Misc. Ramblings X6 & Koreans

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:08 am

I had to do a lot of driving this week end so I looked at cars on the road, two thoughts kept coming to mind.

1. BMW X6 , I don't get it. Who is that marketed to? I want something as big as and X5 but I don't want the functionality of and SUV and like to have limited rear visability? Someone enlighten me.

2. Is it just me, or are Korean Cars some of the best looking cars out there right now. I have never so much as ridden in one so I don't know if they are any good but the styling is great. We were behind a new Rolls Royce and new Kia Optima, both in black and I was more interested in the Kia.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:12 am

clinehall wrote:

I had to do a lot of driving this week end so I looked at cars on the road, two thoughts kept coming to mind.

1. BMW X6 , I don't get it. Who is that marketed to? I want something as big as and X5 but I don't want the functionality of and SUV and like to have limited rear visability? Someone enlighten me.

2. Is it just me, or are Korean Cars some of the best looking cars out there right now. I have never so much as ridden in one so I don't know if they are any good but the styling is great. We were behind a new Rolls Royce and new Kia Optima, both in black and I was more interested in the Kia.

I think the BMW X6 is marketed towards people who want an FX35/FX50, but want the BMW name plate. I have no clue. It is useless.

As for Korean cars, I have to agree. Hyundai and Kia are putting out the cooler cars on the road. I would absolutely consider the new Elantra over the Civic these days. The Genesis, Sonata, Optima and others are really nice too. - AB

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:45 am

Definitely right about the Korean cars although buying one new would be like lighting your money on fire unless you plan to drive it >100k.

The Korean cars do however like to mimic styling cues from the Japanese cars and they don't hide it, although the Genesis sedan is clearly modeled after the S-Class. There's actually a 8th gen Civic knockoff that Kia makes now which I find kind of funny. Really, a Civic? :lol:

I think they were really knocking the X6 on the UKTG last week too.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:51 pm

Matt McGrain wrote:

Definitely right about the Korean cars although buying one new would be like lighting your money on fire unless you plan to drive it >100k.

Resale has actually stabilized on the Hyundai, especially the new Sonata (out about a year now) and the Genesis Coupe/Sedan. Prior to Hyundai buying Kia, you couldn't find a company to finance a Kia outside of a dealership using Kia Motors Finance. Now, even the credit unions and big banks aren't afraid of them anymore.

I am betting that the new Sonata outsells the Honda Accord this year. In the first two months it was close. - AB

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:04 pm

Yeah there are tons of Sonata's out there, good looking car. I also saw a Suzuki truck this week end, which was new to me.

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

Suzuki truck=rebadged nissan

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:25 pm

BriceJohnson wrote:

Suzuki truck=rebadged nissan

It did look very familiar

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:58 pm

clinehall wrote:

Yeah there are tons of Sonata's out there, good looking car. I also saw a Suzuki truck this week end, which was new to me.

I had decided I wanted a Sonata (last gen) when we bought another car. When we finally took the plunge the middle of last year Sonya brought a 2007 home for a test drive. To my surprise neither of us liked it. The transmission wasn't smooth and the 1-2 shift was very awkward. The big selling point (other than it's good looks) was their 100K warranty, which we found out was non-transferable.

That pretty much sealed the deal and after driving it for two days we decided to look at other models.

I had always bought into the 'don't buy a Ford' stigma that my Dad has preached, but with their consumer scores near the top we decided to take a look at their line up. We liked the Fusion and the Focus so we started looking there.

After lots of research and Internet searching we found a 2007 Fusion SE to our liking and had Capital bring one from their Raleigh store to the Rocky Mount location. Sonya brought it home and we were able to test drive it for a couple of days and we both loved it. In fact the transmission was the 2nd smoothest manual I had ever driven.

After some negotiating we got over $2K off the price AND the 100,000 mile warranty thrown in. The car had 68,000 on the odometer at the time of sale.

Fast forward 9 months later and we are still very happy with our purchase. On our recent trip to Florida we averaged 29MPG. The ride is comfortable and handling is great as well. I guess my only (minor) complaint is it could use a little more power (160HP), but it's still decent for a car of it's size and weight.

Moral of the story, if you think you want a Sonata, give the Fusion a hard look as well. You may be surprised as I was.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:15 pm

While I agree with Vincent that the previous gen Sonata is not on par with a lot of other cars, the new one is leaps and bounds better. Hell, year to year, Hyundai is improving the quality of the interior components on the Genesis lineup, based upon customer feedback. It's unusual to see companies doing that these days.

That said, at lot people I know who own a Fusion really like them. - AB

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:55 pm

I will throw my $0.02 in on the Korean car front now that I have had the displeasure of work on one. Alyssa has a 2007 Kia Optima LX V6. So it is the last generation car with the 2.7 liter V6. It has roughly 67,000 miles on it and is the biggest POS I have ever worked on.

Over those 67,000 miles it has needed both rear brake calipers replaced do to them sticking and causing the rear brakes to burn up (not under warranty), two coil packs have quit (under warranty thankfully), it has a 60,000 mile timing belt replacement which is a PITA job because the Koreans seemed to have used some metric and some american size bolts when assembling the engine. I replaced the water pump while I was in there which you can't get anywhere but from a Kia dealer, but I can deal with that. Other stupid issues which it will probably get taken back to the dealer on are the car hunts for rpm's at idle even once warmed up and it has more lifter tick than an early Miata.

I would be hard pressed to consider a Korean car still after having the joy of working on this car despite how much I like the new Hyundais. She is ready to push it into Jordan Lake and I am ready to set it on fire. I guess it is possible the car just is a Friday afternoon car but damn.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:54 pm

I don't really see anything original about the Korean cars. They are very much like Toyota in that they take someone else's idea and build on it. Not a lot of innovation or originality coming from those companies and to me that's a huge turn off.

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:42 pm

X6 i have no idea who its traget demographic is much less the M version which can top out north of 100k. they are very mean cars they sound amazing and are fun to drive but as you said have no real purpose.

if i had to go out an buy a new car off the lot tomorrow (with my real money) it would likely be the genesis coupe. i love the small, low weight, decent power, no bs options package that Hyundai has done with that car. where every one else tries to blend the line between sport and luxury, Hyundai built a true sports car. i can only hope that more manufactures follow.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:05 am

I think the whole X6 deal (along with some others) is simply a matter of "build it and they will come" mentality that, unfortunately, is driving a lot of BMW business these days. You can just imagine the internal fighting going on to allow that thing, and then it's released, makes a profit for the company since all the sheeple herd to it to have the "latest thing" from BMW, and now all those against the whole idea are ridiculed by the short-sighted management in place there.

Re Hyundai -- I was pretty amazed at this C&D test: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/10q4/2011_hyundai_equus_vs._2010_lexus_ls460l-comparison_tests

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:37 am

Sean O'Connell wrote:

if i had to go out an buy a new car off the lot tomorrow (with my real money) it would likely be the genesis coupe.

The earth is now spinning off it's axis if Sean doesn't prefer a new BMW. :shock:

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:18 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

Sean O'Connell wrote:

if i had to go out an buy a new car off the lot tomorrow (with my real money) it would likely be the genesis coupe.

The earth is now spinning off it's axis if Sean doesn't prefer a new BMW. :shock:

No, the world is still right... I think he and Chuck must have read where Bangle was considering going to Hyundai?

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