03 Tiburon?
 

For awhile I've been looking for a new car for my mother. She wants something that LOOKS sporty, but doesn't so much care how it performs. The problem is that she WON'T buy a RWD car.. it's gotta be brand-new and FWD or AWD. I thought all hope was lost until I remembered one car that for some reason I'd never considered..

Does anyone have any experience with the brand new Tiburons? she'd likely get the four-cylinder auto tranny model (I know, I know, the 6-speed V6 would be way sweeter). I'm curious if anyone knows if these cars have any serious faults or problems waiting to happen (other than the fact that they're Korean)

thanks

-adam

don't know much about them, but they are a nice-looking car at least. the last generation was kinda funky! they do seem to have a generous warranty.

I test drove one over the summer - I was actually pretty impressed. They actually paid attention to the details it seemed... seats were nice, interior wasn't too chintzy. I drove the 6speed v6. It's definatly "sporty" rather than being a sports car, as far as the suspension tuning and all. Not a ton of safety features though.

re: tiberions
 

i don't know much about them, but i know that the parent company manufactures lots of heavy machinery. now their auto division may suck tho, as with most korean products in my opinion.

http://www.hyundaiusa.com/showroom/2...nsPackages.asp

It is a very nice car IMO...for 18K with the v6 and 6-speed and leather it is a deal..not really on the high power end but still sporty and i think they look as good as a 350Z..

pic..

Oh I LOVE the new Tiburons. They are hot in silver, and some days, I wish I had bought the Tiburon instead of my SVX. The 4 cyl 5 speed model I drove had a good ride, great handling, great stereo, comfortable seats, and the shifter was great...Honda like, in fact. And can you beat not worrying about the car having a breakdown for 10 years? All that for under $16k.

well, as i'm learning by perusing the Tiburon message boards, "10 year warranty" is not synonomous with "not worrying about the car having a breakdown..."

the impression that i get is that they're not bad mechanically, but some of the asthetic things like door fitment and trim are a little less than perfect.. but then, you expect such an inexpensive car to have its flaws..

still not sure if i should push her to get one. they look pretty cool in white..

-adam

Buy your mom a 6 cyl. VDC sedan for Mother's Day. I think you can get the GT sedan in this configuration now. Have her drive it in snow. She'll love it and love you so much more for your thoughtfulness.

ha ha larry, you're assuming that i actually have MONEY. i can't even afford to have a rear wiper on my car.. i don't think i could afford a VDC car..

-adam

check out Civics...if you want a sporty civic..check out the Si, reliable, fwd, and will pretty much last forever...from what ive seen and noticed, eve the standard honda rust spot, behind the rear wheel well is no longer a problem.

The Tiboron IMO is an alright car.... My Gunny has the v6 with tiptronic trans. It drives really nice and is relatively speedy.... (not as fast as it looks though).... The 10 year warranty is also a really good one too.... I think that it would be a good car for her... I'd drive one.....

About Civics..... Now I'm not a ricer fan at all... But if there was one car that I'd drive the H#!! out of it would be a 99-01 Civic Si.... My buddy in school had one... A purple one.... I know it is really called something like "ion blue" but we all picked on him for having a purple honda... :) Anyway one day he let me drive that car and I gotta tell ya, It was quite a thrill!!!! He had a VTEC controller on it and a cold air intake.... There is nothing quite like watching the Tachometer swing all wht way over to it's 8,000 redline!!!! And that sound!!!! God, it almost made me pop boner right there (i am all about sweet sounding engines).... It sounded like a Gran touring car.......... Awesome... That would be the only Honda that I would ever buy... The new Si's really suck. They took away the B16 engine and replaced it with some crap that is 400cc bigger but puts out the same Hp... ???? What was the point in that??? Whatever though....

lol...I got an even stronger sensation when a Ferarri 360 convertable ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG-ed down my 25 MPH limit street at about 90...I swear, I couldn't move! I'd never heard anything more beautiful in my life.

Tibs seem to be pretty nice. No, they're not fast, and no, they don't do so great on the skidpad but they're nice cars, and the 6spd would be fun. :)

Civics are gross though... everyone has one. They're to 'furious' for me.

ok here's my two cents I work at a Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru dealership and the 03 Tiburon had the sunroof motor recalled were still selling new ones that haven’t been repaired yet also out of the three brands we sell Hyundai has the most recall work done not so much mechanicals but things like the interior trim man that was a long sentence. Victor

Ok here is my two cents on Hyundais 10yr 100000 mile warranty. To fully explain my feelings I will take a small excerpt from a movie entitled "Tommy Boy"

"I could take a $hit in a box and slap a guarantee on it but I'd rather sell you a quality set of brake pads"

With that being said I think you could do better than a tiburon even the v-6 has pretty dissapointing numbers. Go with a Corola S-type if it doesn't really matter. Even the Nissan Sentra would be better.