Hyundai i30 (2012 – 2017) Review

Launched in 2012, the Hyundai i30 offers genuine value for money in the crowded family hatchback sector. Available as a three-door and five-door hatch – and also an estate – the i30 rivals the likes of the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra, as well as the closely related Kia Cee’d in the battle of the long warranties. 

Value for money. That’s what the Hyundai i30 brings to the family hatchback market. Launched in 2012, and facelifted in 2015, the i30 is the safe, dependable, practical and reliable member of this class. Nothing to get excited about, but few reasons to avoid it.

There are two versions of the hatchback: three-door and five-door. The three-door is best avoided, as it lacks the practicality of the five-door, while an i30 Tourer (estate) is available if you need even more space. As it is, the hatchback offers a reasonable 378 litres of boot space, extending to a generous 1,316 litres with the rear seats folded down.

Although rear headroom isn’t particularly generous, only the tallest of passengers will have cause for complaint, but getting into the back of a three-door i30 could be a struggle.

Fortunately, most buyers opted for the five-door, so there’s plenty of choice on the used car market. Speaking of which, prices start from around £2500, while £6000 is enough for a car with two years of the original five-year warranty remaining.

The 1.6-litre CRDi is the most popular engine. This isn’t surprising, as the turbodiesel engine offers an excellent blend of performance and economy, especially if you opt for a post-facelift i30. The 1.4-litre CRDi engine is a bit weak, as is the 1.4-litre petrol.

Better to opt for the 1.6-litre petrol, which is good in town and great on a longer trip. There’s also a 1.6 Turbo model, which offers the performance of a ‘warm hatch’ with mildly upgraded cosmetics.

On the road, the Hyundai offers a great balance of ride and handling. Sophisticated rear suspension means that it’s a rewarding car to drive on a B-road, but most buyers will appreciate its safe handling and excellent ride quality. It’s not as nice to drive as the current i30, but for all-round ability, this version is hard to beat.

Quality-wise, the Hyundai i30 is surprisingly good. The interior plastics feel robust and hard-wearing, and there’s enough interest in the cabin to lift the otherwise sombre mood. Again, nothing to get excited about, but there’s nothing to offend. It’s… just right.

So what’s not to like about the Hyundai i30? The styling is a tad forgettable, although things improved with the facelift. Then there’s the driving experience, which is bordering on dull, although we appreciate that this could be one of the car’s strengths.

Avoid the entry-level versions and you get a decent amount of equipment for your money, especially when you consider the price of used examples. It might lack the prestige of the Golf, the driving experience of the Focus, and the seven-year warranty of the Cee’d, but the Hyundai i30 provides a great blend of comfort, reliability and value for money. Stick it on your shortlist.

Looking for the latest model? You'll want our new Hyundai i30 review.

Competent, comfortable and secure, the i30 is good but there's nothing that will result in the chief engineer receiving declarations of love.

That said, the handling might surprise you. Without going too techy on you, the i30 features a more sophisticated rear suspension than you’ll find in a Vauxhall Astra, which means it feels sharper and more composed when cornering. This is particularly noticeable at high speeds, giving you more confidence to press on.

Most models allow you to select from three different steering modes: Comfort, Normal and Sport. It’s a bit of a gimmick – most people will leave it in Normal. Ride quality is excellent on 15- and 16-inch wheels, but you’ll be slightly less comfortable in an i30 with larger alloys.

Whether you’re after a petrol or diesel version, the message is simple: go for a 1.6-litre. The 1.6 CRDi diesel is the most popular engine, and available in 110PS and 128PS guises. The best option is the 1.6 CRDi marked ‘Blue Drive’, as this adds engine stop-start to the mix. Avoid the automatic transmission, which robs the engine of power and puts a huge dent in the fuel economy.

The 1.6-litre petrol is more flexible than the 1.4-litre, but the latter is fine if you spend most of your time in the city. Avoid the 1.4-litre CRDi, which feels weak on longer journeys and frustrating in town. The 1.6 CRDi trumps it in most departments.

The 1.6 Turbo is a bit of an oddity. It certainly looks the part – especially in three-door guise – but it doesn’t feel particularly quick. Maybe that’s because 186PS is a tad underpowered in a world of 300PS hot hatchbacks.

The Hyundai i30 was awarded a maximum five-star safety rating when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2012. The individual scores were impressive, including 90 percent for adult occupant and child occupant safety.

All versions come with multiple airbags, electronic stability control, LED daytime running lights and automatic hazard warning light activation under hard braking. Post-2015 models feature larger front brakes for improved stopping power.

The i30 is a safe and stable towing vehicle, as highlighted by being named Best Value Hatchback in the 2012 Tow Car Awards. The 1.6-litre CRDi offers a maximum towing capacity of 1500kg, making it well suited to light or medium towing duties.

With 378 litres of luggage capacity, the boot in the Hyundai i30 is almost the same as you’ll find in the Volkswagen Golf. Folding the rear seats extends it to 1,316 litres, with the seats folding almost entirely flat.

Rear-seat accommodation is adequate, with headroom and legroom fine for all but the tallest of passengers. We’d recommend the five-door version, as the three-door i30 can feel a bit claustrophobic, while access to the back isn’t great. In fact, the large rear pillars in the three-door make reversing a little tricky, so we’d avoid this model.

Up front, the driving position is perfect, while the seats are comfortable and supportive. Opt for a higher trim level to enjoy height-adjustable front seats, along with the luxury of heated leather upholstery. The rear seats have Isofix points, but they’re tricky to access in the three-door model.

It’s clear that the i30 has been built to withstand years of family life – it will still feel good long after the five-year warranty has expired.

Cleverly, Hyundai has offset the use of hard plastics by using subtle design details. Note the way the centre air vents are housed in their own plastic panel, which extends to the lower section of the dashboard, flanking the centre console. It’s not a premium cabin, but it feels a touch above mainstream.

The colour touchscreen infotainment system is mounted high on the dashboard, but is only available on higher trim levels with sat-nav. Regular i30 models get a basic radio with a non-touchscreen blue-lit display.

You’ll appreciate how easy it is to operate the system on the move, thanks to clear and logical menus. While the map display is unlikely to wow you with its graphics, it’s easy to set your destination, while the routes appear quickly after input. All versions feature Bluetooth and a USB socket.

Prices start from around £2500, which isn’t a lot to pay for a reliable and generally well-equipped family hatchback. This budget will secure a 2012 model with between 100,000 and 200,000 miles on the clock. You can expect to see plenty of stone chips on the front bumper and bonnet, plus a few battle scars in the cabin.

Upping the kitty to £5000 offers the potential to own a 2015 facelifted model that’s just out of warranty. Expect to find around 100,000 miles on the clock.

Even better, why not increase your budget to £6000? This is enough for a 2017 car with two years of the original five-year warranty still in place. The majority of cars are powered by the popular 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine.

As a point of interest, most used i30 models are hatchbacks, with the estate model representing a small proportion of the market.

Keep an eye open for the Hyundai i30 Turbo. Although it’s a relatively rare model, prices start from around £10,000 for this warmish hatchback. It’s like a ‘nursery slopes’ version of the brilliant Hyundai i30 N – something to whet your appetite.

If you’re buying on finance, a 2012 example could cost as little as £35 a month on a four-year deal. It would make more sense to buy an i30 with some of the original warranty intact, so spending £100 a month on a four-year PCP deal looks appealing. This is based on a 2016 car with a list price of £6500.

Some of the official figures are truly impressive, but it’s worth noting that they’re based on the older and less reliable NEDC testing standard.

The 110PS 1.6-litre CRDi Blue Drive could return 74.3mpg to 76.3mpg, depending on the age of the vehicle, with even the 128PS version able to deliver 68.9mpg. The 1.4-litre CRDi is also good, offering a combined 68.8mpg.

In the real world, the 1.4 CRDi should return around 55.0mpg, while the 1.6 CRDi should be good for between 50mpg to 55mpg. Avoid the automatic transmission, as this puts a significant dent in the economy. Real MPG reveals figures of between 38.1mpg and 45.3mpg. This isn’t good enough.

The 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre petrol engines are reasonably economical. In fact, the Honest John data shows that you’re likely to get close to the claimed 44.8mpg (1.4) to 47.1mpg (1.6). The 1.6 Turbo is likely to return just 33.4mpg.

Insurance groups range from six for the lower-powered models, to 21 for the i30 Turbo. Some diesels enjoy free Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), but you’ll pay as much as £240 a year for the 1.6 Turbo.

Our choice would be the 1.6 CRDi diesel in Blue Drive spec, either the five-door hatchback or estate version. Look out for cars with the balance of Hyundai’s five-year warranty remaining, too.