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Bought it from Dick Hannah's Hyundai of Portland, and had an absolutely easy-breezy buying experience. I got good quotes (about $15,850) from two different dealers through the new Consumer Reports buying service, and was able to negotiate down from there without too much difficulty. The actual dealer experience involved only minimal negotiations (beyond what we'd done with other dealers over the phone), no pressure, no tricks, no tactics. Couldn't have been easier.
We're replacing a 2001 Jetta Wagon that has been extremely expensive to maintain (20c/mi!) but has otherwise met our needs. We need generous cargo capacity because we often squeeze in camping, hiking, biking or ski gear next to 3 or 4 people plus a large dog. We don't want a midsize wagon (think Subaru/Volvo/Passat) because their length and turning radius can make for difficult parking in tight urban spaces. Most folks in our situation go for small SUVs, which have largely displaced small wagons like the Jetta from the market, but those tend to be thirsty AND clumsy. A small wagon is still our ideal car, even if choices are few.
I've done a LOT of research over the past year, and have test driven over a dozen different cars. The Mazda5 was mighty tempting, most underrated car in America IMO, an astounding value if you can grab an ad car at $16,600, but still a bit larger and thirstier than we'd like. Probably would have been our choice if not for the Touring. The xB is good sized, but it's no less thirsty than the Mazda5, its seats are hideously uncomfortable and its rear blind spots are big enough to be really dangerous.
Most of the other 5-doors were notably smaller, but we were at least willing to consider squeezing in and throwing a cargo box on top when needed. The Kia Soul was tempting, just $13k for the very well equipped base model, but really tight on cargo space. The Versa hatchback was cheaper than the Touring, even when when stepping up from the stripped base model, but also quite small. I really liked the new Ford Focus hatchback, one of the more spacious 5-doors in back, but it stickers at nearly $19k and is eligible for NO discounts since it just hit the showrooms last week. The Honda Insight is roomier for cargo than you'd think, and very undeserving of the bashing it's received in the automotive press ... would have been VERY tempting (both for the mpg and my loyalty to Honda) but tied the Focus as the most expensive car on our list and similarly NO discounts (in this case because the Japan disasters shut down production).
We ruled out the otherwise lovely Honda Fit because it's SO heinously noisy. Ruled out the otherwise great Matrix/Vibe because the shifter on the manual transmission is the clunkiest we've ever encountered. Ruled out the Scion xD because it's just too dang small (though the sliding rear seats do add versatility) and the seats are even more torturous than the xB's.
After looking at all these cars, the Elantra Touring was "just right". Not too big (i.e., thirsty and/or hard to park), not too small (specifically in terms of cargo), no deal-killing ergonomic problems. And it was cheap, with only the Versa and Soul coming in lower. Reliability appears pretty good, beautifully firm suspension, decent mpg, more power than I need (which is now true of ALL cars sold in America). Has everything I want (AC, PW, PDL, good stereo), nothing I don't. Basically it's the car I've been wishing Honda would build for the last 20 years, ever since they dropped the Civic Wagon (of which I have owned THREE).
Thanks for your post. I keep seeing a lot of i30 in Europe, but nothing in US! Is the Elantra Touring the SAME car !? Do you know where the US version is made!? What kind of millage are you getting !?
Thanks in advance for the input.
1. stiff steering
2. driver's seat does not go back far enough for tall drivers
3. reduced gas mileage due to the 4 speed tranny
Details of the vehicle have been released & pricing has not. If I hadn't just finished my deal on Elantra Limited I may have consider waiting for the GT. I am coming out of 2010 Mazda3 which was an excellent vehicle, though dealer experience horrific.
ymmv.
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Our little wagon is loaded w/ leather, fog lamps, moon/sun roof, roof rack and rails. We love the "Touring" mats but bought some light gray ones (all plastic) at Walmart so those fancy mats stay clean!
Wish we'd found this car years ago. Where was Hyundai hiding it???? Now I see them every day!