I always tell people that Hyundai/Kia is pretty much the same on reliability/maintenance as German cars. The parts are cheaper, though. They do alright for a while and are prone to catastrophic failures in the 100k-200k mileage range (OK to own up to about 80k, then run for the hills). Both are obviously engineered to generate maximum billable hours for mechanics for EVERYTHING. I've seen a Kia where you had to pull the bumper to pull the headlight assembly to change the bulb...Kia bringin' the $150 headlight bulb change to the party.
I had a 2014 Santa Fe that had the engine replaced right at 100,000 - about 10,000 miles later the Turbo Charger went out - BAM - 3000.00 to fix it. Two years later turbo charger went out again - BAM - traded it off. My mechanic said the turbo had blow by in it. He suggested getting rid of it so I did. Let me make this clear - I WILL NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER HYUNDAI OR KIA AS LONG AS I LIVE, I lost more money on this one vehicle than all the previous cars I've every owned and I'm 62 years old. Hyundai is a Korean word for junk so bear that in mind when you test drive one. These cars aren't much cheaper than a Toyota so be smart and buy the Toyota.
Most vehicles are victims of good ol' planned obsolescence now. It is even an issue with many Japanese models, so the days of reaching 300k-500k on an engine are long gone. Don't be afraid to set an arbitrary mileage limit on ownership. For instance,no matter what happens my 17' MKZ 2.0T will be sold before 120k mi. , because that is about as long as it is safe to own.
Not saying Kia/Hyundai are top quality. Nor that Toyota isn’t. However, there is always more to the story. Your typical Toyota buyer pays a premium price over buying a Kia/Hyundai. They do this because they value quality and reliability. Your typical Kia/Hyundai buyer is simply price conscious. For those reason your typical Toyota buyer will diligently maintain the vehicle whereas the Kia/Hyundai will miss oil changes or go beyond the average of the Toyota. You are far more likely to find a Forte to be neglected than a Corolla. The Corolla is even more likely to be clean. This shows a pride in ownership that the typical Toyota buyer has in their car. So while I think it would bear out that Toyota is superior with all things being even the data is still skewed by the different mindsets of the owners of these cars. A couple of other observations. You speak of the 600,000 mile car. That is a common tactic. However, if a car is let’s say 20 years old then it would have been driven double the average mileage to be at 600k. This means it is likely to have lots of highway miles. Not all miles are the same. 100,000 miles in heavy traffic in Phoenix is probably worse than 600,000 of a highway commute within Kansas. This just looks at powertrain. What about steering and suspension. Do you live down a ten mile long dirt road? In a city with harsh winters and more pothole than roadway? Rustbelt versus Texas? Lots like to brag about how great the Tundra is. I’m sure it’s an excellent truck for many consumers. However, it has always been light duty. If they were worked like trucks from the big three they would fall apart quickly. That isn’t to say the Tundra doesn’t have its niche and nobody should buy one but if I need to load my bed down, hook up a 20’ trailer and go beating through a job site every day then the last thing I’m considering is a Tundra. Construction companies rarely use anything but big three trucks. Tundras are typically street queens. Again, not all miles are the same. You have to factor in how the typical buyer of the product uses it and how they maintain it. Note that I said “typical”. Certainly there are Kia owners who baby their cars and do 2,000 mile oil changes and Toyota owners who beat the hell out of them and run 20,000 without changing oil. It’s all about averages.
Averages are at play, and on average we see a ton more of these than their counterparts. I do see more to the big 3 in construction, but I see a lot of our clients running tundras for the same. If Toyota branched into the 3/4 and 1 ton world you’d obviously see more of them in that field. There’s no dispute some owners are just neglectful, especially when on the cheaper end of cars and money is tight. But it ends up costing them more to neglect it, unfortunately. I rarely see a 200k+ mile Kia or Hyundia while regularly work on many of just about every other model out there with well over that benchmark. For me, anecdotally at best, I can’t justify putting my money in them.
@@crutchfieldautomotive7936 I don’t disagree with anything you are saying. I guess I didn’t make my overall point clear that the gulf between them is made larger by how the typical owner treats them. As far as the trucks go…I’m not comparing an F-250 to a Tundra. An F-150, or a 1500 Silverado/Ram has a far more heavy duty chassis than a Tundra. (Haven’t seen the underpinnings of the latest gen Tundra). Toyota appears to me more concerned with un-sprung weight than strength. Which is probably smart since their trucks don’t get beat on like the others.
As a retired mechanic, I agree 100%. Back in the 90s I worked at a Hyundai/Mitsu dealer and we had many customers who had the first Hyundai car ( Excel ?) That did all the maintenance on time and those cars lasted well over 100K. People treat cheap cars very differently and let them fall apart.
Not buying your argument about Toyota owners being more responsible car owners - that's just crap. Hyundai is marketed with 100,000 mile/10year warranty - they're in competition with Toyota. Yeah . . . maybe a little cheaper - not much. All car owners across the board are no different - we all want the best bang for the buck. All cars have issues - makes no difference if we drive on the highway or the city. I'm sure the car doesn't know the difference. The only part of your argument I find valid is whether a car is driven in a cold climate versus a warm climate. Cold climates are much harder on vehicles due to rust and corrosion but I'm not seeing stats the produce any difference in Hyundai. Hyundai's have weak engines - regardless of climate. They've had recalls because of it - check the 2014 Santa Fe and you'll see what I mean.
@@fredcollier1299 the car absolutely knows the difference between city and highway miles. Stops/starts wear the drive train. The transmission shifts waaay more and shifts at higher load wearing clutches and shocking the gear sets. Even when the trans shifts on the highway there is far less load on the powertrain at the time. The engine purring along at 2200 rpm in overdrive is being stressed far less than having to move the vehicle from a dead stop over and over. A 100 miles trip on a highway is likely only one start and warmup cycle while 100 miles city is probably 10-15 startup and 3-5 warmups. Heat cycles are a huge part of manufacturer testing. The engine going from hot to cold to hot is a huge factor in wear. City roads are also typically worse than highways and cause more wear to steering and suspension components. Oh yeah. Back to engines Run time. If an engine runs for thirty minutes on the highway and travels 30 miles it may have to run sixty minutes or more to travel the 30 city miles. So it literally was switched on twice as long to accumulate the same mileage. This is why diesel trucks have hour meters. As far as owners go. I’m speaking of “typical” owners. Sure there are value conscious buyers who would get a Hyundai and baby if. That’s not the typical. I can only speak from decades of experience working on cars. However, you seem to be pulling your opinion out of the thin air. It’s weird how people will argue against those who have experience when they have none. You don’t have to believe me. I’m sure you could find mechanics who would argue against me. It’s just strange that someone who thinks highway and city miles wear the car equally would argue with someone with clearly superior knowledge. They aren’t much cheaper? A Kia Forte at the dealer down the street is currently available for $20,800. The cheapest Corolla available at the nearest Toyota dealer is $25,100. Depending on interest rate you are talking about $100-$200 on a payment. $3300 is a significant chunk to people in that price range. Maybe you are rich and don’t realize this but to people stretching to buy a new car it matters
Hyundai and Kia are absolute garbage. There is nothing good about them other than they are cheap when bought new.... and there is a reason for that. The Koreans have no clue how to make cars.
