Hyundai Elantra Prices Paid and Buying Experience

themanx

John what I do when the dealer has a figure that is too high,.. he already knoww the price I wrote done on a sheet of paper... so if it is only a few hundred buck difference.. Tell him you will split the baby and close the deal.

ElantraStan

cgr45

Hello everyone.

My friend just purchased a 02 Elantra GT 5-door fully loaded. The car is in excellent condition. Clean inside and out. I test drove it for about 10 minutes. It drives great. The car has 52,000 miles. The dealer wanted $11,995. She talked them down to $9750. With taxes and registration total is $10,439. What are some of the weaknesses of this vehicle? What should she keep an eye on?
Thank you for your time.

johneh

...not sure I'm following you. Thank You, none the less!

Does anyone have further input??? (See Messages #617 and #618.) Please HELP SOON. Thanks!

-John

altsuv

johneh,

I'm sorry, but I never bought a new car, so I have no experience on which to base my opinions, but here goes:

If Edmunds TMV for your area is $14,255 for the GT, then go in and offer them $13,500. Heck, offer them $13,000! The worst they could do is say no.

Go with the GT if you can afford it. I wish I could have found a used GT (I love hatchbacks), but they were scarce, so I settled on an '02 GLS. Good luck!

backy

Anything near invoice (before rebates and other discounts) is good for a car in short supply. The GT qualifies, at least for that dealer (they only have 4). I'd offer them a little below invoice, maybe $300 less (be sure you agree on what that is--they may try to add stuff like "advertising fee" to their invoice), before rebates. Try to get them to agree to the same invoice price that Edmunds.com publishes.

That strategy gives you some room to "move up" to invoice and also provides the possibility that they'll go lower than invoice. They can still make money on a car at or a little below invoice due to holdback and factory-to-dealer incentives.

The other thing I'd do is bring in a check for your offer (w/o tax and license). Put it on the table when you make your offer. It shows them you are serious and will buy the car RIGHT NOW if the price is right. You can always write another check for the full amount with tax and license or arrange financing through them, whichever works best.

altsuv

That's awsome. FWIW, I think that's a pretty good price.

Congrats & good luck with it!

johneh

Wow! What happened to my post about buying my GT? #624??? Please explain!

-johneh

lee_w

Check your email. It looks like it has a salesman name. You can edit and re post.

krispy

04 GLS, with package 3 upgrade of cd and cc, mud flaps, cargo net, mats and spoiler.

$14,982 -$2500 rebate and loyalty= $12,492

Is this price ok?

backy

This is different from what you posted in the Elantra discussion. Which is the correct price?

krispy

04 GLS with option pac 3 cd+cc, flaps, mats, cargo net, bug deflector and spoiler.

$12482 after rebate and loyalty.

Price ok?

krispy

After looking at the offer again it is

14,982 - 2,500 rebate+loyalty = 12,482

badreligion702

I bought a Sterling 04 GT Sedan Automatic with no option packages at the end of July for $14,000 out the door(tax, title and destanation). They also gave me $1500 for my trade in( a 97 Mitsu Mirage LS 4 door in bad need of a paint job, a lot of minor body work, new rotors and pads and it just kinda sucked), so I ended up just writing them a check for $12,500 and called it a day.
This was at Planet Hyundia in Las Vegas. My salesman was an idiot(didn't put the temp tags on my car, didn't fill up the gas tank, told me the car was there when it was on another lot across town, and he kept disapearing), but thankfully his boss seemed alot more knowledgable about everything.

flipexed

I'm here in Biloxi MS and I'm really interested in an 04 GLS w/#3package. This will be my first new car purchase. The internet guy quoted me a price of $12,562.00 after 1,500 rebates/taxes/fees. I have a junky 93 pontiac gt to trade (at most $500) and am in the military another $500. So grand total would probably be around $11,500 Is that a fair price for this car? But i'm a little bit pessemistic about me getting financed with my 641 credit score . I do have a little money for a downpayment (2,500). Any input is welcome.

1racefan

According to Edmunds' finance section, they list 620 and below as subprime. You said you are at 641. You mentioned that you are in the military. Are you a member of any military / government credit unions? If so, I would definitely reccomend talking to them and trying to get preapproval before stepping food in a dealership. See if you can get preapproval, and at what interest rate, then make the dealer try to beat that rate if they can. If your credit union quotes you something like 5.5%(just picking a random #), and then the dealer can beat it, by even half a percent, that still saves you hundreds over the life of the loan - so it is worth the time to at least have the dealer check to see if they can beat it. Whatever you do, do not let on to the dealer that you have any doubts about your credit being good enough to get a good interest rate.
In terms of the price of the car, I can't really help you there. My wife's Elantra is a 2002, and it was purchased back at the end of 2001. I honestly haven't kept up with the Elantra prices since we bought hers back then - Plus we are in a different part of the country than you. Scan back through some of these other posts, and you should get a pretty good idea of what is a good deal, and what isn't. I can tell you that you should be able to get something off that internet quote. I have never had a dealer quote me their "best" price over e-mail.

flipexed

Thankyou for the response. I took your advice and have obtained 6% preapproval from a credit union. I've also been checking the other hyundai dealerships around here. A few in New Orleans and one in Alabama. The prices quoted by each are quite similir and only off by a couple hundred. So there would be no cost benefit to drive that extra hour to another dealership. One thing thats bothering me though the original car salesman that quoted me $12,562.00 has now changed the quote to around $13,000 with an out the door price of close to around $14,000. That seems a little shady to me, that and a new carsalesman is dealing with me now, his story was that his boss told him the wrong price. I've done some email tag contesting the price, following the EDMUNDS tips with no avail. I'm due for a visit next tuesday to test drive the car, i'm thinking i should'nt go in until the price goes down in my favor. I'm getting bad vibes from this local dealership, Should I just go elsewhere or give em a chance and go for that test drive?

themanx

Give them a chance, if you are serious about purchasing the vehicle, money talks. They won't give you firm pricing until you are ready to lay down some cash.

I would still be firm on the Edmumds TMV pricing as a guide. The 04's have a $1500 rebate that should help get that pricing down.

I am in New Orleans and have done business with both local Hyundai dealers with no problems.

ElantraStan

1racefan

One other thing....
I NEVER talk in terms of monthly payments when I am at a dealership. I break the deal down into 3 parts:
1) We first negotiate and agree on the price of the car.
2) Then, we negotiate and agree on the value of the trade-in.
3) Lastly, I will tell the dealer that I have been preapproved for my own financing and the interest rate is X%(6% in your case). I also tell them that they may run my credit and try to beat the interest rate if they want. I have encountered some dealers that just told me up front that they wouldn't be able to beat it, but in other cases, the dealer has been able to beat the rate I walked in with. Also tell them how many months you want to finance for. I take a financial calculator with me that will calculate monthly payments. I like to "check behind" the finance guy to make sure that when he tells me X number of dollars financed for 36 months at X percentage rate is such and such per month. You would be suprised how many people go into dealerships and say they want to pay $300 / month, and never even bother to ask what interest rate they are getting, or how many months they will be paying that $300 - just so long as they get to that $300 / month figure.

mike91326

One other thing you might do is go to carsdirect.com. You can select the options based on the car the dealer has and if the Carsdirect price is lower tell the dealer that's the most you will pay. Tell them that if they can't meet the price you will buy it from Carsdirect.

tishlu

Hi, I'm new to posting but have been reading this board the last couple of days doing research. Thanks for all the input everyone! It's been very informative :-)

My question is I've found a 2003 Elantra GT Hatchback at 19,600 miles, leather interior and moonroof for $11,300. It's very clean inside and out with no visible problems. I'm going to get a history of the vehicle, but first I wanted to know if this seemed like a fair price. In my opinion, it seems like a really good deal. I went to the dealership yesterday and negotiated a price of $15,250 for a brand new 2004 Elantra GT Hatch (same options as above). Does anyone have input on the used and or new prices I've mentioned? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

backy

Is this an automatic or stick (I'll assume it's an automatic based on the price). Is the $15,250 for the '04 GT before tax, license, and fees? If not, what is the price before those add-ons? If it is the price before the add-ons, I think it is way too high. Invoice on the car is $15,536, and there's a $1500 rebate. So I think a price closer to $14,000 is about right, before tax, license, and fees.

As for used, $11,300 sounds about right, if it's been well-maintained and is in outstanding condition.

bikerpa

Welcome to the boards!

What are the additional options from base that you're looking at? I paid $11,622 for an '04 with eight miles on the odometer, but it was stickshift with no moonroof/abs/anything. On the other hand, the '04 has nicer leather and a Kenwood, among other lesser improvements from the '03. I hope you're looking at an auto, as a stick for $11k+ at 19k doesn't seem like that good a deal. Edmunds lists a silver 03 hatch with auto/sunroof in silver where I am (South Carolina) and that mileage right at $11,373 as dealer retail, so it sounds about right.

lovetosavegas

I got a new car last week-end and would like to share positive experience. It is Silver '05 GLS MT with no options. Well it comes standard with everything that I need. Bought it at Champion Hyundai in Houston. E-mailed to 5-6 dealerships in the area and received a few quotes. I didn't negotiate and agreed to buy a car from a dealer who provided the best price.
There was no surprises at the dealership. 5 minutes in the finance department but had to wait 1 - 1.5 hours for detailing.
Paid 10788+TTL + 50$ doc fee + 28$ inventory fee for a total of 11677$
Good car, good price, good service. Highly recommend.

tishlu

I wanted to thank "lovetosavegas","bikerpa", and "backy" for all the advice.

Yes, the new 04 is an automatic and has all of the available options (moonroof, abs, etc.)

I think I'm leaning towards purchasing the used GT, as it seems a fair price (it also has all available options). I would like to talk the seller down a bit since it's been listed for quite some time. I'm okay with buying the used one because of Hyundai's outstanding warranty.

Thanks again!

duckied

Hello,

Today I bought my first Hyundai, a 2005 Elantra GLS with automatic transmission for $11,287 plus tax and tags. I searched around the internet for quotes, and then eventually called some dealers. The vehicle was purchased from Northeast Hyundai in Philadelphia. I bought from them because they gave me the best deal. I like the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty, because I keep my cars for a very long time. I'm enjoying it so far...

duckied

john_w

People here have used the TMV and other info and tools from edmunds.com and solicited bids form multiple dealers.

Has anyone used the services of Consumer Reports?

For $12 they offer info that might not be available for free, such as unadvertised incentives and holdbacks the dealers may have received. If there are any for a particular car, then the dealer paid less than invoice.

They also make recommendations on what options to get and alternative cars to consider.

Most of this appears to duplicate what you can get from edmunds, except the dealer incentives and holdbacks.

Does anyone have experience with this service or an opinion?

--John

backy

You can get everything here except the factory-to-dealer incentives. But you might be able to get even those here by watching discussions like this one. I found out about a $500 factory-to-dealer incentive on my '01 Elantra through an Edmunds discussion when I bought it four years ago. That was the only kind of rebate available on the Elantra at the time. If CR can tell you about those, it might be worth the $12.

john_w

Since the Elantra GLS 5-door has a low TMV and now a $1,250 rebate as well, it seems unlikely that it would also have a dealer incentive. But it might, and if does, that, as you say, would be worth $12 to know. If there are no dealer incentives, then the $12 would at least assure me that I hadn't missed something.

Of course, if I could get this info for free from discussions like this one and could know that the source had it right, that would be even better.

Can you (or anyone else) suggest other "discussions like this one"?

backy

No, not here--they will be deleted by our diligent Host.

You are right--the odds of there being factory-to-dealer incentives on the Elantra GLS 5-door are slim to none right now. I'd save the $12 and use the data you have right here.

There is another way to test for dealer incentives--make an offer a bit below invoice (before the $1250 rebate) and see what the dealer says. There can be incentives just for that dealer (e.g. make a certain sales volume and get a bonus). You can always raise your offer if the dealer says no.

john_w

In case anyone who belongs to AAA (as I do) isn't already aware of this, AAA can get a bid for you from the car dealers they work with. At least, the people at my local AAA office suggested that I have them do this. There's no charge. Perhaps they can get a lower bid than I could on my own. (We shall see.) They said the bid would be some amount over invoice--take it or leave it.

Has anyone used this service? What was your experience? (I probably should post this on a more general discussion board. Of course, I'd be all the more interested if the car was an Elantra.)

Kirstie_H

This would be a great question to post in a discussion on the Smart Shopper board - that's the best place for general purchasing advice.

And sorry, no, we can't direct you to other boards - kinda defeats our purpose Plus, Google can be a searcher's best friend.

kirstie_h
Roving Host & Future Vehicles Host

backy

Got one of those special letters from Hyundai today--the ones that look like something important, like a recall. It was an offer from my dealer to sell me a new Hyundai for less than what their employees pay. $4500 discounts on Elantras--or under $13k for a fully-loaded Elantra GT automatic. Another dealer advertised an automatic package 2 GLS for $9495 this past weekend (with loyalty rebate). Almost low enough for me to trade my '01 GLS. Almost. But if you were waiting for a great deal on a '04, now might be a good time, before all the '04s were gone. I remember that by last Christmas, my local dealers were nearly out of the '03 Elantras.

bob123

Be careful on a used one -- they only have 5 year warranty. Only first owner has 10 year warranty.

john_w

I talked to the Hyundai dealer in Ontario, California today (over the phone because I live 200+ miles away). They offered to sell me a 2005 Elantra GLS 5-door 5-speed manual with package 6 (cruise control, stereo upgrade, ABS with traction control, and moonroof) for $400 over invoice + tax, before the $1250 rebate. However, they said that their invoice included a $492 advertising fee.

I did a search through this discussion board and found that advertising fees have been discussed a couple of times since June 2004, and according to danf1 and backy, this fee is legitimate, if it’s on the factory invoice, and also the amount can vary from region to region.

I was taken aback over the phone and disappointed to learn here that it may be legitimate. How is it that some people on this board are buying new Elantras, for which the fees are only a $50 document fee and a $25 fee for something else?

By the way, I can’t very well check whether the advertising fee is on the factory invoice if I’m so far away, can I? I mean, I could ask them to fax me a copy of the invoice, but is that a reasonable thing to ask for?

I suspect that all I can do is solicit bids from other dealers and see if I’m offered a better deal. Am I missing some options here?

Thanks,
John

themanx

But still negotiable. Edmunds states that 1 to 3% is acceptable. So if can get the price to the TMV
that Edmunds gives you on the car, you have got a deal.

Work the on the trade a few bucks, you should be able to get the deal to within a few hundred bucks and then when it gets to a stale mate, split the difference with them and call it a deal!

But be seriuos and ready to by... ready to take delivery and cash, and loan papers helps to.

Be sure to try Captial One for a new car loan. I have used it 5 times to buy cars and nobody ever can beat it.
Hope that helps.

ElantraStan

backy

Since you live so far away from the dealer, I think it is reasonable to ask them to fax you a copy of the factory invoice, showing the advertising charge. Since invoice charges aren't a secret any more, they shouldn't object if the advertising fee shows up on the invoice.

Funny thing about these advertising charges... they appear to be regional. In shopping at four different Hyundai dealers in my area, and buying two cars from them, an advertising charge came up only once. No other dealer even mentioned it, and it was not mentioned or added to the price of the car on the two cars I purchased.

john_w

“I think it is reasonable to ask them to fax you a copy of the factory invoice. . .”—backy

If I don’t get a better offer elsewhere, I’ll do that. The worst that can happen is that they decline.

“In shopping at four different Hyundai dealers in my area, and buying two cars from them, an advertising charge came up only once.”—backy

There are about 4 dealers in California to the south (depending on how many miles I’m willing to go) and 2 dealers to the north in Nevada. Right now I have a bid from only one dealer. For all I know, the dealers in Nevada may have no advertising fee or only a small one. We shall see.

Thanks, backy.

--John

john_w

“Edmunds states that 1 to 3% is acceptable.”—ElantraStan

I missed this statement. Although I never saw any mention of advertising fees on edmunds, I believe you.

When you say 1 to 3%, I’m not sure what that’s 1 to 3% of. But for the sake of calculation, I’ll use the invoice. The invoice for the car I want with the options package and destination charge is $14,793 (not including the claimed ad fee). The dealer says that the advertising fee is $492. 492 is about 3.3% of 14793. So, the ad fee appears to be rather high. 1 to 3% of 14793 is about $148 to $444.

“. . . if can get the price to the TMV that Edmunds gives you on the car, you have got a deal.”—ElantraStan

Edmunds TMV for the car is $15,300. The dealer bid is $14,793 + $492 (ad fee) + $400 (profit margin) = $15,685. So, their bid is $385 over the TMV. Unless they make a lower bid, I plan to go elsewhere.

Thanks, ElantraStan. You guys are great.

I’ll report back when I have several bids.

By the way, I always get Server Error when I try to solicit a bid through hyundaiusa.com. Good thing we have edmunds!

--John

Kirstie_H

Hi john_w,
We have a word about advertising fees in our frequently asked questions section.

Our experts (and many members) recommend bargaining for an "out-the-door" price, meaning you want a firm number that includes all fees before you set foot in the finance office. That way, you can avoid surprises, and if the final paperwork doesn't show the agreed price, you know something is amiss.

Definitely keep bargaining. Many Hyundai owners here are very pleased with their vehicles; however, the downside is that they tend not to hold value for re-sale. Overpaying for this car could put you in a negative equity position when it's time to sell.

kirstie_h
Roving Host & Future Vehicles Host

themanx

Well if you are only $385 over Edmunds TMV, and it is the car you want.. ask them to "split the baby".

If they drop the price $194.50 and you eat the $194.50, that's a deal in my book.

Also, get them to throw in a radio with a cd, a cargo net, mud guards, free oil changes.... you get the point.

Best of luck!

ElantraStan

john_w

First of all, now that I’ve gotten over my dismay about advertising fees, I’ve finally noticed the links to About Advertising Fees on many web pages of Edmunds. A good example of seeing what I wanted to see and ignoring the rest!

As our host, Kristie, says, I’d be better off talking about the out-the-door total. Also, I think it might be smarter to not talk about how much over invoice, but how much less than TMV instead. I say this because when you take the invoice of the car with options and destination charge, as shown on Edmunds, and add the advertising fee and some additional for the dealer, the total can easily be more than the TMV.

The thing about TMV is that it’s not about invoice or advertising fees or any of that, at least not directly. The TMV is the Edmunds determination of how much people in a given area (zip code) are paying for a given car. If the TMV is accurate, why should I pay more than TMV? In a recent email to a dealer, I said I’d appreciate a bid—not to exceed the TMV, which I provided, along with a link where they could confirm that I’d quoted the TMV correctly.

Of course, a dealer just might not be willing to sell at TMV. And, perhaps if the car I want is scarce (as Elantras with ABS apparently are), they may prefer to bide their time with the expectation of selling the car to someone else for a higher price. However, if they sell the car to me, they can probably get another Elantra GLS 5-door with ABS from Hyundai, if they want one, and sell it to someone else who’s never heard of TMV. (This is consistent with scarcity, since the dealer may be able to get only one such car at a time.) In other words, why pass up an opportunity to sell a car? Unless the dealer has decided that the TMV doesn’t provide an acceptable profit margin—which sounds strange to me, assuming the TMV is accurate.

As for splitting the difference, that’s a good point, even though most of the things you suggest asking them to throw in don’t interest me. (For example, the dealer won’t be changing my oil for free or otherwise, since I live 200 miles away.) Still, a good point; I may need to be more imaginative and flexible.

By the way, the TMV for the car is almost $200 more in southern California than it is in northern Nevada.

I hope I’m not driving everyone crazy with this blow-by-blow account.

Thanks, Christie and ElantraStan.

--John

smith20

I think different dealers have different strategies. Some dealer's will bide their time and wait for an uninformed shopper to come through the door and then they try to sell a car for a giant profit. Others will go for a higher volume and sell their cars at a more reasonable price like Edmund's TMV.

Last May, the first dealer we contacted tried to dupe us by initially agreeing to good price, but then saying he made a "mistake" and then changed the price $2000 higher. I am 24 and my wife is 23 and we look young. I guess the salesperson also thought we looked naive because he said his "best offer" was $2,000 above when the Edmund's TMV was. I guess he thought we would go ahead and sign the deal out of impatience.

We ended up reaching a deal with another dealer in our area and ended up about $100 less than Edmund's TMV. We braced ourselves for smoke and lies when we met in person, but they were honest and we did the whole transaction quickly at the agreed upon price.

So we came to the conclusion that the first dealer would rather wait and sell less cars at a giant profit for each car whereas the other dealer was willing to move a high volume at straightforward, reasonable, deals. It's just two different strategies I guess.

Often when we see a car bought from the first dealership, we say to each other "they much have gotten ripped off."

I think you'll have less bargaining leverage looking for an ABS equipped Elantra as opposed to the next step down. We started off looking for ABS, but the supply was too small and it seemed like we couldn't get a good deal from anyone, so we ended up shopping for the GT package 7, which is in much greater supply and thus greater dealer-dealer competition to help us get a good price.

backy

Re bargaining leverage... be sure the dealer knows that you know that there are other cars with ABS that you could buy (even if you wouldn't), e.g. Spectra/Spectra5, Forenza/Reno, Cavalier (ugh), Aveo, Focus, xA, Corolla. Broaden the "competition" beyond the few Elantras with ABS in your area.

mannyb

I bought my first Hyundai last night: a 2005 Elantra GT (no ABS). I was armed with Edmund's TMV, although I was never really able to figure out if that includes title, taxes, etc. Nevertheless the folks at Towne Hyundai in Denville, NJ gave me what I felt was a great deal ($13500 - includes title, taxes,etc)with no hassle.

My strategy is to go at the end of the month and tell them I'm looking to buy within the next 30 days. Also, I really wanted the GLS as I didn't care about leather seats and fancy wheels but they didn't have one. That alone got them down close to the TMV. I left the dealership to test drive some other cars I was interested in. When I decided on the Elantra I called them back and said that I still preferred the GLS but would take the GT if they dropped the price. Boom - done deal.

backy

Congratulations! Tell us more about your new GT... stick or automatic? moonroof? color?

john_w

I haven’t been checking the Elantra discussion boards for a while because I’ve become discouraged about finding the car I want at a price I’m willing to pay—which is more or less TMV. If I want a GLS 5-door (5-speed manual) in a specific color and with a specific options package that includes ABS, it appears that there is one such in the state of California. If I’m willing to accept a different color and a different options package that still includes ABS, there’s one available elsewhere that I believe I could actually get for an acceptable price, if it hasn’t been sold.

Obviously, if I want something that’s scarce, it would help to be flexible. But I’m not. It’s my money and I want what I want. (This is said matter-of-factly.)

I now more fully appreciate Scion’s and Saturn’s approach to pricing and the fact that options like ABS can be readily found.

Question: What am I to make of a dealer’s claim that he can’t necessarily get exactly the car I want, even if I commit to buying it and am willing to wait the 2 to 6 weeks on an order to the factory? To me this makes no sense.

John

backy

When I was in Las Vegas last January I saw REALLY low prices advertised by the local Hyundai dealers there. That's not too far a drive. Have you checked there? Might be worth a few phone calls.

danf1

Hyundai dealers cannot order cars. They have the ability to preference some for their allocation, but if the car is not available they will not get it. If the car that you want is not available by trading with another dealer, then this claim is entirely accurate and honest.

john_w

The dealer in Carson City said he couldn’t promise that he could get exactly the car I wanted, and Danf1 says this is correct. The dealer in Reno, however, says that he can get the exact car I want from the factory, but it’ll take about 2 weeks, possibly as much as 6 weeks. I don’t know what to think. The only difference I know of between the dealerships is that the one in Reno is exclusively Hyundai, whereas the one in Carson City is Hyundai and Mazda. Actually, across the street in Carson City, the same owner is selling Toyotas, including Scions.

 

I now have two acceptable offers. A dealer in San Jose has the exact car I want on the lot for a price that I consider fair. He’s locked in the price for me, but won’t hold the car past this weekend. The problem is that getting from my remote, rural location to San Jose isn’t feasible until December 17 (a week from today).

 

The dealer in Reno who says he can get the car from the factory has offered to sell it for $200 below the San Jose dealer’s price. Not surprising since the cost of doing business is lower there. Furthermore, it’s a lot easier for me to get to Reno and back than to San Jose and back. The downside is that (1) I’ll have to wait for the car to come in, (2) I would have to get a smog check, because I’d be buying the car from out-of-state, and now (3) I don’t know whether to believe that Reno can get the exact car.

 

I’m expecting a call from the Reno dealer in the morning. I want to nail down the exact cost to drive the car off the lot. And of course, I’ll ask him whether he can get the exact car from the factory or can only preference his allotment.

 

Suggestions, anyone, on what to do or how to handle this?

 

John

backy

1) Can you wait? Can the Reno dealer be more specific as to time? Is the wait worth $200 to you? Waiting one more week isn't a big deal, but five more weeks may be.

 

2) How much is a smog check? One thing to ask the dealers is, what is the emissions rating of the car (if you care about such things)? Elantras are offered in two different configurations for the U.S., one with a SULEV rating for CA and other low-emissions states, and one in ULEV. The SULEV version has a little less power (132) than the ULEV version (138). Is it OK for a CA resident to buy a new car that doesn't meet CA's tougher emissions standards from a border state? What happens if the car doesn't pass the smog check?

 

3) Get everything in writing, including price and delivery timeframe.