Hyundai Genesis - The Cons

[Sal Collaziano]

Please reply here with anything you find negative about the Genesis or your experience with it. Owners or test drivers only, please.

Thank you

 

[jwaters943]

-The finishing of the trunk
-The seat travel (I'm pretty tall and wish the drivers seat went back another inch)
-The blue interior lighting (I prefer white)
-The fact that NAV & HIDs aren't available as stand-alone options
-The manual (it kind of sucks....I wish there was more detail)
-The cheap/hallow bit of plastic on the underside of the steering column
-The door panels/center armrest could be a bit softer. They look "soft", but only have a small amount of padding underneath the leather. This was one of my main complaints about the interior of my GS430.
-Visibility out the back is pretty limited, much more so than the Azera. I definitely have gotten accustomed to having a review camera and will miss that (darn Hyundai for making the NAV part of a $4k package)

....and that's all so far.

 

[carcapco]

Could be related to just this one car; however, in manual mode I was unable to downshift from 2nd to 1st until I had attempted it 3 times and on the 4th attempt it would shift into 1st gear. Tried this 7 different times during a test drive and each time it took 4 downshifts from 2nd to 1st before it shifted to first. This occurred when traveling at various speed ranges from 20 mpg to 5 mph. Found this important as there are times when driving in manual that you use downshifting to slow down and well - it's not good if you don't slow down.

 

[Bman]

No All Wheel Drive Option!!

 

[xitrum]

First impressions from a test drive

- Four-way power passenger seat... for a premium car?!
- Fake wood trim screaming out... "I'm really fake!"
- Steering wheel less than premium looking... could use some wood trim ala Lexus

 

[jwaters943]

Leave your wood trim off my steering wheel!! (Sorry, I prefer the feel of an all leather steering wheel and this is one of the reasons I prefer the M35/45 interior over the GS350/460). As for the wood, it doesn't look too bad IMO, unless you sat in the Saddle interior (or a base model with the acres of wood on the dash/doors). The wood that comes on the black/saddle interior, as well as the tan interior both look nice. The saddle interior wood trim is way too red and consequently looks quite fake.

 

[xitrum]

I should clarify that I test drove the V6 with Premium Plus package.

Thanks for the pics. I personally prefer the wood trim on the steering wheel. I played around with it at a local auto show and actually liked the feel of it. I know it's subjective. But the wood trim does give it a premium look.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I like wood trim as well. However, it's not on all premium luxury cars. The BMW 7-Series has it as an option. And in regards to fake wood - there's a lot of it going around. Even the Cadillac Escalade has fake wood...

 

[xitrum]

Yeah, there are lots of "simulated" wood-trim out there. But on the Genesis, the "simulation" wasn't convincing at all.

Anyway, overall, I was impressed enough to wait and test drive the V8. But this thread is about the cons.

 

[GenFan]

Leave your wood trim off my steering wheel!! (Sorry, I prefer the feel of an all leather steering wheel and this is one of the reasons I prefer the M35/45 interior over the GS350/460). As for the wood, it doesn't look too bad IMO, unless you sat in the Saddle interior (or a base model with the acres of wood on the dash/doors). The wood that comes on the black/saddle interior, as well as the tan interior both look nice. The saddle interior wood trim is way too red and consequently looks quite fake.

jwaters943,

One of these has the Techno Package. Is it for sale somewhere? I thought these were not available yet.

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[jwaters943]

It's from Autoblog. The others I took.

I still haven't seen any with the Saddle interior, White exterior, or Tech Package.

 

[Coug]

I test drove tonight in Richmond, Virginia. I posted on the "Pros" thread as well.

My wife was disappointed that her seat had only 4-way adjustment. She wanted to adjust the lumbar, and couldn't! She also was disappointed to find out her seat won't be cooled in the Techno package.

My biggest disappointment was that the dealer had marked the price up $1,400 above MSRP. I asked the salesman three times to explain to me why they are marking up above MSRP. His attempts to explain made no sense -- three times. But he did say that they have received many inquiries and calls of interest, so they probably feel certain these things will command a premium price. I am pretty sure that when they find the cars won't move quickly at this price they will come down.

The other disappointment is the same others are experiencing. He is expecting 5 more cars, but can't say when, and doesn't know if they will have the Techno package. I have to pull the trigger in a couple of weeks, and if there is no Techno package by then, I won't be buying a Genesis.

I still think for the price, it is alot of very nice car.

 

[jwaters943]

Okay, I think I found a couple more cons....

-The incremental increase in volume when adjusting the radio volume knob seems too large. At 1 you can't really hear anything. At 10 the radio is blaring. I usually have it set to around 7. Not a big deal, but worth noting I suppose.

-Over rough pavement the drivers side popout door map pocket seems to buzz ever so slightly. It's only noticeable with the radio is off and goes away if I open or press on the door. Hopefully a couple of these will fix the problem:

 

[RichieRichLancair]

Test Drove a Genesis today.

1) Paint - Much orange peel. It was black and hardly reflective at all.
2) Styling - It just doesn't look as good as the beauty shots from all angles.
3) Seats - Compared to my Azera they suck. They look really cheap. Feel worse.
4) From the front it looks like a nice Camry
5) Something with it's stance. Just looks cheap from the side and back. Tried a lot of angles.
6) The Klingon Grille. I thought this had grown on me. Looks cheezy in person.
7) Something up with the steering. Didn't measure up to my Azera.

Dealer;
MSRP 36K 8K premium 44K. Loaded Azera has a rebate under 27K 17K difference No brainer!
Salesman doesn't know product. Told me Hyundai will not have the V8 until 2010. - Insisted the V6 had 375hp. - Told me that Mercedes has agreement with Hyundai to build their S Class interiors that is why Genesis is better.
I had to pass a credit check before driving. (might have been jeans and shirt I was wearing).

I was definitely wrong. Hyundai should have premium branded this car. Luxury dealers and salespeople only should have gotten this car.

I'm ready guys, go ahead and clobber me.

 

[jwaters943]

I won't clobber you, but I can't say I agree with all of your statements. How do the seats look and feel cheap? The leather quality is easily better than the Azera, even the non-premium leather on the V6. Do you prefer the slightly softer padding and gathered leather on the Azera?

As for the paint, I disagree completely. After owning cars from Ford, Cadillac, VW, BMW, Lexus, Honda/Acura, and Mitsubishi the Genesis easily has the best paint out of any of them. It does have a bit of orangepeel when viewed closely, but no more than any other new car with water-based, environmentally friendly paint. I also think the front is the Genesis' most attractive angle, including the grill. Either way, it's good to get feedback from those with a more critical eye.

As for your salesman/dealership...wow! What a class act. They really think they're going to get that much for a new Hyundai?. Crazy! I especially love the comment about Hyundai building S-Class interiors. As good as I think the Genesis interior is I got a laugh out of that. Maybe he read something about Hyundai & MB forming some sort of partnership and pulled the rest out of his *ss? FWIW, MB has approached Hyundai about using their 4-cylinder engines in upcomping vehicles. Source: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3838299

 

[gipp]

Orange peel is a certain kind of finish that may develop on painted surfaces and cast surfaces. The texture resembles the bumpy surface of the skin of an orange (fruit) hence the name. Gloss paint sprayed on a smooth surface (such as the body of a car) should also dry into a smooth surface. However, various factors can cause it to dry into a bumpy surface resembling the texture of an orange peel. The orange peel phenomenon can then be smoothed out with ultra-fine sandpaper, but it can be prevented altogether by changing the painting technique or the materials used. Orange peel is typically the result of improper painting technique, and is caused by the quick evaporation of thinner, incorrect spray gun setup (e.g., low air pressure or incorrect nozzle), spraying the paint at an angle other than perpendicular, or applying excessive paint.(from Wikipedia)

Could this be a classic example of early production run cars?

 

[jwaters943]

Anything is possible I guess. Still, I can't think of any new car without a bit of orangepeel (with the possible exception of certain exotics and high-end luxury cars). I'm quite happy with the depth and glossiness of my paint and more than anything I'm thankful that the bumpers match. I can't tell you how many Honda/Acura vehicles I've seen with poorly color-matched bumpers (especially on metallic/pearl paint). It's not always noticeable, but from certain angles you can see it and it bugs the crap out of me. The bumpers on our Mitsubishi don't match (they're a shade darker than the rest of the car). That purchase taught me an important lesson; never buy a car when it's rainy out, it's too hard to look the car over and make sure everything is kosher.

 

[RichieRichLancair]

The paint - I compared it to my Azera. It is difficult to find any orange peel in my cars paint. Very reflective
In the hood of the Genesis it was hard to read the dealerships name. At a distance in the sun it looked dark grey. Maybe it was wrecked and repainted or something.

The seats - if you have sat in both IMO the Genesis doesn't even rank. Maybe there is an upgrade in one of the packages.

As my credit was being checked, the sales manager told me that with the Genesis you are buying a car that beats the 5 series BMW on the track with a better interior than the S-Class Mercedes. His words not mine.

It's obvious that this car needs a premium dealership to sell it.

Just as a side note about the premium: I hate to admit this but I was prepared to pay up to a 10K premium on a black V8/cocoa interior with all the options and all the missing pieces. That was two weeks ago, now not so much. I am going to wait a few model years and see what is going on.

 

[jwaters943]

I've sat in both the Genesis and Azera, but then again everyone has a different body type and what's comfortable to you may not be comfortable to me and vice versa.

Either way, you're obviously a man of patience and I'm sure that will pay off in the long run. Maybe in a couple years they'll add more feature content, and drop the price to a more "reasonable" level.

 

[RichieRichLancair]

Disappointed not patient.