Hyundai Equus

[kopfjäger]

http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicles/2012/equus/

[Randimus Maximus]

Not sure what you're trying to say.

It's a really, really, nice, powerful, quiet car, actually.

Not sure I'd be ready to drop $59K on a Hyundai, however.

[NAKID]

Not sure what you're trying to say.
Not sure I'd be ready to drop $59K on a Hyundai, however.

+1

Reading over the site now, but yeah, that's a lot of scratch for a Hyundai...

[kopfjäger]

Not trying to say anything other than it can run with the big dogs.

[kopfjäger]

Reclining rear seats with foot rests, who has that in a luxury sedan?

[kopfjäger]

Go and test drive this car, it will boggle your mind.

[ducatiz]

After we made the decision to buy a Kia (last year), I went and looked at the other Kia/Hyundai models because the Sorento we got has proven itself.  It's a very well designed and built vehicle.

They have come of age, I'll say.

The Equus is pretty amazing.  RWD as well, though I'd prefer 4wd in any car these days, but doing it in RWD says something to me...

They are doing a good job of trying to take Toyota down.

Don't sneeze at the Koreans, they have taken longer to get to the table, but look at their phone and tablet offerings -- better than most and the Samsung is giving the Apple a run for its money.

[kopfjäger]

2011 Hyundai Equus vs 2011 Bentley Mulsanne

[kopfjäger]

MotoMan - What Is Luxury?

[swampduc]

Not sure I'd be ready to drop $59K on a Hyundai, however.

people used to say things like that about Lexus. In the 70's, they said things like that about BMW and Porsche.

Kopf, did you drive the car? Thinking about one?

[ducatiz]

2011 Hyundai Equus vs 2011 Bentley Mulsanne

The Bentley clearly has the edge due to the chassis size and interior quality, but for 6x the price?

Hyundai could make that car 6" wider and longer and use more leather in the back and it would be nearly indistinguishable.

[zooom]

the Equus was origionally released last year and was at around $70K and the owners manual was on an i-Pad that was docked in the glovebox that came with the car and they talked of regular service, the option at most dealerships for pick-up at your home like they do for Bentley's....

at that time, I fully expected this thing to suffer the same fate as the VW Phaeton....time will tell...the Phaeton was at least a more or less rebadged Audi A8L and most that bought them did so opting to save the money and knowing what they were getting...because they were Audi customers...not a VW customer looking to be sold up within the brand....so Hyundai is merely just trying to poach from other luxury makers ( moreso Lexus as the target this aims at) and quite frankly it has the potential, as long as people can overcome their brand stereotypes that still could be the betrayal of this vehicles possible success

[Randimus Maximus]

They are doing a good job of trying to take Toyota down.

Just wait until you see what Toyota & Lexus are bringing to the table over the next 18 months.

FYI...Camry is outselling Sonata 2:1 so far this year.

[ducatiz]

Just wait until you see what Toyota & Lexus are bringing to the table over the next 18 months.

FYI...Camry is outselling Sonata 2:1 so far this year.

It will be a good fight.

Hyundai/Kia has more interesting cars and can ride on the shoulders of Toyota's developments. 

They've also not mired themselves in with GM to assemble cars in the US -- all of the Camrys in the US are now being built in a Subaru plant IIRC.  Hyundai built their own plant in Georgia and the QA has been over the top.

The main kinks I see with the Korean cars right now is the quirkiness of the features -- like our Kia Sorento has driver-side electric seat controls, but the passenger doesn't.  Meanwhile, it has perforated leather throughout.  It would seem to be an easy choice to put the seat controls on both sides..  Some other small quirks like that.

We tested the Toyota Rav4 (among half a dozen vehicles) and didn't like it.  The 2011 version was just ugly as sin and the third row seat was clearly an afterthought.  Also, legroom for the driver was tiny.  The Sorento feels purpose built -- the third row is small but when closed up you don't know its there.  On the Rav, it is an eyesore and you loose cargo room. 

Toyota definitely has the ability to get ahead, but I think by offshoring their assembly, they are taking a chance and clearly with the NUMMI-built Camrys they screwed up, as well as the 6 or so recalls in the last 4-5 years.

I think part of the reason Hyundai has lagged is their conservative approach.  They perfect a design before shipping it.  The Japanese seem to design something and then use top notch manufacturing to make it run.  The last Toy I owned was a '79 Celica GT -- I put 150k miles on it and sold it with 200k miles running perfectly.  Beautiful little car, and the engine was heavy but reliable.

[Randimus Maximus]

It will be a good fight.

Hyundai/Kia has more interesting cars and can ride on the shoulders of Toyota's developments. 

They've also not mired themselves in with GM to assemble cars in the US -- all of the Camrys in the US are now being built in a Subaru plant IIRC.  Hyundai built their own plant in Georgia and the QA has been over the top.

The main kinks I see with the Korean cars right now is the quirkiness of the features -- like our Kia Sorento has driver-side electric seat controls, but the passenger doesn't.  Meanwhile, it has perforated leather throughout.  It would seem to be an easy choice to put the seat controls on both sides..  Some other small quirks like that.

We tested the Toyota Rav4 (among half a dozen vehicles) and didn't like it.  The 2011 version was just ugly as sin and the third row seat was clearly an afterthought.  Also, legroom for the driver was tiny.  The Sorento feels purpose built -- the third row is small but when closed up you don't know its there.  On the Rav, it is an eyesore and you loose cargo room. 

Toyota definitely has the ability to get ahead, but I think by offshoring their assembly, they are taking a chance and clearly with the NUMMI-built Camrys they screwed up, as well as the 6 or so recalls in the last 4-5 years.

I think part of the reason Hyundai has lagged is their conservative approach.  They perfect a design before shipping it.  The Japanese seem to design something and then use top notch manufacturing to make it run.  The last Toy I owned was a '79 Celica GT -- I put 150k miles on it and sold it with 200k miles running perfectly.  Beautiful little car, and the engine was heavy but reliable.

I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but you are completely off the mark regarding Toyota's manufacturing here in the states.

1) Camrys were never built at NUMMI.  That defunct joint venture with GM built Corollas and Tacomas.

2) All Camrys sold in the US are built in the US, with the highest domestic parts content (per Cars.com). The majority are built in Georgetown, KY at TMMK, wholly owned by Toyota.  The balance are built in Lafayette, IN at SIA (Subaru) of which Toyota has a 17% stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company).

3) I've driven the new Camry vs a Sonata, Altima, Fusion, Malibu, Accord and Legacy.  None of them can touch it, in any aspect.  A good friend of mine bought a Kia Optima last summer.  I saw him in November.  The car had 7,400 miles on it and was already falling apart.

4) About 70% (and climbing) of the Toyotas sold in NA are manufactured here.  That will continue to rise as our newest plant in MS adds capacity for Corolla as it ramps up.  The second newest plant opened in '08.

5) Do some research on the recalls before you just spew soundbites.  Recalls make cars safer. 

I'll quote our global president (Akio Toyoda) from a meeting I saw him at last fall, "Anyone who underestimates Toyota, does so at their own peril."