My partner Jan has a Hyundai Coupe which she bought some three or four years ago - it is on an X plate which makes it about 10 years old . The car had two owners recorded , both from the same family , having been mother's car , then daughter's .
When she first bought it there was a rattle from the timing chain , which I spotted before the deal was done and the used car dealer promised to rectify this - only didn't and , against my better advice to walk away the car was still bought ! New timing belt/chain and tensioner fitted by local garage ( Hyundai twin cam engine has a strange arrangement with first cam belt driven and second cam chain driven from first ! )
I had also pointed out a weak synchromesh on second gear ( but was told by SWMBO that it was just me trying to drive the car too fast !!! ) now the car often baulks at second . This surprised me on a car with , at the time of purchase , less than 50,000 on the clock .
Apart from these two faults which would have put me off any car , the car was reliable enough for the next couple of years .
The first problem to arise was a loss of engine oil - when I checked there was nothing on the dipstick - further investigation revealed the sump had corroded through and had to be replaced .
Next was a loss of fluid form the power steering system - turned out to be a corroded pipe .
At some point within the last couple of years , the rear section of the exhaust system had to be replaced .
Then the car stopped firing on one cylinder - at first we were told compression was down on that cylinder and I was thinking valves or rings ; then garage told me a new set of plugs/leads and a coil pack had cured it ! Car goes into local garage for these jobs as Jan can't wait for me to look at it 'when i get round to it' , besides I really don't like working on anything other than MB or air-cooled VW .
Latterly the battery failed , but I think it was the original one so not too much to complain about .
Lately , it seems to be a new problem almost every month , so the car will be disposed of at some point this year .
Sadly , I have reached the conclusion that Hyundai's are much like most Japanese cars in that they will work reliably for the first few years of their life , then they will reach a point where EVERYTHING just starts to fall apart - unlike a Mercedes-Benz which can still operate reliably at 20 , 30 or more years of age .
You just don't see many 'oriental' cars more than about 10 years old running around , yet 20 year old Mercedes-Benz are an everyday sight .
When she first bought it there was a rattle from the timing chain , which I spotted before the deal was done and the used car dealer promised to rectify this - only didn't and , against my better advice to walk away the car was still bought ! New timing belt/chain and tensioner fitted by local garage ( Hyundai twin cam engine has a strange arrangement with first cam belt driven and second cam chain driven from first ! )
I had also pointed out a weak synchromesh on second gear ( but was told by SWMBO that it was just me trying to drive the car too fast !!! ) now the car often baulks at second . This surprised me on a car with , at the time of purchase , less than 50,000 on the clock .
Apart from these two faults which would have put me off any car , the car was reliable enough for the next couple of years .
The first problem to arise was a loss of engine oil - when I checked there was nothing on the dipstick - further investigation revealed the sump had corroded through and had to be replaced .
Next was a loss of fluid form the power steering system - turned out to be a corroded pipe .
At some point within the last couple of years , the rear section of the exhaust system had to be replaced .
Then the car stopped firing on one cylinder - at first we were told compression was down on that cylinder and I was thinking valves or rings ; then garage told me a new set of plugs/leads and a coil pack had cured it ! Car goes into local garage for these jobs as Jan can't wait for me to look at it 'when i get round to it' , besides I really don't like working on anything other than MB or air-cooled VW .
Latterly the battery failed , but I think it was the original one so not too much to complain about .
Lately , it seems to be a new problem almost every month , so the car will be disposed of at some point this year .
Sadly , I have reached the conclusion that Hyundai's are much like most Japanese cars in that they will work reliably for the first few years of their life , then they will reach a point where EVERYTHING just starts to fall apart - unlike a Mercedes-Benz which can still operate reliably at 20 , 30 or more years of age .
You just don't see many 'oriental' cars more than about 10 years old running around , yet 20 year old Mercedes-Benz are an everyday sight .
