opinions on kia, hyundai, etc? better to get a slightly older chevy?

D&L's-mommy · Mar 21, 2013

I'm still not sure what I want to get, for us buying a vehicle is a major commitment, we keep them until they die. We really want to stay around $10,000-11,000, it's not easy finding a good vehicle at that price. I've looked at several kias and hyundais I like,but DH doesn't feel they're built to last, and worries that they may not last as long as we'd like. He feels it'd be better to get a chevy that's a little older, with slightly higher mileage than get a kia or hyundai. I have no idea

canadiangie · Mar 21, 2013

What type of vehicle are you considering? Eta: I see from your other thread you are wanting a mid sized car.

What car seats do you have? (I see your siggie, am wondering what other seats you have, or will be using down the road)

cupcakepirate11 · Mar 21, 2013

10k is a solid budget, I would not get a used Chevy personally but I'm pretty set against anything not Honda or Toyota. Look for privately owned (by one person, not multiple owners) accords or camrys. Make sure they have all the records of upkeep. Take it for a test drive. Anything over 120k imho is too much mileage.

You could find one for maybe even cheaper than 10k it just takes staying on the ball and looking a lot. They go fast. I got my 2004 corolla this way, 4k with 113,00 miles. I now have 163k on it and will have driven it cross country twice and up and down the east coast multiple times without a single issue. Best of luck

D&L's-mommy · Mar 21, 2013

canadiangie said:
What type of vehicle are you considering? Eta: I see from your other thread you are wanting a mid sized car.

What car seats do you have? (I see your siggie, am wondering what other seats you have, or will be using down the road)

well, I'm probably delusional thinking that I can get a monterey and a nautilus to work in a 3 across in a mid sized car

We just bought the monterey and it needs to go in the new car (our current car doesn't have headrests and DS doesn't have a lot of growing room before his ears are even with the seat back), and I'm torn between putting the nautilus in the new car or getting a frontier (equally massive, if not more so), and I need to get a convertible in the car somewhere too (I"m thinking radian, s4m/ms70/ or sureride). The convertible is for my niece I watch 3-4 days a week, DH doesn't think I need to take her into consideration but I do, we transport DS for school, so I need to think about that, and summer activities, even if she's not in the car, I want to know that I can bring along a 5th person comfortably

I keep bouncing back and forth between a sedan, a wagon, a van and suv, so really, I have no idea! I don't want something as big as a van, but I think it might be most practical. A suv would work too if I can do 3 across, or with a 3rd row might be ok I guess since it's not a big issue for a kid to hop in the 3rd row but I'd still need to be able to buckle. I don't know if a sedan will work for 3 across with our CRs, and even if I didn't have my niece to consider I don't want anything too tiny since DS is all legs, and I don't want the kids to be crammed together.
DS uses a wheelchair on occasion for long outings, it's fairly large, it fits in our malibu classic's trunk with room for a large cooler, and behind the 3rd row of a ford windstar,but leaves no additional room.
any thoughts based on actual experience rather than my crazy irrational ponderings?

gsdguenter · Mar 21, 2013

I have an 09 Kia and 10 Hyundai and I'm happy with them. I had issues with the Kia for a but, but it was all covered under the warranty.

I LOATHE American cars though (sorry lol) so I'd never buy a Chevy on purpose

I've owned VWs, Mercedes, Toyotas, Subarus, audis, and 1 ford. I hated the explorer. Oh, I had a Chevy astro for a while as well (hand me down in college) and I called it the "crapstro".

D&L's-mommy · Mar 21, 2013

I don't know much at all about the mechanics of vehicles, but it seems that the imported cars are now more popular than american (ford, chevy), there's got to be a reason for that.I'm not at all concerned about having 14 cupholders, and leather seats, navigation, and all that. I don't need it, I'd rather a basic vehicle with good crash test ratings and safety features. We currently have a chevy, we put 100k on it before it needed any real work, but we've recently put nearly $4000 into it

, so I'm glad we've gotten 7 years years out of it before it needed anything, and I guess all vehicles eventually need something replaced, idk. So I guess I feel like I can't complaint that we got 7 good years, and now that's it's been fixed it runs great. It seems like everything I like is imported, has reasonable miles, isn't too old, and is affordable for us. I just not knowledgeable enough to to be able to have an effective conversation with DH, he said I can get anything I want, but he's hesitant about lower cost vehicles.

cso1997 · Mar 21, 2013

My Kia is 10 years old and I have never had one issue with it. Most people will probably suggest a Honda or Toyota though.

ks1978 · Mar 21, 2013

We are looking for a new car and our mechanic advised sticking to toyota, Honda or Hyundai-I was surprised about that last one

bobandjess99 · Mar 21, 2013

Hyundai/kia from the new gen of cars are really nice vehicles. On most of their cars that is going to be 07 or newer, and $9k is totally doable.

gsdguenter · Mar 21, 2013

Hyundai/Kia has really improved over the past say, 5-10 yrs

D&L's-mommy · Mar 21, 2013

good to hear. the dealer we like to work with currently has a 2008 hyundai elantra gls with 69,000miles for $10k, it's really nice, we're gonna try to go look at saturday, I'm just worried about getting 3 across, it says 54" rear hip room, a monterey is 18", nautilus is 19.5", radian is 14", so in theory they should fit, maybe, but probably not, lol. I wish there was a seat the width of the radian with harness height of the frontier

Jessica61624 · Mar 21, 2013

D&L's-mommy said:
good to hear. the dealer we like to work with currently has a 2008 hyundai elantra gls with 69,000miles for $10k, it's really nice, we're gonna try to go look at saturday, I'm just worried about getting 3 across, it says 54" rear hip room, a monterey is 18", nautilus is 19.5", radian is 14", so in theory they should fit, maybe, but probably not, lol. I wish there was a seat the width of the radian with harness height of the frontier

You will not get 3 across with those seats. You lose about 10-15 in on the side with the rear bolsters. I measuted 40 in between bolsters. I love love love my sonata but if I knew what a pita it was with car seats I wouldn't have got it. I have a ff radian/rf radian/frontier. The only booster I got to fit in place of the frontier was a parkway. And you need latch to keep it from leaning. The Monterey will not work. If you search my threads you'll find pictures. I do agree Hyundai has really stepped their game up with the new gen of cars. Anything from 2006 on.

NVMBR02 · Mar 21, 2013

FWIW, I was able to get a FR85, RFing Radian and a Parkway SG in my Ford Fusion (09), buckleing the booster was tight, but doable. I can't remember if I tried my Monterey with the Radian and FR85 though.

acoro · Mar 22, 2013

We went through the Kia/Hyundai debate last year and loved them both. We went with the Hyundai Sonata because they all have middle seat headrests where as only the Kia soul does (none of their 2012-13 sedans did)

They are excellent cars now & sister companies. The warranties are great too. You may be able to get a dealer demo/certified used well within warranty(?)

D&L's-mommy · Mar 22, 2013

Jessica61624 said:
You will not get 3 across with those seats. You lose about 10-15 in on the side with the rear bolsters. I measuted 40 in between bolsters. I love love love my sonata but if I knew what a pita it was with car seats I wouldn't have got it. I have a ff radian/rf radian/frontier. The only booster I got to fit in place of the frontier was a parkway. And you need latch to keep it from leaning. The Monterey will not work. If you search my threads you'll find pictures. I do agree Hyundai has really stepped their game up with the new gen of cars. Anything from 2006 on.

yeah, wishful thinking I guess. I don't know if I'll be able to do 3 across in any sedan, DH is worried the elantra is too small even if we only had to fit 2 kids in the back, and I imagine those bolsters would be uncomfortable for adults sitting in the back too. I really need the monterey to work, DS has spina bifida and really needs the support of a HBB, so It's important for us to be able to make that happen as long as possible. I say I'd be willing to replace the nautilus,maybe get DD a ff radian, DH won't be happy, but if it means getting a better car than I don't have a problem, I just worry what we'll do once she outgrows the harness, she's only 4.5yo and has a 16.5" torso. Sounds like I need to keep looking

eta: I'm pretty sure I want something that I can fit any 3 seats in that I choose, because we plan on keeping this vehicle for as long as possible, so I need to make sure I can fit 3 teenagers, or adults (my friends) in the back. But, otoh we can fit 3 normal sized adults in the back of our malibu but can't fit the monterey and nauti with anything or anyone else. sounds like I need 3 rows, right?

gsdguenter · Mar 22, 2013

I can fit 3 across in my '10 Elantra. I know there was a change to the back seats, but joy sure which year that happened in. Now, I couldn't just choose any seats I wanted, but it's totally possible to get 3 across

D&L's-mommy · Mar 22, 2013

gsdguenter said:
I can fit 3 across in my '10 Elantra. I know there was a change to the back seats, but joy sure which year that happened in. Now, I couldn't just choose any seats I wanted, but it's totally possible to get 3 across

thanks, can I ask which of your seats are in the elantra?
eta: I saw a thread on here with an 04 elantra, with frontier, rf radian, keyfit. so I should be able to do monterey, rf radian, ff radian, right?

I'm just worried that I won't be able to fit 2 boosters, I'm thinking I really need something larger since this will be our main vehicle

gsdguenter · Mar 22, 2013

I can try Monterey (old style one) and radian radian if you'd like.

I have a whole host of seats lol but it's hard with my knee right now to play. Did you try searching the 3 across thread? I think I posted in there.

gsdguenter · Mar 22, 2013

Right now I have rf RN, RSTV, ff RN in my moms Elantra (also a '10)

D&L's-mommy · Mar 22, 2013

gsdguenter said:
I can try Monterey (old style one) and radian radian if you'd like.

I have a whole host of seats lol but it's hard with my knee right now to play. Did you try searching the 3 across thread? I think I posted in there.

I don't want to make you do that, that's a lot of work, but thank you.I did search the 3 across thread and didn't come up with anything, I'll try again

gsdguenter said:
Right now I have rf RN, RSTV, ff RN in my moms Elantra (also a '10)

what is an rstv?

opinions on kia, hyundai, etc? better to get a slightly older chevy?

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