Consumer Reports April Auto issue

peter78

Super Moderator
The Consumer Reports April Auto is out now and there are some interesting things in it.

1.) On page 5 Consumer Reports says
 
Register to hide this ad
I've driven a Santa Fe -- not a bad vehicle, but I considered it more of a compact SUV than a midsize. I definitely wouldn't compare it to the 4Runner, though -- to me, it's an apples-and-oranges comparison.

My $0.02.
 
Santa Fe?

Yea I saw that. The damn thing is, I encountered maybe 1 of those in last month on the street. One thing for sure, they aren't popular.
 
<<<< said:
Santa Fe?

Yea I saw that. The damn thing is, I encountered maybe 1 of those in last month on the street. One thing for sure, they aren't popular.
You may be right. Lat week I saw a commerical about the Santa Fe with a couple thousand off and then it had the fine print. I have a DVR so I hit re-wind and saw that it was for the 2007 model. If they are advertising in March of 2008, 2007 models, that is not a good sign.
 
CJ3Flyr said:
What good does the 2003 Volvo/Audi/C230 (whatever...) do your loved one when she has the kids sitting on the side of the interstate at 10:30PM!

HEY, watch the cracks about the Volvo! Our other car is a 2003 Volvo S60, and is a fantastic car. Oil change every 15k miles, and its regular CHEAP maintenance, and we have spent nothing more on it than tires in 80K miles. You should see the Top 50 Local Owners list on the wall of the service desk at our dealer. These are people that bought and have their service done at there since new, and the LOWEST mileage on the list is 250K miles and goes all the way up to just under 700K miles.

Anyway, I agree with the past posts about a the Santa Fe, not even in the same class as a 4Runner. Maybe close to a Ford Edge or a Lexus or Acura products whose design the completely knocked off, but no way the 4Runner. Beside that, a Korean tin can will never have the cult following like our cult!!
 
does anyone else remember when Hyundai first hit the market. easily the worst car produced. problems were legendary, the cars were pieces of pure sht. over the last several years the marketing has improved and according to some sites so have the cars. for myself I can't see putting dollars into a vehicle that was worse than the Yugo..........remember that one?:spam:
 
alaskaman said:
does anyone else remember when Hyundai first hit the market. easily the worst car produced. problems were legendary, the cars were pieces of pure sht. over the last several years the marketing has improved and according to some sites so have the cars. for myself I can't see putting dollars into a vehicle that was worse than the Yugo..........remember that one?:spam:
Remember it well -- the Hyundai Excel was not very good. But also remember that Hyundai got a new CEO in 1999, son of the late founder, and he wanted to emulate Toyota quality. It seems the quality surveys say they have made great strides.

Interesting to read this article since it was written 6 years ago: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_51/b3762010.htm

And the Yugo ... what can you say? Maybe counter with some US-made winners, like the AMC Gremlin?
 
Hyundai makes some nice cars for the buck. You get a lot and everyone I know that has one has had great luck with them.

Don't know much about the Sante Fe . I only know one guy that has one , loves it , no problems after about 4 years.
 
alaskaman said:
does anyone else remember when Hyundai first hit the market. easily the worst car produced. problems were legendary, the cars were pieces of pure sht. over the last several years the marketing has improved and according to some sites so have the cars. for myself I can't see putting dollars into a vehicle that was worse than the Yugo..........remember that one?:spam:

Same when Toyota first hit the American market, but things change.

I remember the Toyotas from the 80's....I was not impressed in the least. Then Toyota really kicked up quality in the 90's.
The Korean automakers are really serious about quality. I'm not so sure that quality is as important as it once was for the Japanese companies (I think quantity is now the top priority.).
 
Re: Re: Consumer Reports April Auto issue

majewski said:
HEY, watch the cracks about the Volvo! Our other car is a 2003 Volvo S60, and is a fantastic car. Oil change every 15k miles, and its regular CHEAP maintenance, and we have spent nothing more on it than tires in 80K miles. You should see the Top 50 Local Owners list on the wall of the service desk at our dealer. These are people that bought and have their service done at there since new, and the LOWEST mileage on the list is 250K miles and goes all the way up to just under 700K miles.

As I get older I lose track of time... What was it that was so bad? Early '90's 760's? There was a few years that were pretty rough.

And know that I was poking at Volvo's et al. I understand that even the Patron Saints of reliability/durability (Mercedes, Honda & Toyota) have made some less than stellar models. I think my point is basically and fundementally valid even if my example was not the best:biggrin2: And besides, the Volvo's got fixed by Ford:bugeye:
 
Santa Fe

One of my best friends has a Santa Fe, with close to 100K on it. It has been trouble free since they bought it. This vehicle has been as much off road as on and still runs great. I strongly considered the Santa Fe, but I wanted a lo range and they don't have that, or least didn't at the time. I believe that as far as Hyundai is concerned, the Santa Fe is one of their better selling vehicles.

I would also agree with their mpg estimates on the Santa Fe as my friend's gets about 20 on the hwy and 18 in mixed.

My point I guess, is don't be so surprised, they make very good cars.

What surprised me on my friends is how it's still tight, all the doors and windows, with no rattles.

When Hyundai brought out their large SUV, I forget the name, I considered trading in my 4R as I am just a tad too tall for one, but at the time Hyundai wasn't dealing.

Paul C
 
JungleJim said:
Same when Toyota first hit the American market, but things change.

I remember the Toyotas from the 80's....I was not impressed in the least.

Toyotas in the 80's were great, I bought an '84 Supra new and it was awesome, no rattles, still the quietest vehicle at speed I've ever ridden in. Haven't purchased a domestic vehicle since.
 
would have to agree. Toyota had good product line with some issues but worked to correct them Hyundai had years of trouble. glad that they are doing better now.....

consumers reports has always had a bias and they are simply not that smart in my opinion, and the fact that the 4 Runner, a clearly superior vehicle, is not listed does not surprise me. Finally the Jeep products are consistently rated higher than the 4Runner off road and many Jeep owners will tell you their woes early and often.

Rant over.
 
Re: Re: Consumer Reports April Auto issue

majewski said:
HEY, watch the cracks about the Volvo! Our other car is a 2003 Volvo S60, and is a fantastic car. Oil change every 15k miles, and its regular CHEAP maintenance, and we have spent nothing more on it than tires in 80K miles. You should see the Top 50 Local Owners list on the wall of the service desk at our dealer. These are people that bought and have their service done at there since new, and the LOWEST mileage on the list is 250K miles and goes all the way up to just under 700K miles.

Anyway, I agree with the past posts about a the Santa Fe, not even in the same class as a 4Runner. Maybe close to a Ford Edge or a Lexus or Acura products whose design the completely knocked off, but no way the 4Runner. Beside that, a Korean tin can will never have the cult following like our cult!!

I looked real hard at the XC90 before I bought my 4Runner. They had a LOT of problems with those! Surprising amount of complaints. The turbos were really bad. Lots of tranny failures.

I really like th XC70 though, would be a great delivery vehicle for my business.
 
Jeep and Volvo vs 4Runner

I traded in a Jeep Liberty on my 4Runner 5 months ago. Other than the fact that the ride was only slightly more comfortable than a go-cart, it was still very tight at 75,000 miles. It seemed very capable though, and the 3.7L had pretty good power and pulled a 20 ft. boat easily. Surprisingly, it only got about 1 mile per gallon better than my V8 4Runner though. My brother-in-law builds Jeeps up in Toledo, and he said that new production line Daimler-Benz helped them build when they first joined was just exceptional. Probably the reason you see so many Liberties out on the road.

The Volvo XC90 somebody mentioned was having some drive line issues. But I understand they replaced some parts and also began putting a Kawasaki motor in place of the V8, which made a huge difference. Funny how vehicles from an auto maker can be vastly different on the quality and reliability scale. The rest of the cars in their lineup are very reliable, and we have had great experience with our S60 so far.
 
Volvo XC90

That is so true. The overal design of the XC90 is quite pleasing IMO, however they did have problems with it.

I remember when they first brought it out and all you heard about was the v8. I can't remember if the V8 was a true Volvo or a Yamaha V8. like the new S80 has. They also had the turbo version and their turbos have always been trouble. I own a 99 S80, with over 120K on it now, but it has the base 6 inline. They don't make that engine anymore. But when the S80 came out they had the base engine and then the same engine with a turbo, s80T. That particular car has had a long litany of problems, all around the turbo. It's interesting to note that 1/2 through the older body style S80 like I have, Volvo dropped the Turbo altogether V6.

I haven't heard much about the V8 in the new style S80, only that it's a Yamaha V8.

IMO their biggest problem is they just don't make enough cars, and thus the bugs don't get worked out.

Paul C
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
278,309
Messages
3,554,068
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top