Hyundai Tucson

lmjtux

While I am glad that I'm not alone on this issue, I am sorry about your trouble. The mileage did improve during the first 3,000 miles from an average of 17 to 19 - big deal! As you said, maybe it will improve by time we hit 10,000. That was the main reason I bought the Tucson over the Sante Fe. Now I wish I had just spent a little more for the Sante Fe. So far my CD is okay although the overall stereo sound is bad and I've heard many complain about that. The problems you are having sound like the CD problem I had with my Toyota RAV 4. Toyota was no better to deal with and it took me 4 players to get a good one. So much for extended warranties right?

hebe

Hello,
Have anyone try to fit a KN-airfilter to a V6 Tucson?
This may improve the milage!
Does anyone know?

BR hebe

guyf

In these days of electronic fuel injection, changing the air filter will NOT improve your mileage.

It may void your warranty however....

gregfromnyc

Our Tucson came with Tucson floor mats, as I suppose all do. Anyway, the front mats have a hole in them that you line up with a nib(?) sticking up somehow from the floor of the car (or maybe sticking up from the car's carpet), and so long as the hole is placed over the nib the mat should not move, especially as it has some teeth things underneath the whole mat which are supposed to sink into the carpet on the car. Well, the mat on the drivers side is floating all over the place. How to keep it down? It there any way to put a cap over the nib so the mat stays over the nib hence keeping the mat in place?

nakeydog

Can't you bring your car into another dealership? This one isn't doing anything for you. :lemon: The dealership closest to me stinks and I have to go out of my way for service. So try another dealer.

Are you sure it's the radio reception? Mine had horrible speakers so I had a radio store install better ones.

I get 28 mpg on my 2005 LX I have 2,300 miles on it.

nakeydog

Did you push it into the hole? Mine stays put.

raythegerman

I noticed on our Tucson that the floor mats were moving around...I checked it out and found you have to line up the hole with the nib and PUSH down---this locks it in place. The only problem is that when you want to take out the mats for cleaning, they are difficult to disengage.

rdillier

We had the Tucson floor mats also, but I thought they were kinda chintzy looking and pretty flimsy, so I went to my local BJ's Club (They're in the Mid-Atlantic states. I think Sam's Club or Costco would have the same) and bought a set of grey rubber mats that look pretty good. The carpeted mats in my '93 Nissan were HUGE and thick, and also had one of those nibs to hold the mat in place.

gregfromnyc

Hmm, ours just has a clean eyelette rivet, with nothing to lock down, which seems stupid ergonomics . The mats look nice to me, so I may just try to find an auto store and see if they have any sort of caps for the nibs, or something to put around the nib like a little rubber tube, since the mat floating around doesn't bother me, but it bunching up around the pedals does.

rxcapt

Like others I had the same problem. The trick is to line up the "eyelette" with the post, settle it down on the post and take your heel and press down firmly. There will be a snap and it is locked into place. I had this problem when I first got my Tucson two months ago. After doing this they have not moved at all. I do agree with the others that the mats themselves could be a bit beefier, but so far so good.

flytedhy

I may have to try another dealership 40 miles away. When playing a cd, its sounds good, but fm reception is noisy no matter where I go, the absolute worst fm radio reception of any car radio I've ever had. I did some research and found a TSB for "abs pump self-check noise". This condition has many of the symptoms I described, but not all. I'll bring the tsb into the dealership and ask them to call a service hotline if they have such a thing to try to get this resolved. Try accelerating slowly and see if you hear anything around 8 mph or feel a clunk in the gas peddle. Thanks

gregfromnyc

>line up the "eyelette" with the post, settle it down on the
>post and take your heel and press down firmly. There will
>be a snap and it is locked into place.

I did that, but without using my heel... instead used my hand. Will try tomorrow! Thanks.

rdillier

If the heel doesn't work, you could always use an 8-lb sledgehammer...

rablaw

I am picking up my new 2005 Tucson GLS 4WD this afternoon.
I've read that the headlights could be brighter and go further.
Can anyone recommend an HID light conversion? Are they safe? any other suggestions?

Thanks.
rablaw

jjdrivesuv

I owned my 4WD GL Tucson 3 weeks.
I just found one recall from Edmunds.com and my Tucson affected.
Made appointment will work on it Wed.
The recall no: 05V315000.
Is anyone complete this recall? <img src=" :confuse:

hester1

I am in the process of attempting my first oil change on my Tucson. Can someone tell me how difficult it is to remove the skid plate? Also do others have difficiulty reading the dipstick when checking the oil level??? You can hardly see the oil on the metal. :mad:

jjdrivesuv

Hi: Anyone affected by this recall??

rubytuesday1

Hi,
I am looking to buy my first vehicle. I am 29 a teacher and I live in Toronto canada. I am interested in a small suv like the tucson or crv. I used to drive a durango but it is way to big for a single person. The winters can be an issue here and I want something that I can drive through snow in. A compact SUV or simiar vehicle would be nice. I like the way the tucson looks compared to the crv but I also like the x3 (athough it is pricey). I also want a vehicle that is not to outrageous in terms of gas prices. Please advise I want to but in the next two weeks. Keep in mind that I am in Canada.
Thanks.

janetedit

Hi there,

I live in Orangeville, and would encourage you to look into the Kia Sportage 2005. I bought one in Feb. at 401/Dixie Kia. Had the two minor recalls done on it, (nothing I noticed) and was treated like gold at the dealership. It has a slightly different ride than the Tucson. I prefer the interior of my Kia to the Tucson's.

It's a real solid vehicle to drive. Especially through snow. I didn't bother with 4 wheel drive. I just have the front wheel drive with good snow tires and that little SUV just plowed up the hills around here, leaving other bigger SUVs behind.

I now have 12 000 km on it, and it's going great.

Have a look. I'd be interested to know what you think.

gregfromnyc

Well, the sledgehammer might work. Suffice it to say the heel didn't work either.

I'm embarrassed at this point, because it sounds like there is something obvious that I'm not seeing regarding how to do this. The may only had a rivet. It's nice and smooth. The capet has a grey things something fastened into it. The grey thing looks like a tiny top hat (the flat part flush with the flat carper and a cylinder pointing upward. I put the mat rivet over the cylinder part. Then what? Am I supposed to break the cylinder part of the top hat in some way? What actually causes the smooth rivet to get fastened to the mat? Sorry for all the duh'ing

gregfromnyc

Had my Tucson for ~month now.. I have not noticed any headlights problems or limitations. ???

gregfromnyc

Did you have a pointer to this recall? How does one find out if your particular car is effected? Thanks.

gregfromnyc

We went through a similar decision Ruby and are satisfied with having gone with the Tuscon. This after some 15 years of Chevy Blazers... definitely different driving experience, but not one I can complain about at all yet. FWIW, we went for the 4WD GLS even though many said the FWD versions could handle winters etc just fine.

You mentioned gas prices: I'm not convinced the Tucson gets the best mileage, but I'm not convinced the other choices are that much better when all is said and done.

gregfromnyc

> just have the front wheel drive with good snow tires

What IYO defines "good snow tires"

mike_belknap

A bit of news:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released results of the 35-mph full-frontal crash test. Both driver and front-seat passenger dummies recorded measures consistent with "five-star" crashworthiness ratings. The test vehicle was a 2006 model, but the scores also apply to 2005 model-year Tucsons [Source.] The 38.5-mph side-impact results and rollover-resistance ratings should be released shortly.

Mike

rxcapt

I am puzzled as the procedure I described in my previous message worked in a snap. It is my "opinion" that the mats slide down over the peg and that at the bottom of the peg there is a little groove that the bottom edge of the mat snaps into. Definetly do not break the peg. If you are having such problems I guess you could carefully put the mat in place and take a small piece of wood as blocking and putting that against the "eyelette" tap it with a hammer to drive it home, but this is just an opinion. Again, sitting in the car a quick thump with my heel was all it took to lock the mats in place. Very Very Surprised :confuse:

janetedit

Good snow tires? Where I live it's quite hilly and we get a lot of snow. When it's raining in Toronto in the winter, we'll be getting snow.

So, I used to just use all-seasons until I ended up in a ditch with my 10 year old Plymouth Voyager.

Now with my new Sportage, it's either Gislaveds (me) or Nokian Hakkapeliittas (husband's vehicle). Used both. Both are Scandanavian, I think, tested on ice.

All I know is they stick like gum to our roads, and have pulled me up many a hill when other SUVs were left spinning their tires.

janetedit

Good snow tires? Where I live it's quite hilly and we get a lot of snow. When it's raining in Toronto in the winter, we'll be getting snow.

So, I used to just use all-seasons until I ended up in a ditch with my 10 year old Plymouth Voyager.

Now with my new Sportage, it's either Gislaveds (me) or Nokian Hakkapeliittas (husband's vehicle). Used both. Both are Scandanavian, I think, tested on ice.

All I know is they stick like gum to our roads, and have pulled me up many a hill when other SUVs were left spinning their tires.

janetedit

Nokian Hakkapeliittas or Gislaveds (both Scandanavian I think). They are tested over there on actual ice. Have used both and currently have the Gislaveds on my Sportage. It is quite hilly where I live, and we get more snow than the Toronto area. All I know is those babies have pulled me up hills and left other SUVs with their wheels spinning and going nowhere.

'Course it's hard to think of snow now when it's been 30 degrees celsius!

janetedit

For some reason I had to try three times to send this post...and obviously all three got sent!

Just delete one, guys, ok?

jjdrivesuv

Here it is..
http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/MaintenanceServlet

guyf

That's interesting, I am looking at both of these tires for my kid's Tucson. Do you see a difference in performance between the 2. My wife's S60 runs on Gislaved winter tires and they are great! I was thinking about the Nokians but I can get the Gislaved's for $40.00 less per tire.

guyf

I went for the Tucson 4cyl frt wheel drive when looking for an economical SUV for my kids. As other said, with good winter tires (Gislaved or Nokians) and the traction control you don't need 4wd. 4wd will help you accelerate better from a dead stop on snow or ice but that's it. You don't sound like you are planning the transrockies off road so you do not need 4wd.

If you want to save gas, stay away from the 6 cyl. as well.

We are very satisfied with the Tucson and I'm sure the Sportage is just as good.

gregfromnyc

What other cars of this class get 5*'s?

Also, does this mean we can get discount on our Tuscon insurance? I was very disappointed that it's higher that the rates for my Chevy Blazers.

gregfromnyc

Thanks. But how can you tell it applies to your particular vehicle though?

gregfromnyc

>4wd will help you accelerate better from a dead stop on snow or ice but that's it

Here in New York City, that's how may accidents and near accidents occur, so in some cases that "it" can be significant.

Also, now that it snows here again in recent years, that dead stop is also prohibitive in folks getting out of parking spots. From my 2nd floor window, I watched storm after storm while all the neighbors spent hours and hours digging and digging. But with my 4WD Blazers, not only could I get out of spots in seconds, even plowed in ones, but I could maintain them simply by leaving the spot and reparking with seconds during the storm, even bad ones and lessening the plowed in'ness too to boot. I'm expecting the same from my 4WD Tucson this winter. Technical note: I don't attribute the whole thing to 4WD vs non-4WD, but it was helpful in the situations I needed it for.

gregfromnyc

Can't recall seeing any little groove on either the driver or passenger peg. I will look again in daylight though. Thanks.

mike_belknap

"What other cars of this class get 5*'s?"

Chevrolet Equinox | Pontiac Torrent
Honda CR-V
Honda Element
Saturn Vue
Subaru Forester

The Chevy, Pontiac, and Saturn all tipped-up on two wheels during the dynamic stability test, and the Honda Element has a "Safety Concern" for serious head trauma to the rear-seat passenger during the side-impact test. The Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester have performed well overall in all crashworthiness assessments - including the more realistic tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Tucson has yet to be tested by the Institute.

"Also, does this mean we can get discount on our Tuscon insurance?"

I honestly don't know how it works - I suppose it may be possible. :confuse:

"I was very disappointed that it's higher that the rates for my Chevy Blazers."

Oh, wow - that's very strange indeed! In fact, it doesn't make any logical sense to me at all. The Blazer has traditionally had a high death-rate, and crashworthiness is... well, maybe you should just check this out.

Mike

guyf

Thanks Mike, your posts are always very informative.

Keep them coming!

stever

There was some site maintenance going on recently; cached servers and such. Also, don't refresh your browser after posting; that will cause a duplicate post. Thanks for bearing with us!

Steve, Host

rubytuesday1

Thanks for the advice.

Just a few questions can you reply tonight or by tomorrow early.
I am planning on getting a Tucson GLS AWD in warm silver 2005. I have added a bunch of options like the Fromt bumper guard, rear bumper guard, rear spoiler, front and rear mud flaps, side visors, cargo mat, rubber mats, shrome side steps and complete hitch.
I have an out the door price of $35100. with all taxes (canadian)
but they are charging freight and pdi of $1295 and Gas tax of $200. I think the those two munbers are too much. When I questioned he said the gas tax was a government tax (but I had asked around and was told $75) he said it was for a different model. Also I know the invoice on the freight is $800. Should pdi be $500 or can I negotiate it some more. Originally they wanted to charge 1495 but I sadi no so they said 1295. Please let me know ASAP as I am going in to sign papers tomorrow (saturday) morning and it will be my last chance to mention anything.
Thanks so much for your help.
Ruby

gregfromnyc

if you go to hyundiacanada.com and "build & Price My Hundia" it says that a GLS AWD is $28,725 and that your options seem to come to $2693.23 for a total of $31,418.23. Seems you should do no worse on that price and certainly better.

As to freight charge, you should be able to get that waived and cut drastically if you try hard enough, at least it seems you can do so in the US.

I don't know about the gas tax since I'm in New York.

IMO, any PDI (pre delivery inspection) fee is a complete joke and I would "negotiate that to zero". Ditto for any advertising fee they may be charging you.

Remember that the invoice is a misrepresentation of what your dealer is paying and not paying and getting and not getting when the deal is all checked and balanced and done with between you and them _and_ them and the manufacturer (for instance, the manufacturer gives your dealer different monies, etc, independent of the raw invoice). So if the dealer shows you the invoice and says something like that they can't make money by going lower that the number on the invoice, it's not true. Of course, that doesn't mean they will go lower, but that's part of the give and take you'll need to get involved in.

Anyway, notwithstanding removing some fees, your raw number is: $35100 - $1295 = $33805

so $33805 - $31418 = $2387. Is that the right tax?

stever

Forgot about this one; maybe it's not too late to be of use:

Canadian Car Buying (for Canadian Consumers)

Steve, Host

rubytuesday1

thanks for the info I did a little more research and the gaas tax is 75 the freight/pdi is 800 at invoice. In Canada it is not as easy to drop the prices based on invoice but I will try. Also do you think I am overdoing it on the extras? Oh, what about rust proofing? Thanks again.
Ruby

stever

Mud flaps are nice; if you plan to tow, you'll need the hitch. Some people don't like side steps since they can get your legs dirty getting in and out, but they may suit your height. Mats are a necessity but you could probably get them cheaper at Canadian Tire.

Rust proofing has pretty much fallen out of favor down here, especially since most cars come with a 5 year or better rust perforation warranty. Canadians seem to have always rust proofed or oiled their cars more that we do down in the States, but you likely have salt on the roads longer too. I'd ask my neighbors and maybe read some posts in the Rust Never Sleeps--Questions About Rust Problems discussion.

Enjoy the new ride!

Steve, Host

guyf

I think you are overdoing it on the accessories. Everything except the mats and the hitch (if you have a trailer) seems useless to me. And forget about rustproofing. Also remember that at time of resale you will not get anything or very little for your accessories. My experience is that when you buy the top of a line; after 4-5 years the price you get for your car is very close to the bottom of the line for the same model.

I bought in 2001 a Santa fe GLS with leather seats. Paid $4K more that the GL at the time. When I traded in, I only got $750 more than the GL.

I paid $1200. transport and prep on my Tucson. Never heard about a gas tax. You should get 0% finance up to 5 years.

V6 AWD, be ready for 13l/100 km fuel consumption; and more during the winter.

gregfromnyc

As the others have noted, you don't "need" those accessories to drive the car, take care of it, etc. Of course, if you have the money, some of those can be nice to have.

OTOH, if I were the dealer/salesperson, I would consider you better off than others having gotten those things, and probably won't budge less on discounting the price on you. That's just me, YMMV.

As to freight/pdi, your dealer may have some legit concerns here if you are not by the port of entry of the car, or however they do it. Notwithstanding that, I do know that at least in many places in the US, that charge freight/pdi, even if on the invoice, can often be lowered/discarded/etc.

Anyway, lowering the price would be great of course, but overpaying you don't want to do (I'm not saying you are, just to be cautious of it).

gregfromnyc

5 yr 0% finance? Is that a Hydundai Canada offer??

guyf

Yes but I made a mistake, it is 0% for 4 years. 1.9% for 5 years.

Sorry!

flytedhy

I got a big piece of metal through the belt of the tire. It must have went flat quick as there appears to be sidewall damage also. The spot that I got the flat was not safe to change it there so I had to air it up and drive 1/2 mile and it was totally flat again. From what I read in the new car packet I got, Hankook provides no "road hazard warranty". The 800 Hyundai roadside assistance people said they will come and put on the spare, but nothing else. I can do that myself. Do I have any options here or am I looking at a new tire at my own expense? 2400 miles on the vehicle.