[TaterHawk]

Hello All, I have been following Hyundai and Kia for years, I have never owned one, but I am a truck guy like some of you. I have been driving pickups since I was 16. (Bought my first 1977 Chevrolet Scottsdale 4x4) in 1983. I have driven many brands of vehicles since but have always come back to trucks and usually GM products. (although not exclusively). I have had the 1977 Chev Scottsdale 4wd, 1979 Toyo Celica Supra, 1981 Toyo LWB 4wd truck, 1991 Ford F150 LWB 4wd, 1992 Toyo 4 Runner 4wd, 1995 Ford F150 2wd, 2001 Dodge Dakota 4wd Quad Cab(lost in divorce), 2002 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4wd, 2004 Dodge 2500 4wd Cummings Diesel, 2004 Dodge Dakota, 2007 Chev Tahoe 4wd , I now drive a 2004 Cadillac EXT awd. We still have the Chev Tahoe, drive to Church and longer trips with Grands. I have been intensely in the market for smaller awd or 4wd truck before the Ext dies 194k miles. I still miss my Dakotas, 4.7 V8 and used to get 16 to 18 mpg and the room was just right (now Fiat has control no more Dodge). I am trying to hold out until the Santa Cruz comes out. otherwise it looks like I will be giving Honda Ridgeline a try. Either way I am so exited to have a new vehicle maker coming out with a smaller awd truck. (sort of).

 

[Bobby7]

Welcome to the forum @TaterHawk! That's quite a truck history! What are you most interested about with the Santa Cruz?

 

[TaterHawk]

Thanks Bobby
I have been a truck fanatic since my first a Chevy Scottsdale at 16 yo.
I have been a fan of the chevy El Camino (even thou never owned one) since childhood and have loved the crazy versatility of the avalanche (my Cadillac 04 ext actually was cheaper used than an avalanche and had the 6.0 v8). Only thing I dislike is the gas mileage 12.5 mpg combined!
The Avalanche is a heavy truck and the 5.3 is barely sufficient.
I have been watching the Santa Cruz concept years ago and prayed they would build it in a 4 door. I have followed the Hyundai and Kia and liked their builds. My little brother has the small sedan and has 195k miles on it and it runs great. My coworker bought the upscale sedan 8 years ago and just recently the motor blew at 110k they replaced it free of charge!
You can’t beat that kind of commitment to customers! Reminds me of the Toyota of the 80s and early 90s.
Nath

 

[Bobby7]

Thanks Bobby
I have been a truck fanatic since my first a Chevy Scottsdale at 16 yo.
I have been a fan of the chevy El Camino (even thou never owned one) since childhood and have loved the crazy versatility of the avalanche (my Cadillac 04 ext actually was cheaper used than an avalanche and had the 6.0 v8). Only thing I dislike is the gas mileage 12.5 mpg combined!
The Avalanche is a heavy truck and the 5.3 is barely sufficient.
I have been watching the Santa Cruz concept years ago and prayed they would build it in a 4 door. I have followed the Hyundai and Kia and liked their builds. My little brother has the small sedan and has 195k miles on it and it runs great. My coworker bought the upscale sedan 8 years ago and just recently the motor blew at 110k they replaced it free of charge!
You can’t beat that kind of commitment to customers! Reminds me of the Toyota of the 80s and early 90s.
Nath

It's been fascinating to see how their design and build quality has drastically improved over the years. I couldn't stand Hyundai cars in the early 2000's and now I really want the Santa Cruz pickup lol.

 

[HSC4ME]

Hold out if you can! This will be my first Hyundai, but I do have friends that owned Elantra's in the past and put hundreds of thousands of miles on them without a problem. As for dealers, my experience with them all has been hit and miss. Bought a 1996 Subaru Outback and the dealer replaced the WHOLE motor twice in less than 10K miles, but once the third new engine went in I unloaded it like a hot potato. Bad engine design (little publicized piston pin oiling issue that made a load ticking sound once the wear limits had been exceeded), bad uncomfortable cheap seats and awful brakes (cheap rotors warped). Bought a new VW Beetle with the 10YR/100,000 mile warranty Audi Turbo motor. Really enjoyed the car (my first car was a 1968 VW Bug). Recalls for carbon buildup from the Turbo engine did me in (no more Turbo's for me). The dealer forced me to pay hundreds of dollars for "parts not covered under the recall" while they performed the recall repair and damaged them (WTF?!). Wouldn't release the car to me unless I paid and VW Corporate wasn't any help, stating all dealerships are independently operated. That repair resulted in years of "engine check lights" that three dealers could never resolve; one even tried to replace the entire transmission when there was no transmission problem. I finally drove it to the dealer far away that I bought it from and explained the history to them. It only took them a 1/2 hour to determine that the dealer that did the original Turbo carbon recall had damaged the wiring harness, most likely from pulling on it without releasing the lock clips. No Subaru's or VW's for me ever again! Been told BS by some many Toyota and Honda dealers that I have to explain to THEM why they are wrong and just give me my car back. Good service from Porsche and BMW dealers, but you pay for that service through the nose. In short, dealers are only used when forced or initial year services that are included in the purchase. The new tech laden vehicles do put you on the spot when software goes south. All I will be asking from Hyundai is that they be honest with me...