Sherwood Cooke Jr. owns Royaly Auto Service, which operates out of two locations in Georgia. Not only does its St. Mary’s shop tout 1,000 4.9-star Google reviews, the team also has nearly 1 million followers on TikTok alone. Why? Because the Royalty staff spends a great deal of time and energy sharing car buying tips and maintenance trends…like this one right here. In it, Sherwood names several car brands he tends to avoid.

“Why would I want to drive a Hyundai?”

“Hyundai…there’s just so many problems with these cars,” Sherwood shakes his head at the gremlins owners deal with.

And then he really drives the nail in: “Why would I want to drive a Hyundai?” Ouch. The thing is, he explains, that even though they might be a couple thousand bucks cheaper to get into, he claims that they’re way more expensive on the repair end.

“They’re probably $20,000 cheaper on what I would consider ‘quality.’”

Harsh.

“Kia…same exact thing.”

Sherwood doesn’t spend any time on this one, so I’ll fill in the gap, here:

Kia and Hyundai share the same parent company and a lot of engineering. So when one has a problem, the other usually does too. That’s why they get lumped together.

They’ve both faced major heat for the same issues: engine fires, theft vulnerability, and poor paint quality.

The 2011 to 2021 models, in particular, gave the brands a bit of a black eye. Hyundai’s Theta II engine is basically a ticking time bomb. You’ll find it in certain used Tucson and Santa Fe SUVs, for instance. Kia wasn’t spared either…it used the same engine in several models.

Then came the TikTok car theft trend. Both brands skipped immobilizers in millions of cars. That backfired fast. Insurance companies took notice. Some refused coverage. Others jacked up rates.

Even though newer models have improved, the damage to their reputations lingers, especially with mechanics. People don’t separate the brands because the issues overlap so much. Shared tech, shared problems.

To their credit, Hyundai and Kia now offer longer warranties and better quality in recent models. But it’ll take time (and a clean record) to shake off the past.

The last two are also car brand siblings: Land Rover and Jaguar

“No, I wouldn’t buy one of those,” Sherwood claims. But, he quickly offers an exception: If he had endless funds.

See, Land Rover and Jaguar also fall under the same corporate roof, JLR. They share platforms, electronics, drivetrains…and problems.

Both brands catch heat for reliability. Owners report constant issues with infotainment, sensors, and electronic modules. Touchscreens freeze. Backup cameras glitch. Warning lights pop up like a surprise medical bill.

Their cars may look different, but under the hood, it’s often the same tech. When Jaguar’s InControl system bugs out, Land Rover’s Touch Pro Duo usually isn’t far behind.

Air suspension failures plague Range Rovers. Jaguar’s XF and F-Pace models also suffer from premature suspension wear and transmission hesitation. 

All that, and we hadn’t even hit on timing chain tensioners, oil leaks, and dead batteries…those hit both brands, too.

Jaguar owners complain about clunky gear selectors. Land Rover drivers gripe about endless software updates. But the punchline’s the same: they spend more time at the dealer than they want to.

Repairs cost a premium. Parts might take forever. Even basic service can rack up eye-watering bills. Many owners offload the car before the warranty ends just to avoid what’s next.

I speak from experience, by the way. We had a Range Rover Evoque for about a year and a half. But that was about all we could take.

Loved it, from performance and driver experience standpoints. But we (grudgingly) put thousands in it. We did the timing chain and a bunch of other stuff before saying goodbye for good. Hopefully the next owner is having fun with it after all that work!

Sherwood also agrees that JLR has some pretty cool-looking cars. “If I had plenty of money, who cares!”

He can’t say the same about Hyundai or Kia, though. “What’s the cool factor?” Even if you get into one without the engine issues, “There’s still other problems.”

MotorBiscuit reached out to Royalty Auto Service via their “Contact Us” page for comment.