Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Thanks a lot.
For what it's worth, top gear in the Elantra should give you very low rpm and very low engine noise levels. Canadian Driver reported 2200 rpm at 100 km/h with the automatic.
See if it works for you..
Van
1. Tire pressure is good. But it is brand new winter tire, is this causing more friction?
2. The transmission is shift to Drive and hand brake in completely down.
3. The rpm is low, most of the time it is below 1500. I only drove 120km, seems like MPG is not bad.
4. It is like that especially at low speed(e.g. 40 km/h), the car seems want to stop unless I keep pressing the gas a bit hard.
5. no other problems found. Seems like I also heard a click sound sometimes and it seems perfectly normal.
Winter tires could definitely cause more friction than the OEM all-season tires.
Why would you expect the car to NOT slow down when driving in gear at about 40 km/h? But on level ground, it should take only light pressure on the gas pedal to keep the car moving forward. If you press it hard, i.e. floor it, it should take off pretty quickly.
If you are concerned, have the dealer check it out. While there, ask to drive a different 2008 or 2009 Elantra to see if it drives the same. Have a service tech go with you so they can observe how you drive the car. If that car drives the same as your car, it's likely that is just the way the car drives.
Also, it went to 24 degrees here the other morning. And for the first time hubby was in my car and had to ask me what was the warning indicator on for. Apparently the change in temp make 4 lbs of air go out of each of my tires. We went to the gas station and put in the missing air and then when the dealership opened up I called them from my cell phone and they told me that I was not the first to call in about the problem. They said the sensors picked up the colder weather and that colder tires have less air pressure. Well, I don't know about that as I never had sensors in my tires before. They told me they reccommend nitro in the tires. They charge $40 to do this. And if at anytime during the yr they go low they fill up for free. And they also said to me that if I am low I can put regular air in to drive to them and they will empty the tire and replace all the nitro free. I am not to sure if I want to do this as the gas station is one block from my house and hubby said he will pick me up an air compressor at one of the truck stops this week to hook to my cigarette lighter so I won't have to pay $1 every time I need air.
Just wondering how good they work.
Don't any service stations in your area have free air? One in my neighborhood charges 25 cents, the other is free.
Tire pressure hasn't dropped in almost 2 years. They say to do nitro every 18 months, but so far so good without renewing nitro.
My husband put nitro in his 4 tires almost 2 yrs ago too on his Nissan Pathfinder. He too has gone all this time with no leakage or anything. And where he had it done he got a lifetime of the tires warranty for replacement nitro. But then the tire shop had a fire, burned down and they told me when I called them as they are cheaper (free if you buy the tires from them) on the cost of nitro. But they said the machine was too expensive to replace.
And I have called all around and where I bought my Elantra is the cheapest for nitro.
Back to you Backy..... I am really curious now about your statement of 80% nitro already in the air. Because a lot of the shops near me won't touch your tires if they see nitro valve caps on them. They say you can't put air in them if low, but the dealer told me you could. And no one by us gives free air. I can't remember the last time I saw it free.
I am clueless here. And going for an oil change in the first week of Dec and have to decide if I am going to pay the money for the nitro. Everybody tells me the nitro stays better balanced and you get better gas mileage too. Hubby doesn't drive the Nissan too much since he got his new Elantra. It sits parked at home unless the weather is bad as he has a 2 hour drive to get his 18 wheeler in NJ every week and that is why he kept the Nissan Pathfinder as it holds the road good in bad weather.
I had my Elantra in snow the first time Monday and considering there were 2 of us in the car I thought it did pretty good holding the road especially where we had a curvy mountain part of the road to drive, but I wasn't the one driving he was. So I only know the traction I felt as a passenger and not to sure I want to find out how good it is in snow with me driving.
I used to put snow tires on my pickup that I no longer have and still debating if I should buy snows for the Elantra. And it would be studded snows because of where I live.
Anyone drive their 08's in really bad weather yet? And if so did the car seem to be ok with the road? I don't really want to lay out the money right now for 4 new studded snow tires. And was even thinking about not even driving anywhere if we got serious snow. I don't work so I don't need to go out except grocery shopping. So it really wouldn't pay for me to put snows on if the Elantra is good in the snow. As I hardly ever go anyplace.
I also experienced the low tire pressure light the other when the temp dropped - I just had them check my pressure when they did the oil change and all seems to be well.
I do a lot of 12-mile round trips in the city also in my Elantra ('04 AT), and I get mid-20s in those conditions. But my trips are one of the two scenarios:
1) Go about 1 mile and hop on freeway (usually not very congested, can go 60-65 usually). Hop off about 1/2 mile from my destination. Return trip is about the same.
2) Drive on suburban streets for 6 miles. Many stoplights along the way, but I try to anticipate them as much as is practical and with luck can cruise through most of them. Speed limit on those streets is 35 mph, which is a sweet spot for my car as I can get into 4th gear at very low revs (1400-1500) w/o lugging the engine.
I'll bet my scenarios aren't anything like yours. Also I've noticed that now that my 17-year-old son drives the car to school (see #2 above) and the weather is colder (often 20 or less in the morning), he is averaging only a little over 20 mpg. I have 35 years of driving experience over him, so I think a lot depends on the skill of the driver in using a light foot and keeping the car moving while using as little gas as possible.
Note also that when Consumer Reports tested the 2008 Elantra with AT, they got 18 mpg in city driving (and 36 on the highway, with 27 combined). Their city driving course is pretty tough I think, i.e. their test site is near NYC. So your 17 mpg is not far off the mark compared to that.
P.S. The 2008 Elantra should be at least 10% better in fuel economy than the 2004 Elantra, everything else being equal.
My highway mpg is also in high 30, at one point I even reached 42 mpg with one passenger and A/C. I drive in NYC and probably that explains such a low city mpg.
Here you go. Here's the link. Within 3 days you will be contacted by email too for further information. My husband's Elantra shut down and caused a 3 car crash involving 2 cars and a 18 wheeler. The person who contacts you called us and even sent for the police report where it took place. He is a very nice person and I have had the pleasure of talking to him on the phone. He is very, very helpful if he needs to talk to you. :shades:
I told one dealer that I wouldn't buy the car unless he could prove to me that the fuel pump had been replaced. He acted like it was no big deal and that it "probably" was when the recall was enacted. I don't know if I should believe him or not.
...in most cases, using a higher octane gasoline than your owner’s manual recommends offers absolutely no benefit. It won’t make your car perform better, go faster, get better mileage or run cleaner. Your best bet: listen to your owner’s manual.
As a rule, high octane gasoline does not outperform regular octane in preventing engine deposits from forming, in removing them, or in cleaning your car’s engine.
I used to use premium some in the old days, but they say the new computers compensate and cancel the benefits.
My manual said the mileage testing was done with the higher octane. And I put in high this one time to see if I got better mileage just to see what they were saying. I always use regular gas. I wanted to test my car out to see if there was a better mileage change...thats all. My owners manual states regular is what you can use but it does not say you can't use premium. But it also states you can't put more than 15% ethanol that is in the gas in the car
I buy almost all my gas at the same station and usually go about 2 weeks or more on a tank. It is quite common to see .4 mpg +/- from one tank to another.
My driving routine doesn't change much from week to week. But, if I drive an extra 20 highway miles compared to local miles, my milage usually increases. However, if I go to a drive-up window and have to wait 5 minutes, that decreases the mileage (0 mph = 0 mpg). Also, your fill up could be off by 1/4 or 1/2 a gallon. If you've only driven 300--400 miles between fill ups, that small gallonage will affect your calculated mpg.
Would you mind telling us exactly what the car's manual says about using higher octane for testing fuel economy? I find it very odd that Hyundai would do the EPA fuel economy tests for the Elantra using a higher octane of gas than is recommended for the car.
However a 10% ethanol mix actually gives you 6%-8% lower MPG, at least that is what I have experienced over the last 7 months that I have owned my 08 Elantra.
On another note, the weather suddenly dropped from 35 degree highs to 15 degree highs, and this latest tank of gas, which unfortunately has 10% ethanol, my MPG in town has plummeted to 21.5 MPG. This summer (80-90 degree days) and fall (40-70 degrees) I was able to keep in-town MPG at 25 with 90% and 27 with 100%
I am driving the same exact roads at the same time and there is not snow/ice yet causing additional stopping/change in driving habits, but I am concerned the cold alone has significantly seemed to have dropped MPG this much. (No, I am not letting it idle after startup for any longer than usual, that will start once the temps drop below 10.)
Car milage is only 3800 after 7 months.
Have you adjusted the pressure in the tires for the colder weather? It drops about 1 psi per 10 degrees of temperature. If you haven't adjusted it since last summer, the tires could be underinflated by several psi now.
Keep in mind that the colder the weather, the more energy has to go to heating up the engine when it's cold. That has nothing to do with snow/ice or a change in driving habits.
As you noted, on the latest tank of gas it's 10% ethanol. That will bring down FE around 10% by itself compared to non-ethanol gas. FWIW, in my town we have 10% ethanol in all grades of gas, even the 87 octane stuff.
I have an I have a new 08 Elantra (purchased in summer) and I noticed that it takes about 7 or 8 minutes of driving this winter to get the temp gauge to the ideal range. Whereas my other vehicles are literally twice as fast at warming up. Should I be concerned? Also I would like to add I never let the car sit and idle to warm up, I usually start it and let it sit for about 30 seconds in the garage then drive, also I live in KY. Thanks!
Anyone experience this with their Elantra and/or know of any fixes to the problem?
thanks,
RI Guy
My '05 Sonata has this feature and it is explained in the owners' manual.
The same thing happens with my 2008 Elantra with the remote key. If I open it while walking towards the car it relocks on me before I get to it. :shades:
The other thing I thought (for a couple of seconds) was a big omission on that car and other Elantras was the lack of a chime to remind me to turn off the headlights. "How stupid of Hyundai!" I thought. Then I realized the lights turned off by themselves.
I find this very interesting due to the fact when my husband's car shut off down in NJ and there was a 3 car pile up avoiding him on the shoulder. When our dealer had his car waiting for a fuel pump they said it could be up to another 30 days to get the fuel pump. I reminded them that if the car was out of service for 21 days before the car was a month old then they needed to replace the car with another one. Well, the next day his car was ready and he got a bill that they billed Hyundai for the repair job. Now it gets better. I got the recall notice a week before my first oil change. Since we bought our cars the same date I took my car on a friday...they gave me a free oil change and changed my fuel pump. Then the next day my hubby took his car in for his free oil change. Now he just left the bill in his car on the back seat as he didn't have to pay anything. Well, last week he gathered up some papers and brought in the bill and it showed AGAIN a job done on a replacement fuel pump. And he gets over 40 mpg since that first oil change. Makes me think when I told them that they would have to give him a new car they took a fuel pump out of a car up for sale in the lot and changed his fuel pump just to give him the car back. And I say it was the Service Manager who said do it.
And some of you may remember my husband having the 2 cars/18 wheeler crash around him back last year when his fuel pump went. WE now have 3 lawsuits against US!!!!!
Backy.. long time no see...I have been laid up with a broken kneecap and not able to sit at the computer desk. So a question for you.
Have you ever heard of getting your car washed at a car wash and when you open the car doors they are soppiing wet inside? I took my Elantra to the car wash and was shocked as this never happened with my Toyota truck. I am just wondering if I am the only one to have this happen to. All 4 doors get wet inside.
Next time you go through the car wash, look at where the water jets are. In the wash I use most often, there's a high-pressure jet that aims on the lower part of the car, right where the bottom door edge is. I can see how water would get under the doors! And I am glad for that because where I live, there's a lot of road salt in the winter and salt can accumulate on the bottoms of the doors.