Iam thinking ofpurchasing a 2008 Elantra SE. My question to all of you is how well has your Elantra held up over the years? A friend of mine thinks that I should forget Hyundai andgo with the Honda Civic EX. His opinion is so what if Hyundai has a longer warrenty how good is it if the dash board is cracking and the plastic used on the interior is scratched up.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Actually they age quite well on the inside. Mine is two years old and still looks new. I've seen several much older Elantras that are in fine shape.

The warranty is not what most people think it is. It's a backhanded way of getting bottom feeders to do regular maintenance in an effort to shake the bad name Hyundai has had in the past. Cheapos buy a Hyundai cuz of the warranty, then find out they have to do all that maintenance to keep the warranty intact. In the end, the ones who do the regular maintenance really don't need the later part of the warranty because.... they've been properly maintaining their cars!

Because Hyundai has been an "economy" brand for so long, and their cars sell for a little less brand new, they attract a lot of people who are either first-time car buyers, or people who are strapped for cash. Neither group is the best at maintenance. But if they are trying to keep the warranty intact, it's a motivation for them to do the maintenance.

(Did that make sense?)

 

Oh... one other thing: One strong plus in my mind when I bought my Elantra was the interior design- the fit, the finish, the materials used, the sound deadening.... much better than, say, a Neon or a Focus which just OOZE cheapness. The Elantra doesn't feel that way at all to me; it feels more like a mini-Lexus .

 

I have a 2000 Elantra and a 2006 Sonata. The 2000 has aged OK considering what it has been through. My general feeling is that Hyundaishold up OK if they are maintained but the quality is not on par with other manufacturers. They have gotten better and my Sonata has a pricey feel to it that may or may not last with the quality of materials they used. However, that is not what they are about. They are about decent car at a decent price which measn they do not use the best materials like others may.

I leased my 2006 Sonata because after 3 years when it starts to deteriorate, I can simply give it back and will have saved on my monthly payments for those 36 months. No, I could not make up enough money by selling the car at the end of a 48 or 60 month purchase to recoup the difference between leasing and buying. Resale value on these stink will continue to stink as long as they position themselves as a value brand. My Elantra had about 3k of damage in an accident and the insurance company totaled it due to repairs costing more than the value of the car. Still a trooper after I repaired it on the cheap but 5 years after I paid 14k for one, I couldn't get 3k for it.

My buddy in his Acura TL can not pull away from me in my Sonata and he doesn't have anythingmy Sonata doesn't have(except for the in dash GPS but big deal) and my monthly payments are $185 vs. his $450. I'll take a Hyundai lease over the TL any day but I wouldn't ownit. In 60 months, he'll probably have50% value left in his car (if not more) while I probably couldn't get 15% value on my car. That to me is the diffrerence maker on buying versus leasing a Hyundai no matter how the thing holds up.

badwrench
'06 Sonata (poor man's TL)
'00 Elantra (wifemobile)
'96 Sonata (handed down to family and still kicking)

 

Hi,

I am in UK and have driven an Elantra for four years, and covered around 70,000 miles. The car was, and still is very tidy, inside and out and the mechanicals have suffered onlythree failures (a power steering hose, sticky reversing switchand the oil cooler) two within the first few thousand miles and one since. As an engineer this is acceptable as it follows the reliability pattern you might expect from an assembly of new components. Yes there are better examples of vehicle construction, but how much do you want to pay for it?

Mechanically my car is a little different being a diesel engine, and if they were still available in UK I would not hesitate to buy a new one when required, however it has been replaced with the Hyundai I30 and I am watching the reviews very carefully.

Dave.

PS this is my third Hyundai, and the slightly down market image here is great as it keeps the prices down, and theives are not likely to want to be seen dead in a Hyundai :-)

 

It's a great idea! I just bought a 2002 Elantra GT and the interior still looks great! The leather is in great shape considering its age. Also, I worked for an import dealer for several years that sold both Honda and Hyundai. By far, Elantra's have much nicer interiors than Civics with better quality parts. And with that new spaceship interior on the Civic, the Elantra blows it away. I would never reccommend a Honda over a Hyundai.

 

Hello there. Well, i purchased an 07 Elantra built in october of 06 and because it was an early model, i have had some issues but thats to be expected with any major redesign. The drivers seat had to be fixed on the track, it was sticking. The turn signal would not cancel when turning left. The glovebox rattled. The speedometer is off by 5 mph.The alignment was off as well. These are quite a few things, although most are minor and fixed under warranty. As long as the engine and trans hold up, it should be a nice vehicle. I switched to Amsoil 100 percent synthetic for maximum protection for the engine. I can go up to 25,000 on one change but i wont go that far i think, more like 15,000 to be safe. It will not void Hyundais warranty. I will try their trans fluid next to help protect those little gears in the 4 speed.

 

I was a little skeptical when I bought my '07 Elantra GLS in July, but so far I have nothing but good things to say about it. With the the way that I drive and maintain my car, I expect it to last for at least 200,000 miles. I could have paid more for the sure thing with Toyota or Honda, but with the way that Hyundai's reliability ratings have improved, there shouldn't be any problems. Call me old fashioned, but oil changes every 3000 miles or 4500 with synthetic is the way to go to keepyour engine happy.

 

I had a 1985 Honda Prelude which I maintained well (engine oil/filter changes every 2500 miles) and it still gave me problems.....replaced CV joints 4 times, rack and pinion wore out at 75k miles, carbs leaked fuel and A/C compressor went out. That's on top of the regular maintenance items like tires, brakes, clutch, etc. I had the timing belt changed at 60k miles like I was supposed to. At 99k miles it broke and the pistons smashed the top end. A totaled car. I sold it broken to an engineer who, with his son, fixed it up.

My mother still has a 1988 Honda Accord. She is now 84 years old, hardly tough on a car. It has 112k miles on it and had been through 2 transmissions. She did her tranny oil changes, too. The engines are decent but I don't know, we might have won the lottery on getting two pieces of junk. I do have to admit that her CV joints have only been replaced once. I want to like Honda but twice burned makes me skeptical.

I recently bought a 2005 Elantra and that was b/c my wife has a 2006 Elantra. I was so impressed with her car that I got one for myself. I have a friend who, along with his wife, both have Elantras and love them. They have over 75k miles and no issues.

I was told by someone in the car industry that Hyundai is gaining on Toyota's rep for quality.