Looking at getting a hyundai coupe S3.. opinions?

[AtreuS]

After 10 years of pretty trouble free focus motoring its time for something new. As a single man i want a 3 door car of course, and i do like the look and styling of the hyundai coupes ( new gen ).

I have about 6k to play with and there are plenty of nice low mileage full service history examples about.

Now i know a couple of mechanics through friends and they seem to think they are good reliable cars and pretty cheap for parts and maintenance.

Of course i am only going to consider the 2Litre + models as the car is heavy and the 1.6 is not upto the grunt required.

As for performance i am not a speed demon, i just want something that comfortably cruises at 70 and is no slouch at low speed acceleration.

I have been driving a mk1 focus ( 115bhp) for ten years and find that just fine.

So does anyone have an experiance of these cars or am i looking at lemons !

 

[AtreuS]

Hyundai's are reliable and well put together. Don't expect the car to be fast or rewarding to drive though, nice enough car to travel around and look stylish.

Yes i have driven one a while back and i found it comfortable and fast enough for me. Its the reliability that interests me most. Online reviews seem very positive, just things like the odd suspension part and warped dics seem to crop up but these are usually because people use cheap OEM parts.

I am going to have a look at this one tomorrow, 1 lady owner ( apparently ) from new.

http://www.carringtoncars-stockport...ai-coupe-2-0-se-3dr-stockport-201508196182042

a lot less than i was going to pay but i like the looks of this one body style wise and why spend 4k more just for a newer model. This is has very low mileage and full hyundai service history and has had the belt changed already.

 

[AtreuS]

Sorry just got home.

I am 41 so i guess i am an old man

And yes i considered a focus ST but to be honest i find them too chavvy for my liking. Also far too much performance for my style of driving.

What is the power like upto 50 mph from a standing start with the 2L engine stark? is it fairly smooth or is it rapid gear changes and high revs?

I considered the celica but not too many good examples locally...

 

[AtreuS]

Well the one i quoted looks like a nice car BUT the 2 reviews of the garage online puts me right off lol.... bad reviews is an understatement!

I shall bide my time and see if another newer one pops up locally

In the meanwhile i guess taking a couple out for a spin wont hurt

 

[AtreuS]

My wife has had a pre-facelift Gen 3 coupe for several years, and it's a surprisingly good car to drive. The very best bit about it is the handling; it has fairly firm suspension with almost no body roll which makes it quite a fun car in twisty B roads. For a coupe it has a generous sized boot and a reasonable amount of room in the back unless you are going to be putting full grown adults in there on a regular basis.

The 2.0 SE is definitely the best of the limited choice of engines; the 2.7L V6 is very thirsty and not much quicker in standard form, and the 1.6 is lacking in power without enough gain in economy to make it worthwhile. Economy on the 2.0L is reasonable if not outstanding; high 30's easily doable on longer trips, and low 40's if you stick to the speed limits. Performance is adequate rather than exciting, but it's got more than enough power for high speed motorway cruising with enough left for quick overtakes.

The one problem you need to be aware of is the clutch, which can have a ridiculously short life on cars used mainly in city driving etc. When we were looking for my wife's car, we saw several that had either had a clutch change by 50k, or badly needed one. The clutch on my wife's car lasted to 70k, still pretty poor for a modern car. However, apart from that it's been very reliable and cheap to run. I changed the timing belt myself but it's a straightforward job on these with plenty of access so shouldn't be expensive even if you pay a garage to do it. All the usual consumables are cheap and easy to source.

Thanks for the info. Out of interest how much is a clutch change roughly?