Review: 2020 Hyundai Genesis G90 5.0 Ultimate RWD | Hagerty Media

[Hagerty]

True story: If you wanted a new Fender Stratocaster in 1985 or 1986, all of your choices were made in Japan. Three years before, the company had handed responsibly for virtually all of its production to a Japanese company called FujiGen Gakki - and in 1985, when CBS sold the Fender brand, its Fullerton, CA [...]
https://www.hagerty.com/media/new-car-reviews/review-2020-hyundai-genesis-g90-5-0-ultimate-rwd/

[Germanicus]

While depreciation is generally held against the Genesis vehicles, I've seen that the G90 trades at a higher price on the used market than a similar CT6 or Continental.

In addition to outshining the American pretenders, the G90 also bests the latest Lexus LS. The G90's interior space and user-friendly controls are a marked difference from the latest LS. I remember sitting in the driver's seat of the LS500, and marveling at how Lexus made such a big car with so little interior space. And I have no idea how the traditional LS buyer would be able to operate the GPS, or turn on the seat heaters with how fussy the controls are in that car. You can also get a V8 in the G90, which is unavailable at any price in the LS anymore. It makes sense that I've seen about as many G90s on my local roads as I have LS500s.

[Spuds]

So agree,looks like Genesis understands KISS.IMO they have beat Lexus at its own game.Only durability is my question mark.Like to hear a lot more about that.

[BobbyShoe4]

The G90 with its NA V8 is sublime. Looks way nicer in person as well. Has a real presence to it. I would also argue its what the Lexus LS should have embraced more, including its tech. I wish Genesis would have done the direct sales method like Tesla. Hyundai and Kia dealerships are the absolute worse. Wish they would focus on that here in the US. Genesis has the products, they just don't have the dealership experience you would would hope for at a Honda dealership, let alone a luxury vehicle dealership. Fix that

[Spuds]

Yup,I see LS400 all over this thing.And thats a good thing.

[spoom]

I'm curious to know if the author feels the majority of g90 buyers are going to drift them, or at least drive them like sports cars? Folks like me considered them for about 20 seconds until they got to the RWD part and decided that was just going to duplicate the winter traction of my Ford Econoline minus the ground clearance. Originally shopping for a Conti, I decided to get a packed AWD MKZ vs base Conti, and never looked back. Lots of us in the flyover States "fly over" brochures for anything RWD for our everyday drivers, as only our smaller "fun cars" and MCs get to slumber in the garage all winter. I know a lot of current Ford Focus / Lincoln MKZ pilots will be buying Hondas or Toyotas in a year or two.

[mhealy1]

You missed the AWD availability. Easily better than FWD, dependent on the voice of tires, of course.

[spoom]

Understood, but I didn't miss it. I simply decided it raised the cost above what I wished to to spend on a daily driver. Not complaining, just wondering if Mr. Baruth and others felt a RWD was a requirement for this type of vehicle over front drive. I know when I had my Caddy STS it was the same situation as this Genesis, "Rear or All" and bought it only because it was a great deal on a 2-yr lease return, and at the time I had a 4WD PU for days when a low-slung RWD sedan might require pushing. I doubt that GM designed that STS with being a relatively inexpensive used car in mind.   

[Jack_Hagerty]

Yeah, I'm afraid it is, for one major reason: Nobody, and I meant nobody, has figured out how to keep an integrated transverse engine package from crashing and thumping over road imperfections. Ford tried like hell with the Continental and couldn't quite make it work. GM didn't try at all with the DeVille/DTS/XTS.

The Audi A8 and VW Phaeton don't suffer from this nearly as much, insofar as they don't load their subframes quite as densely, but in this market you have to take AWD with them anyway. I had a chance to drive a V6 FWD Phaeton in Germany fifteen years ago; that was a NICE car on all sorts of roads, much like this G90.

[spoom]

Thanks. Is the AWD Genesis immune from your description of the FWD Ford & GMs? Maybe I've just gotten too old, I'm thinking the awesomeness of this Genesis isn't on track days anymore than my 400HP 3.0 Linky. As much as the RWD would be free of the torque steer of a FWD/AWD when the pedal's mashed, perhaps I'm just kidding myself that most folks of this car or the Conti really do much more than see if they can hit triple digits on long highway ramps 😉

[Rider79]

I have heard "crashing and thumping" in many cars, and they were not all FWD. My FWD, transverse-engine 2015 Impala (the overall best-riding car I have ever owned, by far) does NOT crash and thump, that I have ever heard. Now, if the front seats were just tolerably comfortable...

[Spuds]

Where I live it doesnt have the clearance to be taken out.We need real snow cars like Jeeps and trucks.

[Rider79]

Sure glad I don't live in that type of climate; sounds like a good place to visit in the summer, only.

[Spuds]

Face it,its not a 4WD truck in snow,like in my LS400 wouldnt even attempt it.

[JSievers]

Great car and a really well written article with lots of on-point automobile mentions and even a Heinlein reference. Nice!

[CJinSD]

I know that modern auto enthusiasts are supposed to get up every day with an empty head and only consider new cars with the same level of concern about the long-term given to one's lunch, but I already know how well the first generation Genesis Tau sedans worked. I wouldn't be surprised if a statistically significant proportion of them were scrapped the second time their forth owners needed to replace their alternators. They're junk that is expensive to repair. People have been saying that Hyundai is finally building cars as well as their competitors for as long as every new GM sedan was greeted as finally being a match for the Japanese; for as long as every new 911 was greeted as finally having cured lift-throttle oversteer. I'm guessing "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" isn't on the reading list at Drag Queen story hour.

[Jack_Hagerty]

What you're describing is just the standard process of D-sized sedan ownership and it doesn't matter if the badge is Lexus or Benz or Genesis. All the "everlasting" Lexus LS examples out there have MASSIVE stacks of receipts.
My 2009 Town Car went 113,000 miles with a single repair: a bad window regulator. You can't get that kind of service out of anything more sophisticated than a Town Car.

[Spuds]

My LS400 is very reasonable in costs to keep on the road.Do the MAINTENANCE as you should in any car and overall costs are very very good.Mine has 253,000 miles and still going strong and going right.Yes,the starter,power steering pump over the alternator(leaks into alternator but thats a cheap easy repair),and timing belt replacement are the big ticket repairs but are also a 1 or 2 time expense over 250,000 reliable comfortable miles.Can you turn a wrench,its very reasonable costs too.

[ed]

Not a fan of the new trend of front grills that remind me of my last large-mouth bass.  I would throw this one AND the Lexus back.

[spoom]

Agreed. The first Genesis had an excellent grill, and this one's "Superman Shield" with a mini radar dome behind it looks awful unless parked next to any of the "Black Widow Hourglass" Lexus offerings.

[Maestro1]

Jack, thank you for this.
It's a beauty with the exception of the front grille which a lot of designers are doing and I wish they would stop doing it. I'm also against technology of any kind because I don't think we're taught to use it intelligently. I use it because i have no choice and I think we're all prisoners. In cars, there's no substitute for human judgment. I would never trust technology to tell me about lane changing, obstacles in front of the vehicle, and humans making sudden changes in direction in the middle of an intersection. If one is juvenile enough to need entertainment while driving let me suggest a simple radio, or none at all, so one pays attention to the road and the actual fact of operating the vehicle.
I am a collector, I've been at it a long time, and I drive my cars. It's about being a responsible adult in the real world.

[MoparMan]

A well written, descriptive article that kept my attention, although a car this size is no longer on my personal radar. Years ago, at an auto show, I viewed an unlabeled Equus, recognizing it only due to my "addiction to auto magazines. Everyone oohed and aahed over it, and I thought to myself then: "when Hyundai brings this car to market, it's going to be a good car for them." This current iteration seems to be everything and more than that long ago concept. If, as has been stated many times, Hyundai either improves their dealership experience or separates the Genesis line from it, the success of this car would (IMO) improve.

[Spuds]

This story is the same as Lexus and the LS400.They both set out to redefine the luxury car market and they have IMO.

My only question do these cars have the same rock solid world beating durability the LS400 had?

[ConfuciusRacing]

Durability...Well folks, having been in the shipping industry for a couple + decades, and I mean large container ships...and having been the Chief Engineer of 60,000hp 2 stroke inline 12 cylinder engines, and having worked on ships built in ship yards all over the world...please let me assure you. Korea has come a very very long way in industrial technology and they have a mindset of ::Korean Pride:: which motivates to build the best cars that they can, what's the connection?

My Experience>Aside from a single purpose built ship made In NASSCO in San Diego for the US Govt, Korean ships are the best in the world, with China close on their heels and perhaps surpassed it since I have left the industry.

A ship is a small floating city and a profit generating platform. Thousands of feet of piping and wires, 440 3 phase power generating systems, fresh water makers, purifications systems, hydraulics, automation, lighting, hotel services...

I also lived in South Korea for 3 months and learned a bunch about their culture.

Suffice to say, I wouldn't have any qualms about build quality nor parts support. I might even go test drive one...

[Rider79]

Thanks for the review, Jack. I agree, this is a very impressive car. Now, if they would just offer some less-dreary exterior colours.

QUESTION - I was told at the 2020 Chicago Auto Show that the G90 allows deactivation of the engine start-stop system. Seems the car at the show had a fifth button to the left of the shifter to control this. The photos you have do not show that button. Does the G90 offer this deactivation? Sad if they do not; that would be an immediate deal-killer, and I am seriously considering this car.

[Jack_Hagerty]

I don't recall my car doing any start-stopping, so perhaps that's only a feature of the V6?

[Rider79]

Could be, I guess. And, I agree with you: this car needs the V8 for character purposes, even if not for acceleration.

Thanks for the response!

[Geok86]

I already knew this car wasn’t for me....but thanks to Jack for confirming this, because I absolutely HATE the looks of the wheels on this car!!! And I can’t imagine trying to clean them if I owned one!

[Rider79]

Gotta agree with you on the wheels; those would be the first (and probably only) thing I would change. WAY too busy, and hard as heck to clean. Kind of like those old Lincoln Mark VII wheels, only more so.

[Jack_Hagerty]

Buy the car and sell them to me!

[Rider79]

There's an idea! :<)

[Unbalanced]

Picture your favorite easy chair. It’s big. It’s wide. And the cushions beneath and behind you are flat. No unsightly and uncomfortable protuberances adjoining the back. No confining and unnecessary carbuncles abutting the bottom. Flat. Such were the seats in the land yachts of yore. And they were good. And this, my friends, is not that.

[Rider79]

Well, I have yet to drive one, but I sat at length in the driver's seat in one, and adjusted it to fit. It seemed quite comfortable to me. I don't want a completely flat seat, personally; I want some back support, and adequate thigh support. Just no bumps and lumps at inappropriate places. And, firm is OK - within reason; just not so firm as to cut off circulation and cramp muscles, as many modern cars seem bent upon doing.

Just my opinion.

[Jack_Hagerty]

I drove the G90 almost back to back with my 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis coupe, which has the seats you describe. Given how speeds on American roads have risen over the past thirty years, I don't think a little bit of lateral support goes amiss.

[carguyjim]

Expect HUGE depreciation on an expensive Korean luxury car with ZERO cache and Cred....

[Rider79]

Could be true. But, I have noticed leftovers with quite good markdowns; that might help one avoid at least some depreciation, in actual dollar terms.

As for cachet, the reviews I have read suggest that the car's looks elicit a lot of interest, with some folks confusing it with a Bentley. So, while not a Mercedes or Lexus, it may be not all bad in that regard. And, relatively low cachet may help it fly under the theft (and carjacking) radar.