[jeevadeepan]

Hello fellow bhpians! I hope all are safe during these unprecedented times. Thanks to all the mods, members and other content creators who made this forum a great place of what it is today. I've been a passive user on the forum the past few years. I have consumed a ton of useful information from the forum and I always wanted to give back. Every now and then I think about writing a ownership review and never pursued the thought. Due to covid, the world changed a lot and looks different around us. And here I'm finally gathering up the courage and motivation to post my first review. I live in the US and recently leased a 2020 Genesis G70. I'd like to share my story of leasing the baby Genesis with you all. I know car buying/leasing experience is drastically different from the one I'm used to back home in India. I thought it would be good to share some of my car buying experience here along with my initial impressions on the G70.

A word of caution - In this post, you will come across instances where I have made quite a few bad financial choices losing $$ in the process. It feels weird that I’m saying this. Anyways, here I go. “A car is a depreciating asset”. Don’t let your urge for that new car blind you to make a bad financial choice. Though most of you are sensible, I just want to put the word out to fellow enthusiasts like me.

Why a new car?
When it comes to cars, I’m a person who listens to my heart versus head. There’s almost never an instance in my life that I needed a car. I just ‘wanted’ a car. I just get fascinated by cars. Actually, vehicles that can be driven on public roads. My obsession with cars multiplied after my move to the US few years back. Being in one of the world’s largest passenger car market, I was spoiled with choices. You can most certainly find and configure a new car for every 500 dollars between $12,000 and $150,000 and beyond. Sub compact, compact, full size, pickup trucks, luxury, hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs, crossovers, sports cars, convertibles, coupes. The choices are endless. It’s a dreamland for car enthusiasts.

Prior to the G70, my daily driver was a 2018 Ford Focus ST. A true enthusiast’s hatchback with 250 bhp on tap with a slick shifting 6 speed manual transmission. Even though US has many fun to drive cars, finding a car with manual transmission is getting harder these days. I loved that car and still do. Then why a new car you may ask. I had more than a few bad experiences with Ford dealerships where I live. That made me furious and I developed a strong hatred towards the brand especially it’s dealerships. I decided to get out the brand and was looking for opportunities. I was still making loan payments on my Focus ST. I had paid for only 2 years on my 5 years loan. Which meant, I still had negative equity on the car. While it makes no financial sense to sell a car after 2 years of ownership, you know what happens when you follow your heart. Maybe, I’ll get wise as I grow older. But, right then my mindset was, life is too short to drive the same car for 5 or 10 years. With the negative equity, I still didn’t want to pay out of pocket to sell my car. So, I decided to give it some time to break even. And then, this happened. After covid, used car prices in the US started going up recently. Mainly fueled by factory closures reducing new car inventory and the demand for used cars increasing with people’s aversion to public transit system. Suddenly in a matter of few weeks, I started to see my Focus’s value increase. From about negative $1200, it went up to $1500 more than what I owe on the car. I got excited and wanted to make use of the current market conditions. I immediately started looking for my next ride.

What car?
Coming out of a hot hatch, I wanted to upgrade. At the same time don’t want to spend a lot. In fact, one of the main goals in choosing the replacement is to keep the same monthly payment and if possible less than that. And, with my dealership experience of a few bad deals in the past, I decided firm that I’m going to hunt for the best deal. I’ve owned a handful of sub 10Lac cars back home in India. Coming from there, I get excited looking at pretty much any new car in the US above $20k. Having my choices wide open also helped me to score a best deal. Given my tendency to change cars frequently, I decided to lease vs buy. I also knew leasing will help get into a much more expensive car within my budget. With a stern monthly budget set in mind, I started shopping around random models I was interested in.

Mazda MX-5 Miata - One of my favorite cars. I have driven a rental once and was blown by it’s looks and handling. It’s so much fun to drive. Dealer inventory of new miatas in my area was scarce. Called a few dealers who had inventory to check lease prices and found that it’s little out of my budget. Given limited inventory, no dealerships were showing interest to sell me one. Hence moved on. Hope I’ll get a chance to own it some day in the future.

Dodge Challenger - I was looking for SRT models with V8. Again, lease prices weren’t that good. So was dealer response.

Honda Civic Type R - I have never driven it before. I liked the boy racer looks and the car had great reviews. I found only 1 car within 100 miles radius. As expected, lease price was at least twice my budget.

Genesis G70 - I always had a thought of moving into the luxury segment when I can afford one. Hyundai’s Genesis spin off grabbed my attention and G70 was awarded North American Car of the Year in 2019. Pretty much every single review praised it’s VFM factor and how it’s packed with features for thousands less than the German Big 3. I started looking for inventory in my area in Autotrader and found quite a few dealer inventory in my area. Though I have never driven the car before, I trusted the countless online reviews and accolades the car got and I believed I can’t go wrong. Started reaching out to a few dealerships around and found that 3 years 36k miles lease is in the ballpark of my budget. Decided on the ‘elite’ trim level and started getting quotes from multiple dealerships.

Negotiation - The uncomfortable part
Before I start with my negotiation experience, I’d like to say a word or two about car dealerships in the US. If you’re not aware, car dealerships in the US are setup to extract the maximum amount of money from your pocket if you’re not careful. After my 4 years of dealing with car dealerships of various brands in 3 states, I’ve learned my fair share of lessons about how to negotiate and buy a car from the dealer. Needless to say, I’ve made many newbie mistakes initially losing $$ in the process. One of the lessons I learned is to never step into the dealership until I’m done negotiating and have an agreement on price. Any time I submit my interest online on a dealer’s website, I immediately get a call from the salesperson asking me to come in to check out the vehicle. I always refuse that politely and tell them that I’d like to get an agreement on price before coming in. The reason is, as I stated before pretty much everything and everybody inside a dealership is set up for you to spend the last penny from your wallet and they make you feel good about it. So, unless you’re so confident about resisting pressure selling tactics and impulse buys, I’d never recommend stepping into a dealership unless you’re done negotiating. Unlike in India, here you can buy a car and drive it off the dealer’s lot the same day. So, here’s my leasing strategy that seemed to work well for me until now,
1. I mostly skip the test drive part. Most of the cars I wanted to buy or lease, I would’ve driven it before either via rental or I rely on reviews from trusted sources.
2. Decide on exact model, trim and options I’m looking for. This makes it easier to compare apples to apples.
3. I Search for dealer inventory in Autotrader within a 100 miles radius and narrow down dealers who have lower advertised prices and good online reviews.
4. I Submit a lead online and when they call me, I tell them the stock# or VIN# of the car I’m interested in from their inventory (Here in US, pretty much all dealers list their inventory online). And I tell them, I’d like a detailed quote with out the door price(the term used here for on road price that includes taxes, registration and all fancy fees that the dealerships want to add) and I’ll come in after I agree on a price with them. Few dealers will agree, few won’t reveal any numbers unless you go into the showroom. I Ignore the ones who won’t discuss price over the phone or email. Eventually they will if they’re desperate to sell you the car.
5. I always, shop for a monthly payment with ‘zero’ money down. While a seasoned buyer will tell you not to shop for a monthly payment because the dealer can always increase the no. of payments for a lower monthly price. At least for leasing, I was able to get better deals shopping this way. I just state the no. of months clearly while negotiating price. One of the tactics used by dealer to get a customer to pay initial downpayment is, they say their approval odds for financing are higher and you’ll get better rates with a big downpayment. That’s not true. All a bank cares about is if I’m capable of paying the total lease amount for the given tenor. If you have a very good credit score, never put any money down.
6. I get quotes from multiple dealers and let them compete for my business. Once I get one that’s within my target price range, I go into the dealership and sign the papers.
One of the dealers who’s about 90 miles from where I live gave me the best quote both on the G70 lease and also was willing to pay more on my Ford Focus ST trade in. He quoted $2k above what I owe on the car. Initially I got a monthly lease price that’s well within my budget for a new 2020 G70 with Elite package. When I started negotiating the price, they asked me if I’ll be interested in a loaner vehicle. Which, they were willing to provide a much deeper discount than the new model. After a few rounds of back and forth with a couple more dealers, I decided to pull the trigger on the demo/loaner vehicle which was at least 20% cheaper than the next best quote. Overall, I scored a pretty good deal on the lease and being a loaner the final negotiated price came out to way under my initial budget that was my current loan payment on my Focus ST. I was so happy to get out of the Ford brand, drive a much nicer car and all of that while paying less!

Delivery
After agreeing on the price, I was asked to submit a finance application for credit check online and email couple more docs. It was Labor Day long weekend here and the dealership was very busy. I was told, they need to take the loaner vehicle out of service and perform safety inspection. So, delivery was scheduled for the next Tuesday evening. I arrived at the dealership with my trade in (Ford Focus ST). They had the vehicle safety inspected, washed, detailed and ready for me outside. I looked at the vehicle in person for the first time and was very impressed. The car looked amazing in what genesis calls ‘Siberian Ice’ color, which is mostly white with a light shade of blue. Being a loaner vehicle, the car had 5100 miles on the odo, the sales person said, they had repainted some minor paint scuffs in the bumper. Apart from a very small scratch on front driver side wheel, I couldn’t find anything else on the exterior. Not even a hairline scratch. The car looked brand new from outside. As expected the interior showed little bit of wear, especially in the driver’s seat area around the high touch points. Very minor, again barely noticeable unless you look close. I took the car for a short spin to make sure I don’t miss something obvious before signing the deal. I haven’t driven many luxury vehicles before and I immediately noticed a huge difference in ride quality compared to my other commuter cars which are from a segment or two below. More on the driving impression later. Long story short, I didn’t find any imperfection during the test drive. Pampered within the luxurious cabin for the first time, It felt and drove like a brand new sporty sedan and something that I haven’t experienced before. After the test drive, signed the lease agreement with negotiated price, handed over my Focus ST’s keys and drove back home.

My take on the car
Exterior
The G70 is a looker. Even though it’s an entry level small sized sedan as per the US standards, the proportions are perfect. The car looks absolutely stunning from every angle. It looks equally sporty and classy to my liking. Use of chrome is perfect as well. Not overdone. Genesis being a new brand, the lack of many of them on the roads add to the exclusivity factor. I love the design so much that I give it a good few seconds stare every time after I park and lock.

Interior
Being my first luxury car, It’s a huge leap for me in terms of quality. The interior looks absolutely stunning. Driver’s seat is on of the best places to be inside. Everything you can touch and feel is soft and plush. All the buttons and knobs are made of very high quality materials. Nothing feels cheap inside. Infotainment buttons and HVAC controls below touchscreen looks classy and elegant. Volume knob finished in chrome looks beautiful and provides satisfying clicks when operated. My car has the elite package and came with light gray interiors with leather seats. Light colored interiors make the cabin look so airy and premium. Power adjustable Drivers seat are very comfortable and provide great support during long drives. Being a small sedan, rear seat leg space is cramped. I’m 5’11. With me in the driver’s seat, leg room for the rear passenger is almost non existent.


Powertrain and Driving impression
G70 comes with 2 engine options. A 2.0 liter 4 cylinder turbocharged motor making 252 hp( @6200 rpm and 260 lb-ft of torque) and a 3.3L twin turbo V6 making 365hp( @ 6000 rpm and 376 lb-ft). My car has the 2.0L 4 cyl engine paired to a Hyundai developed 8 speed TC automatic. While I would have been excited to pick the larger engine with it’s huge numbers, I had to stick to the 2.0 L turbo owing to budget concerns. Being used to a powertrain with similar output (Ford’s 2.0L ecoboost) on my Focus which is a hatchback, I didn’t have huge expectations for the motor on a bigger car. But, I’ll have to admit the powertrain far exceeded my expectations. I’m not sure if it’s the automatic transmission(Focus ST has a 6 speed manual), but the car feels adequately powered to suit most of my driving conditions so far. My G70 is equipped with Hyundai’s H-trac AWD system. Power is sent to rear wheels or all 4 wheels depending on different driving conditions. There is turbo lag, which is felt mostly at city driving speeds at lower rpms (<2000 rpm). But again, it’s a matter of getting used to the car’s power band. Even a slight dab at the gas pedal, the transmission downshifts and propels you to the speed you desire. If I have to nitpick, the 8 speed auto is slow to respond at times. The shifts are smooth and fairly quick. Certainly faster than me rowing through the gears on my Focus. I’ve read rave reviews about the lightning quick shifts on ZF transmissions. Though, I haven’t experienced one before, I can safely say Genesis/Hyundai’s 8 speed auto has room for improvements.
Where the powertrain truly shines is on the highways. Cruising in top gear at 70mph (112 km/hr) the engine stays at a calm 1900 - 2000 rpm. Given the car’s excellent ride quality and sound insulation, it doesn’t feel like you’re doing freeway speeds. Give it more throttle, the transmission eagerly downshifts a gear or two and before you realize you’re doing triple digit illegal speeds. The car is very calm and composed at high speeds. It’s so much rewarding that, it’s hard to not drive it fast.

Handling and Steering
Handling is another department where G70 performs very well. The car is very agile and being a small sedan, it’s eager to be flicked around corners. Body roll is well controlled and the car’s handling feels sharp. Steering feedback is something that I feel could be improved. The Electric power steering unit feels light at low speeds and weighs up nice as speed increases. It’s more of a comfort oriented setup than a sporty one. Suspension setup is also tuned more on the comfort side. Ride quality is excellent at the same time without affecting the car’s handling. G70 has 5 drive modes. Eco, Smart, Sport, Custom and Comfort.
Comfort - I’ve mostly left it on comfort mode so far and found it almost perfect to suit my driving style. In this mode, the transmission upshifts early and the steering feels light.
Sport - Occasionally I’ve used the sport mode which firms up the steering a bit and holds on to gears a little longer. Pedal to the metal on this mode provides mind blowing acceleration and the transmission holds gears until redline.
I'm yet to explore the other modes.

Features - Comfort, convenience and safety

• Adaptive cruise control - Follows the car in front with set speed. It has options to set 4 different following distance. Brings the car to a complete stop if traffic stops. A huge convenient feature during rush hour commutes. Once the traffic starts moving again, you just have to hit the resume button or give the throttle a dab.
• Lane centering assist - Has 3 sensitive modes. In it's lowest setting, only displays warning when you swerve out of your lane. The next mode, steers the car back into lane when it detects the vehicle is swerving out of the lane. The highest mode called 'Lane centering assist' actively corrects steering input to keep the car in center of the lane. The system works only on speeds above 40mph and on roads with clear lane markings. I've found it to be very helpful on long highway drives reducing driver fatigue. It works pretty well on freeways both during the day and night. It doesn't work well on winding roads where the curves are sharp, but pretty much can handle steering on fairly straight roads with some long swooping curves. Also, it expects you to hold the steering always. If it detects your hands are off the steering wheel for more than few seconds, it displays a warning.
• Blind spot alert - I always setup my mirrors properly and never had any issue with blind spots. Nevertheless a cool safety feature.
• Rear cross traffic alert - Alerts you of oncoming traffic when you're reversing out of a driveway or a parking spot.
• Power adjustable seats - Both driver and passenger seats are power adjustable. Driver seat gets lumbar adjustment and memory feature. Very useful if you have multiple drivers at home. A cool feature is that the passenger seat gets additional power controls on the left upper side and can be power operated from rear seat. Very useful when you have to move the seat forward from behind when it's empty
• Smart trunk - When enabled, senses if key is present nearby and opens the trunk automatically. Useful when your hands are full say after a grocery shopping.
• Auto folding mirrors - Though this is a pretty common on economy cars in India, here in the US it's marketed as a premium feature and it's hard to find this on cars from lower segments.
• Android Auto/Apple CarPlay
• Auto dimming IRVM and ORVM - I'm used to seeing auto dimming internal mirror. Auto dimming exterior mirrors is a first time for me. Works great at night.
• Garage door opener - Buttons on the IRVM to link and operate your garage door from within the car.
• Lexicon premium sound system - I'm not an audiophile. But the music system sounds great. Clarity is one of the best I've so far experienced in a car. I'm able to enjoy great music even at very low volume. Love it!
• Parking sensors - Has both front and rear parking sensors. Very useful to park in tight spots. Front sensors even detect curbs that are low.
• Auto hold - When enabled, holds the brake for you when you come to a complete stop for e.g at a traffic light. Very useful feature and works great.
• Auto start/stop - Works good with very minimal interference. The system works seamless and I almost never realized the system is turning the car on or off.

Things that could have been better
- Bottle holders are very small and can hold a small 1/2 liter bottle at max
- Hard plastic trim in the lower portion of doors in an otherwise premium cabin
- Rear seat legroom
- Exposed metal in the upper portion of trunk area spoils the premium feel a bit.
- Visual display for climate controls is only present via the infotainment screen which at times makes it hard to read cabin temperature and fan speed. Would've liked a separate display for that in the center console making them prominent and easy to read.


Warranty and Genesis care
Even though my car was a loaner, it was never registered before I get all of the new car benefits including a brand new factory warranty with Genesis care service, which was a pretty sweet deal. Genesis care includes,
- 5 years / 60k miles bumper to bumper warranty
- 10 years / 100k miles powertrain warranty
- 3 years of complimentary maintenance
- 3 years of complimentary valet service ( For factory maintenance, a genesis service person will come to your door, provide you a loaner vehicle, take your genesis to complete maintenance and drop it back at your door)
- 3 years of Genesis connected services (Remote start and other controls via Genesis mobile app)


Final thoughts
Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the car. And I love the leap into luxury segment. Huge kudos to Genesis for providing such a feature packed car at a VFM price. A similarly equipped 3 series, A4 or C class cost at least a few thousands more. And a big shout to genesis for the 5 year 60k miles factory bumper to bumper warranty and 10 year 100k miles powertrain warranty. It shows their confidence in their products. Though I may not own this vehicle for that long, I strongly feel they should be applauded for that!

Finally some photos for your viewing pleasure!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the International Scene. Thanks for sharing!

I absolutely love what Hyundai is doing with Genesis. Very long-term thinking.

Your car will go to our homepage later this week .

[Researcher]

A short and crisp review.

Leasing at affordable rates is still something one has to experience here in India. The rates simply make an outright purchase seem more affordable.

A minor observation from my side: The driver side power-window console and instrument cluster illumination controls seem to resemble Hyundais here in India. The design seems quite similar but the buttons in power-window console seem metal in your G70.

Originally Posted by jeevadeepan

I had more than a few bad experiences with Ford dealerships where I live. That made me furious and I developed a strong hatred towards the brand especially it’s dealerships.

Slightly off topic, but I have heard that in the US, one can get the car serviced outside the dealerships even during warranty, which is honoured if receipts of the regular maintenance are presented during claims. Is this a valid thing?

[jeevadeepan]

Originally Posted by Researcher

Slightly off topic, but I have heard that in the US, one can get the car serviced outside the dealerships even during warranty, which is honoured if receipts of the regular maintenance are presented during claims. Is this a valid thing?

That is correct. For regular maintenance, I know that you can get it done at any independent repair shop or even do it yourself. I had to do warranty repairs on my Focus hence decided to stick with dealerships. Also, I'm still in the process of finding a good independent shop nearby.

[GTO]

As an admirer of the Hyundai-Kia group and how they rose from the ashes, I read your review word to word . Well written, thanks again for sharing.

On my last USA trip, I spent a lot of time with Teslas & sporty cars (e.g. Corvette). Next, I will surely drive a model or two from Genesis. Wishing you many enjoyable miles with your G70.

Out of curiosity, why would you not buy from Costco? Don't they simplify the entire buying experience for you and get you among the lowest rates?

Because you change your cars frequently, I think a used car from Carmax with their famed warranty might be a fantastic option for you.

I rely on reviews from trusted sources.

Who would you trust? Consumer Reports?

[hema4saran]

Congrats on the G70 dude. After a horrible experience with Alfa Romeo Giulia, My friend just switched to G70 with stick shift on lease. He really loves the car and putting good use of the 1000 miles per month. He had 328i stick shift before his Alfa. He is all praise for the G70 and recommended it for me as well.

Originally Posted by GTO

Because you change your cars frequently, I think a used car from Carmax with their famed warranty might be a fantastic option for you.

CarMax price is sometimes costlier than dealership prices. In some cases almost costs the 90% of the new car price.

You should test drive the G70/G80 and Stinger for sure. As a fan of stick shift, try getting your hands on G70 stick shift. You will love it especially in winding roads.

[KaranP]

Congratulations man! Loved the review.

Coincidentally (though I live in Bombay) I've been spending the last week watching videos about the outgoing G70 and the sketches of the upcoming 2021 G70.

Though I really like the looks of the outgoing one, I'd say they've hit it out of the park with the upcoming one. Probably the most beautiful midsize sedan that will be on sale.

If things ever materialize about my moving to North America, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is, and buy a used G70 3.3 AWD.
I'd pick it over a German 4 cylinder all days of the week.

That's all the car I'll ever need!

Happy miles with your ride ��

[MaddyCrew]

Originally Posted by Researcher

Slightly off topic, but I have heard that in the US, one can get the car serviced outside the dealerships even during warranty, which is honoured if receipts of the regular maintenance are presented during claims. Is this a valid thing?

This is the case here in Australia as well. As long as a qualified mechanic certifies that the necessary service activities (a.k.a. log book servicing) have been completed, then the manufacturer warranty remains intact. The customer (us) has to maintain all the proof (invoices) for the duration of the warranty

[drasup321]

Congratulations on your new ride. I remember seeing this car in camouflage until it's official release in North American as I was working in Hyundai's North America HQ in California at that time. Every technician i spoke to had only one thing to say about this car, it is the best handling car that the hyundai group has ever produced. Your review is pretty much spot on and yes, the back seat is a squeeze.
I was looking to get the 3.3 turbo version of this car, but i eventually ended up with C43 AMG as G70 had delays in getting sold California because of dealership issues due to Genesis being carved out as an entirely new brand just like Toyota and Lexus.
You might be tempted to take it to a track but i guess you might not want to as it is on lease. I am facing the same issue with my car currently.

Wishing you many happy miles amd trips with this beauty.

[maddy42]

Gorgeous car there and congrats on the beauty. Wish you many miles on the same and great memories.

Did a good decision on lease here instead of a purchase as the genesis brand does depreciate and you would be at the same position financially if you did purchase the car.

Also do see that you had some regrets dealing with the dealership. My personal opinion is that not too many people think they are getting the best deal, but as long as you negotiated and cross shopped, I think you would have come out in a better shape.

Do take advantage of all the service and any other protection offers they have given you.

Lastly on GTO's comment on the Costco buying experience - anyone out here used that route? Curious to know.

One advice for people looking for cars in the US is get a pre approved loan from your Credit union(better rates usually than a bank). This will give you a upper hand in the slug fest at the dealership.

Carmax did offer the best price when I was looking at selling my car, there is two other names for online purchase - Carvana and Vroom which have a lot of adverts when car shopping.

Maddy

[alphahere]

Originally Posted by jeevadeepan

Negotiation - The uncomfortable part

Congrats on the G70. It's one beautiful car. I was also in the US and this was one that I considered along with the Kia Stinger GT when I was contemplating a new car in 2019. But it did not happen as I moved out shortly after that.

Buying a car in the US can turn out a daunting experience for newbies. I moved to the US in 2017 for the long term and I bought a brand new Hyundai second day of my arrival. Obviously I had a thin credit file and the negotiations and proceedings were hilarious to say the least. I did have a credit file though and an OH-DL (Don't even think about how I managed to get these beforehand - I knew I'd come to the US for the long term and during a short previous stay got these done). I was not even sure I would get approved for a loan/lease. If I got approved I decided to buy the vehicle on loan rather than a lease due to the flexibility offered.

I was willing to let the dealer go through the process of finding me a financier as I was not in a position to find one myself due to lack of information and lack of history. The whole loan approval took almost 3 days to get sorted out because the dealer sent my application to multiple institutions and finally one agreed to finance my vehicle. This is a very long time by US standards because you can usually walk in and drive out. It was at this point that the discussion started and I realized that the salesman was the person who can decide on the interest rates. Obviously more the interest rate he manages to settle, the more his commission from the institution. They try to start on how much can you afford to pay monthly and then try to set the other parameters like term, down payment and other stuff around that while keeping the interest rate that they want. I was prepared for this question and went headlong into the interest rate. It was an eye watering 25% or so. Finally managed to get it down to 15% with a 15% upfront payment of the price of the car, remaining on loan. Once that was settled the "Finance Manager" began his pressure tactics of upselling extras like alloy wheel protection, ECU protection and other garbage which are absolutely unnecessary. Politely and firmly declined all of this. I could make out that the guy was not very happy with the outcome. Why, he even had a dissected ECU on his desk and he explained the dire consequences of an ECU burning out and how expensive it costs out of warranty. He had no answer when I asked why would an ECU burn out or spoil in the first place if you leave it alone? And Hyundai has one of the longest warranties in the country anyway.

The next up was the insurance agent; who was kind enough to let me know upfront that I had to pay too much for the car anyway and he doesn't want to extract anymore out of me. He gave me his computer and guided me in buying the necessary insurance online from a different insurer than his own company thus saving me quite a bit there. I still thank his wholeheartedness! He gave up his commission when he realized I could really use the gap. Hope he is still doing good and wish for more people like him in this world!

Finally I drove out in my brand new top end Elantra Sport T-GDI 7DCT with only 8 mi on the odo for 25k. The only outcome I wasn't happy about was with the interest rate which was 15% while in the market below 5% was the norm. But this was the reason why I opted for a loan anyway; to get it refinanced at my convenience which I did in less than 6 months. I was able to find a neighbouring Credit Union who was willing to finance me and took over my existing loan at 2.5% interest 4 months later. So all's well that ends well.

I did use the car for a bit above 2 years driving about 50k mi before I decided to move to another country by mid of 2019. Thankfully I had paid off almost 75% of the loan by this time and Carmax was the place where I got the best price to get the car off my shoulders. They took care of the responsibility of contacting the Credit Union to find out the outstanding balance, wrote me a cheque for the remaining value of the car and cleared the balance with the institution. I had been to multiple dealerships in and around my area to sell the car but all of them consistently threw low ball offers with sneaky fees and charges. I would recommend Carmax highly in case one needs to sell a vehicle as they are transparent, reputable and have the muscle to honour good deals.

[Jeroen]

Congratulations on your new car and thanks for an excellent write up on your experience. Very enlightening!

I love that colour, really suits it!

n this post, you will come across instances where I have made quite a few bad financial choices losing $$ in the process.

Very brave of you owning up. I suspect most of us loose money when buying cars. Although, when I listen to some of my friends boasting about how they negotiate it seems they are able to convince the dealer to pay them, rather than the other way around.

When it comes to cars, I’m a person who listens to my heart versus head. There’s almost never an instance in my life that I needed a car. I just ‘wanted’ a car. I just get fascinated by cars.

No doubt, best way to own a car!! Enjoyment guaranteed!

Jeroen

[grosserimperial]

Splendid review for a fantastic car. The photos gave a good feeel of the car interior and exterior.

Wish Genesis would launch in India. However, I don't think they will price their vehicles lesser than those of German brands in a sense of creating value.

Considering the current craze of SUV's and Crossovers in USA, are the sedans and hatchbacks significantly discounted? And if that is true, would you have gotten a big discount from the dealership if you had purchased a new car?

[pranavmichael]

Jeevadeepan great job with the review.

I'm starting to the appreciate the Genesis brand more and more. Their products are proper value for money and can do wonders in India if priced right.

Enjoy your ride!

Regards.

[CARNAMA]

Thanks for the wonderful write up. next time you try buying/leasing please try services from TRUE CAR website. I've used them for both of my cars. They give you 3 best prices from local dealers and a certificate which you can print at the dealership. That's the locked price for the vehicle and configuration. Technically that participating dealer has to deliver the car at that price .

Having said that, there are other ways to see if you can even get reduced price. Basically you pit dealers against each other. You take the lowest price and find other dealers in your area which were not participating in TRUE CAR . tell them upfront if they can match the TRUE CAR price. if they ask who has given you the lowest price , tell them you'll reveal that once they give you lower price. if they do that now this becomes your lowest price. Repeat the same process for other dealers as well. The advantage is the whole process can be done without leaving home.

Before starting this process you'll have to fix which car you want to but and what configuration. Working with TRUE CAR gives you piece of mind that you have something to start with. You can also try KBB but I haven't tried it personally.

Sharing my experience after having gone through lot of research during my car buying process in US.