Man the Koreans make it easy!

So yesterday was our last event. It's our "Swap and drive" event where it's run like a test-n-tune where you sign up to work an hour and then run as long as you want in any car the owner will let you in. Great time. The Forte got the living snot driven out of it, and some really good times (not by me). Drove the hour and 10 minutes home, jacked it up and in an hour and 20 minutes had the entire suspension, wheels and tires and stock battery swapped, car on the ground and ready to roll.

Why can't all cars be this easy to work on?

They built it to be easy as they expected them to break and be in for service......with that 10yr warranty and all, so it sounds like it was built with quick in/out service trips in mind.

In reply to yamaha:

In reply to yamaha:

Ouch! Don't pull those punches.

In reply to Bobzilla:

The wife's Liberty is kind of like that. Everything I've had to do to it has been easy.

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: The wife's Liberty is kind of like that. Everything I've had to do to it has been easy.

That can't be. Only the Koreans can make a car that's easy to work on. (...sorry Bob, I'm in a mood...)

yamaha wrote: They built it to be easy as they expected them to break and be in for service......with that 10yr warranty and all, so it sounds like it was built with quick in/out service trips in mind.

The flaw in that theory is that the warranty work is flat rate, so there is no percentage in engineering the car to be easy to work on, because it's the tech that gets dicked over by a low book rate.

Meh... I know Paul's just berkeleyin with me. ButI will say this car has been really easy to work on. Even easier than the old Accent and I thought it was gravy.

We swapped the engine in a 2005 Accent in an evening. Easiest engine change I've done on anything modern. The engine had 340k on it before the original timing belt snapped. I picked up the car for $150 and found a low mileage replacement engine for $100. We pulled that one out in just over an hour with hand tools. It's my youngest daughter's but it's a fun little car to drive.

You know, a Europa is really easy to work on. It's a very good thing, too, because you have to work on them all the time.

In my experience, basic stuff like that (suspension and brakes) is fairly easy on modern cars. A side effect of them going together quickly on an assembly line. The brakes on my '08 Caravan would have been easy if it weren't for 105K miles of rust-belt living. I swear the next new car I buy, I'm going to take the suspension apart when I get home and slather antisieze on everything.

Wayslow wrote: We swapped the engine in a 2005 Accent in an evening. Easiest engine change I've done on anything modern. The engine had 340k on it before the original timing belt snapped. I picked up the car for $150 and found a low mileage replacement engine for $100. We pulled that one out in just over an hour with hand tools. It's my youngest daughter's but it's a fun little car to drive.

We did hte one for the wife in about 5 or 6 hours with 3 of us working on it in the garage. THe hardest part was drilling out one of the converter bolts that had snapped. That took almost an hour of our time

Koreans are the new Japanese. Remember when the Japanese cars were the ones that were easy to work on?

Meh, I wouldn't know after just 184K, nothing has been replaced on the 2011 Elantra except rear shocks

Speaking of that... I put the Koni's on the rear. Holy f'n S*t. I need to pony up and get the Blisteins for the front because they ride SO much better than the crappy stock piles of F. Fronts are starting to leak, so I'm hoping I'll convince SWMBO that we need the Billies soon. lol

The Koni's on the back convinced me the stock spring rates are pretty good for a stock car. Just need real struts/shocks to control them.

In reply to Appleseed:

It's been so long I can't remember!

Oh... and if the hotshoe that wasted me Yesterday had been driving at Nationals and beat me at the same amount, he would have finished 6th overall in STF. 6th. With one run in the car. Friggin car is good. I just suck that bad. Gotta get a good co-driver next year and give Kia it's first Solo Nationals trophy ever.

Duke wrote:

yamaha wrote: They built it to be easy as they expected them to break and be in for service......with that 10yr warranty and all, so it sounds like it was built with quick in/out service trips in mind.

The flaw in that theory is that the warranty work is flat rate, so there is no percentage in engineering the car to be easy to work on, because it's the tech that gets dicked over by a low book rate.

but the manufacturer couldn't care less about the tech

In reply to wbjones:

that ain't no lie. Or the Dealership in general to be honest.... and that's across the board. Not just the Koreans or Japanese. Hondar's favorite is : "We just released a huge recall and sent the customer their notice in the mail. Guess what? No recall parts are available until December 15th. Don't care, you deal with it."

Annnnnd Bobzilla pushes me one step close to daily-ing a Sedona.

(With help from the wagon thread)

My inlaws, who were staunch Honda/Toyota people for years are on their second Kia. FiL's 08 Spectra5 had 107k miles on it and he had zero problems. Last weekend they picked up a 2015 Sorento and are tickled pink. He told me they gave him $5200 trade-in on that Spectra5 and another $500 in loyalty rebates.

Dr. Hess wrote: You know, a Europa is really easy to work on. It's a very good thing, too, because you have to work on them all the time.

Reminds me of a story told to me by one of our long time club guys, John English. Evidently he and a friend bought two of the first Europas in the country, and although he had no issues with his, his buddy had plenty. With just a small mileage number, it quit running in a blaze of glory.

Upon tearing down the head (there was no local dealer, and they were in Florida), they found a screw or bolt or something in a cylinder. So...he called the number on their books for warranty work...and they were referred to a number in England. With nothing else to lose, and looking at a costly repair for a new car with less than 100 miles on it, they made the call. A guy answered the phone and soon they were connected to a guy that called himself Colin, and he quickly said "men, we warranty our cars against anything but an act of God, and unfortunately that sounds like what you have."

He was quite a character, and although I have no idea if the story is true, it could be given what I knew about him. Anyway, interesting nonetheless.

In reply to Bobzilla:

At least when Chrysler sent me a recall notice (the infamous ignition key b.s.), they said up front the "fix" wasn't available yet and I could expect another notice at a later date.

My Saturn is that easy to work on :)

Ian F wrote: In reply to Bobzilla: At least when Chrysler sent me a recall notice (the infamous ignition key b.s.), they said up front the "fix" wasn't available yet and I could expect another notice at a later date.

Nope... not how Hondar does it. In their mind, they did what they had to do: notify the customer. Its up to the dealers to deal with the blowback of not having parts available for them. Or making the parts a controlled order that has to be ordered by VIN with the vehicle on site. Makes people happy knowing htey have to come BACK a second time to get their free repair done.

Believe me, they may make a decent automobile but they way they treat their dealer networks is horrific. Suzuki was even worse, which would explain why dealer dumper their franchises as quick as they could.