I've driven the Amanti at least twice. The first-generation model had a nice soft ride (one of the few cars to still do do today) but grossly understeered and rolled like an ocean liner in anything but a straight line. The later models, starting a couple of years ago, retain some of that smooth ride but have been stiffed up to the point where they are noticeably more responsive in turns, but are still no sports car.

The Amanti, according to Consumer Reports, formerly average in reliability, has dropped to below-average, but CR does not publish a red/black-dot chart for it. Perhaps we will see one in the April New Car Buying Guide.

(Sorry, Threxx.......unlike you, I have a high opinion of CR's reliability data).

 

I think the amanti looks terrible and awkward on the outside. The first rendering of what the new amanti may look like is promising though.

 

Saw another Genesis on the road the other day, lighter color. Awesome!

 

Even though I already test drove the V6 when it first came out I sat in both the V6 and V8 at the car show yesterday and have to say the difference in leather is pretty noticeable. The V8 has a soft/creamy/buttery feel to it that the V6 lacks.

I wonder how they'd compare in terms of durability, though?

 

I haven't noticed any on the roads around here, but that doesn't mean they're not out there.

Hyundai has sold 3K-4K of them so far, so they aren't too common.

 

If Hyundai is doing a 0% or cash rebate promo on these in October 2009 when my BMW goes back I might not be able to help myself... I might have to get one of these.

I'm curious to see how they hold up in terms of used value though.

My local dealer has one with only 1500 miles on it advertised for $29000. It's a V6 w/ the 2k dollar premium package as its only option so originally a $34k sticker car.

 

Better to lease as it puts the risk of depreciation on Hyundai. Hyundai throws in $750 for CAP reduction on the V8 lease which also has close to 0% interest.

 

I saw it at the LA car show and I was impressed with the car for the money. Its interior design and quality of material was not equal to my GS, but it had more power, all of the same feature, and looked pretty nice for 10-15K less. I still think the lexus reputation, quality, and service is still worth the 10k more to me. I would be a little worried about the 2nd gen genesis if I was the lexus design team. hyaundai made alot of progress in a short time

 

finally today we got the time to visit our hyundai dealership to check out the genesis. i have to say wow, what a nice car. i already had pretty high expectation of the car and i think the car is very nice. my wife never cared about the hyundai badge and so never interested in the genesis, but in short she was very impressed after checking it out test driving the car

the interior is very nice. i honestly think it blends pretty well with lexus, bmw, mb, and audi (fwiw we also went to bmw and audi dealerships today). the leather is very soft, very good quality. car has tons of space and most of the stuff are designed well. dash quality is still a bit cheap with the hard plastic, and on some edges i could feel the rough finish. but overall i think it's a big thumb up

exterior is nice, i wouldn't say it's super wow, but for what it is and especially first attempt? big score. they are trying to copy left and right from competition, but things blends in well so i am not complaining.

my test drive comment is, the car is very smooth, nice drivetrain. i drove the 4.6, although on paper it's 375hp, but the car isn't that fast at all unfortunately. initial acceleration is nice, but somehow it flats out fast. also it doesn't feel the torque of a v8. car is pretty smooth and quiet as well, better than the e and 5 i have driven imho, but not as quiet as lexus. again, i already think that's super good achievement

biggest "surprise"? the price tag..... on the fully loaded 4.6 we looked at with nav and what not, it's ONLY 42k msrp...... what else can i say. with this economy, you can really have this car for a great bargain, the sales was trying hard to get me to buy it

my personal verdict, i really like the genesis and i think hyundai did one heck of a good job with this car. big thumb up to them. for most people, given the price, the performance, the ride quality, and the space, this car is a real bargain and should be seriously considered. for me, personally i wouldn't own this car yet. there are still things about it that don't make me think they are totally with mb, lexus, bmw, etc... but this is their first attempt, they can only get better, and i think they will