Faults:

Problem with rear suspension from day one.

General Comments:

Great small car 65,000 miles and no problems beside a knocking noise on the suspension on rough terrain.

Not the best on the motorway as the car has to be reved to the max to keep up speed, thus the result is a loud noise.

Faults:

Nothing to date.

General Comments:

My first Hyundai car. After too many Rover and Volkswagen cars that let me down all to often, my last Rover 214SI engine blowing up resulting in it being scrapped at six years old, I have turned to the Japanese manufacturers for my last four cars. I have owned two very reliable Nissan Micra cars and two "do they never go wrong" Honda Civic cars over the last eight years. Needless to say, I only see a garage every year for service and MOT schedules.

The Hyundai Getz is my first venture away from the safe ground of Japanese car building. This is due to my neighbour moving to live in Spain and letting go of her Getz at a very low price befire she went. To expensive for her to take it with transport and import duties.

I have now owned the car for three four months and benchmark it against the Nissan and Honda cars I am familiar with.

So far, so good. It is more spacious and economical than my Micra 1.3GX and is just as well equiped. The driving position is nice and high and the seat comfortable. Some of the inside does feel a bit cheap against Nissans/Honda cars ( As car magazine reviews often state) but the price for the car as new, is lower. It has a tight and comfortable feel when driving and is quite perky for short distance driving.

The only two criticisms are that engine sounds "thrashy" at higher speeds and when pushed when using low gears in town. Secondly the indicators and wiper stalks from the steering wheel are on the wrong side ! ( every car I have driven for the last six years has had them on the "normal" side ). For the first couple of weeks of ownership, I was frequently spotted with my wipers on fast speed when turning right at a junction ! Still getting confused when I go back to driving our four year old Honda Civic which is "nomal".

Apart from these two gripes, I am so far more than happy with my Getz. I still have just under three years of the five year warranty left, a free service in summer and nine months RAC cover on the car. If it keeps up its current performance, I might move away from the safe ground of Japanese cars to its pacific rim neighbour for my next replacements.

I understand Hyundia also own Kia and both manufacturers have fast market growth in the UK. Rover has gone, how long can other USA and European manaufacturers hold on ? Discuss !

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

Buying this car brand new, this is the first ever BRAND NEW car I've ever bought. My previous car, a large and well equipped ROVER 800Si couldn't be more different.. or could it?

I needed a car that was economical, so after trying a few other small cars, chose this one, due to the fantastic 5 year warranty, 3 year free servicing, RAC membership etc.

Expecting to have to put up with a cramped underpowered car, I was pleasantly surprised at the large amount of room, both in height and width, and the airyness of the cabin. Also, the car is the ideal town car, with bags of power in the low rev ranges, for nipping around town.

Also, as this is the entry level car, the 1.1 GSi, I was expecting little in the way of extras.

Again, I was surprised to find electric windows, power steering, twin airbags, central locking with immobiliser, CD player, three triple point rear seatbelts, and a host of other features. The interior design is superb, with pockets, and stowage spaces everywhere, controls all in the right places, and everything 'backlit' at night.

Best of all was fuel economy. Whilst there have been reports in the first few hundred miles of poor fuel economy, after 1000 miles or so, I have failed to get less than 40 MPG (mostly town driving). On long motorway runs I was averaging 50 MPG.

The engine is smooth (virtually silent at tickover), and the gearchange incredibly slick and smooth.

I really find it hard to fault this car - I've looked long and hard, and the only things I can pick up on are a lack of power around the 50MPH range for overtaking. I would also liked an armrest or centre console box to rest my elbows on during long runs.

Hardly a major problem!

Spaciousness in the back is fairly limited for passengers, as you'd expect for a car of this size. However, there is a reasonable amount of luggage space, and the split 60/40 rear seats can virtually turn this vehicle into a small van!

Finally, we come down to the price. under 6000 GBP, which is unreal. An absolute bargain.

This car just stomps all over the competition!

Hyundai promote themselves as a car first and badge second, and I couldn't agree more. Badge snobs won't be interested, which is all the better for everyone else, to whom a decent car is more important than image.