Can "your dealer's appraisal" be $0.00 if they don't think they can sell the car in a downward market? What "leading industry guides" will they be using? Can they pick and choose? What are "leading industry guides" anyway?

I got a lot more questions from their web sight than I did answers.

@G_Money21: Cause no one ever needed a reliable car to get to work?

@G_Money21:
If you didn't want to come off as an elitist of any sort, you probably should have avoided the comment.

So, G_ "Elitist" Money21, you are a fool if you think those people without work are nothing but uneducated, underexperienced, incompetents. Get over yourself.

You are never indispensible unless it is your money that makes the company run.

Put out a "Now Hiring" sign and, within hours, you'll have a mile-long line and local newscrews out there looking for Simon, Paula, and Seacrest.

The wording in the contract leaves holes big enough to fly a plane through.

This is a nice gesture though, good to see a company showing some empathy for people's finances throughout this recession.

Good points. Don't forget that most people who buy a new car are not expecting to lose their jobs within a year. That's why its limited to the first year.

Come on people, use your heads. The big corporations are only looking out for their best interests, they would not be offering this if it did not either save or make them money. And you can take that to the bank!

I don't want to come across as an elitist of any sort, but if you have a solid background and education and have an expertise in something, and KNOW you are in demand, then I would say you don't have anything to worry about.

Make yourself indispensable, where they promote you or lose you. That's the key.

*man smashes out tail lite with crowbar*

"You can't return that vehicle. It's damaged."

I like to think of this as the "Free Anunual Car Upgrade Program"

Step 1 - Buy Car
Step 2 - Wait 10 Months
Step 3 - "Lose Job" Involuntarily
Step 4 - Turn in Car

Step 5 - Get the next model year's version of what you have.

But, back to the point, A year is a long time for things to change. Business can take a 180 in the time span of a month. One day customers are knocking down a company's door, the next day the company can't beg a sale. Look at retail in the past year. Look at the automotive industry last year in May through the end of the year. Or look at information systems in 2001.

For some reason, I picture this mostly being used by people who can't realistically assess their financial situation and instead of focusing on the basics (frugality, be ruthless about cutting costs, pay off debts, etc) try to get by with deals, trial periods, paying off one credit card with another, not paying the electric bill because 'they can't shut it off in the winter' and all kinds of other justifications for purchases & lifestyle they just can't afford.

I'm not saying it's a bad deal, but it does seem to lure those with unsteady jobs into thinking a new car purchase is totally reasonable. Or maybe I'm just thinking of certain specific people whose personal financial 'system' just burns me up.

that's also the main reason why they can build super-inexpensive autos.

@G_Money21:

Well Said

@rainmkr: Just because you have a great credit rating doesn't mean you won't lose your job tomorrow. Maybe you mean the person probably has a bunch of cash in the bank, but the two aren't related.

@G_Money21: So in this economy no one should buy a new car?

I saw commercials for this last night while watching football.

It's still amazing how Hyundai is able to run these kinds of promotions while the "Big Three" are running for handouts.

I've never considered a Hyundai but anything is possible.

It is an insurance policy Hyundai is buying for its customers. It cost $0 to the customer or dealer. It allows you to back out of your loan obligation in the event you are involuntarily unemployed, lose your license due to illness, have an international job transfer lasting more than 24 months, are self-employed and file personal bankruptcy, and a few other instances. So ultimately, if you end up in a situation where you can’t afford your car note you can walk away. Yes that means you turn in the car. But you won’t ruin your credit with a repo or late payments. You get to just walk away. For some people that won’t be the best thing; obviously they will need a ride. But for some, walking away from the loan without any negative effects on your credit is a fantastic option - especially when it didn't cost you anything.

Coming from someone who works really really hard to run a car dealership as honest and straight forward as I can possible be, this is a very good thing for the customer.

@Doctor Who?: Well, for now, anyway... ;)

Hopefully they'll leave things alone.

@TheSpatulaOfLove:

Definitely, if there is a way for people to abuse this program they will.

Ask questions and get answers before you sign anything.

But sounds like a really good idea if it is what they say it is.

I see this as being rife with flaws that will allow for abuse. Ever see what people do to rental cars?

While I applaud Hyundai for out-of-the-box thinking, never underestimate the sleazy things the public can (and will) do.

Every finance deal I've seen came with this offer; mostly to cancel out that sweet 0% financing they just gave me. All of them required a monthly fee, and that fee was a percentage of the remaining balance with no maximum.

I just got a brochure on it for my wife's new Macy's card, and the requirements are horrendous. You have to wait three months after losing your job to cancel the debt, during which you must continue making payments and you can't get a new job. Yeah right.

I expect the rules for this will be just as labyrinthine and unreasonable, especially once you get to the actual paperwork. This is probably nowhere near as great as it sounds.

Sounds like a pretty good plan. More details at Business Week: [www.businessweek.com]

You have a year in which to return the car, but you have to have made at least two payments. So basically you have a 10-month window during which they'll take the car back and refund you the deprectiation (up to $7,500)...so it's a nice little insurance policy, but probably has some really, really fine print.

I take my paid for, POS Mercury that is in good mechanical condition but has a lot of miles and 6 years of wear on the shiny parts and trade it for a Hyundai Genesis. Next month, I lose my job so I turn in my Hyundai and they forgive me of my debt. WOW! Way to go! No car payment! Yeah!

Except!

Now I have to go out and purchase some $2K junker with a questionable past and a quarter million miles to get me to and from job interviews. This means that I have lost money in the whole deal and Hyundai wins big because they save themselves the cost of a reposition and the recovery of legal fees associated with the repo. The sad part is that my Mercury was better than this junker and I had the money in the bank which is crucial to surviving a layoff.

Sounds to me like Hyundai has come up with the perfect con. I hope Americans are not chumps and fall for this deal.

@Gearhead_42: Jalopnik and Consumer Reports are mortal enemies. This has been written since the beginning of time.

/awaits forced reeducation

Too bad we can't do the same thing with a house.