2008 Hyundai Tiburon User Reviews

Purchased As New

HI: This is my first Hyundai. I brought it new in May of this year 2009. It was a left over with only 9 miles. I fell in love with the style of the car and the colr. and the inside.I turn heads on the road and at my gym.The woman there said to me, that is u alan. That is a woman getter. I did at first have a little promb. get in. I had a suv before. I am very happy the way it run's and handler's so far. 53 more payment's. Great serevice where i brought the car. I am not new at the car scean. I am 62 an a vet. on a fix income. Love the style of the car. alan...read morehide

Pros

Great fuel economy and looks

Cons

I have never road in a more uncomforatable car!!

Purchased As New

I bought the car new in May as a left over 08. I was thrilled getting such an awesome deal. The car is loaded and drives great, reasonable power for a small engine, and great fuel economy.
HOWEVER....the drivers seat is absolutely killing me. I am 6' tall and weigh 165 and I am too wide for the seat!! The side support on the bottom seat cusion feels like it's made of steel and after only a 19 mile commute to work I am in pain. My legs and lower back are killing me when I get out. If I can't fix the seat soon I am getting rid of this thing!!

I strongly suggest if buying one take it for a long drive to insure you can tolerate the seats....read morehide

Pros

nothing

Purchased As New

under power 2.7 engine perform not more than a real 1.6 engine!
very low quality material,lots of blind spots around,tight space
shape only like a coupe but performance like a van.
in a street darg race a 1.6L car overtook me! we did this test 3 times

Pros

Turns heads, not sure if it's the way i drive or if it's the design

Cons

17mpg? really? I mean a Ford mustang V8 gets better..

Purchased As New

multiple issues, mainly with the fact that i was looking for a manual and got an automatic. There are only 4 gears. At 70mph it runs at about 2700-3000rpm. Shiftronic is very very very ECU controlled, I don't enjoy driving it. If it were up to me i would get something similar to this, but in a manual transmission. Suspension is amazing, A friend of mine has a mustang with 80k miles and he can corner a turn better than this car..is it me or does the mustang weigh more, doesn't have equal weight distribution and runs on tires that are not quite as good as mine and still manages to take a turn faster than this? Hyundai really is a good brand..shows in the Genesys, but i think this is a horrible sports car for 23k...read morehide

Pros

this car turns heads . and is beautiful

Cons

no cruise control! but getting it added!

Purchased As New

I have only had my new car a few days . but i have to say its the most beautiful car i have ever had . and the ride is smooth. back seat is small for tall people. but for 2 people it's perfect!!!

Pros

Safety is awesome...good fuel

Cons

Very small back seat

Purchased As Used

I had a brand new 2004 automatic. Didnt have it very long because of a car wreck but had now prob. with the car. When I got into a head on wreck the car did very well hardly any inside damage and this was a head on wreck.
I liked it so much that I bought another one. this is a used 2005, 6cyl 6speed manuel, i havent had any problems with it except for it pulls to the right extremely bad, and it is not misaligned because i had that checked before i bought it.
Very Small Back Seat...read morehide

Pros

Sporty, great fuel economy, handles well, good acceleration

Cons

Would like a little more power in 4cyl

Purchased As New

I had considered the Tiburon for over a year. Went back and forth between V6 and auto. Finally the price was right and choose the 4 cyl with 5 speed for the gas mileage I was used to. Glad I did. So far getting about 32 mpg with city and hwy combination. I like everything about the car so far. I would always like more horsepower. However the car is zippy and handles the hills (real hills) well without losing any speed or shifting. Handling is tight and feels in control. Like driving a go-cart! Love the styling, a real head turner....read morehide

Pros

Traded a Merecedes (bought new) and traded in 6 months ago.

Cons

Wish I would have bought sooner!

Purchased As New

I never wanted anything to do with Hyundai, as I was one of the first buyer's when they first came out. I literally, felt the car move with the slighest wind. Well, 20 years later I noticed the appearance and started test driving in the Spring of 2008. I wanted to wait until winter and snow and ice to compare performance. Well, I did and it outperformed and more comfortable. Holds heavy to the road..much has changed. I love it!!!!! The interior..is even more ..10 stars!! Bought 3 weeks ago and had a great ride in the snow and ice yesterday....read morehide

Pros

Great mpg, styling, excellent warranty

Cons

Could use more power, steering could be tighter

Purchased As New

I went back and forth between the V6 SE and GS Tiburon for several weeks. Should I go with more power and lousy gas mileage (17/24), or slightly less power and great gas mileage (20/28)? Ok, ok, yes there's the Prius, hybrid this and that, but after driving a V6 VW sedan that I affectionately called "Big Gulp", 28mpg makes a world of difference.

So I went with the GS. I am not regretting this decision. But it seems that other owners might be regretting the purchase of their SE if you look on Auto Trader. Nearly all Tiburon's for sale are V6 models. Why? Because there is simply not enough performance to justify the mpg. Despite the sport tuned suspension, 17" wheels, and 6-speed.

So how does my Tiburon GS stack up? According to some of the "experts" it has a bland interior, weak power, outdated design, and numb steering. I think they are full of it.

Exterior: The Tiburon's styling is exceptional and if it wasn't for the Hyundai emblem most people would assume it is an exotic car of some sort. I did. And I have lost count of the amount of people that have motioned for me to roll my window down at a stoplight to ask what it was.

Interior: I don't care what the critics say, the interior looks great. The dash lights are a beautiful blue/red that makes moonlight drives all that much better. All controls are easy to understand and accessible. You won't have to dig through the manual for hours to figure out how to turn the heat on. The seats are comfortable and easy to adjust. How these are negative attributes to the experts makes no sense to me.

Performance: I'll admit a turbo would be nice to have on this car, and it's acceleration can appear to use some improvement. Notice I said "appear". If you learn how to drive this car it is actually perfectly adequate. While it isn't fast, per se, it is peppy and does the job just fine. The V6 is better, but the mpg of the GS is much more valuable to the average consumer.

Handling: The Tiburon corners really well although the steering could be tighter when you have to "jerk" the wheel. It isn't bad though, and certainly not a dealbreaker. The fact that I have owned Porsche's and other german cars known for superb handling likely contributes to this opinion.

Warranty: 100,000 miles of which 60,000 can be transferred. Much better than most.

I have no major complaints about the 2008 Hyundai Tiburon GS. It is a great looking car, gets excellent gas mileage, and after buying new cars that are out of warranty within 24,000 miles, the 100,000 Hyundai warranty is music to my ears.

So critics, experts, etc: keep on praising Mitsubishi, Scion, and whatever companies you are biased towards. It keeps the Tibby's rare and I rather enjoy being asked "what is that?" on a weekly basis.

The Tiburon has been discontinued after 2008. I got mine....read morehide

Pros

Exterior Design, Warranty, Cheap to Own

Cons

Underpowered for class, Alignment, Road Noise

I have a 2005 Hyundai Tib GS. The engine is pretty much the same for the current generation, in terms of power at least. What i don't understand about this car is that the overall design is quite beautiful, sleek, and powerful LOOKING, but the engine does not do the image justice. This car's looks put it in the class of Mitsu Eclipse, Hondo Civic Si, Pontiac G6 GT, Chevy Cobalt SS and Scion tc...but it seriously lacks horsepower...which I have never understood. If Hyundai could just put the Sante Fe's 242 hp engine and calibrate it for the Tib GT, the exterior would better advertise the heart of this car. I always have considered this car false advertisement for that very reason. I know we are in the age of hybrid/30-50 mpg vehicles, so I can appreciate the Tib's good gas mileage in sacrifice of power. But, the Mazda3 is a 4cyl. with some pep, so once again, Hyundai needs to get creative with their engine composition (hint: turbos!)...I also read on one of these reviews that the alignment is problematic, which I can also agree upon. Pulls to the right constantly, even with periodic alignment servicing...it always comes back...like a bad horror movie. However, this review is pretty much in vain, being that the Tiburon's production will not continue in 2009, with the eager anticipation of the Genesis Coupe...hooray!...read morehide