I'm very excited to have boughta used 2006 Elantra VE (4 door sedan) last week.

Before I bought it, I asked around about Hyundais in general and the compromise seemed to be that they are on their way up in terms of reputation and reliability.

In any case, I would like to know from other Elantra owners (preferably in the 04-06 range as comparables, but please share thoughts either way!) if they can offer any advice, observations, praise or whatever they please to reinforce that I have made the right choice!

How is your car on gas?

What are good tires to buy (what size or make, considering I live in Canada where we have strong winters as well)?

What are steps I can take to maximize the use of my car (its my first car, I want to treat it well and keep it maintained)?

Thanks in advance!

 

Hello there and congrats on your first car purchase! The first thing i would do with your new car is of course, any immeiadte maintenence that might be necessary. How many miles or km's do you have on the car? If the car has under 50,000 miles, i would recommend switching to Amsoil synthetic motor oils. I did in all of my vehicles and it provides the best protection for your car in terms of lubrication, cold start protection, and length of time between changes. If it has over 50,000 miles i recommend using Amsoils engine flush first. I also recommend changing your transmission fluid if it has an automatic transmission. This is vital, especially in our cars because Hyundai car transmissions tend to break down the fluid rather quickly. I recommend Amsoil fluid in it as well. Go to the Amsoil website to find out more. You will need to use the 5w 30 synthetic motor oil known as ASL. Also you will need an Amsoil EA series oil filter so you can go 15,000 miles between each oil change. The stuff works and i use it in all of my cars. Fuel economy improves too.

In terms of tires, my Hankook Optimo tires that came with my 07 Elantra are holding up well after 26,000 miles. I would recommend these to any Elantra owner. Your spark plugs should be changed every 30,000 miles and your timing belt should be changed every 60,000 miles. This is the most important piece of maintenence you can do next to changing the oil!!! If you dont change the timing belt and it breaks, your engine can be destroyed. Please make sure to do so and your car should give you many trouble free miles. The 06 Elantras were pretty reliable aside form some minor electrical problems like power windows and some climate control door issues but the engine and transmission "manual" were very good. A car is only as good as its upkeep for the most part, with some exceptions of course. Feel free to contact me with any more questions. Good luck and happy motoring!

 

Look at your owners manual for the maintenance schedule. I actually use dino oil. I was thinking about synthetic, but I never started using it.

Two things about maintenance:

1. Make sure you get the right oil filter for your car. It seems to be less of an issue now, but in the past I think Fram had the same filter for Honda and Hyundai applications. The problem is that there is a bypass valve in the filter for times when oil demand is high, and Honda specifies a higher pressure for the valve to open. If you put the Honda-spec filter on a Hyundai, you can get oil starvation leading to engine problems. Several years ago Hyundai issued a technical service bulletin about this issue and made it clear that this was *not* a warranty issue. I've always used OEM oil filters because of this. I've heard that Purolator and WIX are also good for Hyundais.

2. If you have an automatic transmission, be very careful what fluid goes into it. Only SP III AT fluid can be used. "Universal" fluids are not universal and can damage a Hyundai transmission. The best bet is to only go to a Hyundai dealer for transmission flush. In my case it was no more than going to an outside shop.

Other than that, these cars are pretty bullet-proof. Good luck and enjoy your ride!

 

Thanks to both of you for your inputs.

My car has 58 000 kms on it (36000 Miles).

The oil was changed when I first got it, but I will make sure that they use the proper filter when needed.

For the transmission fluid, if I understand correctly, my best option would be to go to the dealer ? I thought that a safe bet would be for me to go to the dealer sometime in the next few months to insure that the car is properly looked after. Is it much pricier to go to the dealer, or does it depend on the work done?

The problem I am having right now is that the car is pulling right. The used dealer that I got it from took it back last week to get the wheels aligned and the tires rotated, which I thought would fix the problem, but it persists. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to take care of that shortly and that could happen to any car.

All and all, after almost 10 days, I love the car. I like the way it holds the road and it seems like the perfect car for me.

 

My local dealer is competitive with private shops, but you have to check. For my 30,000 mile service I got the transmission and radiator flushed for less than $200 total. They wanted to charge me $330 butI had them take off all the services that weren't listed in the manual and it cut over $100 off the bill. I did the oil change myself as well as the air filter.

 

Make sure that if your car in an auto, and you do a transmission flush, to use the dearler only tranmission fluid. Anything else willruin you transmission. Then you will need a whole new transmission, and OUCH $$$$$$ in the pocket book!!

 

Welcome to the forum. I agree with "Elantra" above. Hyundai has a very specific trans fluid so be sure whoever does the trans flush uses the correct fluid.

 

I have another question, hopefully someone here can reassure me.

As mentionned above, my car was pulling right when I first got it from a dealer. I brought it in and he had a tire alignment and a wheel rotation performed, but a few days later I noticed that I thought it was still pulling right.

I bought a tire pressure indicator (forgive me if I don't know the technical term!) and got all tires to 30,5 PSI, (recommended is 30) and problem seemed better, but still I seem to be going right on my own (letting go the wheel and such). I read that it might just be the streets, because most of them are slightly inclined for the water to drain and such.

Now it's slight pull, I might just be paranoid!

Is the steering wheel on the Elantra sensitive? (the cars I've driven before for extended periods of time are a Nissan Sentra, a Toyota Echo... Perhaps are not as sensitive, making me think that the Elantra is sensitive?)

I also noticed that the two front tires have a bigger MAX capacity for air, being 44 PSI, when the back tires have a 36 PSI maximum.... this must be normal? As you guys can tell, i'm still learning some basics when it comes to these things!

I'm thinking of getting new tires at some point, but perhaps I'll have to wait until winter to have winter tires installed (we just had a record snowfall in our city and our winters can be harsh).

Last question: You guys suggest specific Hyundai Transmission fluid... If I go to an independant dealer or an oil-change garage chain, will they know specifically what to use or should I ONLY go to the dealer to have the fluid change?

THANKS again to all of you for your advice, I really want to treat the car right!

 

Chances are that if you go to an independent station they will put in a "universal" AT fluid. Ask them whatfluid they will use on your Hyundai. If they don't immediately say "SP III" they don't know what they're talking about and you should go somewhere else. If they say they have a "universal" that meets SP III specs, I still wouldn't believe them. The owners manual states: "Use HYUNDAI GENUINE ATF SP III, DIAMOND ATF SP III, SK ATF SP III or other brands approved by Hyundai Motor Co., when adding or changing fluid. Using the wrong ATF may result in damage to the ATM."

Amsoil, for instance, claims their fomulation works for SP III applications. I've heard that Hyundai is reviewing it but hasn't approved it yet. Amsoil may work fine, but if it doesn't, Hyundai will not cover any repairs under warranty if you have a transmission problem.

 

As far as the steering goes, the steering on Elantras is very sensitive, kind of like there is too much assist. The biggest thing is to just get used to it. If you decide you don't like it there are some fairly simple modifications that you can do that will alter the ride and steering feel that cost about $100-300 for parts. You can upgrade your rear sway bar to the one from the Tiburon, which decreases the body roll in turns, and you can add a front strut bar which reduces deflection of the shock towers to give more precise steering. I've done both of these. The sway bar is the biggest improvement, but the front strut bar helps too. It doesn't seem to want to wander as much. These are both things you can do yourself with simple tools. (The rear sway bar might be a challenge if the car has seen northern winters due to corrosion of nuts and bolts underneath the car.)