As someone else who would never own a Korean car, I think it's great they are building and trying to sell them. It keeps constant pressure on the domestic manufacturers and forces them to upgrade and compete. Competition is always good. I work on Hyundai's and Kia's on a regular basis. They remind be very much of all the Chinese stuff I deal with. They are basically a facsimile of what the car is supposed to be. They want to be a Honda or a Toyota, and they even look like them from a distance. But they aren't even in the same universe as far as the quality of each and every part and the finished product doesn't drive anything like the car they are trying to imitate. The last car my father owned before he died was a Hyundai Azera. It was a 30K car and was supposed to be in the same class as a Mercedes C class or 5 series BMW. It even tested better than them. After 3 years and 25K miles, it was a complete rattle trap, terrible ride, suspension noise, many of the zillions of electronic features had failed. Horrible dealer and warranty service. A complete disappointment for his final car. I was 3000 miles away and couldn't offer much help. If that car cost 52K new, I would wait 5 years and it can probably be bought for 20% of new.
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