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Location: Still in Portland, Oregon, for some reason
890 posts, read 3,699,404 times
Reputation: 743
Quote:
Originally Posted by caution
I just want to know why Hyundai owners are so defensive, or dare I say passive agressive.
Did someone poke them with a stick? I'm serious. I've never come across a Hyundai pilot who didn't spew facts about how good Hyundais are.
It's because we're tired of being told that our cars are crap and that despite owning one and telling these folks otherwise, that we are wrong. This is usually told to me by ignorant people who haven't graced the interior of a Hyundai since 1988 (or ever).
One such encounter nearly got my friend and myself into a fistfight with the owner of a beat-to-hell 1997 Acura 3.0 CL that had more warning lights on than a NASA control panel. After years of being told that you're wrong and that regardless of your experience, your car is still a piece of junk you become hardened and humorless on the situation. It just gets old...my tolerance for it is near zero.
They have always operated on the theory that if a car looks absolutely bitchin', people will love them. It's a very effective strategy. Of course, the cars are made of cow crap with respect to true safety & reliability, but that's another story for another day.
"You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time."
They have always operated on the theory that if a car looks absolutely bitchin', people will love them. It's a very effective strategy. Of course, the cars are made of cow crap with respect to true safety & reliability, but that's another story for another day.
"You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time."
Really? You think Hyundai surpassed Honda to become the world's 5th largest automaker by making cars that "look absolutely bitchin?" Seriously, c'mon. With the exception of a couple models such as the Tiburon and now the Genesis, looks has never been a big part of their marketing strategy. Nobody thought to themselves, "wow, that Hyundai Accent is one awesome-looking car, I just have to get one right now!!!1!11!one!1!" Just like their Japanese forbears, Hyundai's appeal and subsequent success has largely been based on the value proposition: basic to intermediate-level transportation at an attractive price point and with reasonable operating costs.
With regard to safety and reliability, you're stuck in 1993. Yes, Hyundais sucked back then, and they've had some difficulty shaking the reputation they earned back then. Fast-forward to today. Not one of their current-model cars has a front or side impact rating or rollover resistance rating of less than 4 stars. Many are 5 stars all around. Where reliability is concerned, Their JD Power quality rankings now surpass Toyota and Honda. Two of Consumer Reports' top ten picks are Hyundais. The 2007 Strategic Vision Total Quality Award, which measures quality over the entire ownership experience and not just initial quality, gave the top award to a Hyundai product (either Hyundai or Kia) in 4 of its 15 automotive segments.
Really? You think Hyundai surpassed Honda to become the world's 5th largest automaker by making cars that "look absolutely bitchin?" Seriously, c'mon. With the exception of a couple models such as the Tiburon and now the Genesis, looks has never been a big part of their marketing strategy. Nobody thought to themselves, "wow, that Hyundai Accent is one awesome-looking car, I just have to get one right now!!!1!11!one!1!" Just like their Japanese forbears, Hyundai's appeal and subsequent success has largely been based on the value proposition: basic to intermediate-level transportation at an attractive price point and with reasonable operating costs.
With regard to safety and reliability, you're stuck in 1993. Yes, Hyundais sucked back then, and they've had some difficulty shaking the reputation they earned back then. Fast-forward to today. Not one of their current-model cars has a front or side impact rating or rollover resistance rating of less than 4 stars. Many are 5 stars all around. Where reliability is concerned, Their JD Power quality rankings now surpass Toyota and Honda. Two of Consumer Reports' top ten picks are Hyundais. The 2007 Strategic Vision Total Quality Award, which measures quality over the entire ownership experience and not just initial quality, gave the top award to a Hyundai product (either Hyundai or Kia) in 4 of its 15 automotive segments.
Tell you what.
As a claims adjuster with over 13,000 claims I get to see "real world" accidents- not just cars beefed up to pass a specific test in a 100% controlled environment. The Korean cars are, literally, made of paper mache. Literally. People get seriously hurt in them. And I mean today's KKK- Korean Krap Kars. The Japanese & Euro vehicles fare much better. I know. I see them. I visit the occupants in the hospital.
Do you?
As to reliability, I have an open mind. Let's see how these cars do in their 5th, 6th & 7th year when the odometers hit 100,000 and above. If they prove themselves reliable, then they will get their due rewards. However, the service people I speak with when I go to shops are telling me the same thing- KKK all over again.
But we'll see. I'll be the first to congratulate the KKK's if they are truly reliable when it counts.
Guess you missed my point. My generation thinks mini van owners aren't the least bit cool and their "vans" look retarded.
However, since mini vans don't look anything like SUV's, I highly doubt that generations to come are going to consider SUV's like mini vans. And seeing as how SUV designs are WAY better than a mini van and the integration of the hybrid into the SUV market, it's real unlikely that SUV's are going to disappear, but rather become more popular as people realize they can grow up and have style plus cart their kids around.
You might cart your kids around in a mini van... but you're doing it in anything but style.
As a claims adjuster with over 13,000 claims I get to see "real world" accidents- not just cars beefed up to pass a specific test in a 100% controlled environment. The Korean cars are, literally, made of paper mache. Literally. People get seriously hurt in them. And I mean today's KKK- Korean Krap Kars. The Japanese & Euro vehicles fare much better. I know. I see them. I visit the occupants in the hospital. quote]
OK. They have pretty good paper mache then. BTW - people DIE in all kinds of cars.
Guess you missed my point. My generation thinks mini van owners aren't the least bit cool and their "vans" look retarded.
However, since mini vans don't look anything like SUV's, I highly doubt that generations to come are going to consider SUV's like mini vans. And seeing as how SUV designs are WAY better than a mini van and the integration of the hybrid into the SUV market, it's real unlikely that SUV's are going to disappear, but rather become more popular as people realize they can grow up and have style plus cart their kids around.
You might cart your kids around in a mini van... but you're doing it in anything but style.
Excellent post, Drover!
I fully understood your point the first time. I never said minivans were cool, just that SUV's on their way, full-speed, to minivandom.
There's already people (like myself) that thinks SUV's are goofy looking things (think school bus without the yellow) that only soccer moms would drive.
Hummers look downright stupid in the city. Why one earth would anyone want to navigate narrow streets and parking garages in something like that? Extra gas, extra insurance, infinitely more dangerous, annoying as a Clinton speech to drive...
I'm a thrifty guy who couldn't care less what my vehicle looks like as long as it gets me from point A to point B reliably, economically, and holds everything that I need it to. When I was single, a two-door, two-seater, 4-cylinder sporty car got the job done. 40mpg, a dead-reliable Honda, and it cost me virtually nothing to operate.
My wife, a designer, thinks SUV's are as ugly as minivans, so I'll take her word for it.
Station wagons, minivans, 4-door sedans... they've all got bad raps because kids grew up in them, and only look at them as being family cars. SUV's, at least some models, will go down in history in the same manner.
There have been some sedans and wagons that have been made to look pretty decent. I don't know that there's much anyone could do with a minivan, but maybe.
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