Hyundai Kona or Tucson

[DragonsFurry]

Does anyone have either of these cars? What do you think of them?

I'd be using it for driving around town, to and from work but also for long motorway journeys so want small and nippy but also want to be safe when driving at speed. It'll need to carry up to 5 of us but only occasionally.

I like the idea of a smaller car but I think the Kona might end up being too small for us.

Any advice would be most welcome x

I've hired a Kona twice and loved it. Unless you carry a LOT of luggage etc it would be fine for 5? qashqai is much bigger but similarly nice to drive?

I've got a Tucson (replacing a Santa Fe). To be honest it's just "ok", it feels a bit cumbersome to drive, its a very firm ride (where the Santa Fe was really comfy). Its reliable but just a bit boring.
I'd go for a Kona.

My Hyundai was very expensive for parts so I'd make that part of your decision making- I think some of them have a 5 year warranty but it depends on the age of the one you are looking at and what the warranty actually covers

I've had both although the Kona was the electric one. It was a great car especially when compared to cars in the same price bracket.

I have the Tucson got it about 8 months ago and love it decent boot can fit child seat and 2 teens in the back
have the 230bhp auto so quite nippy doesn’t feel big to drive really happy with it after years of driving BMWs has all the gadgets on it without taking yo pay loads of extra add ons

I've got the Kona and I love it. I downsized from the IX35 (very similar to the Tucson) about 18 months ago. Mine is a self charging hybrid and super efficient on fuel but nippy when it needs to be. The boot space isn't massive but fine for us as a family of three to get cases in as an example.

We had a self charging hybrid Kona for 1 year - we got rid of it 6 months ago as it just wasn’t big enough. Family of 5 here too and didn’t think we’d be in it all together very often. Turns out our children can’t be sat in a car and touching or fighting ensues 😩
I loved it apart from that! Loads of nice extras, heated seats and steering wheel, lane sensors and other gadgets.
Also, the boot was really tiny, I couldn’t fit much in it at all - didn’t realise til we had it how much we valued the space. Might go back to one, once we’ve less children and shopping / various other crap to cart around!

Our friends got a Tucson at a similar time to us getting the Kona and they’re very happy with it still 👍🏻

We’ve had our Tucson for a couple of years. Very pleased with it so far, and I do a lot of urban driving. It sailed down to the south of France with all our camping gear stashed away and was pretty economical on the fuel. I’d definitely have another.

I'm in a similar situation to Sparklesandsunshine1 as I have one DC in a high-back booster plus two older (yet fairly small) teens. The eldest is 18 and at uni so we very rarely travel anywhere together as a family of five anymore. I know the Tucson would be more practical for this however the Kona would be better on a daily basis.

For those with Tucsons, how do you find parking, turning, squeezing through tight gaps etc?

I've had an x5 (felt hesvy to druce),q3( lived but v expensive for parts etc) evoque (too small)and xc90.(big!) Currently had my tuscon 2 years. Brilliant for boot space, no issues with parking and turning at all. I constantly have football goals,3 teenagers in the back and all have plenty room. Evoque was tiny in the back! It's nice to drive. I'm 5ft 2 if thay helps any and the driving position is absolutely fine for me. Feels solid on the road. I had a kuga, lasted a week. I hated it. Ex husband had a sportage it was okay. I know you didn't specifically ask for alternatives but thought it you were looking for similar choices it might be useful. There was a special on top gear and the tuscon came out top family car. Worth a watch because stupid things I'd never think of were all compared

We have a Tucson, it's a 2018 that we got in 2020. We got it as we needed to be able to fit a buggy and suitcases in the boot to visit family. We like it. It's had some trouble with the transmission but the service from Hyundai was truly faultless - it can't be a known widespread issue as they couldn't figure out what it was and kept the car for ages to try lots of different fixes. We had two new clutches and lots of other parts, all done under warranty without costing us a penny and a decent courtesy car.

I'm short and find it fine for parking (I'm a shit parker) but we do have a reversing camera which helps.

I wouldn't get a bigger than you need car just for extra comfort when there are five of you. The Kona is perfectly good for five. It's not like your university student couldn't fit in.

parking fine (cameras and sensors too to help) turning great I’ve driven a lot of minis too and it doesn’t seem much bigger
I’d say book in with local dealer test drive both back to back and try parking them both on return you don’t want to buy one to then want to change it a few months later

Thanks, lots of fab advice here...

I went to test drive them both. The Tucson was immediately way too wide but I did quite like the Kona though. I do think they were asking too much for it though, used car place within M25.

I haven’t ruled the Kona out but am also looking at Skoda Kamiq now which seems to be more responsive and has a marginally wider back seat.

I also test drove the Skoda Karoq which surprisingly fitted quite neatly into parking spaces etc - better than the Tucson. But did feel like a tank to drive, it felt a bit unstable at speed.