Hyundai Veloster
 

2012 Hyundai Veloster First Ride and Video

I saw a pre-production model on the freeway. The car caught my attention. It's a great looking car, especially in the white that I saw. It's better than the CRZ that Honda failed with.

not bad

Its a Prius with a mangled front end that looks like it needed braces growing up.

Ya the front is a bit too much. I prefer cleaner fronts. But I love the idea of a good looking, 2500 lbs, 140 hp, 4 seat hatchback with about 34 mpg combined. If I didn't have a MINI Cooper already, I would probably buy this.

Interesting. I think the ginormous taillights make the side profile a little awkward.

Yeah that front bumper is retarded, but this is the first Hyundai I've ever really liked. If they can keep it under $20K new with a good set of bells and whistles, it'd make an awesome little fuel efficient backup / DD car. Maybe a year after they come out I'd see if I can pick up a low miles used one at CarMax or something.

looks like sh1t.

with a name like velostar, i was expecting something more... sporty

My sh1t is a work of art. Wanna see???

I cannot lie. I'm interested. :rofl2:

:roflpuke2:

lol silence, you.

Here you go, my steaming pile of sh1t / art:

:roflpuke2::roflpuke2::roflpuke2: gross :roflpuke2::roflpuke2::roflpuke2:

Wow thats ugly

Don't hate on my poop

I got a chance to check out a pre-production version of the car too. It was pretty awful, I have to say. The clutch pedal had half an inch of wobble, it was comically loose and poorly setup. The shifter lacked any precious or quality whatsoever. The interior was made up plastics cheaper than the cheapest Tupperware has to offer - everything creaked and squeaked when pressed on.

Overall, it's built like an absolute piece of sh*t. Which is extremely surprising considering how tight the new Elantra, Sonata, and Genesis Coupe are.

Ugh, that's too bad. The ugly bumper coulda been fixed, but not all that. I'm still on the lookout for a cheapo 2nd car for parts runs and DD stuff sometime in the next year, starting to think about just going with a tried and true used Civic.

yeah if we all judged cars based on preproduction we'd all be in trouble...

wait till its released and judge for yourself.

ive seen quite a few cars in pre production and none were like the real one.

Well the quality of the plastics is not going to change. The car squeaked and creaked because it had a few thousand miles on it. Unless they padded the edges of all the plastics, I doubt the final car will be much better. But we shall see.

Hyundai, is doing excellent. Their sales have increased extremely well. The warranty they offer is 60 months, compared to 36 months that others offer.
Creaked, squeaked, rattle, it's a car, not a couch!

I've seen it on the 405 near the Hyundai HQ as well, not bad at all.

I like the Rhys Millen version:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....r-veloster.jpg

Other cars in its price range do not exhibit such build quality. This is a $20K car.

I misread the name as Molester, and when I see the Engine cover I think :
God
Damn
it

There's a turbo version of the car coming in October, btw. 202HP with possibly an extra 50-80lbs of weight. That should be a quick little thing and give the Juke some fierce competition.

And btw, I can definitely see an aftermarket bumper that gets rid of those ugly creases beneath the headlight being a very popular mod.

yeah my Versa will be going in for the Turbo version of this car

Don't know what the appeal of this car is suppose to be. Super mpg? Speed? Low price? All they had to do is turn the elantra into a 2 door hatch.

I'd say it's all wrapped up in that warranty. Their build quality seems a bit substandard. Their cars are pretty but not very fun to drive imo. But when you look at the prospect of 10 years or 100,000 miles, that's the best warranty in the business. The car becomes less of a risk at that point. It's like they're saying, "Maybe our cars are shoddily built, but we'll fix it for possibly the life of your loan."

Plus, it seems the Koreans are willing to build cars for less than the Japanese.

id say your wrong. the Honda Accord my family had was the worst car we've owned in the last 20 years.

Our 2006 Hyundai Sonata at 90k miles so far purchsaed brand new. for 7k less than a similar Camry, has been to the dealership a grand total of 0 times.

Not saying other Sonata's dont have problems. but Honda's and Toyota's do have problems too.

And it wasnt the warranty that made us buy it. it wwas the fact that it was cheaper, roomier, had a bigger trunk, more power, better mileage, looked better and the fact that the only thing the Toyota Sales person could say was "well its a Toyota, what more do you need to know"

Also my 2003 Tiburon v6 had never broken down, except for when my own mechanical mistake... blew the motor :p Do not install a supercharger, timing belt, new suspension, headers, exhaust in 7 hours. Your gonna miss something : /

I didn't say that Honda and Toyota were better, I meant the entire market in general. But you've owned several Hyundais, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on that.

However, when I test drove the GenCoupe, it really did not inspire confidence in me. I wasn't impressed. And I really wanted to like that car. It felt cheap and shoddy. Of course, that's just in a 20 minute test drive.

Hyundai has come a long way from the Excel fiasco of the 90's, but their fit and finish leave a bit to be desired. I test drove their 3.8 Genesis coupe and found the M/T to be notchY as hell, and low on response until you really spanked it. Anyways, I'll coin a phrase that Hambone1 used the other day: Hyundais appear to be pretty much built on Tupperware and dreams.

I will admit that while this vehicle does look like an interesting alternative that one might consider for a DD, I think one might be better served by the like of the Honda Fit or similar.

Interesting to see this plastic in flight tho!
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....ally-car-1.jpg

It's playing the percentages. Some hyundais will get to 100K miles no problem and others will not. Some Hondas will get to 100K miles no prob and others will not. But based on past costumer history, Hondas are more likely to not have any problems over the long haul. In my case, my parents have owned a Dodge Caravan, Ford Taurus, Honda Civic, & Honda Accord. The Ford Taurus broke down a lot. the Dodge Caravan worked most of the time. the Honda Accord has had no problems for 120K miles. my old Nissan Sentra started having minor engine issues after 100K miles. And my dads Civic had absolutely 0 problems for 230K miles and would have kept going but I gave him my old Sentra thats breaking down on him now.

Most modern vehicles will last 100-200k miles now with proper maintenance. My parents' suburban has over 200k on it. My Mazda6 is over 150k.

I think it appeals to the the crowd that likes Fiestas, Fits, 2s, Versas, Yari, and Minis. Hatchback, FF, lightweight, good mpg, and cheap. In other words, people who want a cheap and practical DD. One more alternative which is great for consumers.

i dont think that people would be btter served with a fit over this car. I didnt like the fit at all. Picked a versa over it.

The Fit is a pretty anemic vehicle in terms of power. It feels like it's peppy, but it's just making a ton of raucous and noise.

I'm just saying....the fit is an option as a DD. I will personally chose the better trsvck record of s Honda over a Hyundai, but that's just me. Sure, there are other good options out there..but the Fit was the first that came to mind.

The looks I could get used to. And I love this John Krafcik guy. He seems straight up and honest. Love the target cars and the very open conversation.

I love my wifes fit! Its peppy in 1st and 2nd but slows down after that. MPG avg is running BOUT 34. Kid get in and out easy and seats fold flat and has a high roof line. As ugly I thought it was in the beginning I couldn't see getting rid of it. It just does everything a DD should do so well. We looked at a juke the other day and it was very tight inside. MPG was more like 24-26. Not the advertised 30. It is fast though. I'll probably just wait till the FIT HYBRID comes out to trade up.

The true question is, if you are looking for a good used car with over 100,000 miles on the odometer, which brand would you choose? A lot of people would most likely choose a Honda, Toyota or Nissan product first....and then the other brands would fall in line.

While Hyundai has a very good warranty, their problems may come later when people have to service the vehicle. I was quoted a cost of $800.00, for a 60,000 mile service by a hyundai dealership....and this was for an 06 Accent. When I questioned the cost, the dealership said....this includes the recommended timing belt change also.

My Acura or previous Hondas did not require timing belt changed until around the 100,000 mile range and it's service was around the same cost. I was blown away by the cost of this service. Hopefully, I was just being overpriced by this particular dealership, hopefully.

Oh by the way, I did not/have not had any problems with my Accent, which has only 52,000 miles on it.