I think that's part of it. I think it's also that cars have become so well built and service intervals so long that people either forget or don't get around to it. When you had to replace tires every 15-20,000 miles or get a tuneup every 30,000 miles, you had an incentive to do what was required to keep that expensive service at bay. Now, with tires lasting 60-80,000 miles and tuneups lasting 100,000 miles, some people will own a car for several years without having to do major maintenance on it.
Tech has gotten expensive, too. My tech charges $115/hour (dealers charge more). Different manufacturers require different expensive diagnostic suites to properly troubleshoot and adjust electronically-controlled systems. Features which are expected today -- automatic transmissions, power windows, power-operated side mirrors with heaters and directional signals -- have gotten expensive to repair and replace, as well.
I think it depends on the criticality of the car system.
On my turbodiesel, for example, the timing belt is to be changed every 100,000 miles (or after five years' time, whichever comes first). If the timing belt breaks, havoc (and parts) break out inside the engine; a very expensive repair. The rule in buying a used VW TDIs is that if the TB has not been replaced at the appropriate time or by someone who doesn't know how to do them (say, the tech that is on retainer for the used-car lot), you should figure on having someone knowledgeable do the TB job again just to be sure. It's cheap insurance relative to the cost of its failure.
Some other systems, though, are less critical. The tech down the street from me should have no issue repairing brakes or a switch on the dash that's not working properly. You also get some more warning when those components are failing (brake noise, switch works intermittently, etc.) and the failure generally is not as catastrophic.
My experience is that there are Web forums for pretty much every make and model car. Those are good places to find out the design shortcomings that turn into frequent (or expensive) problems for any model in which you are seriously interested. The site for VW TDI owners has been invaluable to me in caring for my car properly and diagnosing issues before they cost $$$. The sites for DW's Kia Soul seem to concern themsleves primarily with how many horsepower racing stripes add to the car (but that's a good thing because it means there aren't expensive repairs to discuss). It wouldn't hurt to spend an hour or two cruising through the appropriate forum once you've got a car in which you're really interested, just to make sure of what "they all do" that you should check that could cause a breakdown or cost money later. Oh, and it's not like anyone other than the dealership is a screwup (on the VW TDI Web site there are plenty of horror stories about work done by dealership techs; they're not all great).
As for the question about body damage and lack of maintenance, give me body damage almost every time. As I wrote earlier, I have zero interest in a car that's been banged up enough to be branded "salvage" or "rebuilt". But body damage for most cars is not rocket science and, over long-term ownership, a body panel that rusts early is far less of a problem than a transmission that's never had its filter or fluids changed or a half-a**ed timing belt job.
Besides, around here, road salt eats up most bodies unless the manufacturer has put a lot of effort into preventing corrosion (not all do).
I'm not aware of any particular issues with that car in particular other than a situation that presents itself in most direct-injection engines (like my TDI and the Hyundai 1.6T). I'll avoid a long technical explanation (this post is long enough, right? ) other than to say the way the engine is designed for power and economy makes it vulnerable to buildups of carbon inside the cylinders, especially for engines that don't often warm up during operation. Good-quality gasoline (or diesel, in my case) with detergents can help keep things clean and there are chemical cleaners which can be run through the engine once the carbon builds up. In severe cases, some of the engine has to be partially dismantled and the carbon buildup physically removed (and then it's good as new). It's not a fatal issue and it is not an issue specific to Hyundai (or Kia, its sister company, or VW). It's the nature of the beast. You can help identify the issue if the car feels unexpectedly lethargic when you drive it. If it does, either move on (if there are many other choices) or negotiate the price knowing it may cost a couple hundred to clean things out.