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Showed the wife a commercial of the Cruze earlier & she has put it on her short list, which is great. We'll probably go test drive one when there are more models on the road. Makes sense to only test the exact model we'd like, which will probably be the 2LT. Hopefully Backy will test this model for me also so I can hear his honest review. Would love if he'd also test the Elantra GLS & Limited models as well as the upper level Accent with all the good stuff except the navi...we've got portable units for the 3 girls in the family so a manufacturers unit isn't necessary for us.
Can't wait to compare reviews with him as I forsee the choice coming down to these 3 cars. Mine will be staying for a long while, as it's in perfect shape with low miles for a 4 + year old car...still tight as a drum, but I do baby it some.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Trust me, ten years ago we'd have never even considered a Hyundai, but now we have an Accent in our stable & it's a wonderful little car. We like it so much that Hyundai is # 1 on our forthcoming car search. The same goes for any GM product since our '85 Cutlass Supreme left in '93, but now we're quite interested in the Cruze...who'd of ever thought!
Great time to be looking for a new ride & the next year with all the new models being launched should be very exciting...hold on for the ride!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
I just hope Hyundai doesn't get complacent and start resting on their success, like Toyota did. I don't think that will happen, given the stiff competition Hyundai faces, and the fact that there's still many people who have a negative view of Hyundai from the past.
Did you see, Hyundai already sold 192 2011 Elantras in November. Wonder where? None in my town I don't believe; my dealer hasn't seen any yet.
My question is where are the autowriter reviews and test drives? Optima and Cruze test drives all over the place before the cars even hit the dealers.
Maybe we'll see test drive reports in the January car mags. Hyundai might have had an embargo on reports until after the LA Auto Show. I think January is when MT does its COTY issue, yes? So we should see something there, if only a little blurb on the Elantra.
Anyway, my wife & I are looking forward to checking it out at the Chicago Auto Show along with the Cruze and a few other compacts.
When will the next Corolla & Civic roll out? They've got so much running on these new models, as the competition is now fierce in that segment that they must hit a grand slam. These company's can no longer live on their past reputations as you're only as good as your last model. Here's hoping that Honda will finally get it & make the Civic a much quieter car & add enough sound deadening material as possible and make it tomb like while driving. And Toyota needs to liven up the Corolla's exterior so that it becomes a looker for once. Hyundai & Chevy have found the formula that works in this day & age...the other guys better step up!
The Sandman
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Will be interesting to see this in person.
Wonder when the civic comes out? That at least still looks modern. But man, does the corolla look like a total also ran now, inside and out.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Gosh there should be incredible deals on both 2010 and even 2011 Elantras come next Aug/Sept. Who ever buys a 2011 now, is getting short changed on depreciative loss for the year 2010/2011. They are getting ripped for at least 4 months.
I am going to try to drive the 2010 next week. And the new one if they have one but i doubt we got any yet. So far I have to say I think I like the more subdued (interior) styling and less complexity of the 2010. I have been reading up on the measures that Hyundai have gone to to get those high fuel mileage numbers, and there sure is a lot to go wrong if it decides to.
And u have to love the way lower price of the older car. I do wish it had the 6 MT and 6 auto tho.
Does anyone know what they were talking about regarding the exterior something in the A/C compressor? Forget what they said now...didn't follow it or I would have remembered. They also refer to dbl walling something else.
As an aside, does anyone know why Hyundai doesn't have the build/price feature up on their site yet?
Car and Driver
Do they have the 2011 Elantra on their list of 10Best candidates? If not, it will be considered next year.
And I see the Elantra wasn't available for testing. Will have to wait for next year...
Interesting that the guy who looked inside the new Elantra Limited said it compared very well to his 4 year old Civic EX-L...a very promising comparison. The more I hear, the more I like, as I think there's better than a 2 to 1 shot that the wife will end up with a Hyundai as her next ride. But I still can't discount the Cruze because if it's as good as folks say it is and the price will be very close to Hyundai's pricing, it could be a very tough decision. Truthfully, never thought we'd ever consider an American car again for any of us but here we are, actually considering a Chevy. Our last Chevy was a 1959 Corvette! I really have to give Chevy & Hyundai a high 5, as they've both come such a long way...kudos to both companies!
The Sandman
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Good news for resale values, bad news for super low upfront pricing. But you don't get it both ways... unless you bought, say, a 2004 Elantra, which hasn't lost any resale value in the past two years. (grin)
First let me say that I had rather high expectations based on everything I've read and the pictures I've seen. I was a little disappointed in some respects.
The front of the car in person has a very short distance from bottom of windshield to the top of the grill so that it makes the hood like kind of stubby. Seen in pictures I didn't notice this at all. It seems taking Sonata and basically shrinking didn't come out good for proportions. That is just my opinion but I really noticed it and I can't say it looked bad by any means, just not nearly as sleek as it has appeared in pictures. After all, it a small car so how long, low and sleek can it look.
The interior looked really nice, just like in pictures. However, the plastic on the top of the door where I like to rest my elbow a lot was rock hard plastic. The center console top was fairly soft though so I don't know why they couldn't have used similar material on the top of the door. The switchgear seemed a little chincy as well. But I guess the thing that really turned me off was the mustard tan colored leather on the seats and plastic on the lower dash. At least it didn't continue onto the inserts in the steering wheel like the Sonata but it looked bad. Another person was also looking at the car and sitting in the passenger seat and they said it was a god awful color too. I have to say though that if I saw it in another color like black or dark grey it may look a whole lot better. In fact, having the one color scheme makes the Sonata look better so I assume it would do the same for the Elantra.
Didn't notice homelink and couldn't find any power buttons for seat control. Didn't really car for the two big levers they had for seat adjustment and couldn't get them to work correctly for me during my short sit(I was on an errand and didn't have a lot of time). The center console as it nears the bottom of the dash bows out on both sides and my knee was fairly tight against it. I have pretty short legs so I can imagine some with long legs might not like that arrangement. It didn't really bother me but it looked it could get old after several hours of driving. Seats were comfortable, pretty decent room for a compact and the center console armrest slid forward and back(I like that, kind of like the Jetta's but it doesn't rise up/down like the Jettas).
Good sight lines from the nice sized mirrors and no huge pillars blocking view. Windows were large enough to not give you the closed in feeling a lot of new cars are doing. The visors were pretty cheap feeling and hard but did have a light above them.
Bottom line, I thought it was a nice compact car but came away not as impressed as I thought I would be. But I am going to try and find a different interior color to sit in and see if that changes my mind a little. The mustard tan was really that ugly to me.
Now I'm really anxious to sit in a Cruze and a new Focus and really compare the interior quality of those. From the pictures I've seen and the color combos it appears that they may be the winner in overall interior looks and quality of material but that's a guess at this point.
Interesting times for this class of cars.
Elantra doesn't have a power seat, so you won't find any buttons to adjust it. Did you notice a lumbar adjustment? How was the thigh support?
The old Elantra (also the Cruze and many other cars) have hard plastic door panels, so I'm not surprised the new Elantra's aren't padded. I guess they don't think many people rest elbows there any more. I don't much anymore, since windowsills seem to be higher than they used to. But I'd like to see more padded surfaces.
What did the switchgear seem chincy in comparison to?
Did you try out the back seat? How about the trunk? How was headroom in front and back (esp. with the moonroof)?
1. Drivers seat. Thigh support seemed to be pretty good but I've got fairly short legs so that is usually not a problem for me anyway so probably not real helpful. Headroom was pretty decent even with the moonroof but I don't know if the seat cushion was adjusted all the way up or down. I kept grabbing the handles and pushing and pulling and nothing really was going on it seemed except for the seat back reclining. I didn't notice a lumbar adjustment but it was one of the handles I was pulling it didn't make much of impression in the lumbar region if that's what it was.
2. I didn't sit in the back seat but the lady that was sitting back there said it was pretty comfy and she had good headroom. She looked to be about average height for a woman.
3. Didn't open the trunk...sorry.
4. I have an Infiniti SUV, Toyota Tundra and a Mazda6. I usually drive the Infiniti. Now obviously the switches in the Elantra are not going to replicate the Infiniti but I really felt them to be less solid feeling then either the Mazda or Toyota. There was play in some of the switches which made them feel a just a little cheap. But then again, compared to what? I haven't really sat in a compact competitor since the last auto show so more than likely the switchgear in the Elantra is probably close to the competition. However, it seems that everyone is raising their game so much that I expected just a little more in that area.
That's part of the problem when looking at a new car when you're so used to the ones you have and comparing it to them versus comparing it to their actual competition. I'm as likely to fall victim to doing that as the next guy.
Weird that you had trouble adjusting the seat height. Unless Hyundai redesigned the seat adjusters for 2011, the big lever on the front of the seat edge is for height (pull up for higher, push down for lower), and the lever further back is for recline. Lumbar would be likely a lever on the side of the seatback, if the adjustment is there.
On the mustard colored seats... here's the photos from the Elantra launch of the Limited with grey seats. Those look pretty nice, IMO.
All the interior photos I found online looked to be grey interiors... if the tan seats were as mustard-y as you said, I can see why! Oh well... easy thing to change if Hyundai gets too many complaints about it (or doesn't sell many Limiteds with tan interiors!).
Seats, foot and knee room, stereo quality on lowest trim level before getting into sunroof territory, and quiet for road and wind noise while cruising, are my top priorities on my next vehicle. Fuel mileage and dependability goes without saying right? And they better offer seat heaters as an option on the base or base + car.
Things I know I do not want
- satellite radio - gimme a CD anyday (I don't know how to get music on digital flash yet, but the first one I heard years ago did not impress, it was terrible with distortion so naturally i have not followed the technology. Ditto for the first XM sat I heard through a friend's portable GPS. It was so bad I'd prefer if my wife, sang instead.
- sunroof - they're hot, they leak in the winter even if they don't in the summer, they up your insurance rates, they are literally not as safe in a rollover, and sometimes they malfunction. So what's left? Ok, they are good to vent some heat out of a parked, locked car. They are usually better (quieter) at pulling cigarette smoke out if you're a smoker. If you are then you should consider giving them up...(the costs saved will literally finance outright, your new Elantra Limited with all the B&W over a few years. I suppose they are rarely handy to get an item home that you can poke up thru it, that won't fit in the car any other way..
- Nav...not at the ridiculous cost, plus you are married to the brand for updates or software reboots after wty, even if you don't care to update your maps
- even Bluetooth and USB is over-priced into pkgs on many cars - Yada makes a unit that plugs into the 12 volt socket...Bob's your Uncle..
- dual temp auto climate control - the last thing i want when i get into the car when it is -35 out, to have the fans on high blowing around all that cold air while the air intake at the base of the windshield is trying to vacuum pull all the fresh snow in as i'm trying to brush it off. If you put it on recirculate, then you have the damp area on your footmats from having snow on your boots the last time, putting extra moisture on the inside glass when you are trying to de-ice them..
I suppose ADCC could be useful if your wife thinks you have it too cold in the summer, or if she wants it hotter in the winter, but any system I've seen, makes it too hard to override, and even if you do, the next button u push puts it back into auto with the fans blowing all over the place again. Too techy you manufacturers, don't help us so much..
- I have others but you get the idea..
Oh ya, gimme a parking brake lever between the seats where it belongs, let me have mirror heat without having to have rear defrost on, whilst killing my cold battery on a fresh/frosty mid Jan morning, and don't make pwr windows std on the base car. They still freeze up and are useless and even a safety hazard depending on how and where you crash. (we have a lot of roads that skirt around the edge of lakes here and many cars end up in the drink).
And design the headlamps so that I can see at least a little to my left or right when i am turning into my drive on a really dark, rainy night. Or better still, bring back cornering lights and put them on all cars, not just luxo barges..or 60k + ones. Poor people have to see where they're going also..
* Seat heaters (albeit front and back) are only on the top-trim Limited. Which has a standard moonroof.
* Satellite radio is standard.
* USB is standard.
* Mirror heaters might go on with the rear defroster--not sure on that one. At least heated mirrors are standard, though!
* Power windows are standard on the base car.
So, on to your other choices!
The XM radio is fine if it is on the base car, and I'm not paying a lot for it because they pkg'd it with cruise or keyless or some other must-have..And all i want is single CD player...my last few cars have the 6 pack and they are awful. Slow, complex, irritating and they should have used the expense of that mechanism, on better amps and speakers..
LAst gen Elantra GL is a sweety in a lot of ways. Like u mentioned, I too like good HVAC controls and layout (and to be HOT and COLD when you want it) It has the seat heaters etc.
I think all cars have the mirror heat wired in with the rear def. Saved themselves a whopping 27 cent sw, 3 cents of wire and 5.5 cents of fuse circuitry..
But that sort of thing is not a deal breaker. I have to say tho, that I am not liking the direction the Elantra seems to be taking, if they have pkg'd seat heaters on only the top level car. I think this was a glaring mistake as a number of people won't buy the Ltd, but they will miss not having their butts warmed...speaking of which, it's not just about a warm butt...it is the relief that a seat back provides also when you have bad back.
Front heaters on the GL, so great..
Rear is std on the GLS and up (although I think our models acronyms differ from yours? We have: L GL GLS Ltd and Ltd wNav
here:
http://www.hyundaicanada.com/images/misc/2011%20Elantra%20Packaging%20-%20EN.pdf-
eat your heart out...
(j/k - i say that cuz we also get Homelink, altho i won't be getting it)
But boy that stripper L model really is a stripper--doesn't even have AC. But I'm sure that alone cuts about 1k off the price compared to the GL, which looks to be quite nicely equipped.
I love manuals. I wonder how their 6 speed MT is for this car. And does it also get close to the 29 city 40 hwy that the auto gets?
anyway, how big is the gas tank on this? Something that really bugs me on some small cars, they put in a tiny tank (I think the fit is barely over 10), so if you have a bad tank, it doesn't go very far.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The wheel looks pretty nice, though, with that leather cover.
then again these days, 2 hours is about time to start looking for a rest stop, and 4 hours is put it in your diary length! But stopping to pee is no biggie, but I sure don't want to be getting gas too at a rest area.
that is a good thing about my accord. Still gets small car MPG with highway use, but combines it with a 16 gallon tank. on a straight run, it can do 35 mpg, so well into the 400s before the light comes on, and still in the 400s at a 1/2 tank left
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I don't get your last sentence. If I read it correctly it seems that at 1/2 tank you are over 400 miles and still under 500 miles when the light comes on. That would be well under 100 miles for the second half of the tank. Doesn't sound right....did you mean it that way?
Also, on the topic of small gas tanks. I suspect that on these high mpg cars they are using small tanks so that they are never carrying a whole bunch of "fuel weight".
Copy that. Dreamsicle is a very descriptive term!
Forgive me, but I have to ask...Are you over the age of 50?? Reason I ask is you sound just like my dad when it comes to sunroofs. Your opinion about them is sooooo dated. They aren't hot anymore because they have retractable shades that block the sun. I've never heard of insurance rates being higher because you have a sunroof. They are probably higher because sunroofs usually come standard on more expensive models that have more doodads to replace, thus the slightly higher cost over a base model. Only time a sunroof might be less safe is if you decide to roll your car and not wear a seatbelt. The roof structure is designed to handle the same impacts as models without one. If a power sunroof motor fails (which is extrememly rare), all have a manual override feature that allows you to manually crank the roof closed (unlike if a power window fails). Last but not least, sunroofs DO NOT leak. At least, not the ones that come from the factory. All factory sunroofs are designed with 4 drain holes built into the roof, one for each A pillar and one for each pillar surrounding the rear window. In the event any water sneaks past the rubber seal, rest assured it will follow the channels and go right back out of the car. I owned a 95 Integra that sat outside in sweltering Florida heat for 13 years and 160k and the seal still looked new and never leaked. Trust me, sunroofs are not the cut in pop up pieces from the 70s and 80s.