Korean cars, will they ever get accepted by petrol heads?

Korean cars, will they ever get accepted by petrol heads?

Author
Discussion

StevieB

Original Poster:

777 posts

147 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Been reading through a lot of car mags recently, pondering,as you do, what car you might buy next (which wont be for at least another year)....gotta say that I think many of the current Hyundai's and Kia's are really good looking cars...seem to be reliable, have a cracking warranty and the owner reports suggest that buyers love 'em. I started thinking that a second hand i30, or C'eed estate wouldnt make such a bad family car, I mean I only drive a Passat after all and thats hardly exciting! As for the current Kia Sportage, I find it worryingly alluring!!

......But for some reason, petrolheads generally turn their noses up at Korean cars, whiff of white goods and all that. The comment by a blogger on this weeks SOTW thread about crappy Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10 says it all really... Perhaps the Top Gear boys are to blame....reminds of the situation with Jap cars in the 70s before stuff like the Celica came along...

Do Ph'ers think this will ever change? I mean, would you..(buy one that is...)

Redbaron1973

637 posts

252 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Of course they will... as soon as they make an equivalent R26R / GTR / Boxster / BRZ / MX5 rival..

jbi

12,668 posts

203 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Genesis Coupe



3.5 V6 345 hp
2.0 Turbo 271 hp

Genesis Sedan



5.0 V8 429 hp
3.8 V6 333hp

Equus Sedan



5.0 V8 429 hp
5.5 V8 Output not disclosed

They have won me over

Edited by jbi on Saturday 12th May 08:44

ejenner

3,992 posts

180 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
I think I secretly threw in the towel on this a few months back. Trade sanctions lifted on the new far-east makes as far as I'm concerned.

Some of them are beating the old-skool jap cars in terms of styling! - that's my personal opinion.

Really I'm still a nut for the classic cars though. I don't think this will ever change. My daily driver is a 1989 and the others I own are all pre 90s.

thinfourth2

32,414 posts

203 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Japan

Builder of poor quality crappy cars or builder of top quality cars?

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Hyundai did so quite a while ago with the Coupe, and Kia are hot on their heels.
Quality is impressive and the warranties on offer equally so.

It's only the badge snobs who appear to take issue.

fizz47

2,663 posts

209 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
They will do well- it's a repeat of Toyota/Honda/Nissan.

When they first came to this country people turned their noses up at them- give it time and they will become very mainstream - it will be quicker if they come out with some interesting cheap priced coupe...

jbi

12,668 posts

203 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Pints said:
Hyundai did so quite a while ago with the Coupe, and Kia are hot on their heels.
Hyundai and Kia are the same company smile

pistonchris

828 posts

180 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
I had a look at a kia soul the other day and thought it was a really cool looking car.
Really like it to be honest.
There seems to be a lot of kia sportage 4x4s on the road and i think they look nice to.

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
jbi said:
Hyundai and Kia are the same company smile
Yes, but different brands.

Codswallop

5,250 posts

193 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
The late 90's Kia Elan wasn't too bad wink


eldar

21,614 posts

195 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Pints said:
Yes, but different brands.
Bit like the 90's Skoda jokes.

BHML

307 posts

169 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
It's not badge snobbery exactly but for me Korean cars lack "pedigree" - they just seem to be cheap copies of European cars (even though they are priced similarly anyway).

It seems a Korean car is a purchase you make with your wallet, not with your heart.

PS not a badge snob, I bought a brand new Skoda!

jbi

12,668 posts

203 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
BHML said:
It's not badge snobbery exactly but for me Korean cars lack "pedigree" - they just seem to be cheap copies of European cars (even though they are priced similarly anyway).

It seems a Korean car is a purchase you make with your wallet, not with your heart.

PS not a badge snob, I bought a brand new Skoda!
would you feel the same way if they brought the genesis coupé to our shores?

dowahdiddyman

965 posts

210 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
This is where Hyundai really missed the boat,the Genesis coupe should have been in this country it would have sold by the boat load. Instead we had to wait and got the Veloster, seen about 2 maybe 3 on the road.

J4CKO

41,284 posts

199 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
I was a kid in the seventies, I knew loads o fpeople that wouldn't be seen dead in a Datsun, Jap Crap, Datst etc, they drove BL stuff and could have never imagined the demise of BL, us making the Datsts over here and Japanese cars being the most reliable we can buy, they were always fairly dependable but had zero rust protection, they arrived on the boat already corroding.

Ignore the Koreans and the Chinese at your Peril, the problem is that the Korean stuff has zero image at the moment but I guess that the Jap stuff didn't but now they have massive pedigree, might take a while to escape the white goods image but it will come, in the meantime they provide some very decent cars for competitive prices

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
eldar said:
Bit like the 90's Skoda jokes.
yes
And we all know who's having the last laugh now. smile

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
For me it kind of depends on the type of car. I have no problem accepting the new Kia Picanto for instance, it looks genuinely good, and from reviews it appears to be the best in class, beating the aygo/panda etc..

Bigger cars, i tend to be a bit more conservative, i do like the look of the hyundai i40 though, but a previous experience with an i30 makes me really skeptical when it comes to the interior and eletronics quality, the way that car was finished/equiped would be very acceptable for an i10, but an absolute dealbreaker for an i40.

And still, i would consider an i40 for a company car if i needed the space and it was a significant better deal then say, a mondeo. If it is my own money, i'm probably buying italian/german.

deltashad

6,731 posts

196 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
My grand daughter, or daughter maybe. But not in my lifetime.

My older brother, he's 40. Reasonably successful accountant, last year bought a Korean car. A Kia Rio. I actually feel sorry for my nephew and niece having to travel around in that car. It's black and it doesn't even have tinted windows, nevermind blacked out windows, which I would expect as standard equipment on any Korean car.

I may consider one if I was a muslim woman and wore a burka everyday.

Ian974

2,927 posts

198 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
At the moment, there aren't really any available which i'd like, but they are fairly decent bits of kit for what they are. A friend has a kia pro ceed and is more than happy with it. 7 year warranty, cheap fuel and tax, looks no less dull than the majority of other hatchbacks about and a fairly nice interior. If you're looking at a new-ish, cheap to run hatchback Icant see why you wouldn't consider one.
For a hot hatch, don't think they have anything to compete with a gti or type r or anything for now, but I'm sure the time will come.