Scotty, hello from Slovenia, I love your youtube channel. I am buying a 2008 Hyundai Coupe/Tiburon 2.0 16V 143hp. The body looks like crap, it was hand painted on the bumper with a brush hehe but It only has 96.077km (about 59700mi). Also no major rust visible on the body or the bottom. It runs fine and smooth, the only concern I have is, the coolant levels are below min. There was no leak visible, but also there was no timing belt and water pump change made in 13 years. The seller will take it to the shop to get the water pump and belt and oil change done. I also contacted the shop to find out where the coolant is leaking and they will notify me if there is anything wrong. Do you think this is a good trade for my 2008 Renault Kangoo 1.5 diesel engine with about 73.000miles?
Thank you and best regards, Matej Borovnik.
Hi,
@g-t , thanks for letting me know of this question 🙂
The Renault Kangoo with the 1.5L dCi diesel is a very good car as long as it’s a manual.
As far as the engine goes, it’s one of the best engines out there.
however there are somethings you should look out for:
model before 2009 had Delphi fuel systems and these do not tolerate low quality fuel.
if you didn’t change the oil every 10,000km, but chose to do it every 30,000km instead, these engines do develop bushing cracks.
and it’s important to not forget to replace the timing belt, if you forget to do this and the belt snaps - if will be a very costly repair.
expect these three these issues, the Renault K9K 1.5L Diesel can easily last 300,000km or even 400,000km with good maintenance.
but poor maintenance can kill it as early as 100,000 km, bushing cracking on these is very severe
from my personal experience with a Renault 1.5L diesel (Renault Fluence, I changed my oil every 7,500 km cause oil is cheaper then engines) these engines and transmissions are indestructible.
Hyundai’s of that era are nothing special… they’re not terrible but they usually don’t last for too long either.
I would actually stick to your K9K diesel Kangoo. That engine is extremely robust and can last a really long time. 73,000 miles is peanuts for it. I have seen the K9K in Nissan & Renault diesels with twice that mileage & still running strong.
A 13yr old Tiburon might not be the best choice as your daily driver. If you’re adamant on buying it, have your trusted mechanic inspect it thoroughly, before purchase.
O.K. thank you. The reasons for trading the Renault is, that it has a very poor service history. There was only one service made by previous owners. Also I have to add oil 4 times a year between service intervals and there is no sign of oil leaking anywhere. About two years ago, roughly 4 months after the changing interval, the low oil level message appeared and I had to add almost 2 and a half liters. Also sometimes it looses power between 2000 and 4000rpm. It feels like turbo is working and not working. There is no code for faulty injectors but I suspect turbo charger problems. The Tiburon on the other side, was serviced at Hyundai dealership untill 2014 with full service history. Other services where made by other mechanics.
Damn, what a sad way to kill the K9K. In that case, if the Tiburon is your last & only option, have it inspected before purchase. They aren’t renowned for longevity..
It's a good car that has a lot of storage space, but slow as hell hahaha. And well known for engine problems here in EU. Tryed to trade it with the same dealer that sold it to me, but he is clearly avoiding the car. Not knowing about the problems. O.K. thank you very much, I will have the Hyundai checked, also I boght the obd2 scanner to plug it in before purchase. Have a nice day and thank you again.
No worries & all the best.
They are known for premature injector failures in some markets, agreed.
@InThrustWeTrust , yeah the Delphi fuel system wasn’t reliable, after 2009 they switched their fuel systems to Siemens and those are super reliable.
Also this is what long service intervals do to these engines, in Europe they claim you need to replace your oil every 20,000 miles and that’s a lie, on these engines you should actually replace it every 6,000 miles and that’s even pushing it, on mine I did it every 4.5k miles (I do that on all my cars) and never in 180,000 miles had a single issue with the powerplant.
Also oil consumption is not a common issue at all to have on the K9K… I’ve seen those fail in so many ways but I don’t remember oil consumption being a major issue in these…
(@Mateas1985 , it loosing power is probably the fuel system getting clogged, are both of your fuel filers clean? If so I’d test the injector system and the fuel pressure…)
Put "Tiburon" in the search bar on the top right, you will see in depth opinions from previous answers.
If no dealer wants Kangoo, try to sell it to a one that exports such vehicles in Balkan countries. Having Hyundai Coupè checked is smart idea. That was one of wish cars when I got my driving licence. I see they sell them with about 300k km on odo too.
Perhaps @dan has more experience and knowledge about them.
