I worked at a Hyundai dealership when these were new. At the tine this was only one of two Hyundais made in Korea sold in North America, as opposed to models built at the new factories in the IUS and Canada. The quality was certainly there and it showed. We didn’t see many issues or recalls with the model. Sadly, it didn’t sell in great numbers and many shoppers just saw it as a bigger and more expensive Sonata, not understanding that it was quite a refined car for the money..
This phenomena baffles me. Imagine a Mercedes, Audi or BMW from 2007 now. They'd have peeling plastic coatings on the buttons, TONS of electrical issues, oil leaks, bad sensors and the whole nine yards AND have worse depreciation than this thing. Yet here we see a damn Hyundai still looking fresh and reliable. And still yet, Hyundai is the one that has the bad rep. It truly baffles me. Brand perception is a thing of beauty lol
I had one of these as my first car! I really miss that thing. No real issues, and it was hilarious to drive with the V6 and ultra soft suspension. Some day i'd love to get a high trim one again.
Other stuff: It had a lot of really neat little high end features. I liked how the trunk hinges were both wrapped in trim and hidden from the compartment. It has these really nice little expanding door pockets, which helped me fit even more stuff inside lol In South Korea, these were commonly used as taxis, and i think a hood ornament was offered? It also has full LED rear tail lights, which was surprisingly early for that tech. The lower trims had a different gauge cluster. The needles looked kinda like rocket ships, and all of the lighting was this disgusting puke green like you see in the AC controls The base stereo system is also really solid. It's a pretty basic (i think) 6 speaker system, but it sounded pretty great. For a while, this was the fastest korean car ever produced, and I think it held that record until the V8 Equus/Genesis
@@potcat3246 had it for a few years, i'd look for the lowest mileage one you can find. really try hard to find one owned by an old person with like, sub 150k miles.
Fun story, I had a 2008 Hyundai Azera and the previous owner was a North Korean escapee. He covered it in little foam wings and stickers with puppies. I had the car less than a week and the key went out entirely leading to my car having to be towed, the dealership refused to fix it and they eventually just bought the car back for what I paid. For the very short time I did have the car I loved it, very luxurious and comfortable yet surprisingly quick with the big V6.
I once test drove this one brand-new, and I was very impressed with the smoothness - even though $30K for a Hyundai seemed like a bitter pill to swallow. Then a year and a half later, I blew even more money - $40K - for a Genesis. I'm still driving that Genesis. At home in South Korea and in some other countries, it's called the Grandeur. The Grandeur is actually still the best selling car in South Korea - and it can also be had as a hybrid. In case of the US market, the basic Genesis was priced very close to the Azera so basically the Genesis killed the Azera, but in other markets there was a big difference in pricing so there still was/is plenty of market for the Azera.
Sometimes I hear the siren song of larger Hyundai/Genesis sedans of the late ‘00s/early’10s. I like the styling of this, and I bet it’s a plush cruiser.
All the premium cars are dead. The Hyundai Azera, Kia Cadenza, Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Impala, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Avalon and the Buick LaCrosse. Mitsubishi Diamante', Pontiac Bonneville, Oldsmobile Aurora and Mazda Millenia were killed in the early 2000s. All these cars named were pretty good cars and actually did sell well.
@@doug6191 Correct. This one was the 4th Generation Hyundai Grandeur, the XG was the 3rd generation Grandeur, and North America got 3rd through 5th generations. Currently I believe the Grandeur is in its 7th or 8th generation. (And the first two generations never made it outside South Korea because they were badge-engineered Mitsubishis.)
@@Hellcat71782 For a Hyundai at the time, Yes. To be honest, for the same money back in the day when it was new, the Toyota Avalon was far more a better car.
I've been waiting for you to do a review on one of these for years! I grew up in a Sonata of the same generation, and think these years were Hyundai's absolute peak. Sure, Hyundai makes fancy cars today, but their 2000s models were some of the best cars around if you wanted something simple, reliable and cheap.
this Azera was a big hit in Brazil and had the mk1 Ford Fusion as it's major rival, despite being a V6 and the Ford only a 4cyl. The 2nd gen Azera was a much bigger car, in a larger class than a Sonata (which never had a big market around here, even though was also offered). it's quite powerful, confortable, reliable and kinda quiet luxury
I don't think we got the Opirus but we did get the Amanti that was clearly a ripoff of a Jaguar and the E-Class. I guess Kia had two ripoff "luxury" cars going.
@@bwofficial1776 The Amanti was simply the North American rebadging for the Opirus. And it was also based on the Hyundai XG (itself an older version of the Azera) as well.
A reasonable alternative to the Toyota Avalon of the same era. I owned one and thoroughly enjoyed it as a highway cruiser. Even the base version was well optioned. Great engine, fast for its class. Only the soft suspension made it float over bumps and lean in the corners. Never had a problem, just regular mainenance. Worth looking for a low mileage, well maintained one if you are interested.
Actually bought a 2012 Azera a couple years ago for my son. We were initially looking for an Elantra, but it was during the shortages. But we got a relatively decent price for the time, and did a quick set of tune up items and gave it a once over and it did a road trip from Salt Lake to his base in SC. And has since done a trip over to WA. So far that car has been rock solid and has not skipped a beat. I figure that he is going to drive the wheels off it before he will even consider replacing it.
My dad used to drive this car in Korea. They were everywhere! They were called Grandeur in Korea and people reverse imported this 3.8L Lamda V6 Azera from NA because these high performance versions weren't sold in Korea 💀
This car looks very 2007. Not bad but completely generic. I never thought of this as laying the stepping stones for the Equus and Genesis but I can see how Hyundai committed to moving upmarket.
i thought it was compaired to the Toyota Avalon. Of course the Avalon had already a great reputation and Hyundai was trying to get there. To be honest I dislike the rear fender panels. It made the car look like having saddle bag fat. The Sonata of those years was a cleaner looking design.
My 5th grade teacher talked about using the scientific method when she and her husband were shopping for a new car. Initially, they were between the Accord and Camry, but then, they considered the Azera as another possibility, and that’s what they ended up buying. This also happened to be in 2006, the first model year for the Azera, and I remember my teacher making note of that.
I had a 2009 Azera as a rental and thought about buying a later one a couple of times, especially after they were discontinued and the remains were sitting on dealer lots being marked down. I think of it as Hyundai's take on a Toyota Avalon.
Sold Hyundai cars from 2003-2006 and when the 2006 Azera came out was most impressed with it. But there was much competition in this segment and Hyundai decided to cut it from the US lineup for lack of sales. The Sonata went on with the 3.3 V-6 option for many years. Today, the Sonata and Santa Fe are available with the 2.5 liter turbo, but the V-6 cars were much better. Also check out the XG 350, which came before the Azera (last year was 2005). While the early Sonatas looked like Audis starting in 2006, the XG looked like a Jaguar sedan.
Woo! My car. Unfortunately my blue 2006 just got rear ended by a F250. It was a great car. I owned it for 18 months 60k miles. Just be ready to change the valve cover gaskets and alternators 😂 otherwise very comfortable and smooth car.
Mine was a 07, my dad owned it since new and passed it down to me, alternator was never replaced in its 130,000 life span, and it only lasted that long due to a T-bone accident. I loved the 3.8 engine in the fwd layout, wasn’t fast but was very high torque feeling compared to other V6 engines.
@@Slow.S55 Cool. It would've lasted longer. Mine got totaled at 204k miles and had absolutely no problems unfortunately.. I was going to do a oil change in 700 miles and rear rotors-pads other then that my baby was perfect 😭
My dad used to have one for 10 years then we had a 2016 for five years. I was both of them when we had them. Van my family traded the 2016 for a 2022 Santa Fe plug-in hybrid
These are pretty quick, I have one as a daily. Mine has 310ish hp. Hell it's a fun car, very reliable, and cheap to maintain. Not alot of people know about these, hopefully it stays that way haha.
I don't find these cars boring at all, when I rode in one a while ago it reminded me of a Lexus ES a little bit, it had a lot of get up and go too, plush and comfortable, it had rain sensing windshield wipers too and the one I was in was a 2006 model year. Definitely had a lot of features for its time and their reliable. Definitely recommend for a first car to someone who wants an affordable luxury vehicle.
I was listening to this while I work to find out what I’m in for when I purchase one of these soon. And I’m like damn, why is Tucker Carlson reviewing cars now
For my taste early 2000s were peak Hyundai in terms of value for money, reliability and styling. Things got wierd after it and many Hyundai models were and still are hit and miss proposition.
Hyundai Kia is always in a phase . But these are the decent hyundais with the V6 that's not direct infection Looks like a Buick regal merged with a Mercedes kinda to me
No throttle response, roflmao, try putting your foot down next time. Yes these days 6.5 seconds to 60 isn't blistering. But for a mid 2000's large car from hyundai 😂
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
I worked at a Hyundai dealership when these were new. At the tine this was only one of two Hyundais made in Korea sold in North America, as opposed to models built at the new factories in the IUS and Canada. The quality was certainly there and it showed. We didn’t see many issues or recalls with the model. Sadly, it didn’t sell in great numbers and many shoppers just saw it as a bigger and more expensive Sonata, not understanding that it was quite a refined car for the money..
Ah-zair-ah.
thank you genuinely. azora was annoying me lol
This phenomena baffles me. Imagine a Mercedes, Audi or BMW from 2007 now. They'd have peeling plastic coatings on the buttons, TONS of electrical issues, oil leaks, bad sensors and the whole nine yards AND have worse depreciation than this thing. Yet here we see a damn Hyundai still looking fresh and reliable. And still yet, Hyundai is the one that has the bad rep. It truly baffles me. Brand perception is a thing of beauty lol
hyundai peaked in the early 2000s tapering off in like 2009 whit the theta 2 engine.
I had one of these as my first car! I really miss that thing. No real issues, and it was hilarious to drive with the V6 and ultra soft suspension. Some day i'd love to get a high trim one again.
Other stuff: It had a lot of really neat little high end features. I liked how the trunk hinges were both wrapped in trim and hidden from the compartment.
It has these really nice little expanding door pockets, which helped me fit even more stuff inside lol
In South Korea, these were commonly used as taxis, and i think a hood ornament was offered?
It also has full LED rear tail lights, which was surprisingly early for that tech.
The lower trims had a different gauge cluster. The needles looked kinda like rocket ships, and all of the lighting was this disgusting puke green like you see in the AC controls
The base stereo system is also really solid. It's a pretty basic (i think) 6 speaker system, but it sounded pretty great.
For a while, this was the fastest korean car ever produced, and I think it held that record until the V8 Equus/Genesis
It also used fiberglass for the rear bumper crash structure instead of the standard steel bumper.
Hey I'm looking for one of these how long did u have it for? Also what miles would u recommend I buy this car?
@@potcat3246 had it for a few years, i'd look for the lowest mileage one you can find. really try hard to find one owned by an old person with like, sub 150k miles.
Fun story, I had a 2008 Hyundai Azera and the previous owner was a North Korean escapee. He covered it in little foam wings and stickers with puppies.
I had the car less than a week and the key went out entirely leading to my car having to be towed, the dealership refused to fix it and they eventually just bought the car back for what I paid.
For the very short time I did have the car I loved it, very luxurious and comfortable yet surprisingly quick with the big V6.
I once test drove this one brand-new, and I was very impressed with the smoothness - even though $30K for a Hyundai seemed like a bitter pill to swallow.
Then a year and a half later, I blew even more money - $40K - for a Genesis. I'm still driving that Genesis.
At home in South Korea and in some other countries, it's called the Grandeur. The Grandeur is actually still the best selling car in South Korea - and it can also be had as a hybrid. In case of the US market, the basic Genesis was priced very close to the Azera so basically the Genesis killed the Azera, but in other markets there was a big difference in pricing so there still was/is plenty of market for the Azera.
Sometimes I hear the siren song of larger Hyundai/Genesis sedans of the late ‘00s/early’10s. I like the styling of this, and I bet it’s a plush cruiser.
I wanted 1 of these back in the day.....
Same! I kinda still do!
Why not 2?
For a Hyundai I always thought they should have kept building on this model and let it evolve.
They did. It's just not available in the States anymore.
All the premium cars are dead. The Hyundai Azera, Kia Cadenza, Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Impala, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Avalon and the Buick LaCrosse. Mitsubishi Diamante', Pontiac Bonneville, Oldsmobile Aurora and Mazda Millenia were killed in the early 2000s. All these cars named were pretty good cars and actually did sell well.
@@doug6191 Correct. This one was the 4th Generation Hyundai Grandeur, the XG was the 3rd generation Grandeur, and North America got 3rd through 5th generations. Currently I believe the Grandeur is in its 7th or 8th generation. (And the first two generations never made it outside South Korea because they were badge-engineered Mitsubishis.)
Problem was the car was wayyyy overpriced
@@Hellcat71782 For a Hyundai at the time, Yes. To be honest, for the same money back in the day when it was new, the Toyota Avalon was far more a better car.
I've been waiting for you to do a review on one of these for years!
I grew up in a Sonata of the same generation, and think these years were Hyundai's absolute peak. Sure, Hyundai makes fancy cars today, but their 2000s models were some of the best cars around if you wanted something simple, reliable and cheap.
this Azera was a big hit in Brazil and had the mk1 Ford Fusion as it's major rival, despite being a V6 and the Ford only a 4cyl. The 2nd gen Azera was a much bigger car, in a larger class than a Sonata (which never had a big market around here, even though was also offered). it's quite powerful, confortable, reliable and kinda quiet luxury
Shooting Cars, nice video keep up the amazing work
Anybody else get tired of hearing him A-zur-a instead of A-zair-a?
I would give you a million more likes if I could. It's so annoying
Haha, agreed. I've never seen anyone pronounce an e like a ū.
Luxury = Lugzury 😂
Anyone who truly cares needs to get a life...
ngl it bothered me A LOT
Nice review. I remember these and thought about getting one. You need to do the Equus next.
This is essentially Gen 2 of the XG350 that preceded it. Hyundai should have just used the Granduer name from its home market.
Nice video. Rare saw these when they were new and now you don’t see them at all. Decent car.
The Kia Opirus was another oddity. if a Jaguar S type and a Mercedes E class could have an offspring together.
I don't think we got the Opirus but we did get the Amanti that was clearly a ripoff of a Jaguar and the E-Class. I guess Kia had two ripoff "luxury" cars going.
@@bwofficial1776 The Amanti was simply the North American rebadging for the Opirus. And it was also based on the Hyundai XG (itself an older version of the Azera) as well.
Can you find a Kia amanti or Kia borrego!!! Very rare
I’ve always thought it was pronounced ‘az-AIR-ah’, but it reminds me of the Veracruz in a sedan body. Has similar lines maybe? I liked the Veracruz.
I always loved the styling of these 🤩
A reasonable alternative to the Toyota Avalon of the same era. I owned one and thoroughly enjoyed it as a highway cruiser. Even the base version was well optioned. Great engine, fast for its class. Only the soft suspension made it float over bumps and lean in the corners. Never had a problem, just regular mainenance. Worth looking for a low mileage, well maintained one if you are interested.
Definetly not forgotten by me! I had a 2006!
4:52 BIG FRIGGIN BOTTLE YAY! 🏆🏆🏆
I really liked the looks of the Azera. It was a nice looking , capable car.
Actually bought a 2012 Azera a couple years ago for my son. We were initially looking for an Elantra, but it was during the shortages.
But we got a relatively decent price for the time, and did a quick set of tune up items and gave it a once over and it did a road trip from Salt Lake to his base in SC. And has since done a trip over to WA. So far that car has been rock solid and has not skipped a beat. I figure that he is going to drive the wheels off it before he will even consider replacing it.
Do the next gen of this car. Ive always liked those! I worked at hyundai for 8 years.
Should do a video on the Hyundai Equus if you could find one
Better than I expected. Good condition.
These were very nice cars when they were new. Almost purchased one in 2008. Went with a 2008 Mercury Sable instead.
Awesome review as always Zach! Thanks!
My dad used to drive this car in Korea. They were everywhere! They were called Grandeur in Korea and people reverse imported this 3.8L Lamda V6 Azera from NA because these high performance versions weren't sold in Korea 💀
These were used as Taxis in Singapore for awhile. Some of them were even powered by natural gas
these are nice asf it almost looks like a volvo of the era from the side
i literally had this car in silver. i loved it. it was very good to me.
literally ... not imaginatively ? or figuratively ?
@@Pyjamarama11 possibly all three
Front looks like a Benz love the back always loved these!
my mom has a 2016 totally different from this but i like that most people don’t know what they are. they’re amazing cars for what they are.
This car looks very 2007. Not bad but completely generic. I never thought of this as laying the stepping stones for the Equus and Genesis but I can see how Hyundai committed to moving upmarket.
The first attempt was just called XG300 and later XG350/L. We didn’t get an actual name until this one. My dad had an XG. wasn’t too bad of a car.
i thought it was compaired to the Toyota Avalon. Of course the Avalon had already a great reputation and Hyundai was trying to get there. To be honest I dislike the rear fender panels. It made the car look like having saddle bag fat. The Sonata of those years was a cleaner looking design.
It was a less expensive Avalon rival.
Would you believe me if i told it is more reliable than the avalon?
My 5th grade teacher talked about using the scientific method when she and her husband were shopping for a new car. Initially, they were between the Accord and Camry, but then, they considered the Azera as another possibility, and that’s what they ended up buying. This also happened to be in 2006, the first model year for the Azera, and I remember my teacher making note of that.
Also feel like the Hyundai Azara was a bigger version of a sonata
I had a 2009 Azera as a rental and thought about buying a later one a couple of times, especially after they were discontinued and the remains were sitting on dealer lots being marked down. I think of it as Hyundai's take on a Toyota Avalon.
I belive it was the replacement for the Hyundai XG350. never drove one.
Sold Hyundai cars from 2003-2006 and when the 2006 Azera came out was most impressed with it. But there was much competition in this segment and Hyundai decided to cut it from the US lineup for lack of sales. The Sonata went on with the 3.3 V-6 option for many years. Today, the Sonata and Santa Fe are available with the 2.5 liter turbo, but the V-6 cars were much better. Also check out the XG 350, which came before the Azera (last year was 2005). While the early Sonatas looked like Audis starting in 2006, the XG looked like a Jaguar sedan.
Woo! My car. Unfortunately my blue 2006 just got rear ended by a F250. It was a great car. I owned it for 18 months 60k miles. Just be ready to change the valve cover gaskets and alternators 😂 otherwise very comfortable and smooth car.
Mine was a 07, my dad owned it since new and passed it down to me, alternator was never replaced in its 130,000 life span, and it only lasted that long due to a T-bone accident. I loved the 3.8 engine in the fwd layout, wasn’t fast but was very high torque feeling compared to other V6 engines.
@@Slow.S55 Cool. It would've lasted longer. Mine got totaled at 204k miles and had absolutely no problems unfortunately.. I was going to do a oil change in 700 miles and rear rotors-pads other then that my baby was perfect 😭
My dad used to have one for 10 years then we had a 2016 for five years. I was both of them when we had them.
Van my family traded the 2016 for a 2022 Santa Fe plug-in hybrid
me remembering the Hyundai Equus Luxury car RWD with 5.0L V8 429hp
04:52 BIG FRIGGIN BOTTLE YAY!!!
These are pretty quick, I have one as a daily. Mine has 310ish hp. Hell it's a fun car, very reliable, and cheap to maintain. Not alot of people know about these, hopefully it stays that way haha.
Still got it also how many miles?
And literally just seen two of those cars yesterday and then thought hmm
Admittedly I’ve hated Hyundai but these are nice
in Crimea i see a lot of Grandeur's
Beautiful
👍 cool ride
If you want a larger boring FWD car that will probably be pretty reliable it's not a terrible choice.
I don't find these cars boring at all, when I rode in one a while ago it reminded me of a Lexus ES a little bit, it had a lot of get up and go too, plush and comfortable, it had rain sensing windshield wipers too and the one I was in was a 2006 model year. Definitely had a lot of features for its time and their reliable. Definitely recommend for a first car to someone who wants an affordable luxury vehicle.
Still less boring than all these new crossovers that share the same platform everywhere...
This car was always aimed at the avalon and maxima.
Azura LOL!
I was listening to this while I work to find out what I’m in for when I purchase one of these soon. And I’m like damn, why is Tucker Carlson reviewing cars now
Just as I start hunting an Azera (Grandeur) or a V6 Sonata, your video appears
Who am I to ignore fate
Go Salukis!
Wasn't this a Skyrim God?
No you're thinking of Jesus
@@mrbelvedere1632 nah, that's an allegory for the Sun
By Azura by Azura by Azura, it's the grand champion
this is one of the top 5 most common cars in Libya.
It's like dressed up sonata. Wondering how kia's counterpart look like
Look up Kia Amanti here in the US.
Kia's looked like a Jaguar rip-off crossed with an early-00s Mercedes-Benz.
For my taste early 2000s were peak Hyundai in terms of value for money, reliability and styling. Things got wierd after it and many Hyundai models were and still are hit and miss proposition.
Azura?
Wtf is an azura
They are badged as Hyundai Grandeurs here in Britain. Not a very common car,I only know of one in my town.
youll find a lot of these if you go to korea
Good review but you would think that ppl would at least clean out their cars before givig it to Zach
This car's really not bad considering some of the cars he's gotten. He made a video a few weeks ago about why he can't drive only spotless cars.
How is this guy making any money doing this
Anyone I’ve ever seen drive these drives like they are 3 days late to anything
In UE IT was called Sonata.
ac BLASTING!
Them nice cars
I alwaus thought these just looked like a sonata with a bulbus rear end.
Hyundai Kia is always in a phase .
But these are the decent hyundais with the V6 that's not direct infection
Looks like a Buick regal merged with a Mercedes kinda to me
The lambda ll 3.8 V6 is direct injection
the stopped the azera in like 2017 lolol
Are these reliable?
Very
The looks areghe bwst part look at rear bulging quarter panel cool light bar ......front Benz styling .....!
I think these look a little too much like a sonata to really stand out as a luxury car.
When better Buicks are built, Hyundai will build them.
No throttle response, roflmao, try putting your foot down next time. Yes these days 6.5 seconds to 60 isn't blistering. But for a mid 2000's large car from hyundai 😂
first
What kind of punishment can Zack receive for mispronouncing a cars name? WHERE DO YOU GET AZURA AND AZERA MISPRONOUNCED!?
You just running out of cars now
You sound a bit butt hurt sir. Did you submit your vehicle and get rejected?
Nobody wants to review your civic. He made it clear. Move on crybaby
No? There are literally millions of weird and interesting cars from throughout history
Nothing wrong with that. There's a finite number of cars.
The Azera is very underrated. Rarely mentioned among enthusiats.
Hey i have a 09 kia optima LX & SX i havent seen one on ur channel an i would love for you to show it