Hi folks! Brand new here and need some reliable info. Thinking about buyin a used 05 GT. Silver, 5 sp leather, moonroof, Infinity,,,all the goodies. 9700 miles. Loved the car but am concerned in 2 areas.
1. This will be my work car. 60 miles a day and around 16k a year . Is the lifespan similar to other imports? My 95 Jetta has 160k and stil running great.
2. The clutch. I ran her pretty hard for a short stint and the clutch just doesn't seem to engage "hard" when it should. If this is normal for the car, I can live with it, but I'm worried it may be the dreaded premature clutch failure. I thought after the 03 clutch debacle,that Hyundai corrected the problem.
I really don't want to be putting a clutch in after paying 17,000 for the car. I may be picking it up tomorrow evening, so some input would be VERY helpful. Thanks. Oh, GREAT forum!
Mike

 

hey Mike.

I say go for it>> a GT is a good car and if the jetta is not worth fixing then buy the Tibby.. i had a clutch problem with my tibby, but i ran it hard. I my car is a 01 and i got in 2003 it had 8000miles, right now it has 125000. and still running great... and even put a turbo in.. runs like a rapet monky.

 

The Tiburon is a great car. Just to let you know... For about $2,500 more you can get a new 07 GT right now. Hyundai is offering low interest rates for well qualified buyers too. Make sure that if you do purchase oth 05 that you get a full carfax report and have a 3rd party mechanic take a look at it. If you feel the clutch is a bit off make sure that is closely looked before you purchase the vehicle. The other thing to consider is that the 10 year 100k mile warranty is non-transferrable and drops to only 5 years 60k. Your best bet is going with a new one especially with all the miles you will be putting on your vehicle. You may also consider the shiftronic transmission that offers both a clutchless manual mode as well as and automatic mode for situations like traffic where you don't want to manually have to keep shifting gears. I hope this helps. Good luck with your new purchase. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.
~Nic

 

Ok man, the clutch issue your feeling is more than likely the fact that the car is still low mile and barely broken in.
Give it 6-9k more miles and it should be great.
Yes, the clutch/flywheel setup was redesigned after the 2003 catastrophe.
All in all the GK tibs (03 up with V6) are great cars. Mines gets about 27mpg on the hwy and 23 in the city, but I have the 6spd manual and the 2.7. Expect to fill up about every 4-5 to the tune of $25 (gas price being $2.50 where I live and drive).
That price is a little steep. I would'nt pay anymore than 15,500.
Now, you are getting a fully loaded model minus the 6spd trans.
I have the leather/infinity system/sunroof/cruise control/etc in my Tiburon and I could'nt be happier.
I would definitley get the cafax on it.
If it comes back clean, I would'nt worry about another mechanic checking it out.
A car with 9k would be traded in for only a hadnful of reasons. Maybe they could'nt afford the car, were in the military and sent overseas and could'nt pay, bought for a kid who did have a job, etc.

All things considered, sounds like you're getting a good car, just get that price down a little. The dealer wanted 13,900 for mine, but after tt&l, I am paying 11,035. Knocked them down a dood 3,000 bucks.
They probally gave the person (if it was a trade in) 14,000 for it. Being such low miles, all they did service wise was change the oil and rotate the tires, maybe an air filter, so they have maybe $100 in it for maintainence.
Talking them down to an MSRP of 15,500, then add tt&l and the dealer still makes almost 2,000.
Thats good enough for them. If they really want a car sold, they'll do whats best for you, the customer.
(I work for a dealer, so I know all the gimmicks they play).


Any other questions man?

Or have we hit all the bases?

 

First thing. Here in Pittsburgh if you can find a GT, you're gonna pay for it. I thought the sales guy was crazy until I came home and did some research. Apparently there's a pretty big demand for them here. I sold cars for many years and I can live with that.
What I can't live with is buying a new car and maybe having to put a clutch in it 5000 miles later. I put one in my Jetta last spring after 145,000 miles, so I didn't mind, but it was a real bear of a job. I have no desire to lay under my nice GT for 2 days until maybe 100,000 miles or so. I never heard of a clutch feeling mushy until broken in, and I've driven sticks all my life. Usually you put a new one in and about 50 miles later it's as "sticky" as it will ever be.
My main concern is: Is this car a reliable daily driver that, with regular maintenance, will have a lifespan like a Honda or VW or Toyota?

 

Any car can last forever if taken care of properly.
I'm impressed your VW went so long.
Sounds like you stay on top of your cars. So unless you dog the **** out of it, theres no reason the clutch should fail for quite some time. The clutch fiasco only affected the 2003's.
As for living in PA, I can see the lack of Tibs up there. Makes sense.
Speaking personally, I love everything about my Tiburon. Was hesitant about buying a Hyundai at first, but I really think that the car is excellent, easily comparible to Toyota.

Buy it, you won't regret it man.

 

There are two design features in some Hyundais that affect clutch feel. I know the Elantra has these and maybe the Tib does also. The first is that they put in a restriction orifice in the clutch slave cylinder that prevents a driver from dumping the clutch and perhaps stalling the car. If you try to do racing starts with the clutch partially engaged because of this, it will put extra wear on your clutch and it will wear out sooner. This orifice is pretty simple to remove on the Elantra. Here are the directions:

http://www.elantragtclub.com/elantra/id542.html

The second is that, again on Elantras (not sure about Tibs), the engine speed is not allowed to drop suddenly since this can increase emissions. The Idle Air Controller hold the rpms up a bit and doesn't allow sudden drops in engine speed. The effectiveness of the IAC can be reduced, allowing quicker drops in engine speed, by adding a restriction plate as shown here:

http://www.kia-forums.com/cerato-200...-revs-fix.html

I think the reason they put the orifice in the slave cylinder is to keep people from stalling their cars when they let out the clutch suddenly with the rpms high and their foot off the accelerator (due to the IAC).

Note that both of these changes are for the 2.0 liter Beta II engine; not sure if it is the same on all models of Tib.

 

Hey Doohickie, Thanks alot for the orifice info. Sure makes a lot of sense to me. I'm gonna save the info cause I decided to bite the bullet and buy the darn thing. Picking it up tomorrow afternoon.
I didn't realize my clutch wil be covered for another 41,000 miles or so, until I talked to the salesman today. I'm paying a lot but I think The car's worth it. There aren't any available around here and I figured I better grab it while I can. Guess I'll be around the forum for awhile.
Thanks again.

 

Congratulations on the purchase man!!!
You seriously will not be disappointed in the car.

 

Thanks. Put 200 miles on it since Wednesday. So far I really like it EXCEPT the hanging revs and the clutch thing. Why the hell make a car with so much power and then screw with the clutch so it's impossible to get firm shifts. I'm gonna try the mod Doohickie mentioned above real soon. I'd like to get rid of the hanging rev issue also, but haven't been able to see the pics on the link he gave in his post.
I can't believe EVERYBODY hasn't complained about the clutch orirfice thingy. You just cannot get that car out of the hole quick.
Wonder if anyone else has done the modification on a Tib?