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Comments
Take it easy and enjoy the Elantra. Mine is 18 mo's old and 26K miles with great service.
Jim
1. Does the car dent easily?
This is one of the things I am not happy with Accent and I am not sure if Hyundai is using the same body structure in all models or not.
2. Are the seats comfortable?
The long trips are not enjoyable with the hard seats of Accent.
Thanks for your help!
My 2001 GT sits under a tree most of the time under a car cover. When the nuts fall out of the tree in september they leave shallow dents in the roof. My old 94 civic did not dent under the same conditons so yes, they still dent easily.
The seats in the GT are comfortable but somewhat harder than the GLS. The GT only comes in leather. For some reason I have to take out my wallet to get fully comfortable in the drivers seat.
I rented a GLS and found the seats very comfortable. They are both great cars. I prefer the GT for the utility and sportiness.
As for dents, I haven't had a problem but then it doesn't spend much time under trees. It went through a nasty hailstorm and of course got several dents in the hood and roof (as many other cars did that day), but surprisingly no dents on the trunk lid. They were repaired via PDR. One thing that did happen is that a large friend of mine was adjusting a heavy trailer by hand in my driveway, and he braced himself with his free hand by putting it across the top character line on the rear door. It made quite a shallow dent, one that did require body work to fix. But I don't know that the same thing wouldn't have happened to any other compact car I've owned. (Probably wouldn't have happened to my '66 Dodge Coronet!)
Totally satisfied with the car. Hyundai has been prompt with follow up questionaires concerning service done on the car. The dealer and manufacturer both seem to be sincere, which is more than I can say about any other car bought at any other dealer.
As far as the question asked by someone about how easily are they to dent? Don't know ANY car in the price range of the Hyundais that isn't easily dented anymore. Was never an issue with us. Luckily we haven't had any incondiderate people in the parking lots wham their car doors into us, yet. Or any wayward shopping carts slam into it, yet.
We've had snow here this past week, so I must get to the car wsh and hose it off, especiallt under the wheel wells and underneath! Winters in Ohio and cars just don't mix!!
So far, 100% satisfied with the car!!!
(Still whacking my head on the trunk latch! One day maybe I'll learn!)
Ours has around 5K miles, now. Still glad we chose black obsidian as the color. Also very pleased with ours!!!!
A common complaint I have been hearing and the dealer has been hearing is road noise showing up around 8-10K. Surprise, it's the michelins. Once they get a good wear in, they start getting noisier. For those of you who had them, it is much the same as the old michelin X radial that was used on a lot of large GM sedans back in the mid to late 80's. As long as the sound is steady with speed, no real problem. But if you start hearing a rrr-rrr sound that changes with speed, look over the tires really close. Can be an indication that a belt is coming loose.
Chigger (my chianti red '02) has 27K on her and while the tires are still in good shape, they have definitely gotten a lot noisier on the roads I drive. And yes, I still love this little booger and she is a HOOT to drive!
I bought Uniroyal TigerPaw GT-H's for under $250 at Wal-Mart with lifetime balancing and road hazard, less than half what the OEM's would have cost. They handle better, are quieter, especially on concrete. I had hoped that I'd get more than the 40K on the originals, but it looks like they'll last about the same mileage.
Hate like heck to drive this new car in our horrible Ohio winters! It just tears a car apart. Snow, salt, cold, lousy highways, ugh!
Interior on the black Elantra is gray.
For giving the dealer an excellent feedback on a phone survey after it's initial service we got a coupon for a free oil change. If we give them a favorable report on the one that comes directly from Hyundai we get another coupon for a free oil change.
So far the dealer and manufacturer grade out at an A+.
Well, so much for unbiased surveys. What would they give you if you write a glowing review of the Elantra on Edmunds.com? That's gotta be worth something to them. ;-)
cheap paint were unfounded. The quality seems very
much on par with my 2001 Sentra, which is just fine.
So, I went back into my dealer and negotiated a
final price of exactly $14,000.00 for the 2004
GLS, with package #3, which is the one with the
crusie control and CD player.
This price includes, tax, destination charge,
etc..out the door price.
Is this a very good deal?...should I go for it?
Im in Princeton, NJ.
one question-- isn't there no sales tax in NJ?
if you were out the door for 14,000, and that included 8.5% tax like new yorkers and californians would be subject to, that would be great -- that's the equivalent of a 1k note. however, if that price includes 0% NJ sales tax, then maybe it's not so great a deal. i just checked hyundai.com and priced your car in NJ for $14389.
now if your car is an automatic, which you don't mention, THEN you got a deal (online price = 15,189)!!!
P.S. If you really like Sentras, I saw an ad today (Twin Cities) for a '04 1.8S for under $11k, list of $15k. Looks like Nissan may be dealing on those, but don't know about your area. The lease was $89 (!) a month, but with $2995.
finalize the purchase of a 2004 Elantra GLS in
silver, with pkg 3 option. This car, by the way,
is an automatic and yes, there is 6% sales tax in
NJ!
I was wondering if it is a practice of Hyundai to
try to throw in last minute charges....such as
pushing for nonsense like glass etching, rust proofing, extended warranty, etc. Is there anything I need to watch out for when I sign all
the papers?
Also, do you suggest doing the first oil change
at 1500 miles? I will be taking my car to my mechanic for oil changes. The dealer charges a
shockingly high fee of 29.99 for an oil change!
Can you believe that? My mechanic will charge
me 14.99 for Pennzoil 5W-30 and filter.
As for oil changes, you'll get differing opinions on the first oil change but I recall my dealer gave my Elantra a complimentary inspection and oil change at 1000 miles, so I took it. My dealer's oil changes are around $25 (Minnesota), but they often run coupon specials that bring it down under $20. I've also gotten some free oil changes when they didn't fix something the first time and I had to come back--I thought that was a nice gesture. I've found even the quick-lube places in my area charge $25-30, and I like the idea of having the same dealer do all the oil changes so that if something goes wrong, we all know who is at fault. My car only needs two oil changes a year anyway (on "severe service" schedule), so a few bucks extra is no big deal.
finalize the purchase of a 2004 Elantra GLS in
silver, with pkg 3 option. This car, by the way,
is an automatic and yes, there is 6% sales tax in
NJ!>>>
okay, sine your purchase price of $14k includes the automatic AND 6% sales tax, then you really DID get quite a deal. congrats.
(is the NJ 6% tax new? i remember my mom driving to paramus all the way from upstate NY on big holiday shopping excursions just to save on sales tax).
The Elantra is very good choice though, and I like the 2004 refresh, especially the new gauge cluster. Ultimately, I went with my Sentra because I liked the significantly increased power vs. the Elantra (and the standard alloys- tough to get alloys on a non-GT Elantra, wouldn't consider those because I dislike leather).
Best of luck!
~alpha
PS- are you using Brad Benson or another Hyundai dealership?
The reason I am buying the 2004 Elantra GLS is superior ride quality and comfort! I find the
Elantra MUCH more smoother riding than my 2001 Sentra GXE. This is primarily do to Hyundai
using fully independent suspension, as opposed to Sentra's rigid rear beam suspension that
results in a jarring ride and a jelly o like choppy feeling over the slightest of road bumps.
As soon as I did the test drive on the 2004 Elantra I know instantly this is a much more
comfortable ride for daily commuting. Plus, the new Elantra is more elegant looking, dont
you think?
Best of luck!
~alpha
any thoughts or experinces with this dealer??
Enjoy!
~alpha
PS- the new hubcaps are an improvement, IMO.
Jim
Elantra GLS, I got a big shock. I called my insruance co (USAA) to find out what my new premium would be....its a ridiculous $306.00 more
per year than my 2001 Nissan Sentra GXE! Can you
believe that? My drivng record is spotless. I
was told the Elanta has a 16 ranking, while my
Sentra has an 8. Apparently, The Elantra is MUCH
more expensive for repair and body work parts.
To compare, the new 2004 Mazda 3 would only be
a 89.00 increase and the 2004 Corolla would only
be a $15.00 increase!
Anyone here have any suggestions? For NJ guys here, is this what you are paying??
~alpha
My '02 Elantra cost $12.5K new and insures for 20% more than my $35K '04 Yukon. Go figure.
I think some of consumer groups have been doing some low speed impact tests and finding that some cars suffer an abnormal amount of damage from them. The elantra may be one of them.
Another possible factor for the rating is the price of the car attracts a lot of fairly new drivers which tend to have higher accident rates.
I have a 95 Civic EX coupe that I use for a work car. Even though I am over 50 and have clean record I pay $600 a year for this car. Too may street racers have crashed these cars so they have a bad rating. We pay $800 a year for the wife's 03 Accord EX which has are replacement value 3-4 times higher the civic.
Re insurance costs, the insurance for my '01 Elantra GLS is within a few dollars of my previous car, a '97 Sentra GXE. So it's beyond me why insurers in NJ would charge a lot more for the Elantra. I have Illinois Farmers insurance.
A better indicator is the IIHS. NHTSA isnt always logical in their testing. For example, the Toyota Camry is being re-tested for frontal impacts in the coming year, but there have been no modifications to the frontal airbag/restraint system/structure since the redesign. I'm not a big fan of NHTSA (can anyone else comprehend why the star rating for side impacts does not take into account head injury measures, EVEN THOUGH head injury measures are taken???? Quite Misleading if you ask me).
I am happy that the IIHS will be retesting the Elantra. Its a very good little car, and as the 01-03 structured showed, can potentially do very well in that test- just needs the minor tweaking of the airbag sensor (to mitigate risk of late deployment) and that infamous seat track.
~alpha
The only other passenger that is reflected by NHTSA is the front passenger. In the offset test, which is more demanding of structure and only deforms the driver's side, there is no reason to believe that passengers wouldnt perform quite well in all cars, as demands on the restraint systems are less than in the NHTSA full frontal, and structurally, not much happens on the front passenger side in the offset collision. In the one scenario I have seen where this wasnt true, IIHS noted it in the ratings (Chevy Blazer). Statistically, you are much more likely to have some type of offset collision than you are to have a full frontal collision. Yes, "Good-Best Pick" and dual 5 stars is IDEAL. But, I'd happily take a "Good-Best Pick" and dual 4 star car. Heck even cars that are rated "Acceptable", most of the time, its non-life threatening leg injuries that knock the rating down.
The IIHS has introduced a much more dynamic side impact test, which offers protection information for driver and left rear passenger, and this will be the test that forces automakers to start seriously thinking about offering head protection airbags as well as side thoracic bags.
~alpha
Are you sure about that? Then why does the NHTSA give scores for the rear seat on cars so equipped?
I agree the IIHS side test is a good thing, but they are being very slow about getting results out--only a handful of test results so far. The NHTSA side tests are at least available for most cars.
2004 Elantra GLS, pkg 3 option.
Since I am short on cash, what are you thoughts
on during a 3 year lease, will the absolute intention of buying after 3 years?? This way, I
can have a much lower downpayment and monthly
payment, without depleting my savings. If I
know for sure I will buy at the 3 year end,
mileage or diposition fee will not be an issue.
I have 3 months left on my current lease with
my 2001 Sentra GXE. After my Hyundai dealer
appraised my car, they agreed to buy my car from
Chase Auto and sell it on their used car lot. They
will make the last 3 payments with Chase. Of course, there will be no disposition fee or overage mile charge. Since my car is in perfect
condition with upgrades, they can sell it and make a profit.
What do you think of this whole deal?
Thanks!
Believe me, if there was a problem with service, they'd know about it!!
Again, all of this is purely subjective. Please don't take it as a personal attack!! As I said, "different strokes for different folks."
I have no idea, maybe you know. What's the Sentra warranty look like?