Mine had about 180k US miles (293 000 km) when I got it. Aside from a small amount of metal glitter in the oil pan the engine looked quite good inside. A lot of wear items had not been replaced and some rubber and plastic parts had started to deteriorate and needed changing (the engine torque mount still does).

The drivetrain is rated for 500 000 km lifetime.

If the engine doesn't spin a bearing I'm sure it'll run fine for a few more years once I get the chassis fully welded back together and back on the road.

 

I remember reading somewhere that Hyundai was confident the Delta 2.7 would make 300K miles easily.

I'm at 170K(ish) and the only problems I've had were from neglect and user error. the 2.7L has been incredibly reliable and still gives good compression & shows no signs of failure.

Most of the problems you'll run into on this platform have been well documented here, and I wouldn't consider any of them too big of deals. worst one imo is the blinker relay issue, but that can be fixed cheaply enough if you're handy with a soldering iron or heat gun.

 

164,831 …07 i4 fresh off the lot as the original owner.. drove this bad boy cross country twice.. I stayed on top with maintenance and pretty much did a every repair on it timing belt, water pump etc. reliable in my book.

 

I have an 03 2.0 just got it bout 6 maybe 8 months ago it had 212000 on it it now has 220798 miles on her And 129.5 on the new clutch axels wheel bearings control arm bushings and swaybar links. And she still running strong. However I did just find out about the Rev limiter must have cut the fuel. I took off pretty hard in first was trying see bout how close to red I could push before grabbing second and hammering down but she come down on me like you just reached up and shut her fuel off before ever getting next to 5K.Kinda excited about this Stage 2 clutch. That's the first time I have even halfway got on it since putting the clutch in.

 

My 06 2.7L has 135k miles but it won't last long once I boost it. There are plenty of 300k+ miles Tiburons in the Facebook groups. The motors will last a long time if you take good care of them. Pay close attention to regular service and wear items. Inspect and replace things on schedule per the Hyundai recommendations outlined in this PDF:

 

My tiburon body has 300k+ miles on it currently the original motor had 212k on it when the last owner botched the timing belt job on it. I replaced the motor with one with 100k miles and now the engine has nearly 200k miles on it and I beat on it pretty hard revving it past the 6800 rpm revving it to 7300 . I believe these engines can easily go over 300k miles when serviced on time .

 

ours just turned 100k this week

 

My 05 shows 187,xxx miles , but after the timing belt killed the original motor, I replaced with one that had 50k miles on it, which now would be 80k.

 

Guess I have the highest so far. 233,000mi 2.0L 2003. Original motor and body.
It needs a scheduled timing belt replacement really soon; already have the Gates kit ordered. Will also be replacing all of my serpentine belts alongside it.

My V6 died at 178k from a premature timing belt failure.

@chase206 "plenty of 300k+ on Facebook"(?) I find that hard to believe. There's only one that I'm aware broke that mark. And it died at 353k when the owner refused to replace the throwout bearing. Recently saw a V6 with 276k which I thought was impressive, but it was sidelined for a failed master cylinder.

 

Bought my 06 2.0L from the original owner (it was his 4th car) at 17k and put on roughly that amount in 3yrs. 33K and trying to make it immaculate...but I need to replace a seeping radiator and the gasket from the water pump is starting to go as well, so I have to top off coolant every 2-3 weeks. Not looking forward to the water pump repairs...

 

..but I need to replace a seeping radiator and the gasket from the water pump is starting to go as well, so I have to top off coolant every 2-3 weeks. Not looking forward to the water pump repairs...

The sketchiest part of a timing belt system job is getting the crank bolt out. I had to put an insanely long cheater bar on my breaker bar to get the damn thing loose; I was worried about cracking my flywheel locking tool or starter motor bolt holes. When you're putting stuff back together, use a good torque wrench to get everything back to spec.
Oh, and get an OEM water pump gasket.

 

On many crank bolts, I did a socket on

The sketchiest part of a timing belt system job is getting the crank bolt out. I had to put an insanely long cheater bar on my breaker bar to get the damn thing loose; I was worried about cracking my flywheel locking tool or starter motor bolt holes. When you're putting stuff back together, use a good torque wrench to get everything back to spec.
Oh, and get an OEM water pump gasket.

the bolt, attach breaker bar and wedge it against frame. Then, bump the starter (some disconnect the coils so it won't start).
Now with 18v impact, much easier.

 

@chase206 "plenty of 300k+ on Facebook"(?) I find that hard to believe.

Why is that hard to believe? I found some ancient posts so some of these people undoubtedly have more miles. Also people like to brag when they hit 300k but rarely followup up with a status update years later. If I were to expand the search to include other Beta and Delta cars there would be many more in the 300k club. This list is from all the Tiburon groups in the last 5 or so years. I didn't skim all the posts so I'm sure I missed a few. This could be just chassis mileage because the owners did not specify if they have the original motor.

David Lester 380k
James Duncan 350k
Daniel Cazacu 300k
Justin Johnson 300k
Austin Stoker 307k
Michael Jones Sr 300k

 

Last I saw, my ex's '04 GT had about 205K miles with original engine. That was a few years ago and has since been sold I believe.

 

@chase206 firstly with how cheap these cars are and how much cheaper the owners are. Most won't last any sort of high miles. Any of these cars can keep running if you don't overheat them, beat on them too much, and keep good fluids inside...or y'know...rebuild the engines nth amounts of times.


Austin Stoker sold his at around 120k. Got an s2000 and immediately wrecked it.
James Duncan went to 353k but the throwout bearing failed and scrapped it.
& Justin Johnson snapped his timing belt at around 160k.
The rest I didn't bother looking through.
The others one I found were at 375k, but was on its 3rd engine/2 trans and Clarence Jones has considerable miles too, but definitely not original powertrain either.

 

I get what you're saying it's not that the cars won't make it to 300k on the original engine is that the owners won't allow it to.

 

with how cheap these cars are

I don't really agree that these cars are that cheap. yeah, Hyundai definitely priced these things aggressively, but the car inside & out definitely wasn't made to be cheap like similar priced econo boxes I've driven. Hyundai put a lot of stuff in these cars they definitely didn't need to if they wanted to save a quick buck.

Both the TOB and timing belt failures were not "guess I'll buy a new car" failures, those owners must have already been looking for a reason to buy another car & that was it. especially the timing belt since that would only have failed due to neglect by the owner. A car is only as good as the owner, and if you don't maintain it it simply won't last. Not to mention, people who daily drive these cars don't go around forums showing off their mileage. My Subaru has 250K but I don't spend any time on the Subaru forums since it's my daily driver & I don't really care about it that much.

With how little trouble I've had from the 3 tibs I've owned and the amount of miles I've piled on this one, I'm confident that these cars can do the distance.

But, that's just my opinion.

 

Austin Stoker sold his at around 120k.

Oh you're right I mis-read one of his replies. He was quoting Justin's post.

& Justin Johnson snapped his timing belt at around 160k.

Actually he claims 307k

I am not accounting for which cars still live on today or have had drivetrains swapped. Just a simple skim of past posts and their claimed mileage. This is just in the last 2 years. I didn't go any further into the past than the 3 posts I looked at. I'm sure there's another half dozen more.

 

Both the TOB and timing belt failures were not "guess I'll buy a new car" failures, those owners must have already been looking for a reason to buy another car & that was it. especially the timing belt since that would only have failed due to neglect by the owner. A car is only as good as the owner, and if you don't maintain it it simply won't last.

Destroying your entire engine is not "guess I'll buy a new car" failure? Most people get tired of their car the second there windshield washer fluid stops working or they get a CEL a couple times.

And yes that was my point, if the owner is willing to dip thousands of dollars, any car can go a greater distance.

 

Considering you can pickup delta engines for < $400, I wouldn't consider that a "guess I'll buy a new car" problem. This isn't your modern $$$$ priced engine, these things are readily available and dirt cheap. Classic supply vs. demand at play, lol. Same for a bad TOB. Do you throw out your entire car every time you change a clutch?

I guess my point is these cars don't have any common gacha problems such as TIPM failures or ECUs that either aren't available or can't be programed without stupid $$$ involved. other than the blinker relays, these things have hardly any problems that could justify sending one the the scrapper. Even those blinker issues can be fixed with a soldering iron & a stead hand, and it's not like BCMs are that expensive either.

The only exception is rust. these cars rust bad in the salt belt, I haven't seen another tib in my area for 2 years now & I can only assume they've met the same fate my first tib did. basically, rusted in half. only way to save them is to not drive them in the winter, or try your luck with undercoating.

 

Yup, these are some rusty bois.
I wish I could get a Delta for under $400; even the local scrappers want ~$2000 for a "trust me bro it worked a year ago" unit.

 

That's nuts, I forget how sparse engines can be in other countries. One of the reasons I decided to buy a tib way back when was because how cheap and plentiful the engines & transmissions were. I knew that even if I blew it up that I could get another for less than the cost of a car payment if needed. I forget how lucky I am to have parts so readily available.

A quick search on car-part confirms that it's still the case around me. 25 engines within 100 miles from my zip & the majority of them are less than $500. Most are priced $400-450 with one at $350. the 6-Speed trannys are around the same price with the 5-Speeds about double but still under a grand. the 4-Speed autos are dirt cheap, there's listings practically in my back yard for $200.

I need to hurry and and get a house so I can buy a engine and transmission to build, before the parts start drying up for these cars.

 

The door seals would come off their seats when turning, and you couldn't shut the doors if you jacked it up so it was structurally compromised at the end if it's life.

To anyone reading this and suddenly got worried, all cars flex and if you have one end or side of the car up on jackstands you will notice the doors opening funky, no matter what car you're talking about. The only time the body will be lined up as it's supposed to is when the car is resting on all four of its wheels.
It is advisable to avoid opening the doors or sitting in the car as much as possible while it's not on its wheels, and if at all possible, use a four-point or scissor lift to raise the car when working on the underside or suspension.

Determination of structural integrity failure cannot be done just on the basis of lifting the car up with a floor jack, you will actually need to examine the frame, which includes a lot of unbolting of some very likely seized bolts.

 

130k…

Before I sold my 03 GT 6spd, she underwent a reverse aging process. All I can say is that any part made of plastic or rubber pretty much crumbled off when I removed it. Most Tibs are no longer on the road because the owner could no longer afford the money and/or time to keep it on the road. Motor and tranny 10/10… rest… like ur kid… love it no matter what.

I MISS U TIBBY! I’m so bored in my Honda 🥱

 

Hi crew, I have an '03 Tiburon I just reached 166,000 miles and it still runs like new. I still have the original water pump, fuel pump, alternator. A/C is still ice cold, been recharged once.

 

Honestly, unless the engine in mine shreds a bearing, I don't see why it wouldn't work just fine for another 100k.. and even if it does shred a bearing, it's just a bearing. It can be replaced (and I'd probably opt to do a slapdash job about it, too - run some oil flush through, slap some new crank and rod bearings on, clean out the galleys as best as I can and send it, see if it lives).
What I'm 100% certain will kill mine is the chassis rusting out.

 

233,000

 

I started this post a little over a year ago. Well I'm about to hit 200,000 miles on my 06 Gt. It's still going strong and I've owned it for 10 years now. I drive it every day. What's y'all's mileage at on your Tiburon now??

 

Hey All
Been a long time since I have been on here.
03 TIB 2.0 Start mi 86,000
Have had her for 10 years now.
Long timers might remember the "Crush Queen" LOL
I have the dreaded Air Bag light. It's the dr seatbelt latch.
The check eng light is Evap.
Only done minor things to her A/C compressor & Blower switch wiring
OEM ONLY Oil filter from Hyundai Dealer
I do not hot rod her, she is a graceful old gal.
Been fun to drive and both of my grand kids want her... NOPE!!!!