If you're just enjoying the car

LOVE IT!
Dispite all the recalls.
Two round trips from New York to Florida and many 300 plus miles other trips.
It's still amazes me and has never let us down.

 

I have a 2019 Ultimate that is in the process of being bought back because of the battery issue. I've also had the motor replaced because of the "ticking" noise issue. That all said, I love the car. I love the range, I love the smoothness and strength of the acceleration, I love all the features it comes with. I will truly miss it. In fact, as I decide what to replace it with, I am still short-listing it as an option, along with the Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model Y. I'll probably wait to check out the 2022 model as I hear they added some additional sound dampening to it (one of my few pet peeves of the car). I'm not in a rush and will wait to see how things play out. Will probably make a decision by the spring of 2022.

 

I have been saying all along that this is the best car I have ever had. I haven't worried about the minor recalls at all. If and when they replace the battery then I will have virtually a new car. Big bonus to me. Having a leaf in the past I learned to just drive the car using all the great features. I'm older so I guess that's why I don't fret about all the Jabber on this forum not that it's not warranted.

 

Here's an article (pdf below) about fleet EV preferences from the NZ publication EVs and Beyond. There is a point made near the end about the lack of jabber. The specific article is the pdf but the source publication from whence it came is https://evsandbeyond.co.nz/welcome-to-the-june-2021-evs-and-beyond-magazine/

 

There seem to be more fleet-owned Konas than private in Hawkes Bay. But there are so many more of the Model 3 on the streets now (in private hands) that I'm starting to find them quite dull looking.
I would imagine that fleet operators like the tangible costs and benefits of having local servicing, plus I'd bet Hyundai gives them a deal while I'd bet Tesla won't.

 

I have had my Kona since March '19, and I continue to be impressed by Hyundai quality - solid, tight, no rattles, still looks like new, it's a daily pleasure. I have had no issues at all, and can't imagine what I would ever consider replacing it with.
First impressions included only one reservation - that the ride was a little too firm, that there was a hard edge to any pitch and bounce from road imperfections. My reaction to that was to defer any really long trips in favour of my plugin Prius.
I now have solved that issue, and the answer was easy. Back in the day, flexible pneumatic tyres replaced solid wheels for passenger comfort; they are part of the suspension, and the only part that is user adjustable. Trouble is, these days manufacturers use larger and larger diameter wheels, with ever-decreasing tyre profiles, and little flexibility remains. Good for looks and cornering, but a harder ride.
So I have dropped tyre pressure from 36/36 to 34/34, a small difference but a significantly smoother ride, and I immediately felt comfortable about now using the car for long trips. Cornering feedback has improved, and tpms shows hot pressures still at 37-38.
I typically drive solo, you may not notice ride harshness if the car is loaded, or on family duty.
My attitude to tyre pressures is that it always is the driver responsibility to choose what is optimal for load and conditions, with the door plate numbers as a starting point, and I always do that every week or two. What is different for me about the Kona is that it is the first car I have had where slightly reduced pressures from stock make such a worthwhile difference.
My Kona is now perfect!

 

I understand what you are saying about the firm ride. At 22k I replaced the Nexens with Bridgestone Ecopias and that was an improvement in terms of less firm and slightly quieter. (The front pair were worn and I hadn’t had an alignment since new, my bad especially where we’d driven). The new car comes with Michelin Premacys and they “feel” the same. Bravo getting your car the way you want it to ride


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I have no problem with the ride firmness or otherwise but the road noise is pretty bad on our chip seal even compared to my small ICE SUV. Once I have a new battery I might look at new tyres even though they far from being worn out.

 

This tyre business is SO subjective. My last 3 new cars all came with Ecopias, 2 Prius’s and a Gen1 Leaf. They were excellent for economy, but, on the Prius’s, got noisier as they wore down, and the very soft sidewalls ran to hopeless under-steer when cornering. On the Leaf, at stock pressures (36/36) the steering felt vague and wandering, it needed 42/42 to corner precisely.
I bought a set of multi fit rims for the Kona, which allowed me to put the Nexens on the Prius. This proved excellent; no torque slip, vastly better handling, and only marginally worse economy despite going from 195/65x15” to 215/55x17”. Even better, using a sound level app, they were about 3dB quieter than the Ecopias on both seal and coarse chip. Go figure...

The Primacy 4’s on your latest Kona rate well for quiet running and long life, but I’m yet to find any tyre that is quiet on our coarse chip. I have put Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s on the original Kona wheels - very quiet mostly, but the coarse chip is more noticeable. The big unknown is cabin insulation, and interior surfaces. Hard plastics don’t help sound perception...

 

Thank-you for that history. I could even have confirmation bias, having shelled out for a set of new tyres before I should have needed to. Also I'm comparing worn Nexens with new Ecopias before they got worn down . There is no doubt though about the huge difference between seal and coarse chip for noisiness. We go from Wellington to the Wairarapa most weeks and there are several sections of coarse chip which are really very loud even in our beloved Konas!

 

I like my 2019. It was a better buy than the Tesla and had the rebate. As with any new tech there will be growing pains. I have no interest in getting rid of it anytime soon and I await the new battery so I can continue to enjoy it.


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When I bought my Kona I chose it for its build quality, size and features. It never elicited any excitement for me in design or performance (other than the straight line torque).

Having owned it for nearly a year my feelings are the same. I would still choose it this day as my EV of choice purely on its competency at everything it does. I don’t think it’s ugly at all, merely ordinary for its class and actually pleasantly designed. Now, I think the 22’s are quite nice looking and a big improvement in design.

These are great EV’s and are only bested in range by other EV’s due to larger batteries, not efficiency