Excellent Car, Fantastic Value

I have to be honest. I have the worst luck with cars you could possibly imagine. I have bought a 2001 Tiburon that literally broke down and cost nearly $3000 in repairs only 4 days after being off warranty. My other 2 weren't much better.

You can understand then how pleasantly surprised I was after purchasing this vehicle. Simply put, this is a beautiful car that is also phenomenally well built. I've owned it for almost a year now and have not had a single mechanical problem whatsoever, impressive for a car that is now 6 years old.

The list of features on what could be called the "base" model is fantastic. Standard features include:

Air Conditioning
Dual Airbags
Six Speaker CD/Cassette Player
Power locks, windows and mirrors

In addition, it comes with some sweet little touches such as automatic headlights that turn off and on depending on light, and its impossible to lock yourself out if the keys are in the ignition. Maybe not much to some, but it sure knocked me back the first time I saw my headlights come on themselves. The entire instrument panel including the current gear and gas level is also digital.

Mechanically the car runs great. Gear shifting is always smooth, acceleration is quick and you really get a sense of power when you floor it on the highway. The GT model that I have is available in either automatic or 5-speed and comes with a 140hp engine.

The interior is particularly well-designed with extremely comfortable ergonomic seats and a slightly tilted dash that faces toward the driver, rather then being centered. There are also lots of handy storage spaces spread throughout the car and even 2 separate cup holders for backseat passengers. The backseat itself is quite roomy for a sport coupe and I've never had anybody complain about lack of room. I found the trunk quite roomy as well, and the ability to fold the rear seats down adds tons more room if you have a lot to haul. The overall quality of all the interior components and plastics also seems quite a bit better then many other cars I've been in.

However, I don't want to come across like a Toyota salesman and oversell the vehicle, so I will mention some minor annoyances. For starters, the power window controls are located on the center panel, right below the shifter, as opposed to on the doors. I found this somewhat annoying, and the lack of a window lock for the passenger side was also unusual. I also noticed that the heat seems to take quite a while to kick in when its cold outside, quite annoying when you live in Canada.

Overall I don't expect anybody to look at these nuisances as serious drawbacks, because they're not. You simply cannot find a better sport coupe for its price. While it is a bit more expensive then its rivals the Hyundai Tiburon and the Mitsubishi Eclipse, the absolutely get what you pay for. More options, nice little touches, and an overall superior design.