2007 Hyundai Getz GSi review from UK and Ireland

We considered a 1.1GSi Getz 5 door on special offer at £6995 with 3 years servicing included, but decided against it after the test drive.

We wanted a 5 door car with air-con that was of good quality and nice to drive every day for under £7000. This was to be our second car for my wife to run along my own excellent £6750 2007 Perodua Myvi 1.3 SXi (see 2007 report). We are spoilt by this car as it is very capable, powerful and nice to be in (now the snagging has been done) but it lacks the quality of the Getz and is just a little too wide/large for my wife as she has only recently passed her test. We very nearly bought a second Myvi from Grovebury, Leighton Buzzard.

The Getz offer was a good one-£1000 Hyundai discount, and the dealer offered the £99 3 year servicing incentive free too, giving a good car with the excellent 5 year warranty, 3 years breakdown and servicing all included at £6999, in red not metallic.

The specicfication was impressive and included air-con, electric front windows, 5 seats with split fold rear seats with headrests, proper boot handle, passenger airbag with deactivate switch for child seat, Isofix mountings and so on.

The most impressive thing about the car is the superb quality of construction-easily the best in the class and price bracket, with quality paint, minute shut lines between the panels, heavy doors, bonnet and boot, high quality seat fabrics and trim and decent compontents-branded tyres for example. It really did feel like something Audi or VW would offer, and the warranty package backs that up. The inclusion of a 4*NCAP, Isofix and airbag switch is to be praised too.

It really appears as if it is from a class above and looks stunning value with the class leading servicing and warranty package.

We were so impressed with the quality and kit of the Getz after comparing it against other £7000 cars; Suzuki Swift (rattly trim/no aircon on 1.3), C1/Aygo (not capable enough every day), Kia Picanto (too sluggish/cheap interior) Toyota Yaris Ion (too expensive, no air-con) Chevrolet Kalos (old engine is slow and £140 tax/cheap interior-see 18/8 1.2 SE report) and our own excellent, but larger Myvi (see report), that we were ready to sign the deal, but thought we had better drive it first.

We drove a well run-in 5500 mile 2007 1.1GSi 5 door demo car for about thirty miles of town and rural roads and decided very quickly that it was not the car for us. The car would have been perfect with a different engine, but the 1.1 unit is just hopeless and frustrating to use. When we drove away, I honestly thought something was wrong as it was so slow. I know that this is an economical town car, and that the 0-60 time is therefore a slow 15.8 seconds, but the performance really was laughable. I have owned 2CVs and Ladas that would easily out-pull this, and the lack of power combined with the extra weight of the obviously high quality body panels, decent trim and high spec level just makes it a chore to drive in traffic, with endless gearchanges and no power. We drove up a hill and the overweight and underpower became more obvious.

Factor in a very light flywheel which makes the engine very easy to over-rev when manoeuvering (has a very sensitive gas pedal) and offers zero torque, my wife stalled the car eight times on the test drive and myself twice! This was not an issue at all on any other car we drove, and again points to overweight and underpower.

The engine was the only issue on the road-the ride was excellent, handling sure, brakes good, road noise low. Going downhill it was a great car-and it all felt of a quality level far better than the competition.

It is such a shame, as apart from a steering wheel made of pumice-stone-comfort plastic, the Getz is marvellous. We were so disappointed that we enquired about the 1.4 or 1.5 diesel, but these were not on the offer and much more expensive, taking it out of our price range.

I would find it difficult to recommend the 1.1 to anyone as it is hard to manoeuvre due to the sensitive gas pedal and a tendency to quickly over-rev or stall, it is difficult to safely overtake, and just plain frustrating to keep up with every day traffic.

As my wife is a fairly new driver, I do not want a fast car, but an easy to drive, enjoyable car which I feel is safe and will give her an enjoyable introduction to proper driving, safely. The Getz is too easy to stall, involves endless gear changes to keep going due to the heavy weight and lack of power, and would be a liability when trying to overtake even a tractor.

I am still gutted, as I was going to buy this car. After weeks of looking, we decided against another Myvi due to it being larger and us already having one, and finally signed an amazing Fiat Main dealer internet-price-match deal on a 1.3 Multijet diesel Panda Dynamic Aircon with lots of extras and nice paint for £6800 against a list of £9435. This does not have the quality or long warranty of the Getz, but is a superb drive with £35 road tax, 65+pmg and group 2 insurance.

We both felt the Panda was a good car which was very easy to drive, powerful and user-friendly. It compliments a new driver better than the Getz which pushes you into mistakes with the extra gear changes, atrocious uphill performance and frequent stalling.

If you want a 5 door car, under £7000 with air-con and electrics, drive the £6750 (Perodua £1000 off offer, including metallic paint, mats and mudflaps) Perodua Myvi and £6199 (basic) (match a Fiat dealer against fiatsupersaver internet) Fiat Panda Aircon diesel as well as the Getz before you make the decision.

We are so glad we did!!