"DynamicWeight" (dynamicweight)
11/14/2016 at 17:12 • Filed to: None
3
15|
"DynamicWeight" (dynamicweight)
11/14/2016 at 17:12 • Filed to: None | 3
| 15 |
It is coming time to replace my girlfriends
trusty
2001 Jetta Volkswagen. It has served well but it’s starting to get pretty tired. One of the options she is considering buying is a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. We stopped by the dealership yesterday and drove one. I was honestly very surprised at how nice it is. The engine was so smooth and quiet that she couldn’t even tell it was on at idle. It accelerated very smoothly with very smooth gear changes. Also, the interior looks and feels really nice. And on the test drive, which consisted of multiple mashings of the pedal and idling in traffic, we still got 28 mpg.
All that, and the dealership was offering one fully loaded for 17k. That get’s her heated seats, a moon roof, and apple car play. Keep in mind, she hates driving. So comfort and convenience are number 1.
What say you Oppo? Is Hyundai of the 2010's the new Honda of the 90s? Have they really turned a corner and are worth buying now? What else should we be looking at? We were looking at entry level used cars for 10k-15k before she drove this thing and fell in love with it.
Textured Soy Protein
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 17:19 |
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It’s more expensive, but the Elantra Sport upgrades to a 201 hp turbo motor and an independent rear suspension instead of the more basic twist beam on the other Elantra trims. Not sure if either of those are important to your gf though.
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DynamicWeight
> Textured Soy Protein
11/14/2016 at 17:31 |
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Not at all. I’m mostly concerned about Hyundai’s reliability. And how the interior is going to hold up over time with someone who DGAF about it.
TylerLinner
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 18:08 |
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I’ve unwittingly rented three in the past three years (Elantra, Accent, Veloster), and I’ve enjoyed driving each one. If I had to choose I’d get an Accent hatchback with a stick. But then again, I’ve never had to work on one, so who knows how terrible the engineering might be. Hyundai was using Mitsubishi stuff for a while there...
JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 18:18 |
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my 2011 Elantra Touring was dead reliable. never had a single issue with it in my 60K miles of owership. I recently fount it (I know it’s mine from the Motegi MR116 wheels and the dent in the hatch) for sale at a local dealer, now with 98K miles on it, still looking good in and out. The interior on the 2011s wasn’t as plush as the new ones, but it held up VERY well, so one hopes the new ones do too. Mechanically it was 100% trouble free during my ownership and the fact that the used place was asking $8500 for it makes me think it was still pretty solid.
Probenja
> TylerLinner
11/14/2016 at 18:18 |
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Hyundai has no longer any connection with Mitsubishi (that was untill the 90's), the Accent is very popular as a cab where I live so the engines are reliable and easy to work on, the interiors is where they fall apart a little. I’m guessing with the Elantra they fixed that so they should be all good.
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TylerLinner
> Probenja
11/14/2016 at 18:19 |
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I know they’re not connected, but was wondering if some of the notoriously shoddy engineering was carried over. Glad to hear they’re reliable.
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Probenja
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 18:23 |
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If she is going to keep it for a few years then I’d go for it, I still don’t trust Hyundai when it comes to long term quality where Honda has been proven that their cars can last, same with Toyota.
Have a look at the Mazda 3 or maybe some leftover Scion iM if you are looking at hatchbacks too.
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DynamicWeight
> Probenja
11/14/2016 at 19:35 |
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Yeah, I am a big Mazda fan, but the 3s are definitely more expensive. My mom has one and it is very nice. Toyota’s car have gotten crazy expensive compared to the competition too. Honda I keep hearing everyone say they’ve lost faith in.
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DynamicWeight
> JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
11/14/2016 at 19:40 |
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That’s really great to hear. Mentioning we’re considering a Hyundai get’s the inevitable horror stories thrown at me, but mostly they seem to be from non-owners who “have a friend with one”. I wonder how close that 8500 is to a real selling price.
Stapleface
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 19:43 |
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The new Elantra is a damn nice car. Although Ihave to admit I’m still on the fence about them too. Anecdotal evidence I know, but my sister and her husband have had 4 different Kia’s and they were dead reliable. One of those was my Brother in laws 2003 Rio. It was a good reliable commuter for 10 years.
If I were to recommend anything else in that price range it would be the Honda Fit or the Toyota Yaris is (Mazda 2).
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DynamicWeight
> Stapleface
11/14/2016 at 19:54 |
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Hmm, yeah, good suggestions but both of those cars just aren’t as spacious or nice as the Elantra (did I just say that?). Sitting in the Elantra really doesn’t feel like sitting in a compact car. It feels like there is space around you. I think it is because it has a more “classic” dashboard. Everything else in this segment the interior seems to want to swoop in at you from the sides, where as the Elantra is flat across. Plus the trunk is also somehow spacious. It’s weird.
Thanks for more stories about reliable Hyundai’s/Kias. I know they weren’t your cars, but did you get to see how the interior is holding up? Is stuff falling apart and broken or is it holding together nicely? My gf has kept her 2001 Jetta since nearly new and gotten it to 140,000 miles. So I have a feeling her next car is going to be similar haha.
Alfalfa
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 20:47 |
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The rear driver’s side door handle on our 2010 Sonata randomly fell off. That’s the only defect we’ve experienced in about 3 years of ownership. Also worth noting that all of their engines have timing chains rather than belts nowadays.
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JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 23:24 |
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also, little known fact: https://www.hyundaitechinfo.com/
FREE access to factory repair manuals in non-printable PDF with a valid Hyundai VIN. don’t know if they still do, but when I had mine they even offered a Free Hyundai-Specific OBD program for windows and modules for popular software upgradeable scantools.
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Stapleface
> DynamicWeight
11/14/2016 at 23:58 |
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My BIL’s Rio was in fine condition interior wise when he traded it in. Maybe a little wear on the seats. But then again he had roughly 150k on it. My sister’s Sedona was also pretty good. It took a lot of abuse being a minivan.
My BIL replaced the Rio with a 2012 Sportage and that’s been dead reliable. Probably the only thing wrong with it is the paint on the Kia logo de-laminated and fell off. My sister replaced the Sedona with a 2012 Soul. That one was in an accident 6 weeks after she bought it where she hit a broken down vehicle going about 40 mph. The Soul was totaled, but she walked away without a scratch. She just got in another accident with her current Soul last Monday. Again, hitting a stationary object at roughly 40mph, the car was totaled but she is okay besides a sore shoulder. FWIW her bags didn’t deploy (still trying to figure out why). She wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. Although she is leary that Karma is trying to tell her that she perhaps shouldn’t be driving this car. The only thing ever wrong with her Soul was it seemed to go through bulbs quickly. In the 4 years she had it she replaced both blinkers once and each taillight twice.
JEM
> DynamicWeight
11/15/2016 at 13:08 |
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I’ve had a 98 Tiburon and an 05 Tiburon that both went well over 150,ooo miles with no problems and held up fine. The only interior problem I ever remember was the overhead sunglass case thing getting jammed in one of the cars.
Just recently picked up an ‘11 Soul that I expect similar reliability out of.
They’ve been as good as Hondas for about 10 years now. The only thing is Honda/Toyota has more of a name and better resale value because of that. If you don’t care about resale value though, it’s a non-issue.