It started when a sales rep took me to lunch in a Genesis. It was as quiet and refined as any vehicle that I've ridden in. Then my son wanted a Sonata. We cross-shopped it with equivalents from Ford, Mazda and Honda. I would have taken the Accord, but he went for the Sonata, and it's been a really great car.
Now I have to admit that I'm kinda pumped on their upcoming mini-truck. It's like a smaller, sportier version of my beloved Ridgeline. Please, PLEASE don't bother telling me how it's not a truck. It's not. It's a SUV with a place for dirty and smelly stuff with some packaging flexibility. And that's just fine. My company has a fleet of true pickups that I can borrow from, but as a daily driver/parts runner/quasi-outdoorsy thing, it may be just right.
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1112267_2022-hyundai-santa-cruz-price-specs-review-photos-info
Why can't anybody build a pickup with a bed long enough to haul a motorcycle, or sheet rock or anything you would want to haul in a pickup truck?
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
Um, Everyone except Honda and Hyundai do. It's called a long bed pickup and they're kinda cool.
I was just recently thinking that pretty much everything I see on the road now from Kia and Hyundai looks really good compared to a lot of the other manufacturers the new Genesis SUV is by far the best looking one on the market as well
I will win you people over one car at a time.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
Um, Everyone except Honda and Hyundai do. It's called a long bed pickup and they're kinda cool.
Most of the pickup trucks I see are King Cab shortbed models. Really big trucks with really short beds. The longbed pickups I see always seem to be old ones.
I remember seeing old Datsun and Toyota mini-pickups with beds long enough to haul motorcycles.
Driven5
UltraDork
3/31/21 6:46 p.m.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
Um, Everyone except Honda and Hyundai do. It's called a long bed pickup and they're kinda cool.
Um, I beg to differ.
Just because you can't do something with the tailgate up, doesn't mean you can't do it... That's what the tailgate is for!
Haven’t trusted most Korean cars for years after hearing bad things.
It’s been intriguing watching the narrative change the past few years.
I haven’t driven any of the new Hyundai or Kias, but I’m interested, I have to admit.
The Sonata Nline sounds compelling and it’s fast. Everyone loves the Veloster N. With Mazdamoving away from zoom, I’ve been wondering about Hyundai. Can’t believe I’m typing these words.
In reply to CyberEric :
So did you have a bad experience or you just heard about bad experiences? I'm on Korean cars #8 and 9 since 2002. Combined we've seen close to 700k miles on all of them over the years. One bad trans after the wife ran ove a curb and shoved the axle into the diff. One bad crank sensor causing a no start but other than that never left is stranded
I wrote, I only HEARD bad things. That’s not worth more or less than what it is... which is a story. Basically, I’m open to different perspectives.
I actually own a Korean car right now! A Mazda built in Korea with a Ford emblem. It’s been good enough. It’s got some issues but probably no more than most cars it’s age.
Im at the point where I’m suspicious of the stories we tell about car manufacturers. I do listen, especially for VW, but I want to remain open minded.
I really like that Santa Cruz trucklet thing....
I have a theory about Hyundai (and to some extent Kia) that their quality perception comes solely to a price point. When the Excel came out in the mid '80's it was the cheapest car in the US. Hyundai was focused on that price point and many of the dealers were first time new dealers and were previously one step above the "buy here pay here" lots. As a result, many of the Hyundai customers were buying their first new car, probably at very high interest rates (only $xxx/week). These early adopters were either paying slightly above the limit of what they could afford, so they couldn't afford regular maintenance or were less than stellar drivers in the first place, so dented fenders and broken headlights were commonplace.
As a result, Hyundai's were considered crap when it was probably more related to the owners than the cars themselves. After they built up the network and cash, they were able to start upscaling and making better cars to a slightly higher price point.
But it's just a theory based on no fact/research, just the ramblings of an often unsound mind.
-Rob
They've gotten some (presumably deserved) bad press lately, but I think that there's a little bias going on as well. Some oldsters will remember when Japanese manufacturing was synonymous with junk. Some say the same about China now, even as we use electronic devices and a variety of other products that require sophisticated manufacturing. Koreas pretty far up the industrial evolution scale at this point.
The Santa Cruz was teased in 2015 and we were promised it was really going to be a thing.
It's really coming (2022) but it will be a 4 door and not the awesome 2 door like the concept :(
It will be fully unveiled on April 15th. I'm still excited because the US really needs more "compact" pickups. The Ford Maverick is on the way as well.
I was started down the path by my uncle in 2007ish. He was a Mercedes and Porsche owning doctor. At one point he had 3 Santa Fe's and a Genesis in the family. They're now down to 2 of the Santa Fe's and 2 BMWs, and a Porsche, but, still... That was pretty damn high praise to me - to go from Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche to Hyundai... That was the indication that I had to start giving them some credence.
When we bought the Kia Sedona, it was far and away the best in the class. Dodge may have been a better value because they were dirt cheap, Chrysler has the PHEV, but even including those the Kia was far and away the best. We love it.
The worst part? The Kia dealerships. They are horrible. We almost walked out on a great deal because of the tactics they were trying to pull. Two different dealerships with an identical experience. This was in 2018.
Supposedly starting at $25K. If I could get the AWD, 280 HP version for 30ish, that'd be mighty tempting.
Our Hyundai dealer experience was as clean as we've gotten at Honda and Toyota. I'm sure that it varies.
On the subject of long bed trucks, I think they "work best" when they come attached to standard cab pickups, and the buying public for the most part does not want non-extended cabs anymore.
At this point I think the smart move is to just get a small trailer for the times that stuff that would otherwise go in a bed needs to happen, and have something more like a car. I'm probably in the small minority on this though as this just doesn't seem that popular in N. America.
If this thing could tow 7000lbs id drop my trouble prone Colorado Duramax right now.
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
I can carry a sheet of plywood or a motorcycle with my Ridgeline, So it hangs out a few inches with the tailgate down. Worth it to not have to drive a big truck every day.
As for Kia and Hyundai, could you imagine giving them serious consideration a decade or two ago? Today, I would not consider shopping for a new car without shopping these brands
All I want is a Korean Baja. Is that too much to ask?
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:
On the subject of long bed trucks, I think they "work best" when they come attached to standard cab pickups, and the buying public for the most part does not want non-extended cabs anymore.
At this point I think the smart move is to just get a small trailer for the times that stuff that would otherwise go in a bed needs to happen, and have something more like a car. I'm probably in the small minority on this though as this just doesn't seem that popular in N. America.
"Standard" cab trucks are useless though, almost as useless as short beds. Even before I had a family, standard cab was just too small to work out of, requiring borrowing a bigger vehicle or sending multiple vehicles to job sites.
Short beds are utterly and disgustingly useless though, and truck makers seem to be competing to see how small they can get away with. Can't put a pallet of anything in them, can't lay down drywall or plywood at best leaving them exposed to elements or idiots in parking lots.
But then thanks to safety, and shiny happy personishness on the automakers part, a work truck that can carry a crew and materials costs as much as a house, and you need a ladder to get stuff in and out of the bed.
I guess what I'm getting at is that the entire truck segment is just berkeleying utterly useless at truck things beyond towing these days and something needs to happen. if I wanted to buy a trailer and tow all my E36 M3 around, I'd have an SUV. I shouldn't NEED to take a trailer to the hardware store or landscaper or whatever if I have a truck, the whole point of the truck is to be able to load things in the bed.
To me, the ideal truck is a 3/4 or 1 ton (probably non-dually) crew cab / long bed. And it has to be an extra vehicle so I don't have to live with all of its downsides when I don't need to do truck stuff.
In reply to RevRico :
Sounds like you actually desire a work van.
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:
Most of the pickup trucks I see are King Cab shortbed models. Really big trucks with really short beds. The longbed pickups I see always seem to be old ones.
I remember seeing old Datsun and Toyota mini-pickups with beds long enough to haul motorcycles.
You can still buy longbed trucks from the domestics. It's just that the vast majority of people prefer short beds.
When I was shopping for a new daily driver to replace my much-loved 2012 Mazda 3 last fall, I looked at and considered a ton of different vehicles. While on the way to check out a used 2018 Mazda 3, I stopped in at the local Kia dealer because they had a new Forte GT with a manual on the lot. I never made it to see that Mazda 3.
My wife had a 2003 Kia Spectra and a 2008 Hyundai Elantra. The Spectra was spartan, but a great car that put up with A LOT of abuse. The Elantra was good on paper against its competition but a massive steaming pile (quite literally, it nearly caught fire once) in reality. It was so bad, I swore never to buy a Hyundai product ever again. But here we are.
Why? Because this car is way more fun than it has any right to be at the negotiated price. It's not a mailed-in effort like I was expecting. It handles really well, has decent power, sounds cool, and is comfortable to drive. It comes with lots of tech and the electrical nannies have physical buttons to turn them off when you want to get stupid. It even looks pretty decent. It's obvious that Kia/Hyundai have taken a lot of past criticism and decided to act upon it, because this car feels nothing like the ones I've sampled in the past, and I mean that in the very best way possible. So far, it's had one issue in nearly 6000 miles of driving: a squeaky seat belt roller. 5 minutes of my time and a squirt of WD-40 and that was fixed. Didn't even need to use tools.
I could have bought a Civic Si, but there were nearly none left at the time in the area and all were going for over sticker with no negotiating, making them $6k+ more. I checked out the new Mazda 3 hatch with a manual, but the lowest price I could get was also $6k more than the Kia, and it was a lot less fun to drive. And the Jetta GLI/GTI... they were more than the Mazda and Honda were with similar options to the GT. I don't regret the choice of the GT over these. It puts a smile on my face every time I get in the thing.
The previous comments about the dealer network are 100% accurate. They are awful compared to other brands I've owned in the past. I have people in the dealer business in the family, so I know all the tricks, but dealing with them during the purchase was a slog. Once they understood that I knew their game, they dropped the act and we did the deal. I mean, as I was sitting negotiating my deal, a family came in looking at a Telluride, and they wouldn't let them test drive it without signing a deal! They told the sales manager to consume a piece of male anatomy and walked out. Dealing with them after the purchase hasn't been any better. Last time I was there, I stood at a parts counter for 5 minutes with a guy sitting right behind the desk playing on the computer and he never even acknowledged me. I just walked out and I won't be back. They really need to bring the dealer network up to par with the quality of the current product. YMMV obviously, but I hear this is more common than not.
