1997 Hyundai Tiburon FX from North America - Comments

I have a 1997 Tiburon. We bought it second hand, and we did some work to it to get it safetied. None of the engine lights or anything were on when we bought it, but we put a new battery in it, and voila!! Suddenly the airbag light is on, and they won't safety it. Is this expensive to fix??

I own a 98 Tib, which has 190 000k.

My husband owns a 2000 Tib, which has 225 000k, and has been across Canada. He also used to have 97 Tib, and none of these cars have had major problems, not even close to the same ones.

I agree with buying as standard, and as far as buying these cars for your teens, did you ever think that maybe your kids drive the things like crap; they are teenagers, and I don't care how perfect you think they are, they still drive like idiots, especially sports cars.

Maybe this causes half your problems? Like the transmission? I mean if you own a 1st generation Tiburon, you have to remember that they are like 10, 11 years old. Any car that old is going to have problems.

And second of all, anyone that says it has no performance, I don't know what expect out of a 2.0L, 4cyl, with 150hp, but it's pretty quick for what it has.

No, they don't have the performance like a BMW and the high end cars, but you have to remember that the 1st generation of Tibs, only cost about $13-15000, not $50000. We have raced many 4cyl, and even 6cyl, and blown them away. They do like 203-208km/h. They don't cut out like most 'american made' crap.

So, I hope that having bad luck with one car, doesn't give them a bad name, because there are plenty of us that haven't had too many issues with them. I think you could buy any make of car and just get a 'bad one', it happens.

I bought a used 97 tibby FX in Oct. of last year. It only has 88,xxxk miles on it. It has ran very well. Over the summer I had to replace the trans. because I let my aunt borrow it for a month and she stripped it. It does have that problem with the passanger side window with it being outside of the door when you close the door, but its not a major problem. So I say this is a swell car. A couple of minor problems, but still a great car.

I have a 97 Tiburon, and the same as above, I have electrical problemss with the windshield wipers, and the airbag light is on.

The biggest thing was yesterday; now remember this car is only 11 years old. My wife and I were driving on the interstate at 70 mph, and hit a bump in the road and heard a clunk under the car. Since it is winter here right now, we assumed it was snow or ice falling. Upon listening further we heard a sound of something draggin. We pulled over, looked under the car, and wow it was the gas tank laying on the ground; the straps both broke. The only thing keeping it there is the hoses and exhaust pipe... so that's 75.00 for towing and 111.00 for parts and 200.00 for service... not to mention already have replaced rotors, brakes, CV joints on both sides, and radiator.

Oh, I forgot to mention the trans is starting to slip. Nice huh.

Hi everyone, I live in Lebanon and I bought a year ago a 97 Tiburon FX 2.0 L.

Well I say it's a great car after all. It has a style, it has enough power and most of spare parts are affordable. Since the time I bought it, I didn't have serious problems, even if I'm driving it fast.

The clue to keep these cars going is to repair it only with someone well qualified, and not in the main Hyundai garage.

And for its price, it is possible to made lots of upgrades on it, so it will look better and much powerful.

And guys, don't forget that these cars are 11 years old now, and it's normal from time to time to change some parts.

I have owned new Hyundais since 1988 from the Tibs to Santa Fe, to accents to Elantra, and now I bought my first used Tib, a 97 with 151000 on it.

The car purrs, and the only money I spent on it was for new wheel covers. Hyundais are the best they - outsell Honda and Toyota. Read the papers man, it's the only company up in sales. Hyundai is taking over the motor world. I've never had any problems with any Hyundai I have ever had.

Well, I wish I could chime in with accolades about this car, but... We bought the car (1997 Tiburon FX) for our daughter less than a year ago. The previous owner saved the service receipts and it looked like he took good care of it, but we should have looked more closely. This car is fraught with electrical problems. In 6 months, we've replaced the starter (which was also replaced less than 2 years ago), replaced the ignition coil, cam sensor, crank sensor, due to recent intermittent starting problems and now the passenger power door lock has failed and the airbag light has come on continuously.

The dome light has almost never worked according to the service receipts and the airbag light and starting problems have been diagnosed numerous times over the years with no results. So these are not new problems, apparently. The transmission has been good so far, but the fluid is dark even after having it flushed and serviced, so I don't expect that to last either.

It seems as soon as we fix one thing, something else goes. So as cute and stylish as this car is, it's not the greatest value in my experience. Granted, there could be some out there that are lucky enough not to have a lemon, but be prepared... if you're getting one at what seems like too good of a price, it probably is and you'll pay in the end!

In comparison, my wife has a 1990 Toyota Corolla and I have a 1993 Mazda B2600 and neither of those vehicles have come even close to the problems we've had with the Tiburon. I'm very experienced mechanically and maintain all the vehicles for non-specialized work (no tranny, airbag or exhaust sys work) So I'm no newbie when it comes to mechanics. I'd never recommend this car to a friend.

I have owned my 99 Tiburon (5 speed manual) since 2001. I was the second owner. When I bought it there was 55,000km on it and it needed a clutch. I drove with that clutch till the car had 160,000km. Now I am at 190,000km and I am starting to get a pulsating only when I'm in 5th gear... I think its something to do with the transmission (cause when I'm in neutral the noise disappears). Does anyone have any idea what it could be ??? I am guessing all of the transmission problems talked about on this site were automatics???

If your car is vibrating while at high speeds, I would definitely check your axles are in good condition. I had a leaking transmission in my 2000 Tiburon, of which I replaced both axles, and the small axle seal in between the axle and transmission housing, the part was $4. It made a world of difference in driveability with new axles and transaxle seal.

BTW, I changed the axles myself at home and saved myself $300 in labor. I can show you how.

If you need help/tips write me at ronzen1@gmail.com