Korean cars

P.Cummins · 13 Feb 2005, 10:44 (Ref:1224182)

They are cheap. Yes, money wise. Also, because thats the way they are built...cheaply.
Is there any good Korean car in your opinion? After Top Gear singled out 20 odd Korean cars, they found only one reasonable 1. The Hyundai Getz. The excuse then being that it has been German built and is the equivalent of a VW (not sure whether its a Polo, Bora or Golf).

The dog of the day had to go to the 1.5 diesel Hyundai Accent:

1) You cant have a 1.5 diesel. It just.....doesnt work!!! At least that car proved a point.

2) It is very bland.

3) Depreciation is BIG (if that makes sense).

4) The ride is uncomfortable

Some of those are my opinion of course. Please, accept my opinion. Agree to differ no problem.

Finally a word on the Kia Rio.

Big Car. Kinda. IMO, its not bad looking. Reminds me of a new Skoda. Bland inside, yes. But, it has 100hp. WOW, Fantastic

It cant get up a hill.

I'll let yous have the mantle now...

**touringlegend** · 13 Feb 2005, 20:28 (Ref:1224561)

I'd agree with Top Gear on their opinion of the Getz. If you're in the market for a car that size, it's not a bad looker - it actually looks somewhat European compared to it's Korean counterparts.

I'm not sure why people buy Korean cars. As you said they are cheap, about 6k for a new car, and they come with 5 years free servicing & warranty which must be reassuring.

But after 5 years you'd be lucky to sell them for more than £1k at very most! So it's financial suicide. Why don't people buy a used reputable car such as a Ford, Vauxhall or Renault, at say 1/2 years old when the bulk of the depreciation has happened?

P.Cummins · 13 Feb 2005, 20:36 (Ref:1224566)

Yeah! So may people are blinded. All I see are Kia's, Daewoo's and Hyundai's driving down the road.

"..Jaysus, better pray for your man"

"Why???"

"He drives a Hyundai Accent, God love him".......

429CJ · 14 Feb 2005, 18:39 (Ref:1225509)

Daewoo is no more.

Outside Korea they are known as Chevrolets from beginning of 2005.

**garcon** · 14 Feb 2005, 18:44 (Ref:1225514)

Not Korean specifically, but for those who find the marques from the Pacific Rim somewhat lacking in character, may I recommend...

http://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/english/

**garcon** · 14 Feb 2005, 19:57 (Ref:1225586)

Besides, I think Top Gear got that one wrong. The Hyundai Accent diesel isn't the worst car out there. This is:

And it's British. Sort of. So we shouldn't be too critical of the Koreans...

**touringlegend** · 14 Feb 2005, 20:14 (Ref:1225604)

It isn't a bad car. It has a Rover badge on it that's all.

If that was a Vauxhall/Fiat etc they'd be flying out the door.

GP Racer · 15 Feb 2005, 00:41 (Ref:1225778)

I think the Hyundais have peaked over here in America. They were everywhere when they first came on the market. God only knows why though. I would rather buy a good used car instead of a new Hyundai. Terrible looks and lousy performance don't make a great combination IMO.

P.Cummins · 15 Feb 2005, 10:17 (Ref:1226000)

Well, GP Racer, they are cheap and people buy them because of that.

And how is the city Rover good? Top Gear did a review on it and it certainly had no strong points.

Maybe its just their opinion but what is an advantage in having that car?

**touringlegend** · 15 Feb 2005, 19:01 (Ref:1226475)

You only need to watch Top Gear to see how biased they are against Rover!

Rover not letting them have a car to test was a bad move too. It won't be the best car in the world but it sure aint the worst.

**garcon** · 16 Feb 2005, 10:37 (Ref:1227027)

Have you actually looked at a CityRover close up? It is truly, truly awful. And that's not because it has a Rover badge on it. That's because it's a Tata Indica, designed and built in India, with a Rover badge on it. I'm not biased against Rover as such, but what they're doing to one of the finest names in British motoring is unforgiveable. I'd really honestly rather they just went out of business and let the MG and Rover names disappear from new cars so we're free to be nostalgic about the days when they made decent ones.

Even the top of the range cars are poor. The new Rover 75 V8 was a wonderful opportunity, lost through poor attention to detail. I mean, whoever heard of an auto with nowhere to put your left foot?

Erm, anyway rant over. Back to Korea!

Mattracer · 16 Feb 2005, 12:19 (Ref:1227130)

Cars can be like washing machines, microwaves, fridges and TVs. Appliances. Functional at what they do- washing clothes, heating food, cooling food and entertaining (???)

And transporting people from A to B. But to some, a car can/could/should be more than that.

davemorganfan · 16 Feb 2005, 13:59 (Ref:1227219)

Korean cars, up until recently, have been fairly awful, but watch out - they are starting to get serious.

The Hyundai Coupe is a decent piece of kit. The Kia Picanto offers a great spec, decent build quality and good road manners (apart from the ride) for dirt cheap money. The roads are awash with them round my way. You can bet that the next generation of cars from Korea will be a lot better, and they'll keep getting even better as not too many years go on. 20 years ago everyone was slagging off Japanese cars, no-one does that anymore.

And..........I'm getting a bit tired of paeople knocking Rover. They are a soft target. OK, so there isn't much space for your left foot on a Rover V8. God, that's serious., isn't it? Ever tried the latest Fiesta - you'll find the same thing, and that's from a mega-buck manufacturer, and it's not car that was developed on the cheap from an existing model.

**garcon** · 16 Feb 2005, 14:29 (Ref:1227243)

Never said Ford were perfect either...

Ok I'll lay off Rover for a while, in this thread at least...

Back to Korean cars (thanks for bringing us eloquently back on topic Dave

) you're absolutely right - in fact one of the biggest things holding them back in the UK is a lag of perception behind reality, which means they suffer massive depreciation and become less of a bargain when buying new. As happened with Japanese cars, as the quality and styling gets better and people realise they have become good, reliable cars then perception - and used values - will improve.

**touringlegend** · 16 Feb 2005, 15:46 (Ref:1227308)

Back to Rover a bit...

If they'd just died off I'm afraid it wouldn't be the 'good ol' days' that would be remembered - it'd be that "struggling manufacturer with rubbish cars" that would.

**garcon** · 16 Feb 2005, 16:39 (Ref:1227358)

Yes I know it was me. Guilty as charged your Honour. OK, I've resurrected a couple of Rover threads...

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55750

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62318

Back to Korea!

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