This is the final installment in the series chronicling the mild-restoration of my 2005 Hyundai Tucson. The 15-year-old little crossover SUV has been good to me. But, a family member is in need of transportation. So, I thought that the Tucson would be a good way for me to make sure they could save money and not end up with a vehicle that had a questionable history. To that end, I endeavored to give the vehicle some quick maintenance and a shine. Now, I’m off to hand over the keys.

Before handing the keys over to the Hyundai Tucson

Before I set off on the road to hand over the keys, I decided to do a quick oil change and a wash. But, time is of the essence as my schedule was full, and the time to leave was quickly approaching. So, I took the 2005 Hyundai Tucson to the local quick-change oil place. Thankfully, no surprises arose. The oil and filter were changed, and all the other fluids were topped off in the process as well.

Shortly after the oil change, I was on the road. I had determined that I just before arriving, I would pull into a touchless car wash to shine the Tucson up a bit. That turned out to be a big mistake. Let me explain.

The car wash surprise

The car wash functioned perfectly. However, the seal around the windshield decided it would quit sealing. So, as I’m inside the Hyundai Tucson in the car wash, water started to pour in. Pour in, not drip. I replaced the windshield once on this vehicle. I never had a problem with it. Yet, there I was, grabbing napkins out of the glove box and a cleaning cloth I had stored in the door pocket.

After the car wash was over, I pulled into an empty parking space, opened the front doors, and started to dry out the dash and headliner. Fortunately, someone I knew saw me and brought a roll of paper towels from their vehicle. I got it all dried out, but this was not what I wanted to experience just before handing the key over. Having no time to fix it, I drove the Tucson over to the house and met up with the family member, who was anxiously awaiting. I performed the traditional vehicle walk around that you would get at a dealership and then explained what happened.

The plan to fix the Tucson windshield

Afterward, we made a plan. We would let the Hyundai Tucson dry out any remaining moisture overnight. Then, in the morning, I would swing up to Autozone and buy windshield adhesive. A tube of the stuff is around five or six dollars. Then we would squeeze the adhesive around the area that was leaking.

Sadly, in the morning, plans changed. I had to leave. So, I bought the adhesive, explained to the new owner how to apply the adhesive (it’s easy), and left. But, the strangest thing happened. The leak stopped even though the new owner did nothing about it.
Since then, the 2005 Hyundai Tucson title has been changed, and the insurance has been updated accordingly. There is also the matter of the big grin on the face of the recipient that appears when I ask about their new (to them) ride. It feels good to contribute to that and to know that the alternative would have been a rust bucket that they may have found on the Facebook Marketplace, with an unknown history, for the same price.

Recap of the Hyundai Tucson mild-restoration

In all, I spent close to three thousand dollars bringing the Hyundai Tucson back to decent condition. That is about $1,200 more than I budgeted. The only thing that could have made the Tucson better would have been a new radio and a paint job. However, both of those are not necessities, nor could they have been done in the given timeframe. Granted, three grand is about the same money the 2005 Hyundai Tucson is worth. So, some can argue that it was wasted money. But, the same could be said about any vehicle purchased near the same price point from Facebook Marketplace or Craig’s List.