New Car buying experience

[Xplantdad]

Hi Lynn, I hope you don't mind me adding some of my experiences as well.


We had a Kia Soul that we bought new in 2012. I drive over 100 miles per day, so it wasn't long until this car was out of the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty. I had the oil changed every 5000 miles at the dealer using their coupons for $12.00 including oil and filter (I couldn't do it that cheap!).



There was a class action lawsuit that involved Hyundai/Kia, Toyota and Honda...where each manufacturer over estimated the actual MPG of their cars. (https://ksupport.kiausa.com/ConsumerAffairs/KiaMPGInfo )Toyota and Honda offered $$ off the next purchase of one of their vehicles. Hyundai/Kia offered either a lump sump payment...or a continuing cash disbursement for the entire time that you owned the car. You would turn in your mileage and they would reimburse you at the going rate. Sometimes we'd turn it in once a year, sometimes 3x a year. The least we got was about $380.00. The most we got was $1300.00-not bad for a continuing payout.


One major repeair was Kia replacing the whole steering column due to a flaw at 120,000 miles. We got a loaner for a week while they did that-and it cost us nothing. The only other major major repair that was done was at 250,000 miles when the heater core blew. The dealer worked with us and I paid $1200 for the repair (See pics!). There's no way I was going to try this repair...LOL. After it was put back together, surprisingly there were no squeaks or rattles....













We ended up selling the car on Facebook marketplace for $2500 on August 8th...when the head gasket started to go at 286,567 miles











We replaced it with a new Hyundai Elantra Hybrid...which when brand new on a trip to San Diego averaged 53 miles per gallon. Not bad! Oh yeah, we didn't pay any dealer mark up either-as a returning customer (We already have a 2018 Hyundai Sonata that we bought new at the same dealer-only has 28,000 miles now....)













Time will tell how the hybrid batteries hold up in AZ...which is notorious for killing batteries. The batteries (like the car) have a 10 year warranty.


Having worked for an Olds dealer in the 80's...where the cars were definitely built to fall apart in a year or two, I am impressed with Hyundai and Kia!


Sorry for the hijack!