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Hyundai Tucson JM, one of my favorite cars. Here’s what you need to know before buying one of the most popular SUVs of it’s day and one great success for Hyundai.

Launched in 2004, the first generation Tucson presented itself as a Santa Fe light. A smaller, cheaper and more modern car. If with the first generation of Santa Fe the discussion is down to you either like it or you’d rather watch Preston Lacy engage in hot bodily action with Jason Acuna with Cardi B singing in the background , in the case of Tucson almost everyone agrees that the car looks good enough for our money. But here in the world of classic SUVs it’s not so much about how it looks but it’s about what it can do. In the old world of proper, classic SUVs, because today the so-called SUVs are just regular compacts on stilts that pretend to be what they are not and they were chest-thumping and boasting how they are able to take on Cnoc an Fhreiceadain, even if most of the climbing they do is the curb of an underground parking lot of a shopping mall.

With this said, the Hyundai Tucson JM comes from another era, an era in which there was no such thing as electronic stability control systems or any devices for the nanny state. There was an era when cars like this were driven like trucks, on all sorts of surfaces. An era in which cars were cars, alcohol was alcohol, women were women and meat was meat. Which translates into the Hyundai Tucson JM coming with fairly capable off-roading equipment, with an button-operated electronic 4×4 system, two differentials, a generous approach angle and enough ground clearance tall to haul 30 sacks of potatoes on a forest road. And for most people looking for a Tucson or any other SUV, all this equipment means little to nothing to them. But it’s good to know that you can go off-roading with this car, within regular people’s ideea of off-roading atleast.

Hyundai Tucson JM Engines

Petrol

• 2.0 Beta II of 140 horsepower – It may be old and it may be the entry level engine for the Tucson, but it propels the Hyundai Tucson JM faster than you would expect. And if you throw in an LPG conversion, it can be both economical and fast. It’s only real downside is that this was the entry level model so alot of them are manuals and only FWD which is sad. It’s reliable, no-frills economy SUV territory but it’s as devoid of option as Club Penguin is devoid of open pools.


• 2.7 V6 Delta of 175 horsepower – The fastest, most powerful engine available on the Hyundai Tucson JM. Ridiculous in Europe, standard issue in USA, Australia and other countries where there is no replacement for displacement. LPG compatible in case you care about the fuel economy and the only real issue is with the coilpacks which cost as much as some fine Walmart brandy labeled “XXX”.

Diesel

2.0 D-Line CRDi of 113 and 140 horsepower – Two totally different engines, even if they are the same D4EA antique. The 113 is ridiculously reliable but dead slow. Pedestrians in walking frames will poke your window to move out of the way as you are too slow.  And if you throw in the 4 speed torque converter automatic then the car is more of a display vehicle as the moving speed is negligible. The 140 horsepower version however has the grunt but lacks the reliability, with turbocharger issues and oil seeping through all the pipes and diesel seeping through the cylinders. But wait, there’s more, as the 140 version also comes with a dual mass flywheel for the manual version and that will break your legs and bank account.

Hyundai Tucson JM Common Issues