We drive a Toyota Prius which we bought while living in Kaaawa. Since we commuted into Honolulu almost daily, we racked up lots of miles, and the Prius mileage added up to significant savings.
Now that we’ve moved into town, the extra hybrid mileage isn’t as crucial for us. Nice to have, but not as necessary. And I’m very interested in new cars that provide a lot more in the way of safety features, various sensors, etc.
So we’re looking around, nothing urgent, sort of the fact-finding stage of future car buying.
Since we like the versatility of the Prius hatchback, we’re checking out other available hatchbacks. And Hyundai turns out to have at least a couple, including a relatively new hybrid that directly challenges the Prius.
I’m interested in hearing about your experiences with Hyundai. Our experience with Toyota has been very good, except for their dealer servicing being overloaded and difficult to schedule. But Hyundai appears to offer a better warranty package, and now there’s Tony Hyundai on S. Beretania, which gets good reviews for servicing on Yelp.
In any case, please share if you’ve got, or have had, a Hyundai. How would you rate their cars compared to Toyota, which has set the standard up until recently.
Thoughts?
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We had a Hyundai Santa Fe AWD that lasted us for 15 years and served us well. We got the Santa Fe originally because we were moving from Santa Barbara to Albuquerque, and wanted the AWD for the snow and ice. It’s lived in Florida, Arizona and then back to California. This weekend we went and picked up the new Hyundai Kona. We test drove a lot of cars, and many of them seemed similar or had similar features, but the people at the dealership was what sold us. We hope the new Hyundai lasts us a long time with easy maintenance like the last one. Good luck!
Great to hear. Thanks.
Ian, we bought two Hyundais on the same day three years ago, to replace seriously elderly cars. We selected them because of reviews and warranties and have not been disappointed. The Beretania Street staff is great to work with. Servicing has been a breeze. So far, all work has been covered by the warranties. My car developed a weird problem with the air conditioner (intermittent shut down). The staff diagnosed it quickly and replaced the part. No arguments. I didn’t have to wait for it to manifest itself to the branch manager. Safety check is painless. We like the cars (Sonatas). I have no hesitation about endorsing them.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Hi Ian – I had a 2007 Prius and swapped it out with the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq – my first Hyundai. I have to say the windows of the Prius were larger but after taking out the headrests for the backseat – I don’t have many passengers – I can see out the rear just fine. I also live in town and don’t “need” the gas saving but don’t want to go back to a “normal” car. I currently get 55 – 58 miles per gallon or over 500 miles per tank of gas (same tank size as Prius). What I like is the lower price, the longer warranty, the lifetime warranty for the hybrid battery and of course the service from Hyundai. Over the years the Servco maintenance has gotten pretty bad and the wait times are outrageous. I once had a indicator on my car that said to contact dealer immediately – and when I called – Servco said they could schedule me next month and I should not drive the car. Not helpful! I ended up finding a local mechanic on Beretania who could help me right away! So overall I’ve had car for almost a year and so far so good…
We feel the same way. Don’t need the mileage now in town, but it seems so wasteful to cut it by more than 50% with a non-hybrid….
Am informed that Hyundai is out with a fuel cell engine. If so, it deserves your serious consideration, Ian.
I bought 2 Hyundai Accents in 2002 and 2016. Very smooth ride and zips in and out of traffic very well. I am Korean so I buy Korean cars.
I think Hondas still offer superior performance and longevity over Hyundais. Consumer Reports publishes owner satisfaction ratings over several years of ownership.
Servco’s Toyota monopoly means it just doesn’t have to care too much about service or customer satisfaction.
I bought a Sonata to replace my Camry and then my wife got a Tuscon. They’re very comparable to Toyotas — comfortable but not flashy — but what sold us was the better warranty. If you need a dealer, we bought both our vehicles from Henry Murillo at Tony Hyundai at Waipio. He’s honest, sincere and not pushy. You can always buy from there and get serviced on Beretania. Waipio may have a better immediate selection since they have a spare lot nearby.
That “local mechanic on Beretania” is Masaki’s and they are certified mechanics for hybrids. When Servco service started getting bad our family switched to Masaki’s and have been completely satisfied with the quality and speed of their service on hybrids and non hybrids. I’m on my second Prius (2005 and 2015) and passed the older one on to a family member. It still runs well, never needed a single brake job or air conditioning replacement. Just gas and tires 🙂
I have never owned a Toyota but have owned a Ford, Honda and Subaru. My current car is a Hyundai. So far ( 50,000 + miles ) the Hyundai has been the most reliable car out of the bunch. I really like it. I have a 2011 2 door Accent which is nothing fancy but it gets the job done, is excellent on gas and was the cheapest new car I could find at the time.
Have had both Santa Fe and Sonata in my family, here and the mainland. Both over 100K miles… no problems and good dealer service. FYI. my Lexus 300H always gets more than 40 MPG per tank. Lexus has great service and pricing on the 300H is tolerable. Visibility on 300H is good. Sort of like a Camry.