Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-53
I don't require you to explain the concept of depreciation to me. Certainly hyundia in no way whatsoever holds its value like a Honda would. Hyundai is simply not comparable to Honda. Hyundai is a second rate car manufacturer and the used values reflect this. How you try to argue a point of deprecaition with regards to hyundai really is quite unusual. Hyundai are one of the poorest depreciators and this has always been recognised as a major hyundai/kia weakness. Even if in percentage terms a chevrolet and hyundai devalued by the same % amount over the same period (which is unlikely as chevrolet is a respected manufacturer), if the hyundai cost half the price of the chevrolet, it would still be worth half as much. ie. next to nothing. Yes the chervrolet may have lost more in monetary value, but this is to be expected as it cost twice as much. I do suggest you have a rethink of your math.
11:01 Yes, you do need it explained to you. You simply restated your definition of depreciation again, and it is incorrect. Of course a $14,000 Hyundai will be worth less after 5 years than a $26,000 dollar Chevy. Obviously. AGAIN, whichever car held a greater PERCENTAGE of its value depreciated LESS. I'm not sure what country you live in, but here in the U.S., Chevrolet is the second rate auto manufacturer, hanging by a thread, and Hyundai is quickly becoming well respected.
How old are you? Old enough to remember the garbage that GM put out all through the '80's? Those vehicles are proof enough that GM went downhill a long time ago. And if you try to tell me that GM built good cars in the '80's, then I KNOW that you have no idea what you are talking about, or simply won't admit that they are scrap. Look at the cars Toyota built in the '80s. They are worlds ahead of what GM made then AND what they make today. And Hyundai is building more reliable cars than GM ever did.
Hyundai recently scored 2nd, behind Porche, in J. D power & Associates quality ratings. Hyundai finished ahead of Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW... etc. When I heard that, it justified my purchace of an 07' Sonata, which by the way, can out run many respected sport sedans.
The fact is, I would never buy a domestic brand; namely GM Ford, Chrysler. I would only buy European if I had the money for the repairs. I will stick with any Asian brand; Toyota, Honda, Hyundai. These 3 manufacturers will be, or are already the new "big 3".
The critical difference is that Toyota and Honda are respected Japanese car manufacturers.
Hyundai is a south korean econo box.
I would suggest you try not to outrun any sport sedans as they will only have a laugh at your considerable expense.
In any case I doubt whether any sport sedans would even bother to race a hyundai.
Yes Hyundai does seem to be increasing in quality, but it has aways to go before it is respected as much as Chevrolet or Toyota. In regard to the last comment, because of friends experiences buying brand new Japanese cars that had nothing, but problems, I would honestly rather buy a Hyundai than a Toyota or Honda. European cars are dangerous, count on dependability problems and very high maintenance costs.
I own a 02 Corvette, a 04 Subaru Turbo Forester (fastest SUV type vehicle you can buy besides maybe a turbo Cayenne Porsche -- 0-60 in the 5.3 range), Just sold a Subaru WRX STI Version; 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. So I know about japanese and american made vehicles, and about performance.
I bought an 07 Sonata V-6. The car performs quite well, and although not as fast as the aforementioned cars, it is absolutely no slouch, and at certain speeds when the tranny kicks down, it feels downright fast.
The biggest problem with Hyundai is image; that is however starting to fade.
I bought mine with a 2000.00 factory rebate, and got the dealer below invoice, about 1300.00 off sticker. You add the fact of all you get with Hyundai; a cheaper MSRP, factory rebate and dealers willing to play. I saved myself like 5k. Factor in the warranty and I know made the smart decision.
The fact is, if you drove a Sonata, you would be shocked that is a great car. You add the value, and it approaches amazing.
You say you know about American vehicles... then you should know that the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 is faster than the Cayenne.
Well, I live in a different country in north of US, but here Chevy's brand image as well as the depreciation is FAR worse than Hyundai. I would absolutely prefer a Hyundai over any Chevy in SAME class. So far, me and my family have owned some GM (Buick & Pontiac), Ford, Hyundais, & Hondas.
How can Chevrolet have a worse brand image than Hyundai when it is well documented that Hyundai has the worst brand image of all car manufacturers!
Why is it that when you ask what car somebody drives and if they say hyundai they always say it quietly and with their head and eyes turned rather downward?!
Criticise Chevrolet all you want, its of no consequence to me. I was merely relaying my view of the poor hyundai image.
Look to the comments of the other posters:
1st Aug 2007, 00:30 "Yes Hyundai does seem to be increasing in quality, but it has aways to go before it is respected as much as Chevrolet or Toyota"
4th Aug 2007, 21:47 "The biggest problem with Hyundai is image"
Even your fellow hyundai owners agree with the perception of hyundai as an inferior car.
If this is how your cars are viewed by fellow hyundai owners then you can imagine with which little regard hyundai's are held in by the rest of the car owning public.
Perception and reality are two separate terms.
I think that purchasing a car is a personal thing. I believe all car manufacturers are competing for your money and competition is very keen. If you can find a a bargain, such as Hyundai I think one should invest. It seems to me that they are trying very hard to compete. I have one and I think it is a very high quality car. Kiplinger rates it a worthy investment.
I currently own a 03 Impala 3.4L with 78K miles, and it sounds (lifter noise) like it can fall apart at any moment. The dealer told me they can't do anything about it until it clunks out. I'm honestly afraid to drive from my base in Louisiana to Chicago to see my family. I've put in countless hours online to figure out the best bet for a new (used) car and the sonata is in the top 5, along side of Grand Prix, Xterra and Malibu (all with outstanding reviews) even with it's "Negative Social Perception". It's about quality and value. The 2006, 07 doesn't look half bad either. Sorry "Doc", you are out of line.
I have owned European cars (Volkswagen, Mercedes, and BMW), domestic (GM and Ford) and Japanese (Honda, Toyota, and Lexus). My last two cars were Korean (Kias) and my next one will be an '08 Sonata. As I get older, I find that a vehicle is really just transportation to get you from point A to point B. With very few exceptions, a car is a depreciating asset, regardless of make or model. If you have to define yourself by the badge on your car, you have issues that go beyond what can be addressed on a car survey. I have found that the current Korean (Hyundai and Kia) cars offer quality, price, and warranties that together make them hard to beat. If you want to spend more on something else with a status label, that's fine, it's a free world (well, my part of it is).