Hyundai/Kia South Korean Cars

Hi,
I also have seen a good deal for i30 2017.
But in the Redriven video (I put the link below) initially, they highly recommended these Korean brands, but recently, they have become cautious due to reports of engine issues. He said, these issues seemed sporadic and may have been isolated to poorly maintained or mistreated examples. However, as these cars have aged and accumulated more mileage, the reported engine problems have become more widespread.

He notes that Hyundai and Kia have faced class action lawsuits due to these engine issues, with complaints ranging from knocking and tapping sounds to catastrophic engine failures and even engine fires. Internationally, over 4 million vehicles have been affected in the United States, leading to a significant settlement.

In light of these concerns and until Hyundai and Kia provide satisfactory answers and solutions to address these engine issues, the Redriven advises being incredibly cautious when considering the purchase of any used models from these brands.

Is this really true ? Should I really avoid it ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN68qszLMS4&ab_channel=ReDri…

(starting at 06:30 time period)

Comments

  • +1

    have had hyundai and Kia cars for the last 10 or so years. never had a problem

    even my first car was the 1987 hyundai excel in gold.. the OG.

    every car will be different, and every manufacturer will have their problems.

    you could have bought the same car at the same time as your Neighbour, but his could turn out to be a lemon.

    • True.
      But the video sounds like suggesting don't take the risk..?

      • +1

        In which case you should pay more to buy the lowest KM, most complete service history Toyota Corolla

        id avoid the GDI Hyundai / kia engines

        the problems largely center around manufacturing defects in the crankshafts. Metallic shavings and burrs from the crankshaft milling process were left behind and would enter the oil channels of the engine Over time, this material can block off oil flow to parts of the engine, causing accelerated wear and eventual bearing failure.

        Hence the class action as per: https://www.drive.com.au/news/hyundai-and-kia-hit-with-class…

        we can start a new thread to talk about dual clutch transmissions if youd like

  • +3

    So, just to weigh in on this. My wife has owned both a 2010 Kia Rio hatch and now a 2017 Kia Cerato hatch with no engine dramas whatsoever. I also personally now own a 2023 Hyundai i30N which is fantastic. I had heard about the engine troubles but from what I saw they were limited to some select SUV models and the issues were caused (from what I could gather) from poor maintenance.

    End of the day, if buying any used vehicle, it's on you to do your due diligence with it.

  • +4

    Every car has issues and there'll always be a vocal minority who'll make it sound worse than it is.

    Even Toyota Camry's can be lemons.

    I've drive a 2010 Kia sportage and have had zero issues, just ticked over 290,000k's

    All cars are becoming increasingly unreliable simply due to the increased complexity of the systems. My other car that i picked up, an LDV D90 is inherently more complex in terms of electronics and thus more things to go wrong, i don't really expect it to be as reliable, but god it's incredible value for money.

  • +3

    The settlements that happened in the US would have been for cars built in the US. The ones we drive here in Australia generally are built in South Korea. While it doesn't mean they won't have the same issues they are slightly different cars and they did piles of recalls in the US that they didn't do it here in Australia.

    IMO do your due diligence on the car itself - if it's in good nick and someone who understands hyundai's says it's fine then I wouldn't be too stressed.

  • +3

    Every car manufacturer has issues with quality control. I would be more interested in what actions they take to rectify customer issues. At least Kia & Hyundai have been leaders in backing their cars with long warranties. The Germans too scared to match them as they know their cars barely last warranty period on offer

  • I drive a Korean car, however it was assembled in Slovakia.
    Engine was a refined German Pater Schreyer model.

    Poops over the same ones released under that Wolfsburg brand.

    Great car, Useless dealer network!

  • +1

    I have owned Hyundai twice from new and no problem, easy to resell and hold their values.
    The worst car I have owned from new is a Lemon Mazda, Mazda just don't know how to deal with uncommon problems.
    The reason I mention this is all brands can have problems, and the ability to fix them is important.

  • i30 2017

    GD or PD?

  • +1

    My Wife has a 2007 i30 Diesel since new and not a single issue to date other than I had to replace the rear wheel bearings. This engine is said to be one of the best Diesel engines ever made. Shame about the fading paint as still got 400k to go on the engine according to this……The 1.6 CRDi engine has demonstrated exceptional reliability since its introduction and AutoSpruce gives it a durability rating of 500,000 km.

    Read More: https://www.slashgear.com/1368651/most-reliable-diesel-engin…

    • +1

      Pre EGR & DPF diesels were bombproof, the modern ones are extremely prone to grenading their engines from driving around town. Kind of ironic how an emissions control device can effectively create more environmental waste when your engine cooks itself.

      • Yeah what a shame and that's why we are keeping hold of it. Many diesels are moving to DPF and Adblue now which is even more problematic : (

  • +4

    You still seem to be vacillating between Deciding between Mazda Vs Toyota and even another 2010 Toyota Aurion, and Novated Lease (Smart Leasing with Salary Packaging).

    Are you this guy?

    • +2
      • -1

        Is "digital farmer" a euphemism for 'nose picker'?

    • +3

      lol, and wasn't there another guy who was asking about 37 different cars after he initially went for a Cerato or something.

      But really, your time could have been better spent to:

      1) make a list, ordered in preference of what you want to buy
      2) get a mechanic to look at it (as much as the bad rep mechanics have, if you don't have the knowledge to inspect it yourself, what other options do you have lol)
      3) ????
      4) buy it or move down the list

      No one on the internet is going to give you the right answer. If you do buy it and the engine has issues what are you going to do - Blame the random dude on the internet who said yeah go for it and get bikies to go after him lol

      Whichever car you buy (if you do) - Hyundai or Kia or Mazda or Toyota - will all have their own issues and problems. Depending on your luck you might get lucky with it and drive it till 500,000kms. Or you could be piss out of luck and have the car not start the next morning. Who knows. All the cars you're looking at are out of warranty so it's your call.

      • I believe it was 38

  • +2

    The engine that has given Hyundai and Kia a bad rep, is the 2.4L Theta II which the i30 does not come with.
    I actually had an Optima with the 2.4L Theta II, and didn't have any issues with it when I sold it with 120,000k. I still see it on the road sometimes.
    We have 2 Santa Fes, 2 Sorentos with the 2.2D D4HB, no issues either with one of the Sorentos approaching 500,000k.
    I've got a Kia Stinger GT now and outside of cosmetic niggles, I haven't had any drivetrain issues yet.

    Like the above posts, every manufacturer has issues. Even Toyota with the 1GR/2GR which are prone sludging and earlier 1KDs cracking pistons.
    Just do your due diligence, avoid the 2.4L Theta II and you should be fine.

    • not only the 2.4l but the 2.0l Theta II. otherwise agree with you

  • Not surprised at all here.

  • +1

    The engine problem was just with one of the engines they have. That did not apply to all of them. My current Hyundai has been with me for 16 years which I use daily.

  • +1

    My ex-wife needed a car when we split in 2016. I recommended a Kia Cerato which is basically a re-bodied i30. She bought a new 2016 base model auto which was cheap as chips - $18200 drive-away.

    THere are a lot of things she's cranky with me about but that car isn't one of them. She still happy with it after 80k km (she doesn't drive a lot). It's a bit heavy on fuel but not terrible. It gets serviced as per the book and Kia have been great with the few small warranty items that have occurred.

  • It's called maths. The popularity has gone through the roof. So there's more failures , but not necessarily a higher % than a few years back.And like you said, how many of the failures are due to 'operator error' aka, piss poor maintenance.

  • my cousin has a 2016 Hyundai Tucson (2.0 MPI) with the Thetha II engine that's affected by the engine recall/lawsuits of the US.
    His car has been serviced at the specified intervals (arguably the OEM intervals are too long in-between IMO) and was serviced by Hyundai over its entire warranty period and independents since.
    He's not even slightly mechanically inclined, but the car has twice run its engine dry of engine oil (first time spotted by mechanic, second time me), despite being within the next service interval and being <150k kms. That second time I refilled 2.5l of engine oil to get it back to the top of the dipstick (had about 2k kms until next scheduled service).
    went with him to the Hyundai dealer when they we're performing a recall and told them of the issues that I noted, and asked for an engine oil consumption test (an indicated of a warped head, as advised by a ex-Hyundai dealer mate of mine) and they didn't want anything to deal with me (told me they wont run any tests, even at personal cost to me). I'm 99% sure the engine is cooked and is similarly affected to the US lawsuit vehicles, but they are avoiding the issue as long as possible.

    The ex-Hyundai mate worked at a Hyundai/Kia dealership/service centre and indicated that the KIA vehicles with similar engines/issues we're being proactively fixed with containers of engines arriving at the dealership, so seems like its more of a Hyundai issue. Overall I still think that the Hyundai/Kia group are a reliable manufacturer of vehicles, but like any brand will have the occasional stuff up, and I believe the real test of a manufacturer is their response to the issue.

    • +1

      Their response to the issue has been horrible. The problem is that many companies had really bad responses: Ford with the PowerShift, VAG and other European manufacturers with diesel gate, Takata airbags, etc. Nobody wants to deal with reacalling millions of cars. Worse than that is that they all keeping selling these cars even when they know there is a major issue with the car. OP should avoid the cars with affected engine issue.

      Kia also have issues with the USB hack to turn on the car. This caused so many Kia cars to be stolen all over the world.

  • +2

    I would care more about the seller and the status of the car than the reports of engine issues here and there. People tend to only report/review when they have problems.

    • Correct, you always get more negative comments than positive remarks.

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