[kenso]

Impressions are, at times funny things. Most of the time, it is limited to our past experiences and more often than not, colored by other people's opinions and feedback. Hyundai, in my books is for someone who couldn`t afford a Japanese yet wants to move away from Malaysian brand cars. Hyundai equates to poor build quality and high fuel comsumption, thanks to some comments made by some owners of earlier generation Sonata and other Korean cars like Atos.

The Avante is a company car; for business owners/directors, the 5 year warranty is a very encouraging piece of argument for company cars since company cars that are trashed within the period can be repaired at very lost cost to the company. Furthermore, it's size makes it more ideal to ferry Caucasian clients around. I wasn't thrilled when I heard I was going to get a Hyundai, despite it being a bigger car (reasons being listed above). When when the car came and I had to return the Vios I was driving for the past 3 years, I wasn't excited at all. Moving from a Japanese brand to a Korean sounds like a downgrade to me.

Without a doubt, the X20 is a car with very sexy curves. I may be biased against Hyundai but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate beauty when I see one. Seeing it parked beside other sedan cars will give you the impression that it's a really big and tall car. Sure enough, headroom is absolutely fantastic, both for front and rear passengers. Moving my butt in, I`m struck by how supple the leather feels and its perforated leather. A friend once told me only with good leather can we have homogenous perforation. I was surprised to note that the leather in the X20 is DK Schweizer leather, 1 of the more reputable brands around. Seriously, seat comfort is seriously one of the best in its class.

I`m a tech freak .... I like buttons and controls. The dash of the X20 has a minimalistic quality yet with sufficient buttons to satisfy me. The locations of the buttons are ergonomically designed and placed. There are audio controls (volume, mode, search) on the steering wheel. Too bad there is no cruise control unlike many found in other countries. There are a few compartments to store ur stuffs. A 2-tiered compartment center armrest is useful. I keep my Touch&Go card as well as my car keys on the shallow tier while the 2nd tier is deep enough to put a big Ricola candy can and a spectacle case easily. One compartment is above the headunit, one below the aircon controls and an illuminated glove compartment. Moving all my things from the Vios to the Avante, I've got so many extra spaces. There are a total of 4 cup holders, 2 in the center next to the hand brake and 1 on each side of the front passenger doors. In case you're wondering how many drinks can a normal person bring to the car, young parents will be most useful as they need a place to put their water container, milk container, baby bottles, etc. when mixing milk.

Many owners have said they love the airconditioning unit of the car. This is very true as the airconditioning unit behaves very much like a automatic climate control system, the fan speed gradually increases as your car engine warms up. While this car doesn't have rear aircon vents, there are 2 vents under the 2 front passengers. The bottom vents works when the driver selects the blower to aim the top/leg and leg. This helps to cool the car down very quickly. Not cool if anyone in the car has smelly legs ... your cabin will also have a particularly offending aroma in a short time as well.

Moving the car out for the first time, the 143PS power is nice. Having tested both Nissan Sylphy, Lancer and Civic (was looking for a 2.0litre car), the power is better compared to the Sylphy and Lancer but loses to Civic. What blew me away was the suspension; it was absolutely fabulous. After the first few kilometers, I wondered at myself why Toyota has always been regarded the KING in suspension ... this Hyundai would definitely give it a run for its money. It has independant suspension, a far cry from those linked MacPherson systems and this really shows as you go through our country's ample potholes and bumps. NVH surpasses all my expectations. It's even better than a lot of Japanese cars. The next time you find yourself in a Hyundai showroom, just slam the door and you'll find that's very good insulation on the door itself. The only gripe I have against the NVH is the Goodyear NCT5 tyres are well know to be noisy. This issue can be easily rectified by changing to a more silent tyre.

Ok, so what about the main issue I have with Korean cars? The fuel consumption. Since the car is new and has yet to do makes its first 1k km run, I decided to run it in a little (keeping below 3k rpm while revving it up and down without keeping to any constant speed). For my troubles, I was rewarded about 440km/43litres of fuel. Not bad, considering this is a much heavier car (and I'm not even driving it very efficiently). Now that I`ve done the first 1k km service, FC is still erratic but it's still clocking an average of 0.17cents/kilometer. I am impressed.

Oh, not sure if this was mentioned by others ... it's a small thing, really but I appreciate this feature. In most cars, if you forgot to switch off the lights and you turn the engine off, your car would give you an audiable beep to indicate your lights are on. The X20 doesn't ... it turns off the lights when your engine is off. Some might argue they need the lights on when they open the gate, etc, but honestly, how many of us actually switch off the engine when we alight? How many of us have forgotten to switch off our headlamps? Bet you more forgot to turn off lights than turning off the engine, eh?

In the end, the Avante is an eye opener for me. Not only is it a far more comfortable car, fuel consumption is seriously not bad. If you were to look at the owner's manual, you'll note a lot of specs is missing from the X20s found here in Malaysia. Sun-roofs, auto cruise, keyless entry/start, etc. But the fact is, that's how these cars come in. You want to complain about specs? Just look at Sylphy and Lancer ... both in their international market variant has a whole lot more feature that makes it value for money. Sadly, these features are again missing in Malaysia. The Civic and Mazda 3 is probably the most well endowned with features but look at the price. Speaking of price (and the often associated 2nd value), let's look at the following:

Price difference between X20 and Civic = approx. RM30,000
Loan interest = 3.5% x eg. 5 years loan = RM5,250
Total amount of difference = RM35,250

Civic 2nd value after 5 years = estimated RM76,800 (calculated at 10% depreciation/year)
X20 2nd value after 5 years = RM57,900
Price difference = approx. RM18,900

So you see ... at the end of the day, the total initial payment price difference would have offset the 2nd value difference. The difference is actually greater because imagine you have RM35,250 in your bank account ... even if you were to put it into Fixed Deposit running at 3.5%p.a, you would have made a couple of thousand in 5 years time. Granted the above calculation is based on assumption, you have to ask yourself this ... do you think, 5 years from now, the 2nd price of the 2 cars will apart by more than at least RM35,250? Compared to the Civic, you pay less but you get a more comfortable car that has comparable cabin space. The only setback is .... you're not driving a "Honda".

I used to think my next car would be a Honda or a Toyota. Now I would very seriously look at Hyundai when I'm shopping for a new ride. Don't let others impress you with what they think .... at the end of the day, impressions are, after all fleeting. Your car, however should last longer

[Kevin]

Kenso,

While you may be a bit late to discover the Koreans, you can count yourself fortunate to be not the last one.

Moving from a Vios to an Avante and you were thinking of grumbling? Gosh, even the Avante's little brother, the Accent, is a superior car to the Vios.

You have obviously been driving Toyotas for far too long when you think that they are the KING of suspensions!!! The Koreans have been getting their suspension engineering right for some years now. Compare your Avante's high-speed stability and cornering abilities (after ditching the crap NCT5s) to your Vios and you will see what I mean.

The Avante still uses Hyundai's older Beta engine though. A good engine nonetheless but one that has been superceded by the new Theta range of engines. More power (the Theta II 2.0 litre is the class leader in the power output stakes), lower FC, cheaper maintenance with a timing chain.

Enjoy. The Avante was a steal back during Kah Bintang's time. With a RM5k increase in price since SD took over, not as appealing as it was but still a good buy.

[hadipandai]

Kenso,
Enjoy. The Avante was a steal back during Kah Bintang's time. With a RM5k increase in price since SD took over, not as appealing as it was but still a good buy.

They wanna increase it by 5K somemore? Are they nuts? The old bargain price was hard to sell yet they want to increase.

[Kevin]

They wanna increase it by 5K somemore? Are they nuts? The old bargain price was hard to sell yet they want to increase.

I meant that it was increased by RM5k once SD took over. Under KB, it was RM93,888. Now under SD, it is selling at RM98,888 with all the money going into the AVANTE badge on the boot and the much-improved warranty.

RM5k for the 5-year/ 300k km warranty is worth it.

[HazriJB]

as sime darby staff, we have staff purchase discount & free interest..as well as low downpayment...i'm admiring this car for a long time & can't wait to settle my gen2 installment...or else i would like to trade in with this avante...

once everything clear, i wouldn't dare to purchase this creature !

[Jumpman23]

I can't believe it 5 yrs and 100K KM warranty services. That's almost the same priviledge as the local Proton. Slightly better and costlier than Proton.

[Kevin]

I can't believe it 5 yrs and 100K KM warranty services. That's almost the same priviledge as the local Proton. Slightly better and costlier than Proton.

It's not 100k km. It is 300k km warranty.

[kenso]

Yup, it's 300,000km or 5 years whichever comes first. To hit 300,000km in 5 years, you'd have to travel 5,000km per month! Unless you're in sales and travel to East Coast once every month, a normal person will not be able to achieve that kind of mileage. Well worth the additional RM5,000 increase for the peace of mind.

[darreltian]

Yup, it's 300,000km or 5 years whichever comes first. To hit 300,000km in 5 years, you'd have to travel 5,000km per month! Unless you're in sales and travel to East Coast once every month, a normal person will not be able to achieve that kind of mileage. Well worth the additional RM5,000 increase for the peace of mind.

deal

[fkmfkm]

Yup, it's 300,000km or 5 years whichever comes first. To hit 300,000km in 5 years, you'd have to travel 5,000km per month! Unless you're in sales and travel to East Coast once every month, a normal person will not be able to achieve that kind of mileage. Well worth the additional RM5,000 increase for the peace of mind.

and additional service charges for the next 5 years...