I would for sure. Only thing keeping me out of a Genesis is the stigma of Hyundai. I know I will get crap from my friends and clients, and I remember from driving Lexus cars when they hadn't been around all that long what its like having to describe what your car is, and why you chose it over a Mercedes, etc all the time.

 

Of course when one spends 40-55 grand on a car, one is not usually looking for one with a stigma and low rent dealer experience.

It does not help that as soon as you say a Hyundai Genesis, most people will think..oh, that must be one of those Genesis coupes that sell for the mid 20's.. They never should have used the name Genesis for two dissimilar cars.

 

No doubt, and thats where they definitely lack. I wish they had bit the bullet and developed a luxury brand.

With that said though, Lexus still has a stigma too. You're never going to be looked at as driving something that is the peer of a Mercedes or BMW, or to a lesser extent a Jaguar or Audi.

As an example...one of my team members just leased a new 2015 Lexus GS F Sport, $57k car. We were sitting in my office talking about it when one of the office admins walked in and he was asking what he'd gotten, his response was "A Lexus? Eh, I'd rather have a BMW or an Audi"...this is an admin that doesn't make what that new GS costs in a year LOL. I've gotten that repeatedly over the 16 years I've had Lexus cars. Its gotten better, but I think it will always be there. My buddy traded an MB C Class in on it, its an upgrade but I told him to get used to it.

Eh, the Genesis coupe is a pretty niche vehicle, most of the people I interact with who would even know what a Hyundai Genesis is thinks of the sedan, not the coupe.

 

i guess i'm lucky,where in my field of work i could care less what anybody thinks about what i drive.

 

Seems in Canada where I am , I see a lot more Genesis coupes than sedans.

Looking at some Canadian sales stats, Hyunda sold 1.8 Genesis coupes for every Genesis sedan in 2013. In 2014 the sales split was 50/50. Canadians have always been reluctant buyers of full sized sedans, so the stats don't really surprise me.

 

Then I would seriously consider a Genesis over an ES. You get a lot more car for the money, its more substantial, more refined, RWD powertrain which is preferable and higher end, AWD available if you have to worry about snow, better interior quality. You should certainly drive them both back to back and see what you think.

The ES is a great car, but its an entry level car and the Genesis is not, and doesn't feel like it is. If you like a great riding car, its a very good riding car. Reminds me a lot of the LS actually. I was very impressed, and I've had two LSs, as well as two ESs and the GS.

The only reasons to get the ES are better brand, better dealer support, and more dependable resale values. The Genesis won the 2015 ALG residual value award, but we need to see how the current gen actually does over time to know if 5-10 years down the line it holds its value like an ES, which holds its value well.

Reliability, my guess is the Genesis will be as reliable as the ES and will age at least as well. Lexus vehicles are very reliable, but they aren't as reliable or as well built as they used to be and they don't age as well as they used to either.

Its different here. I rarely ever see a Genesis coupe.

 

Maybe he puts value in quality and value, which with the Genesis, is unknown at this point. My money's on the tried and true Toyota FWD, over the "preferable and higher end" Hyundai RWD setup.

 

And thats fine, perfectly valid viewpoint.

RWD being preferable and higher end than FWD is not my opinion however. Look at luxury sedans, very few are FWD, almost all of them are RWD. FWD is a value drivetrain. High end cars are overwhelmingly RWD.

As for it being an unknown with the Genesis, I don't think we can say thats the case. The Genesis is in its second generation, Hyundai has been building good quality cars on an upswing for a long period of time now. There is a track record to look back on. Upfront value is very clear, you get a lot for less with the Genesis than the competition. Long term value, the previous Genesis didn't have great resale value...the new Genesis won the ALG award...but we'll have to see I agree.

 

How can someone give an award for residual value on a brand new car? Seems a bit science fictiony to me/

 

I recently sat in the new Genesis and was very impressed. I wouldn't have many reservations although the resale is a concern. I typically keep my cars for a long time so I'm not sure the resale needs to be a huge concern for me. The expected reliability may be... Although I don't think Hyundai is overly bad.

What truly disappoints me is when people are completely closed-minded about brands and only think the brand adorning their own trunk lid is worth considering. They think their own brand is on some sort of platform because it runs in a more expensive or exclusive crowd. The Lexus dealership experience in my area is nothing special. For example, they run the cars through the same car wash as the Toyota vehicles, which is to say they receive the same crappy job, along with the same complementary water spots once it has dried.

I am clearly a fan of Toyota/Lexus vehicles but that isn't at the exclusion of all other brands/vehicles. We just upgraded from a Prius and that was a terrific car. We replaced it for something that was quieter and has a smoother ride, but we gave up several things that we really liked about the car - like the MPGs and the load height. I have a variety of factors that I consider when purchasing a car and the brand name is just one of many factors.

I realize we are enthusiastic about our cars/brands or we wouldn't be trolling these boards, but let's remember there are many fine products out there with different features/attributes that fit different requirements and/or expectations.

 

 

Thats a very good question LOL. I'm not entirely sure how ALG's selection process works... ALG is the Automotive Lease Guide, so I guess they project resale from residual values? I wouldn't give it a ton of weight, but its something.

Hear, hear!

As a car enthusiast I love talking about cars. I drive a lot of cars, cars from all different segments and price points and of all types. Nothing frustrates me more than when a topic like this comes up and a good, substantive discussion of a car vs another car gets railroaded by folks that won't accept any praise for another product or realize that other products have value. Competition is good, cars like the Genesis push companies like Lexus to make cars like the ES even better.

 

In some parts of the world, Lexus is seen as an understated luxury brand whereas buying Merc/Audi/BMW is a way of showing off

The funny thing about brands is that people look at the logo and not the product. You could be driving a basement-spec BMW 116i with cloth seats and steel rims and you'd still be driving a BMW whereas a Genesis driver would still be driving a Hyundai.

That said, I wonder how Toyota sells expensive cars like the Crown and Alphard in Japan, which can cost more than the ES. Are they sold alongside cheap Corollas or do they have specialized dealers for the top models? To me, it's dumb of Hyundai to bundle the Genesis with cheaper cars when their buyers are cross-shopping Lexus and Cadillac.

 

The issue is cost. Toyota went to a great expense and huge risk to create Lexus, to lay the framework for the dealer network, support services, etc. They lost money for a while upfront before they started making money. Lexus is the exception in that sort of thing, Acura and Infiniti have continued to struggle.

Lexus had the benefit of the boom time 90s too, the economic outlook worldwide isn't as sunny as it was.

I'm sure all of that plays into why Hyundai hasn't gone to the trouble of creating a brand.

As for the Crown and such, they're sold alongside cheaper cars. Other countries don't have the American obsession with brand and image. Toyota was perfectly happy selling the LS as the Celsior in Toyota dealerships in Japan. They created Lexus there for its image elsewhere in the world not because they needed to in order to sell cars in Japan.

 

see i told you the new Genesis is a good car in your other thread, look at the controversy lol