aradmahogany

So I brought my HHR to my dealer thinking I had a fuel pump issue but thankfully my service advisor raced around the parking lot desperately trying to find me to informs me that he suspected it was simply a bad battery and he would let me know (ended up being the original 10 yr. old battery finally giving out). So, the next day as I was pulling into the dealer to pick up my HHR I spotted a beautiful looing 2012 Hyundai Sonata; 50K on the ticker, paddle shifters, push button start, but the real selling point of the vehicle was under the hood; haven't seen that much room around an engine since my dads mustang (1967). I was almost sold. They offered it to me for just 12K USD. Well, come to find out after reading through the Hyundai forums these vehicles have MAJOR issues including a NHTSA recall for the entire short block of the engine (tends to blow up on people before 80K). Couple that with a bunch of different electrical issues, I decided to pass. Got me thinking; our cars may be considered cheap economy models, my HHR might not be as "fancy" and "luxurious" as newer cars, but ill be damned if that Sonata or any others for the matter survive for as many miles as our HHR's tend to. I'm almost to 170,000 with no major repairs needed so far. Even read that those Hyundai's have started motor failure within as little as 30K miles!!!!! MY HHR STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL( among many other original parts). So, although there is loads more room under the hood of the Sonata, I was certain I would be spending much more time in the engine bay than in the car itself, which for now is completely opposite in my HHR. Final Note; Those Hyundai's were all assembled in ALABAMA and our HHR's in Mexico; Funny huh?

db/sb

My son's 2000 Sonata has over 250000 miles on it. Still going strong.

aradmahogany

Yeah I have known people who owned older models and they are really strong. Since Hyundai started using all the new tech and GDI on their engines reliability took a big hit. It is a shame really.

db/sb

We have a 2014 Rio which uses the Hyundai Gamma 1.6 engine. Have not had one problem with it. Proper maintenance is crucial with a GDI engine. More so than with an 'regular' engine. They're not a good vehicle for the "just put gas in 'em and drive 'em" type.

aradmahogany

Ive never owned or even looked at a car equipped with GDI before, so I was a little wary. More problems arose in part because I believe those were the first years they introduced GDI in their Theta platform. Very finicky engines as far as I read. A lot more so than our Ecotecs, at least.

Laco

Frankly our little HHR's for what little they cost are IMO one of the best values out there. I have had our 2007 since new in March 2007 and have no plans to replace it. Ours has been in two fairly good accidents, one with an 18 wheeler, and about six months ago rear-ended by a Toyota. It protected my wife and me from injuries both times, and was repaired, and looks and drives just like it did in 2007. The body shop told me that the HHR is really a well designed and thought out car, and in general they fare well in crashes.

db/sb

Oh, I'm not knocking the HHR. We owned one for 6 1/2 virtually trouble free years. There were two others in our family that gave good service. I'm just speaking about my own experiences with Hyundai and Kia rather than speaking of anecdotal information from the internet.

CorvetteMongo

Not surprising to me...I used to be a auto mechanic and back in the 80's was used to seeing how well built Japanese cars were compared to American. I remember the American built smaller cars coming in with major problems in the 20,000-30,000 miles range was pretty common.
Now days I think the Mexican workers take far more pride in their work and have far more to loose if they are fired than an American worker does too.

papa_jo

I have a 2004 gls santa fe with under 85000 on it, only problem I have had besides general upkeep is an a/c leak, it has a 3.5 6cyl. in it. it runs real good on the interstates