13th Feb 2017, 23:33
The new Hyundai's look nice, and are appealing because of the cheap price, but it's the same cheap disposable junk as before. My friend bought a Veloster and it did not get the advertised mileage, and was burning oil and getting airbag codes within the 1st year of owning. Had a mid 2000s Elantra myself, started stalling on the freeway for no reason, and it was just a cheap, uncomfortable, unsafe car in general. Stay away from Hyundai unless you plan to trade in within a few years; even then it's risky as their warranty sucks and does not cover very much.
14th Feb 2017, 18:10
I don't think we can compare a 2000 Hyundai with a 2012 and up one. Hyundai (along with, surprisingly, Kia), is one of those very rare companies that care about improving their cars year after year. See where Hyundai is coming from, think Pony and early Accent ones which were perhaps the worst cars on the market back then.
The later Sonata is clearly made by engineers who took very close looks at their competitors and included functionalities very well designed in this car. I'm just looking at the engine bay (I do my own repairs), and I'm yet to have seen a car so well designed to easy the access and replacement of various parts. It is so good, it's shocking. Clearly, they think when they design. Hear me VW or BMW german engineers? Hello... no answer. Germans have a complicated way of thinking.
That said, we don't know yet about reliability. It's one thing to do a great design, and another one to put quality parts/components. Let's hope they are doing their homework. There were indeed recent issues with the engines (I believe related to the direct injection), so they are not yet at the Toyota Prius quality level. We have plenty of Sonatas here in the city as taxi cars, so let's stay optimistic.
On the other side, it is a well known and documented fact (lawsuits) that some funny guy at Hyundai headquarters has a strong tendency to lie about both engine power and fuel consumption. It seems like a company policy - could it be a Korean mentality? So yes, when you buy a Hyundai, expect it to drink at least 25% more fuel than its competition.
10th Feb 2017, 09:53
Depending on the driving conditions (bad roads, vibration, heat), a battery would typically last about 5 years - to get 8 years is good, but 5 years from a shop-bought battery isn't surprising. The only battery I had which lasted an unusually long time was the original battery in my 2001 BMW 316ti - it had the BMW badge on it, so not sure if it was made by Varta - it failed without warning in 2013.