the era. 

That CL9 Accord is pretty much my all time favourite sedan.