Scotty Kilmer thinks the engines and transmissions will fail quickly, but he often contracts himself in different videos.

Are the US engines even the same as here?

My experience from selling older examples (mostly simple 2wd petrol engined examples) is that they’re pretty robust mechanically, but up here in Scotland with our iced up salt covered winter roads they tent to rot underneath more rapidly than rivals. I rarely had any mechanical trouble with them. Clutches were a bit weaker than average, but they’re not expensive to replace with decent aftermarket parts. DPF equipped diesels can suffer the usual emissions control issues most modern diesels encounter and I’m still not confident in their DCT transmissions, no one else has made it right not even Honda or Toyota.

The warranties on newer examples are excellent for a reason, they are very robust. But many people buy them because they’re typically cheaper than more mainstream rivals and many neglect to maintain the main dealer service history that’s vital to preserve that warranty. I’ve viewed many cars for other people at dealers who incorrectly boast that the car has the remainder of the manufacturer warranty despite having little or no service record, sadly people fall for this and drive off in a car with no cover at all as the selling dealer won’t add his own cover. Kia and Hyundai dealers are fierce about demanding full dealer records before covering any warranty work, a non franchise dealer history would need to verify that every part of the manufacturer service record had been adhered to and manufacturer parts used, this is almost certainly not going to happen without that dealer stamp in the book.

Would I buy a Kia or Hyundai? Yes, I would. But I’d leave the DPF equipped diesels or DCT autos out of warranty. A good 3yr old Kia with full dealer history makes a heap of sense if you have a local dealer and you’re going to preserve the remainder of that 7yr 100k warranty.

Edited by SLO76 on 10/08/2023 at 22:40