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gt_fan: great point about being tactful.
That is- until I started putting premium fuel in the gas tank. Stepping on the accelerator produces a steady progressive acceleration. The engine seems to run more smoothly. Better. With a little more power.
Am I nuts? I know this goes against conventional thinking. But I have tried this out for a couple of months. I swear by it. At least for my car.
I was washing the car this past weekend and was cleaning the hatch area when I noticed something. Those shock absorber looking things(sorry I can't remember their real name) that hold the hatch up are attatched to the hatch door with bolts. On my car, they are getting extremely rusted. It hasn't even been a year yet since I had the car. When I take it in for service this weekend I am going to have them replace those rusty bolts while they can still get a grip on them. I suggest you all check them out on your cars. If i wasn't so picky about cleaning I would not have noticed it but I am glad I did. It does concern me though, I wonder what else is rusting that I cannot see. Will you all let me know if this is just my car or if this is happening on others?
Thanks!
I just noticed that there are several small areas of paint on my GT's front bumper area that are bubbling. Two of these four areas have since split open, leaving paintless spots on my bumper. I always knew that thin paint was one of the Elantra's potential shortcomings, but didn't ever think something like this would happen.
When I get the time (probably in a few months), I'll have to take it to the delaer to see if they will cover a repaint of the bumper under warranty (they should, but I feel tney may try to blame it on something else to avoid the warranty work).
As far as the hydraulic lifts for the hatch are concerned, mine are not the least bit rusty and I have owned my GT since July 2001 - maybe there's a leak around the hatch area? Good luck!
As for your paint, I am sure they will try to blame that on something hitting the bumber while driving. I was wondering, how can you tell that this was not the case?
As far as my paint goes, I can tell it wasn't caused by something hitting the bumper because there is no impact mark. They are simply quarter sized bubbles of paint with no cut/slit/open area, except for the two that have been there longer that have now started peeling away.
Very strange experience.
The Hyundai dealer quoted me a price of $159, and included a tire rotation and "emissions system check". When I told them I didn't need the tires rotated, the price was $105. So, a Hyundai rotation costs $54?
All told, I know I got as much of an inspection for $32.41 as I would have for $105. That is, a quick once-over glance. The good thing is today's cars don't need much in the way of replacement and adjustment maintenance. I think the dealers resent this loss of income and still try to push a lot of high profit, low value services on us.
Maybe the dash rattle is a screw/bolt that has come loose and is rolling around inside your dash?
I'm about to purchase a 2003 hyundai elantra. I want the 5 door but I have a problem with the interion that perhaps you can help with. I have a Dog & the only interior option is leather. A few people have told me its a big risk even with seat covers. Only one or 2 have told me it may not be a problem (he's a 60 lb dog but not active in the car). Any suggestions?
Thanks
Bill
The GT's leather is of the rather inexpensive variety, but unlike most other items, cheaper is tougher when it comes to leather. That buttery-soft Connolly leather you see in Jaguars is pretty delicate, but the hides in the GT are more similar to baseball glove leather. My guess it that it would stand up to your dog pretty well.
Speaking of which, being as Hyundais are built in Korea -- where their cultural prejudices about protein sources are somewhat different than in the U.S. -- I'm wondering about the source of the leather used in the GT. (Murphy? Murphy? Where'd you go boy?) ;-)
Thanks, I was thinking the same thing (about the toughness of the leather). Do you keep the seats down? I thought that might do it. If I get the leather now I'll always wonder....
I've got three child safety seats lined up across the back, so I don't get a chance to fold the seats down very often. Murphy's pretty much confined to the hatch. He can just barely stand up under the glass, but being a very retired racer, he prefers to lay down as much as possible anyway. I figure it's safer for him that way though. In an accident, he's less likely to get thrown around the car if he's laying down in the back, up against the back seat.
On the subject of toting dogs around in a car, has anyone come across a pet grate/barrier that would fit the GT?
As to the leather seats, read carefully, and you'll see it is actually leather seating surfaces, not sides or backs, and only the front two seats. Your dog shouldn't be a problem.
Enjoy the drive...
Otherwise, extremely happy!
Jeff
'02 GT 24K miles
Can someone verify that in fact only the front two seat surfaces are leather?
That being said, IMHO leather warms up so quickly that it's really not a big deal. Compare that to the vinyl (ice) buckets in my '73 Capri. On a January morning it was always a race to see if the heater would kick out any hot air before hypothermia set in!
I am enjoying the leather seats. I originally thought that I would not like leather seats as they are cold in winter and hot in summer. But the GT warms up pretty fast in winter and I wasn't bothered as much as I thought I would be. The leather is hot though in the summer, but gee its summer so its supposed to be hot. I just try to keep the leather clean and conditioned so it will last and look good.
Finally, I performed the rear sway bar upgrade over the weekend. WOW what a difference it makes! Body roll is greatly reduced. I recommend doing this upgrade for anyone who wants sportier handling. The instructions on wmoses' website are very good. I would add that one should use jack stands rather than those ramp things to hold the car up as I needed to remove the rear wheels. I bought some jack stands at walmart for less than $10. This is an excellent upgrade.
I am going on 2300 miles now. I have noticed a steady increase in mileage. I notice a few scratches on the hood, probably from pebbles from the highway. I have never noticed flying highway debris until I began driving the GT. It seems like a daily hazard on the highway these days.
I know what the maintenance manual says about oil change maintenance, but will an earlier oil change be better for a 1st oil change?
Before I bought the GT, all my friends were warning me of the Hyundai. Now that they had a chance to ride and drive it, they love it! They just love the smooth ride and the quiet cabin.
I am very satisfied with the GT. I would prefer a little more muscle though. How big of a difference would I feel by doing the filter upgrades?
The only change that I made was on the rearview mirror. Everyone needs to get a wide angle mirror because its so hard to see out of that puny stock mirror.
How'd you repair the leather? Also, has anyone who did the swaybar or filter upgrades have any issues with warranty? Did anyone check to see if it'd affect the warranty?
Thanks,
Bil
As to the Korean fondness for cow meat, I hope they get a steak more tender than the hides they're using. Actually, I like the firmness of the seats, too.
Oil changes? I don't believe you can go wrong by changing the oil much more frequently than called for. Since the Elantra only holds 3 1/2 quarts, and they call for 7,500 mile intervals, that oil is going to be extremely worn out and dirty. I change mine every 3,000. Even if I paid someone else to do it, I think it will be worth it in terms of longetivity. Get a Fumoto oil pan valve, it makes the job much easier. Not exactly trouble free, but easier.
I change my oil every 5000 miles (easy to keep up with on the odometer) using high quality filter (Bosch) and synthetic oil. Seems to work well because the inside of the valve cover is still shiny and new looking at 43,000 miles.
Unfortunately, the dealer has overfilled the oil three out of three times that I've had them do it. At least the Fumoto valve makes this easier to rectify.
they tested a gls versus an EX civic not a GT which is inexcusable b/c there is no reason not to test a GT since it can now be had in 4 door form negating the reason not to test the hatch...if you look at how they rated teh cars you can see how biased they are for honda... rating feature content in favor of the civic over the GLS? gimme a break...interior materials and build quality....i've sat in a showroom civic ex as recently as three days ago and would not even classify it as a quality interior...
honda's engine was rated a nine? its the weakest of the bunch....
enuff of me complaining what do you think?
pitting a top line ex vs a gls with no options is really an unfair fight....optioned out a GLS or GT is still less than an ex
It's too bad that Edmunds didn't get their hands on the GT sedan. Their biggest complaint seemed to be the GLS's somewhat mushy ride. The GT would have done much better there and STILL would have been the least expensive car in the test.
One of the reviewers said about the Honda: "Wow! It's hard to believe this car is in the same class as some of the others." Well, Gee, at $18,570 maybe it's really not!
BTW, did you notice they thought the Elantra was dull? Did you also notice the color of the test car? Gray, with a gray interior--about as dull as it comes in car-dom. If they had tested a cobalt blue or chianti red GT sedan, they may have been more excited.
Like a lot of political issues no one wants to be "the one". I love my GT.
Enjoy the ride...
I thought I could live with them, but they are just too flabby and they drop most of the mid-range so low that it reminds me of watching movies in surround sound without a center channel - all the voices sound hushed.
Found a place that is blowing out MB Quarts at cheap prices, but I wanted to check on sizes. They said 6x9s for the back and 7" to fit in the front. I checked the back, couldn't get in and measure, but isn't a 6x9 oval? The speaker in the rear hatch is definately round by my eyes.
Anyone do a speaker upgrade? Anyone do a speaker upgrade and leave the OEM unit in place? Did you eventually have to drop the CD player as well?
I have always wanted a car that can sound clean without going deep into the aftermarket world, but I am getting prepared for the inevitable speaker-upgrade.
Anyone who has done after-market audio on a GT would be a welcome input/advice giver.
(btw, I used to sell home audio and while not a pure audiophile, I can hear quite a bit when I listen to systems...sadly, cheap systems drive me nuts.)
rear 6.75 in by the windows....
the gls/gt 4 door has 6x9's in the rear deck
I have kicker rs6 components in front (6.5)
kenwood excelon 6.5 in rear and a basslink subwoofer in the drivers side rear corner cubby by the hatch opening....
speakers powered by a kenwood 849 (50x4) amp
kenwood excelon 659 (mp3 headunit)
the kickers are relatively inefficient speakers and require lots of power that the stock head unit will not give out....there are many speakers out there thought that can run on stock head unit power.... quality of which is debatable..