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2007 Santa Fe Vs 2004 Lexus Rx330?

4K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  MooF 
#1 ·
Hi folks, fairly new to this forum and I'm hoping to get a somewhat unbiased opinion on the following...considering the tone of most posts I've been reading through, I feel the Hyundai owners here will be honest with me since it seems a fair number of you have opinions on Toyota/Lexus products before you moved over to Hyundai.

I'm on the fence on whether or not to purchase a 2007 SF GLS 3.3 AWD with 110k km. vs a 2004 Lexus RX330 with 140k km.
The Lexus is in great shape, well maintained according to the service history, has new tires, comes with a 2nd set of winter tires. (being in Canada, its essential).
Asking price is 16,900 hoping to get it for 15k (they wouldn't take the 14k offered).

The Santa Fe is loaded and feels and drives as smooth as the Lexus. Its very rough around the edges and has scuffs on three of the four corner bumpers, needs tires soon but otherwise a fairly clean car. Asking price is 14,800. I would only offer 12,8 considering I need to spend about 2k for tires and paint for the bumpers.

The conundrum I face is the total cost of the SF will bring me close to the price of the Lexus...which needs nothing but maybe a timing belt change very soon.
But I just want a reliable, solid car that's comfortable. The SF is more roomy and has just as many comfort features.

At the end of the day, will I be happy with the Hyundai? Will it be reliable over the next 5 years? I plan to keep it in top running shape, but I don't want to be worried about it dying on the side of the road with my wife and newborn inside...

I may be comparing apples to oranges but the bottom line is a question about reliability... I grew up watching Hyundai Pony's and Stellars fall apart on the road right in front of my eyes. Admittedly, that was 25 years ago, but a small part of my perception hasn't changed... I've been reading mostly positive reviews but there's no real long-term reports on the new style SF and I was leaning towards a Japanese vehicle this time around since we've had nothing but horrible luck with European imports and GM products in the past.

Any thoughts? Thanks for reading!
 
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#2 ·
Tough choice... without knowing real details.. a 2007 with 110k.. hiway miles? The 2004 with 140k would make me think it was city driven all the time.

No timing belt issues with the SF.. a decent set of wheels and rubber for the winter will be 800-1000 depending where and what you get. You don't live too far from me so if you went with the SF I would take it to Krown for sure.

Are you looking for the vehicle to maintain any kind of cash value in 5 years? At least with a few scuffs you wouldn't really care if you get a few more.. bound to happen in the GTA :)

I moved from Honda's/Acura's to Hyundai after a ton of research.. My choice were down to a 2008 Pilot or the 2008 SF LTD... after all the research and talking with a bud who is a member of Ajac and has his own TV show.. I went with Hyundai.

If the Lexus was newer by a couple of years, I would lean that way... if it's just going to be basically a grocery getter... get the SF... With the newborn, it's always good to have more airbags than cylinders under the hood.. LOL
I keep my cars well over 10 years so I needed something that would last!
 
#3 ·
I'd have to get the Lexus. It's simply a better machine by any measure. 30k kms is negligible.

I have a 2002 ES300. It had an issue with the O2 sensors, and the brakes were not lubed from the factory. But other than that, it's clearly a superior machine.
 
#4 ·
Hi Pinto,
I'm in Aurora... is Krown for rustproofing?
It must be highway miles because the car was on the road in Fall of '07. And the previous owner lived in the Country according the trade-in at Mercedez-Benz burlington.
Part of my concern is that the owner apparently did all of their own work at their local shop and didn't bring it to Hyundai for servicing. the brakes look new by eyeballing through the wheel. I suppose with highway miles, as long as they changed the oil I shouldn't worry too much about whether or not it was serviced at Hyundai. At the end of the day I'm going to have to deal with rear-wheel brake issue & maintenance it seems most have on this forum..?!?

I'm not concerned about value after 5 years, in fact if the car continues to be generally trouble-free, i will keep driving it. It's for my wife and it will be her first SUV, so you're right, those scuffs may duplicate and then I don't have to be concerned about her scuffing a new paint job, I may just leave them ;-) and simply give it a good compound wax. I'd probably be constantly worried about scuffs on the Lexus because the paint job is flawless as it stands and, well, its a Lexus.

And yep, more airbags than cylinders is important to me at this stage in my life, so luckily this has an equal amount of both ;-)

Thanks for the response, I will take your points into consideration especially since you are a reformed Honda/Acura person, which speaks volumes..
 
#5 ·
Hey Moof.. yep Krown is for rustproofing.. works wonders.. even my 14 yr old accord was solid with no rust when I let it go for the SF. I still have my 4 door 2002 Civic for heading into Toronto.. easier to park, better on Gas.

If you do get the SF, I picked up rims & Tires at the dealership.. not where I bought it, but got Hyundai wheels.. I don't trust the "universal" wheels. I think the GLS in 2007 has 16" wheels... that's what I drop to from the Alloy 18's

I also do a brake service evry year.. just the salt and crap and I don't want any issues. Some guys do it every 2.
 
#6 ·
QUOTE (MooF @ Aug 31 2010, 08:40 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=353224
Hi folks, fairly new to this forum and I'm hoping to get a somewhat unbiased opinion on the following...considering the tone of most posts I've been reading through, I feel the Hyundai owners here will be honest with me since it seems a fair number of you have opinions on Toyota/Lexus products before you moved over to Hyundai.

I'm on the fence on whether or not to purchase a 2007 SF GLS 3.3 AWD with 110k km. vs a 2004 Lexus RX330 with 140k km.
The Lexus is in great shape, well maintained according to the service history, has new tires, comes with a 2nd set of winter tires. (being in Canada, its essential).
Asking price is 16,900 hoping to get it for 15k (they wouldn't take the 14k offered).

The Santa Fe is loaded and feels and drives as smooth as the Lexus. Its very rough around the edges and has scuffs on three of the four corner bumpers, needs tires soon but otherwise a fairly clean car. Asking price is 14,800. I would only offer 12,8 considering I need to spend about 2k for tires and paint for the bumpers.

The conundrum I face is the total cost of the SF will bring me close to the price of the Lexus...which needs nothing but maybe a timing belt change very soon.
But I just want a reliable, solid car that's comfortable. The SF is more roomy and has just as many comfort features.

At the end of the day, will I be happy with the Hyundai? Will it be reliable over the next 5 years? I plan to keep it in top running shape, but I don't want to be worried about it dying on the side of the road with my wife and newborn inside...

I may be comparing apples to oranges but the bottom line is a question about reliability... I grew up watching Hyundai Pony's and Stellars fall apart on the road right in front of my eyes. Admittedly, that was 25 years ago, but a small part of my perception hasn't changed... I've been reading mostly positive reviews but there's no real long-term reports on the new style SF and I was leaning towards a Japanese vehicle this time around since we've had nothing but horrible luck with European imports and GM products in the past.

Any thoughts? Thanks for reading!
Hi Moon, get the Lexus they are known for longevity and quality of parts, with that mileage it had to be hwy.
I wouldn't touch any car without a maintenance record, wherelse had the SF owner gone cheap, makes me wonder...
 
#7 ·
Decided to go with the Santa Fe! The deal was just too good to pass up after doing a history check on the car, it came back clean. And it turns out these are definitely 'country/hwy' miles since the owner lived far North-West of the city.
Side by side, the Santa Fe suits our needs much better over the Lexus with increased cargo capacity, fuel mileage, & all the features we need including a much better price tag.
After doing enough research to tell me the overall reliability for the Hyundai should come close to the RX if we keep up the maintenance schedule, I feel this purchase was the right one considering my wife feels more comfortable driving a less expensive SUV.

Thanks for the input, and will probably see me in the 2007+ SF forums here to let you know how things are going. Thanks again!
 
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