My i30 (FD, built Nov12) 1.6 gasoline 4 speed auto is 6 months old now with 5,000ks, 95% in city/suburbs. The romance is over, and the car and I have settled into a normal daily routine. I have spent many long hours reading and learning about i30s on this website, and am very grateful for the contributions of those who have gone before. So I thought perhaps I should now review my i30 decision and post my conclusions here for whoever may be interested.
Personal status.I have just recently retired - am living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia - just the wife and I now (kids departed) - so am downsizing our regular vehicle from a 4 litre, 6 cylinder family car to a smaller vehicle which will be used 90% within the city on short trips to shopping centres, fitness centre, the beach, etc.
Car History.I have owned 23 different cars (8 new, 15 used) while living/working in New Zealand, USA, UK, Germany, Australia. And have also driven a greater number of rental/company cars. My first two cars were heavily modified (for hill climb events) – then got married and priorities got adjusted.
Which car? The contenders.I am now retired, so I have time, and I turned the car purchase into a fun hobby project. I spent a year reviewing manufacturer's specs, journalist's tests, and owner’s forums on the internet. I test drove, several times, all the small and light/compact class cars (Ford, GM, VW, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Hyundai/Kia). Melbourne has 6+ dealers for each of those major brands – I got to know them all.
The must haves.Petrol, auto transmission, 4 door/hatch, reasonable economics (fuel, servicing, insurance, registration/road tax). I plan to keep this car forever (10-15 years), so current model style/appearance was of low importance. Reliability and economy is the key.
Petrol versus Diesel.I have experience with diesels, and am a fan of their torque and fuel economy. But this time my driving profile will be low mileage (12,000k pa) with many short trips (1, 2 and 5ks) which, in Australia, results in a clear negative value proposition (fuel, servicing, and depreciation) for the diesel. And on the internet, the diesel owner's forums also testify internationally to the number of frustrated city drivers with frequently clogging/regenerating DPFs caused by those short trips. And while Hyundai currently does not fit DPFs to Australian i30’s, I still could not, for my conditions, justify the substantial extra $ involved in owning a diesel. Note diesel in OZ is currently 10-20 cents higher than RON91 petrol/gasoline.
So this time it will be petrol, and an Australian specific issue here is the RON rating of the engine. In OZ petrol is either RON 91, 95 or 98. RON91 is the most widely available, and, unlike Europe where authorities have forced it out of the market with emissions restrictions, it is expected to continue to be widely available here in the longer term. There is a price difference 15-20cents per litre for RON91 and 95. A European RON95 petrol engine (e.g. VW Polo or Golf) will not provide fuel savings to compensate for that $ difference. So I am consciously favouring a motor configured for RON91 and proven over the last 10 years and hoping it will serve me reliably and economically over the next 10-15 years.
No new gadgets to break down.Having owned my share of old/used cars, I am very conscious of the way all mechanical/electrical components in a car progressively wear/ deteriorate and eventually fail. So this time, no fully-loaded top-of-the-range car for me! Just the opposite – bottom of the range, and please remove any other non essential gadget that’s just waiting to break and force me back into the service workshop.
And, in particular, no turbo/super chargers or dual clutch transmissions. The internet owner forums are flooded with warnings that no one should ever buy a car with this gear, without being aware of the risks i.e. get replacement quotes (parts and labour) and allocate appropriate $ to a contingency account if you really want to drive the latest technology beyond its warranty period. Otherwise the bitterness from turbo or clutch disintegration could really sour the driving experience.
Other Opinions.During my time in Germany I learnt the language, and even today I regularly check the web site of ADAC.DE which is the German national automobile club. Those guys do very detailed reviews of most new cars and publish their standard structured 12 page test results on their website. Their precision is legendary e.g. turning circle has two numbers – turning left and turning right.
Well, a couple of years ago an ADAC test of the Hyundai i30 reported a significantly changed appreciation of the vehicle’s quality and performance, and clear words of warning for European manufacturers. So for the first time in my life, I added a Korean car company to my list of contenders.
The winner was....Cold hard numbers had the 2011 FD i30 1.6 4speed auto looking like a non emotional winner on points. The mature model, proven basic technology, 5 year warranty, etc. were winning arguments. And then the new 2012 GD model was announced. Heavy run-out discounting of the old FD model commenced and I was offered a deal (for the older model) that I couldn’t refuse. My year long hobby project (testing cars) was over.
6 Months with my new i30.Smooth motoring, no problems, performing in line with expectations. Except for fuel consumption! I had calculated that I would get around 8LHK. Over the last few winter months consumption rose to almost 10LHK. I was very disappointed and set about researching just why? I learnt a lot about how short trips dramatically effect fuel consumption, and subsequently posted a thread on this subject.
https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=16484.0In summary, I now appreciate that this was not an i30 issue – any car driven on so many short trips will significantly exceed its government rated urban consumption.
Doubts.I had been as methodical and rational as possible – but for many people, a car also involves a significant emotional component. And I occasionally found myself day dreaming about great features of some of the other vehicles I had test driven. Memories of a strong diesel torque push, short throw 6 speed manual transmissions, etc. were still with me. I realised that I had bought my i30 with my head, but not my heart.
So last week I went back and test drove those vehicles all over again. Interestingly, nearly all the personal at those dealers had changed since the earlier drives, and I was not recognised. So I drove them all around my private test track which consists of 24ks of city suburbs, hilly, twisty, shopping centre car parks, speed bumps, and a 5k section of freeway.
And now it’s over – I am sitting here with a big grin on my face. Those other cars did have some great features, but they also had some very disappointing characteristics that I had forgotten about. As a wrap up I took my i30 around my test track, and yes, it again was clearly the best overall performer. I now know that, should I again get that restless feeling, then the cure is to re-visit the other options. I used to think the same when I was 20, but I can’t recall whether that was about cars?
Now I cannot share this with my wife – she thinks I have a strange unhealthy relationship with cars. So I am using this website to get this off my chest, and hope that no one feels offended by a pensioner letting out his concerns about whether he bought the “right, last car”.
