So much Hyundai/Kia fail explained so well

[Dirk Diggler]

That is weird Dirk. Most vehicles that come with no spare generally come equipped with runflat crap tires. Seems like I remember, when I was at Hyundai-Kia, some scuttlebutt about removing the spare, and including some of that fix-a-flat crap instead. The Americans rolled their eyes and grumbled something along the lines of, that's just as dumb as everything else, we were ignored as usual. Looks like I need more liquor and shock therapy to get that out of my mind.

One story that pops into my head. You guys remember how I told you I'm built like Shrek. One time I'm in the bathroom at the Hyundai plant. I'd been their employee for a while and had already gotten to know many of my Korean counterparts. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful people, I love 'em (they suck as engineers but it comes from the top down). So, in the bathroom. I'm at a stand-up urinal. 2 average size Korean guys take the next two urinals to the left. One guy cracks off a tiny little popper. The next Korean guy cracks off a bigger one, but was more or less a little squeaker. He then makes some kind of grunt at the other guy. They could not have timed it better. I had a monster brewing that I was being polite and had been holding in. But after the grunt of superiority, I opened the throttle. And let out this big juicy moose. I then then looked to my left as they were both looking up and to the right (with a bit of shock on their face) and I said, "welcome to America." Zipped up and walked away. If they hadn't been exposed like they were, I might have gotten bowed to. I don't think their shocked looked was because they couldn't match it, I'm sure they could under certain circumstances. I think their shock was that I would have the audacity to dwarf them so spectacularly.

That fix-a-flat junk doesn't work well at all IMO. It's useless if your puncture is on the sidewall, which is where my last two flats was.

[Mark]

Yeah, the wifes 15' optima came with no spare. There was a spot for one but they installed a big chunk of styrofoam and an air compressor/tire slime combo. What a stupid idea that is. The wife hit a pothole one winter and bent the wheel so bad it broke the bead. She didn't know any better and tried the stupid air compressor slime garbage lol.

At least the Sorento came with a spare, pretty sure it's a donut but better than nothing.

I think the chevy spark we had at work for a short while didn't have a spare either.

That's another thing that i liked about first & second generation Honda CR-Vs. They came with a full size spare, and the rim matched the existing wheels. It was mounted on the rear hatch door, & I used it I picked up three factory rims from a place that sold used ones, and i had my second set of tires for winter tires.

Since it was an AWD vehicle, I made sure all four wheels somewhat matched all the time. I would slap a tire from the other set on the rear hatch door for the spare.

[Ares]

I guess I live in one of those communities... Every other house has a decent looking HKG product.

My neighbor even bought a new Santa Fe. The day they brought it in, showed me all the bells and whistles - which is how they get you. Price is low but "near-luxury" feel and amenities.

I just can't get rid of the HKG stigma.

[Fummins]

I dislike Ford and Polaris just as much. Polaris has a new recall for machines catching fire all the time. Ford had the aeroflame vans but I the fact that they make their junk so disposable and most is a pita to do anything to.
I changed a headlight for a guy with a 2014ish Fusion, you gotta pull the entire front bumper cover off, then remove the headlight assembly, then one of the bulbs can't be removed by hand cause it's offset from the access hole. Changed a cabin filter in the same car, have to remove some trim then unbolt the glovebox assembly(it doesn't pop out like a Mirage), then I believe the access panel was bolted in place.
Oil change in a 2015 ish Explorer non turbo v6, there's some goofy afterthought piece of plastic screwed to the bottom of the engine that prevents you from acessing either the oil fitler or oil drain plug(I forgot which). So it had to be removed. That's pretty minor though. Their parts interchange used to be horrible, 50 different ecm part numbers for the same vehicle, same model year, and same engine. Cam phasers in the old 5.4's, ecoboost v6 aren't great, the diesels.....the 6.7L might be the most reliable since the 7.3L, but the 6.0L and 6.4L are garbage. Probably even worse than the 2.4L kia/hyundai's. I guess the engines themselves might be okay, its everything bolted to them, injectors, head gaskets, turbo's, and all the emissions stuff,egr cooler, etc....

When I had my Fummins(that had a giant Cummins sticker across the back window), some stereotypical lifted truck guy(short guy with little man syndrome) with an identical truck(lifted F350) pranced over to me at a gas station to tell me how awesome his 6.0L ferd was and all the work he just did to it. It was one of the strangest encounters. It was like he was mad that I had a Ferd with a Cummins and had to defend his choice to hop up a pos ferd diesel. I dunno. Then he made a bunch of noise and burnt a few bucks worth of fuel speeding out of the parking lot.

I kinda lost focus again....

[Wallythacker]

I dislike Ford and Polaris just as much. Polaris has a new recall for machines catching fire all the time. Ford had the aeroflame vans but I the fact that they make their junk so disposable and most is a pita to do anything to.
I changed a headlight for a guy with a 2014ish Fusion, you gotta pull the entire front bumper cover off, then remove the headlight assembly, then one of the bulbs can't be removed by hand cause it's offset from the access hole. Changed a cabin filter in the same car, have to remove some trim then unbolt the glovebox assembly(it doesn't pop out like a Mirage), then I believe the access panel was bolted in place.
Oil change in a 2015 ish Explorer non turbo v6, there's some goofy afterthought piece of plastic screwed to the bottom of the engine that prevents you from acessing either the oil fitler or oil drain plug(I forgot which). So it had to be removed. That's pretty minor though. Their parts interchange used to be horrible, 50 different ecm part numbers for the same vehicle, same model year, and same engine. Cam phasers in the old 5.4's, ecoboost v6 aren't great, the diesels.....the 6.7L might be the most reliable since the 7.3L, but the 6.0L and 6.4L are garbage. Probably even worse than the 2.4L kia/hyundai's. I guess the engines themselves might be okay, its everything bolted to them, injectors, head gaskets, turbo's, and all the emissions stuff,egr cooler, etc....

When I had my Fummins(that had a giant Cummins sticker across the back window), some stereotypical lifted truck guy(short guy with little man syndrome) with an identical truck(lifted F350) pranced over to me at a gas station to tell me how awesome his 6.0L ferd was and all the work he just did to it. It was one of the strangest encounters. It was like he was mad that I had a Ferd with a Cummins and had to defend his choice to hop up a pos ferd diesel. I dunno. Then he made a bunch of noise and burnt a few bucks worth of fuel speeding out of the parking lot.

I kinda lost focus again....

F Ford, and this is from someone who has owned more Fords than the years I've been alive. No kiddin' They lost their focus (see what I did there?) when they decided the F series should consist of 3 levels of trim, luxury, more luxury and insane levels of luxury. Ahhh....64 oz. virgin cut wool under my toesies in my F350. I knew I loved barefoot driving for a reason.

[7milesout]

I do miss the bare bones types of trucks. I guess I sort of have the last of that breed with my 2 trucks. I'd say my Dodge is a little bit upscale inside the cab. But my dad's truck is fairly basic. Just the things you'd want to add to a barebones truck. A/C, power windows, and cruise control. Really, I'd be fine with a roll down driver's window, then power on the passenger side ... cause it's too hard to layover and roll down from the driver's seat.

I think Mark might have posted that the very basic version of the GMC truck I have now is like $44k brand new. OMG, I'd puke on their lot if I saw that. I had an 88 Chevy Suburban Scottsdale 4X4 (I think the Scottsdale was their way of saying "basic"). It looked very much like the red Suburban on Dante's Peak. I think it had a rubber floor cover instead of carpet. All 4 rolldown windows ... and I loved that truck. It blew a head gasket at just under 100k miles. I couldn't keep it after that, and had this racer friend of mine that would blow me off the interstate with his Dodge Ram Cummins on the way back to Knoxville ... and be getting better mpg too. That's when I decided I'd have to get a Cummins Ram. I got one and never regretted it. Damn fine truck.

[Wallythacker]

I do miss the bare bones types of trucks. I guess I sort of have the last of that breed with my 2 trucks. I'd say my Dodge is a little bit upscale inside the cab. But my dad's truck is fairly basic. Just the things you'd want to add to a barebones truck. A/C, power windows, and cruise control. Really, I'd be fine with a roll down driver's window, then power on the passenger side ... cause it's too hard to layover and roll down from the driver's seat.

I think Mark might have posted that the very basic version of the GMC truck I have now is like $44k brand new. OMG, I'd puke on their lot if I saw that. I had an 88 Chevy Suburban Scottsdale 4X4 (I think the Scottsdale was their way of saying "basic"). It looked very much like the red Suburban on Dante's Peak. I think it had a rubber floor cover instead of carpet. All 4 rolldown windows ... and I loved that truck. It blew a head gasket at just under 100k miles. I couldn't keep it after that, and had this racer friend of mine that would blow me off the interstate with his Dodge Ram Cummins on the way back to Knoxville ... and be getting better mpg too. That's when I decided I'd have to get a Cummins Ram. I got one and never regretted it. Damn fine truck.

Living where I do I have never been able to think about owning and driving a vehicle for 25+ years and having the body in near pristine shape. Salt and calcium are so so bad on metalwork. One of the most durable cars I ever had was my 85 Caravan CV. That thing was loaded with galvanized steel. Areas which rusted on the passengers models were unaffected on mine. I never understood why. This was a vehicle I did plan to keep for 25+ years and drive as it appeared to be very rust resistant. The prior owner rebuilt the 2.6 Mitsubishi and it ran flawlessly.

Then my Dad shows up day in his 86 Caravan CV with a V6 and tells me it's mine as he bought a 90 something passenger Caravan. Ugh, gotta love my Dad but I did not want his V6 no AC dark blue CV. Like I said, my 85 just didn't rust. The 86 had rust in spots the 85 didn't. Wouldn't you know it? Just a few months after I took possession of it the valve guides started going. I had sold the 85 because of lack of driveway space. I had no time to tear down the V6 and fix it. It got scrapped less than a year. I used to see my 85 around town for a good 5-6 years after selling it. Still no rust.

[Fummins]

I didn't know where to post this but holy crap! It is a Kia so good enough.

[Mark]

Wow! Thankfully, the KIA Soul driver wasn't injured badly!!!