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Comment by maztaim | Hacker News Reader

I can’t speak for their EV line, but no media is talking about how crappy their engines are. I won’t touch a KIA or Hyundai and I have zero qualms speaking up about it. My brother and I both needed new engines after 50,000 miles with normal wear and maintenance. If you read up on oil consumption you will discover they have had problem’s continually since 2014. Last I checked the 2021 +models are still affected. Getting the engine replaced is getting harder as they can’t keep up with engine demand. It’s a 4000 mile set of tests and BS. KEEP ALL YOUR SERVICE RECORDS and keep your maintenance schedule, or you will be paying anywhere from $16,000 USD to fix it on your own dime.

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They do have a history of cheaping on parts. When we had a KIA, all sorts of problems with CV joints, and power steering components, all expiring around 130,000km or so. Just lower quality seals & parts on drivetrain components, that lasted just until out of drivetrain warranty, if I recall.

Their EVs seem well built, from watching Sandy Munro videos, anyways. (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igFytqIMp0A)

But they're also so-far all in the upper tier of price ranges. Nobody is really making a 'budget' EV yet, apart from maybe GM with the Bolt.

Expiring at 130k KM seems sort of reasonable? How long do you expect those parts to last?

130k km == 81k mi, for the metrically-impaired.

CV joints, drivetrain, power steering ... in a "reliable" vehicle, will last at least double or triple that!

Depends how and where you drive it, and what ride quality you will put up with.

Around 80k miles upgrading to better aftermarket suspension components is usually worth it.

The wildest part for me is that the turbo variants they're selling in Europe seem to be perfectly fine. In the N cars there only seem to be clutch issues (and other stuff that's only relevant if you track them). My family has driven Korean cars since 2008 without ANY issues and I'm perfectly happy with my i30N.

Strangely, Does Hyundai/Kia have some difference wrt engines in US and India? Never heard anyone complain about engine in India even after 62k miles, they are quite popular among taxi drivers, who definitely stress the engine more than enough. Indian roads can be quite punishing on cars.

It IS strange! Hyundai and Kias are the most reliable cars in America right now https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cars-with-the-fewest-and-ch...

Note that it appears CarMD is basing this on data largely from 1995-2015. That’s well under the likely time/miles when KIA/Hyundai would have started to have engine trouble s.

Taxis are one of the least stressed engines as they stay at operating temperature for most of their life, more so when they are run 24/7 with multiple shifts.

In Indian traffic cars are constantly revving and slowing down. And Indian taxis are worst maintained. We don't have regulations enforcing it. And the driving of the majority of taxis is also haphazard. I'm not aware of any ideal taxi situation that you're speaking of in the Indian context.

Most engine wear is from cold starts.

That only matters if your design isn't garbage to begin with.

If you have some Toyota 22RE-esque timing component eating abomination or some Navistar 6.0-esque headgasket eating abomination the thing won't last long enough for normal wear to dominate the equation.

I’ve read some threads either here or on Reddit from mechanics saying it was the 2.0 engine (I think the CVT versions) that crapped out like this and they used that engine in a ton of models. Anecdotal, but mine is an old 2013 Kia with a 1.6 engine with DCT like all their turbos / top of line models and I’ve had no mechanical issues at all yet, but I’m looking to buy soon and I won’t consider their 2.0s out of caution.

My 2012 Accent had this issue with a 2.0 engine. Started burning oil around 90K miles and was getting worse by the day. To their credit, Hyundai replaced the full engine at no cost right at 100K miles thanks to the warranty - I have had the car for 10 years without incident, so it's pretty cool to get a brand new engine. I'd buy another Hyundai just because their warranty is so kick-ass

IIRC Kia or Hyundai has longest warranty - something like 8 years.

It used to be 10

There are a few people in this thread saying their engines seized within the warranty period but weren’t covered by Kia, so this warranty might not be as useful as it sounds.

One of mine has a seized engine at 66k miles. I’ve been waiting 2 months for the pleasure of paying $6k for a replacement. It is hopelessly backordered. I plan to sell mine as soon as I’m able.

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