quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

In my experience, Korean products are superficially feature rich however they have fundamental flaws in design or quality.

That may well prove to be true, as my daughter and SIL only just got theirs.

Still, a business model where they put a longer warranty behind their claims beats the reverse, where a manufacturer sells a more expensive model and offers a shorter, less inclusive warranty.

As an aside, the SIL says the Hyundai and the Kia were a collaborative effort between the two companies, with the same basic drivetrain, etc, and they they took off separately to differentiate their products from there. I like the exterior of the Telluride better, but they both say the interior of the Palisade sold them on it (after driving both).

IIRC, that's true of the majority of the H/K lineup:

Telluride/Palisade
Optima/Sonata
Sorrento/Santa Fe

etc

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
It's the name of ski town in SW Colorado.

Or in the pre-skiing days, “To hell you ride.”

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

In my experience, Korean products are superficially feature rich however they have fundamental flaws in design or quality.

That may well prove to be true, as my daughter and SIL only just got theirs.

Still, a business model where they put a longer warranty behind their claims beats the reverse, where a manufacturer sells a more expensive model and offers a shorter, less inclusive warranty.

Agree, longer warranty is generally a good thing, especially for high dollar value purchases. And again, Korean products have come a long way; I'm just not at the point where their TCO is sufficiently in the ballpark of other alternatives.

One really off the track note: warranty for Korean products may be, as suggested, part of a business model. Buy our product and we know you'll have problems but we will fix them for 10 years. And this is not to say Japanese products don't need warranties because obviously they do. But in the not so distant past, the intent was that an warranty would be offered but every effort was put in to try and make it so that you never needed a warranty. When I was first in Japan, I learned that warranties weren't really offered locally like they do for American markets. A sale is a sale. But quality and product life was part of the culture not a part of a business model. If you buy something, you may not like a feature or its implementation. But every unit is basically the same quality and they all last a long time. In Korea, warranty is part of a positive business model. In PRC, it's part of a scam. But I digress.

[/QUOTE]

Would be interesting (funny ha ha) to see one of them on Black Bear Pass![/QUOTE]


That ^^ I doubt will ever happen!

I've noticed a lot of them around here -- an area full of high-end SUVs and sedans (Northern Virginia).

When I rent a car for business, I often end up with a Sonata. They seem to drive just fine.

We're seeing them a lot here in upstate SC as well. As someone mentioned earlier, Consumer Reports (for what it's worth) rates it #1 out of 26 Midsized SUVs, with an overall score of 92.

We were looking for a new vehicle for my wife recently, and actually test drove one. It was nice, but just wasn't what we were looking for. And around here, they seem to be selling for over MSRP sticker price.

A friend is a Kia salesman here locally and he said they have yet to have one on the lot for more than a day. He said he has had people come from all over and price was never negotiated and said they do have a markup.

I see a lot of them and people seem to be happy with them. Friend says that he gets a couple of calls a week for them.

Dunno about the 'Ride but a neighbor had a Stinger for a couple of years. Never left him stranded and he loved its performance, but he told me that it was never up to the quality of past Honda, Mazda and Lexus products that he's owned. Considering that it was optioned up to near $50k his op/ed was rather telling to me. The leather of the driver's seat was wearing very poorly, a switch or two would go bad, a strut would develop a leak; that was the sort of niggling stuff that he was encountering. He finally got tired of it and sold it off for a new Acura TLX.

Frankly his old Kia sounds a lot like a VeeDub...

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
IIRC, that's true of the majority of the H/K lineup:

Telluride/Palisade
Optima/Sonata
Sorrento/Santa Fe

etc

It is. We had a Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson at the same time. Filters and stuff were the same.

I don’t like Kia/Hyundai. My FIL negotiated a price with the dealer, took the car home to get his wife’s ok, came back to a significantly different deal. I was shopping for our first minivan years ago and they were quite open about additional dealer markup. On a vehicle that wasn’t better in any way than it’s competitors. As an aside, I literally believe short of some outrageous LE vehicle that I would never be in the market for, any and all dealers who routinely add markup can go fuck themselves.

Last car purchase my wife insisted I take a look at the Kona. I spent 20 minutes on the lot and they acted like I was a leper. The dealerships alone are enough to turn me off, warranty or not.

My middle daughter has had two. They were both ok. They both had issues that needed correcting but they drove fine but I chuckle at those of you who honestly believe they are the same quality as a Toyota or Honda. That’s nonsense.

Oddly enough somebody pointed one out to me today. Had they not, I would have just assumed it was a Ford.

My kids have started playing a game in the car where they yell "Telluride" and sound an angel choir every time we see one. Needless to say, they're fans of the styling. Time will tell on the quality, but it's a good looking SUV.

I can honestly say I’ve never noticed one in the Jerkwater metro area.

They're disposable cars. They're ok when new, and people can actually afford them new, but once they start falling apart it's like, what's the point?

All of a sudden? They have been red hot for going on two years. To the point you couldn't get one and if you could find one it was marked up over MSRP.

They have slowed down a bit since COVID and you can order one and have it in about three months for MSRP.

I looked at them about a year ago and even put a deposit on one. The dealer sold it out from under me to someone that offered him over MSRP. I did get my deposit back but wasn't willing to pay over MSRP for a car so I never got one.

I'm looking at a Genesis GV80 now.

quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
They're disposable cars. They're ok when new, and people can actually afford them new, but once they start falling apart it's like, what's the point?

You obviously don't know what you're talking about. Kia has some very good products these days, far from disposable cars.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:

You obviously don't know what you're talking about. Kia has some very good products these days, far from disposable cars.

Yeah, that.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
I'm looking at a Genesis GV80 now.

I think the GV70 looks better, but is a bit smaller.
More MB GLC sized than GLE.

quote:

I'm looking at a Genesis GV80 now.

Holy style-stealing Batman! I thought I was looking at some upcoming release of a MB GLE or GLS!

eta - looked at build site and they are priced like a MB too.

One of our owners went from a Lexus LS to one of the G90s and has been tickled with it.