Looking for information on the Tiburon. Looking to buy a USED RELIABLE car that my wife can drive back and forth to work - about 25K miles a year. There are stretches of road with little to no cell service and no towns. Want her in something reliable and safe and she wants something sporty.

Budget-wise, based of internet prices I see, it looks like I am looking at a 2005 model +/- a year with around 60-80K miles. I have read some great reports on the Tiburon, but have also read some pretty scary problems with ALOT of electrical and clutch issues (manual tranny).

Can anybody give me insight into these cars for these years and mileage? Thanks for the help

 

I had a 2004 GT auto and it was very reliable. In reality, the only Tibs with clutch problems were the 2003 and some 2004 models. And I believe they were all (or most) with the 6-speed that was only available in the V6 GT model.

Since this is a daily driver, I'd suggest getting your wife a 4-cyl model with the 5-speed manual or the automatic. Purchase price and insurance will be cheaper and fuel economy will be higher.

Tiburons did have problems with BCM's (Body Control Module) going. The main symptom being one side turn signal staying on. Most I've seen were replaced under warranty. I've never heard of a replacement going. However, if it does, new BCM's are about $500-600 but if you are good with electronics, you can repair it yourself with instructions here. Mine went after about 2.5 years and was replaced under warranty. It never gave me a problem again.

The 2nd generation GK Tiburon (2002-2008) had a few different facelifts but are virtually the came car: 2003-2004, 2005-2006 and 2007-2009. I personally like the external look of the 2005-06 best. The 2007-09 Tibs have the nicest interior. However, I preferred the 2003-04 version because it came with a rear hatch window wiper. Hyundai deleted that option after 2004. I don't know why because it was a great help to see out the rear hatch in bad weather.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.

 

I was really interested in the V6, six speed (she wants the standard for the sporty feel.) Is the gas mileage that worse off in the V6? We are mainly talking wide open road for 50 miles each way.

By reports the V6 sounds a lot funner to drive and if I'm going to have to suck up another car payment for a couple years (buying this to save miles on a new suburban she currently drives) I want something I can "borrow" on the weekend to jet around town.

Would you guestimate that if I'm looking at a 2005 that issues like BCM's and "original" clutch problems would have already been corrected??

Thanks for the input