2003 Hyundai Tiburon from North America - Comments

A week after buying the car, we took it back for the passenger side window leaking, and not sealing properly.

Not long after that, the passenger side window motor quit working, had to be replaced.

Soon after that, the passenger side door-locking mechanism broke, and had to be replaced.

THEN, the rear washer pump quit working, and had to be ordered and replaced.

THEN, the fuel door cover, for unknown reasons, decided to fade out. Had to have a new one ordered, painted, and replaced.

THEN, the DRIVERS side door lock broke, and had to be replaced.

Overall, I like the "auto-stick" feature, and the gauges. I like some parts of the interior : IE: the seats, and dash. And hate other parts, IE: the cup holders and center console.

In addition to the problems had with the car. Hyundai seems to care less, and refused to look into the problem deeper. Only telling me "we will continue to fix the car as long as it is under warranty" (Aren't they legally OBLIGATED??)

I am very thankful for this site. I was literally about to walk out the door to go buy a new 2006 Tiburon when I came across this site. When I saw all the reviews where the reviewer said they had lots of problems and Hyundai refused to honor their warranty, I decided I'd better stick with American made cars. I bought a 2006 Ford and am VERY glad I stayed away from Hyundai!! Thanks to all you guys who have shared your experiences.

In my experience, also I have conclude with this site that Hyundai cars are fantastic and extremely reliable...

However, I will not deny that I have read that a MINORITY of people have had problems.

I got myself a 2002 Elantra 2.0l (same as the TiburonSE)

Its now 2 years and a half that I drive the car (hard I might add) and the only things I replaced are.

-Back brakes

-Timing belt @ 110000km

-1 baring.

Due to most reviews on Hyundai... even if my car was under warranty... I would not bring it to hyundai...

I rather pay a bit to get it fixed by some Old fashioned honest greek mechanics that I found a while ago. (garage samos in laval (quebec) )

However, I will recognize that the Tiburon Reviews have more negative then the Elantra... so... it might not be hyundai's best car... yet I do know people who owned it for a while and are very satisfied with the long term reliability.

Had all the fun in the beginning when I purchased my 03 Tiburon. People used to ask me 'what kind of car is it?" it looks nice etc... but shortly after a year, the subwoower blasted, the headlight lens faded off, the Clutch went bad ($1000 to repair). Then the third year, the clutch went out again, (another $1000). Both the window motor broke. the Window motor switch and the power window regulator broke. The body panels are very cheap quality because anytime something hits the body it gets dents. This car is a piece of junk. I wanna sell it and buy a civic or accord. Do not buy any Hyundai, no matter what the "deal" is.

I have a 2003 Tiburon and I love it. I bought it with 15 miles on it over 6 years ago. Having said that, it has had its share of problems.

While under warranty I had both window motors replaced, a new radio, the hood repainted, the sunroof inside cover had to be worked on (they kept my car for a week to fix this problem), and the drivers side door lock replaced. I never had any trouble with the dealership fixing any of it, and they also gave me a free Sonata to drive while they were working on it.

My Tiburon has over 140,000 miles on it, and other than regular maintenance, I have never had to do anything to it. I haven't had any problems with the motor, transmission or clutch.

At first I was frustrated with all the little things going wrong with the car. I love my Tiburon and even thought about buying one of the 2009's for only $11,000. However, I love having a great car with no payment, so I will keep mine until she won't go any more.