We have a new car and it didn't cost us an arm and a leg!!

Author's Rating:

Pros: great safety feautures, MPG, affordable, looks great, drives well

Cons: small spare tire

The Bottom Line: 
This is a great sporty little car that works great for a family of four

Author's Review
The time had come, we needed to get rid of our older car with it's 150,000 miles on it and find something that was going to be safe and reliable. We were at the point where little things here and there were going wrong on the car and the bill(s) to replace the items were starting to rack up.

We had only just decided to start looking at some cars and a good friend who worked at a dealership for 20 years prior actually helped us out on finding a good car that would work within our budget. My husband and I bought the Friday paper and looked at what they had on sale at different dealerships and then decided that we wanted to go out and try to get a Hyundai Elantra, (the accents are too small for a family of four and the Senatas were just out of our price range). Sure we had looked at the popular Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys, we even looked into some Saturns but all were fairly high priced for brand new and even their prices on some of the used models were just too much.

Since what we were looking at getting was the ad unit*, we made sure to call ahead and make sure they had at least one left. The salesman was very nice and we set up a time of the day to come in and take a test drive. This was also happening faster then I even realized it was going to! I figured we'd spend about a week looking in the papers for good deals until we found what we really wanted but we got lucky.

So why go with a Hyundai?

It wasn't too long ago Hyundais came out in the US and were call the "throw away cars". They were not (and still are not) as expensive as a brand new Honda or Toyota but the quality wasn't that great on them at first so their popularity did not grow as well as they had hoped. A lot of people had complaints about the engine desing and problems all around with the car.

They had to do some major changes on the Hyundais if they ever wanted to get the reputation that Honda and Toyota has, so Hyundai got a make over. They now offer some of the best warranties you can find and their customer service has gotten better with time too.

One main thing we looked at was price too, there is a considerable price jump from a Honda Accord (which is another car we were looking at) and the Hyundai Elantra and the features we got on the Elentra would have definitely cost us extra on the Accord.

Warranty

The Hyundai offers a wonderful 5 year/60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, a 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and a 5 year/unlimited mile roadside assistance warranty. Try getting that added to the sale of your Honda or Toyota and you will definitely be adding more to your purchase price.

We also added the "wrap around warranty" which covers all the electronics in the car that the other warranties do not cover I recommend getting it added too because now we know that the car is 100% covered in every way possible.

Features

4-cylinder 16-valve, dual-overhead cam engine
140 Horsepower
Air conditioning
Power steering
Front and side air bags for driver and passenger
Child safety locks
Electrically controlled mirrors
digital odometer
Power door locks
Power window locks
6 cup holders (OK I had to put this in there because I just went from a car that had ZERO cup holders to one with 6:)~)
Anti lock out lever in trunk
Rear seat comes down so you can get into the trunk that way
Automatic Transmission
22 MPG in the city
33 MPG on the Highway
Front and rear independent suspension
A standard stereo with 4 speakers and an AM/FM cassette
All the seat belt in the back seat are shoulder strap seats not just lap belts

Any complaints?
It does not have a full size spare tire and it does not come with cruise control.

One thing that can be annoying is the "check engine light" comes on when the gas cap does not get screwed on all the way or properly and it takes about three days for it to go off! I about had a heart attack when I saw the light come on only two days after having the car. Customer service told me that if it had not gone off in two or three days call them so they can reset the switch. Thankfully it went off on it's own in three days.

Performance and Handeling

We just went from a V6 to a 4 Cylinder so I put that into consideration when driving it (even though I didn't have to) and I was actually pretty impressed by what this little engine could do. Steering on the Hyundai was much smoother and easier then my old car and it handled like a dream. It hugs corners, stops quickly when needed and makes for a smooth ride all around.

There is more road noise in this car then the older one but it's a smaller car and closer to the ground. I have notice that after the first drive home from the dealership I have never really heard or paid much attention to the noise. So it doesn't get loud enough to be considered a nuisance.

Final thoughts

Hyundai has come a long way and put a lot of effort into loosing their "throw away car" rep. I feel that they have done a wonderful job with upgrading the quality of their cars. If you are out looking for a new Honda or Toyota I would recommend adding Hyundai onto your list of cars to take a look at, I imagine for the same price of a brand new Honda Civic you can get into the Elantra with all the extra perks! Take one for a test drive I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I am pleased to recommend this car to anyone! It offers great safety features and warranties that can't be beat else where! Hyundai's are making a come back and I'd recommend getting yours before they become as high priced as the Accords.




*~ An AD UNIT is when they offer a certain amount of brand new cars below their regular price. These are the ones you see in the paper most of the time. Sometimes they have four and other times there is only one left. There is nothing wrong with the car, they were just the ones that came in first and they needed to make room for newer models.