2003 Hyundai Tiburon SE from North America - Comments

Bad steering wheel shake from the day I picked it up.

Bad body shake from the day I picked it up.

Noticed that the paint chips very easily at 300kms / 1 week (all plastic parts are black, with colored paint on top - rocks, bugs, road debris chips the paint off exposing the black plastic).

Steering began to feel very loose at 3,000kms.

Burnt out a headlamp after only 80 days.

Right axle replaced under warranty at 8,000kms, no change in the car's 'shake' and loose handling. Dealer disagrees.

8,100kms / 12 weeks, seat wear is becoming apparent.

The car is very attractive looking with reasonable power.

It gets very poor fuel economy considering it's small 2.0L, 4cyl engine (the fuel economy is worse than a Toyota Sienna van with a 220hp V6).

The car has not handled properly for even one day since I picked it up at the dealership. The handling is very loose (I mean scary at 100kpg - 60mph). The steering wheel and the car's whole body shakes intermittently. The dealer doesn't know how to fix it, Hyundai Canada doesn't know how to fix it.

I don't recommend Hyundai to anybody, under any circumstances.

I just bought my tiburon about 2 weeks ago and I love it. It runs great and handles great. No problems with it at all. I recommend this car to anyone.

I know a couple of sales agents who work for Hyundai in the U.S. that say buying a Hyundai product is the worst thing a consumer can do. All people have to do is look at the companies reputation of reliability. Why do you think Hyundai came up with its "Worlds Best Warranty" program? This was done to lure customers into purchasing these cars with the hope that their clients won't bring them in for repair. Really look into this companies reputation and you will see for yourself that Hyundai was on the brink of going out of business in the late 1990's due to its horrible functioning automobiles. This is not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of fact.

I have a 03 tiburon and I did have the same problem with the paint chipping. The reason why it does that is, because when they were making the part in the mold they did not sand off the stuff so it won't stick to the mold very well. So I took mine back to the dealer and they had it repainted no hassles. All you have to do is be really mad when you go into there. Also the wear on the seat is bad. Leather seats, all were like that, but, it is pretty bad for a new car to do it that quick. But go to hyundai and tell them because there has been a lot of small things like that, that do go wrong. Do not forget that every car has its flaws. Every car I use to work at a GM dealership and those are the most horrible cars to buy. Escalade all of those. So far I have owned two camaros and a Toyota truck. My tiburon seems to be the best car I have bought, besides the small stuff this car is great. If you have any questions on how I got my stuff fixed email me at Shoei82000@ aol. com Thanks.

To the earlier comment regarding the warranty, "This was done to lure customers into purchasing these cars with the hope that their clients won't bring them in for repair." Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the reason why car manufacturers are able to offer that kind of warranty? To stand by their product with expectation of that car not needing the repairs? I'm considering the Tuscani Limited Edition and the warranty has been a point in favour for Hyundai in my selecting process. Any ways, this forum has been very helpful on all the vehicles that I am considering.

In responce to the comment posted on June 4th: What that person is telling you is plain and simple. There is documented proof that Hyundai was on the brink of going out of business and if you were running a company like that, you too would scramble to come up with a program to lure customers to you. Yes the warranty will cover most, key word here is (most) repairs, but you the customer will be inconvenienced by having to bring in your car over and over again for repair until you finally say I'm getting rid of this thing. I hope this response helped you.