Creature comforts galore, quality is getting there.
I bought my 2025 Hyundai Kona in November 2024, after having one as a rental car while my Toyota Camry was being serviced. The roominess and comfort of the Kona exceeded that of the Camry by far. So when it came time to get my Camry back, I was ready to trade it in and try out the Kona full-time.
I got one fully loaded, limited, trim, and couldn’t be more happy with a level of comfort inside the car. The design is modern and futuristic, the options and abilities of the car are far greater than anything I experienced in my Toyota days. From the leather seats, the all digital across the dash dashboard monitor to the great build on the sunroof. Everything is made to make the driver comfortable and the driving experience fun.
The drawback is mechanical reliability, and honestly electronic reliability. I suffered an issue with my Kona Ware. I lost all smart connectivity for eight months. It got to the point where Hyundai reached out to me and offering a lemon buyback of my car. I would’ve taken the lemon back and probably upgraded to a larger model just because I was so happy with the comfort level. My problem was I needed the car for work so I drove it bare bones as it was instead of leaving it in the shop. If I would’ve left it in the shop for 30 days, they would’ve bought my car back no questions asked.
The fact that I had to learn about lemon law and buybacks speaks to the lack of quality control and ability to upkeep those modern technologies afloat by Hyundai. That issue, and some small mechanical unexplained rattles on these rough California roads are the only drawback to owning my coat. Actually let me check that the lack of resale value is also massive. When I traded in my 2021 Camry with nearly 100,000 miles I got $5000 over pay off still. One Hyundai reached out to me to see if I wanted to upgrade because they wanted to buy my Kona for used. I was $8000 upside down after putting up that money on the trade-in.
If you want a comfortable ride, Kona is awesome. If you wanna be able to get out from under the car after a short time or have the reliability be something you can count on shop somewhere else.