Hi, I'm considering buying my first Hyundai. I've owned lots of GM products and I'm fed up with their garbage, I currently own a Ford and it's OK but I don't really like any of Fords current offerings in my price range -- all the other imports are too expensive for my budget. I looked at the Elantra GLS and it seems like a decent car, but I'm worried about the reliability / durability of the car and the warranty. If you guys & gals could help me out with a few questions I'd greatly appreciate it!! Is the warranty as good as it sounds? Cover parts & labor for the duration and is it transferable to a new owner on resale? What is a reasonable price to pay for an Elantra GLS w/ 5-speed, cruise control & the CD player? The local Las Vegas dealer has a stupid "LV Market Surcharge" of around $1700 on top of the MSRP. I don't know how firm they are on that & I would not buy the car if they play hardball -- I'd rather drive 100 miles to Arizona or California or anywhere else to save that kind of money. How much should I be paying for the car, rebates included?? I think the MSRP is something like $14,400. What is your overall opinion of this car? Is it a good machine for the money or are Hyundai's still disposable cars like they were in the past? Consumer Reports seems to give them a decent rating... Thanks for your input!!
A number of people have said, "For the Elantra, the 4-banger engine is not that reliable. Get the V6 if you can," on this newsfroup. In the USA, the powertrain warranty is not transferable to a new owner. Also remember that many dealers have many excuses about why your particular problem is not covered by the warranty and are very experienced at pulling those excuses from their arses. I'll let the Elantra owners answer that question. I've had a 2003 Tiburon for the last 1.7 years, and it's been great. It's been in the shop for scheduled maintenance, 2 recalls, and minor damage caused by me running over a raccoon at 70mph. No component failures, no weird problems, and only one of the recalls was serious ("If car is > 2 years old, rear brake lines may fail.") Tiburons are not Elantras, but if they built your Elantra the same way they built my Tiburon, you'll have few problems. HTH,
I love my Elantra GLS 2003. Almost 30k and no problems at all. As far as price I suggest checking at www.edmunds.com There you can put together the exact combination of options you want and see the invoice, MSRP, and what Edmund's calls TMV (true market value?).
I'm on my 4th Hyundai. While none of them were an Elantra, I believe the build good cars. There is no V6 availble on the Elantra in the US. The 10/100 powertrain waranty is only good to the original owener. (unless you sell or give it to someone else in the family. The 6 year / 60k mile bumper to bumper does transfer to subsequent owners. Absolutely you should skip that LV value fee. Lots of major metro areas are doing that now so make sure any negotiating you do is down from MSRP instead of MSRP + that BS fee. I have never had a problem getting waranty issues taken care of and I'm pretty picky about the slightest squeakes, rattles and nuisances if they arise. Just like any other make of car out there your view of the ownership experience is going to rely on how you feel the svc. dept. takes care of you. Some dealers are more sales oriented than service so ask around. When I moved across PA to where I am at now, I would politely stop people in parking lots and ask them who they used and what their opinion was. IMO.... I think all of Hyundai's line is full of goodies for less money than a comparable toyota or honda. Plus you get way more waranty coverage. The only downside I see is depreciation. Because of Hyundai's early flops in the US market they loose value more quickly than other makes. This isn't a big deal if you hold on to your cars for a while.
The four cylinder issues were in the Sonata, not the Elantra. The 4-cyl in the Elantra is the only engine available and it's quite reliable. Actually, the Elantra is very similar to the 4-cyl Tiburon.
The basic warranty is 5 years or 60k miles, whichever comes first. It covers pretty much the entire car (including the headlamp bulbs for no apparent reason) except for maintenance items. The radio is an exception (also for no apparent reason), and is covered for three years/36k miles. Maintenance items include bulbs, belts, brake pads, wipers, etc. and are covered for 1 year/12k miles. The powertrain coverage which is not transferable to future owners is for 10 years/100k miles. It covers internal engine parts and internal trans parts, water pump, gaskets, timing belt (provided you replace it when it's time), motor mounts, drive axles, and drive axle bearings.
I was curious... how much did you pay for your Elantra and what options did it include? Edmunds says the TMV for the model I'm after, in Las Vegas, should be around $11,000 Thanks.
I think the 2.7L in the Elantra 5-door would be an instant hit. Even with the lame 4-speed auto, and preferably the 6 speed stick as an option. So with the 2.7, add the AWD option. It wouldn't be hard to drop a Tuscon setup in there. Audi gets like $40k for the same basic package - wake up Hyundai! Oh, and they could spare the Santa Fe owners the 2.7... its a bit too heavy of a car for it, and the 4 speed automatic's gearing sucks for it. The 3.5's wider torque band and the 5 speed automatic are a serious upgrade. Add the engine/awd options, get some non-cheap looking paint, and add some decent comfortable seating - Hyundai will have surefire winner.... JS
A quick note from A 2004 Hyundai Elantra 4 door sedan owner. I am fairly happy with the car, however there are some problems that I do have: 1- Vibration noises in the interior when driving on the highway. It almost sounds like lose metal in the doors. I took it to the dealer about 4 times, they finally pulled the panels and tightened something up, it's mostly gone but crops up from time to time still. 2- Brakes were making a grinding noise. They ended up replacing a bunch of brake parts and it fixed it. 3- More wind noise then I would like driving on the highway. Here are some of the pros 1- I have not been into putting my own car stereo into my car since I was in my teens, however I decided to get Sirius radio, I bought a new tuner and the Sirius box. I have to say Hyundai made it easy to add your own components, no BS plastic adapters, real straight forward. 2- Coldest A/C I have ever seen in any car bar none. 3- The V4 is really peppy, it's not slow or sluggish at all, when I push the gas down it really knocks you back and takes off. 4- Handling is real good in this car, it takes curves well at higher speeds and drives like a much more expensive car in general. 5- Gas per mile is not too bad although there are better cars out there in this category. 6- The 10 year warranty can not be beat, and the service is average. 7 - Lots if extras in the car, you get allot for your money. All in all I rate this car a 7 on a scale of 1 -10. Of course I reserve the right to change this at any time since I have had it only for about a year and 15,000 miles. Sirobin
also check carsdirect.com for their price then see if you can do better at a dealer. I couldn't find a dealer who would match or beat the carsdirect.com price so I bought a Sonata from them. (2004 Sonata LX for $16,200).
I also second the suggestion to check carsdirect.com price before you go to a dealer. In fact, print out carsdirect quote and take it with you. I did that, and the local Chicago dealer dropped his price to within couple hundred dollars, which was good enough for me. Unlike Edmunds, MSN Auto, or similar pricing services, carsdirect will find you a car at the quoted price, so many dealers treat their quote the same as a quote from a local competitor. I own a loaded 2002 Elantra GT hatchback for which I paid around 15k almost three years ago. I had no major problems with it: two visits to a dealer (one of which was to address two recall issues) and regular maintenance at a nearby shop. It seems the Hyundai dealers have been raising their service/maintenance prices quite a bit lately. When I took my Elantra for a recall service, I asked about 30k service that I will need to do soon. They quoted close to $600, which IMHO is about $400 too high. Anyway, while there is no perfect car, and your particular vehicle may have more problems than the average Hyundai, chances are good that you'll be a happy camper. HTH, la
The rotors rust quickly, so it's not unusual to hear a slight grinding after driving in the rain or leaving the car set for several days. It goes away after the brakes have been applied a few times. My Elantra is the quietest car I've owned, so I guess this depends on what kind of vehicle you're coming from. The A/C is cold, but the heater is not as good as it could be. The defroster is coupled to the A/C, so it's not nearly as hot as it should be. I agree with your performance comments, but the engine is not a V4, it's a dual overhead cam inline 4 I found it to have too much understeer in it's stock configuration. This is easily remedied by installing the 19mm rear sway bar from the '03 Tiburon (the stock Elantra bar is 13mm). This flattens out the handling dramatically with no loss of ride quality. The parts run $135-$160 through the dealer. I average between 30 and 34 mpg in mostly highway and back road driving (not much city or stop and go commuting). That's quite good for a 2 liter engine. The service is ENTIRELY dependent on the dealer, which is true with most cars. I happen to have an honest, trustworthy dealer in town, but I still do most of my own work and the car has only been back to them for a single recall in the 14K miles I've owned it. Absolutely! It was the value for the money, combined with a good experience with an Excel that convinced me to buy the Elantra GT hatchback. The $2000 rebate at the time of purchase iced the deal for me. At this point, I'd rate it at more like an 8.5.
I paid $13,725 last April for my '04 Elantra GT hatchback. That included a $2000 rebate. There is nothing in the $30K service that you can't do yourself. Keep receipts for parts and fill out the Maintenance Log that comes with the car, and the warranty will remain in force. BTW, this is federal law, not an opinion or something that's subject to the whims of the company.
Between my children and I, we own five Hyundai's. We have never paid even as much as the dealer invoice, generally $300-$1000 less. Most dealers will let you see the invoice (early in negotiations) trying to make you think that that is what they really pay for the car. They don't, they pay much less. Ignore the MSRP, except to find out what's on the car, and any other add-on stickers. Most dealers will add a 5$ pin strip and rust guard as soon as they get the car and then try to charge you $500 - 1000 for it. I always thank them for it after I buy the car. Some will also try to charge you $400-500 for prepping the car. That really takes balls. Just remember, your job is to get the car as cheap as you can, the dealer will take care of himself. He will not sell the car and lose money. Don't be afraid to walk out if they don't want to deal. They will generally call you up the next day offering to meet your deal or come a lot closer. It does help if you have multiple dealers around that you can go to. bill
Thanks for all the input everyone! I took the plunge last weekend and drove home with my new Elantra. So far I am very happy with it. Nice solid feeling car and I truly believe it is the best value for the money. I got it for just over $11,000 with a 5-speed standard tranny and it feels like a rocket compared to most other cars in this price range. The cheapest Honda had virtually no options, a gutless engine, shorter warranty and less room in the drivers seat (I'm very tall so this was a big selling point). Highway driving seems nice and quiet to me very no noticeable wind noise & I have plenty of power for merging on and passing other cars. Now the big test will be durability. Just from my overall impression of the car at this point it feels well built so I am hopeful that it will be a good car. Thanks again!
I am extremely happy with my Elantra GT 2003. I never owned a foreign car, but have to admit it is great. Mine had a sticker barely under $16K and I paid $13,300 + tax. I think I did OK. The only option I don't have is a moonroof (which I did not want). I would aim for a minimum of $2K off the sticker. Maybe more. Good luck. *-------------------------------* NEVER FORGET!!! http://cf1.newsday.infi.net/911/victimsearchframe.cfm?id=2105
