They definitely aren't as bad as say... A Lada, or the Hyundai of the late 80s... But that said, how many 20 year old Kia's do you see on the road? Everything about them is designed to cost less today, at the expense of tomorrow. My kia was so shitty that I had the seats replaced under the 5 year warranty it came with. I had some part in the transmision replaced under warranty when it got stuck between 5th and reverse. And I had the pleasure of selling it to a used car dealer who didn't check that it had trouble shifting into 5th without pressing the clutch twice. Which happened as soon as the warranty ended
Compared with my Toyota Camry I bought to replace it which has lasted 3 times as long, with no warranty claims, and only schedule maintenance over 200,000 km
I hear ya. But if you were driving a manual transmission Hyundai, how old was it? I noticed the marked improvement in quality back in the mid-late 2000's. And their prices are still more affordable than Toyota/Honda. But keep in mind, I'm addressing you calling them shit boxes.
You're asking the right person about how many 20-year-old Hyundai do I see on the road. I was a finance manager for used car dealership for some time. And no, I rarely saw a road worthy car like that.they were pieces of shit. But I did and do see a lot of 10-year-old kia and Hyundai. So I think they're really in the right direction.
I have signed up many a customer for a 2010ish Kia Forte and Kia Soul. They're economy cars but they've held up well enough for me to get hefty commissions on extended warranties and never get canceled because the loss run reports went south. And the same can be said for the Sonata and Sante Fe. Cheaper, reliable transportation.
Are they Toyota or Honda? Absolutely not. But the gap has closed significantly.
Just my two cents and experience.
I've had a 1988 Hyundai Excel. And a 2003 kia Rio. All died without exceeding 200000 km
My co worker has a 2015ish Hyundai.
All crap, just the newer ones are bejeweled crap
You brought up two vehicles that, besides maybe a Daewoo option, were the absolute cheapest on the road. My great aunt owned an Excel. Bought in the mid 80’s. I can still hear that door chime.
She passed in 2004ish. So that car was nearly 20 years old and still her daily driver. More of an outlier, I’d say.
I can see your point about bejeweled crap, but they certainly aren’t as poorly made as the current shitboxes which would have to be the Nissan Versa and anything Mitsubishi.
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