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Help this girl decide upon this car

amanda_jonesamanda_jones Member Posts: 2
in Hyundai

I have a friend who has a car I have sat in. It is comfortable and now he has to leave the country since something came up at his home. It is a 2001 Elantra Hyundai with only 34k miles. He got it from some old lady at 22k miles a year and a half back and she used it only to go to church etc. He had got a lot of repairs done since then to make it functional and he says that it runs fine now, but recently he had to replace some sensors. So what should I check before I buy the car? I am thinking it would be a good deal since it has low miles and he would not try to rip me off since he also wants to see it soon. I am thinking of getting a check done from firestone. I already got the autocheck.com report and will get the carfax soon. The autocheck report is clean. What should I check about the sensors? Any ideas on how long would this car last? Help me decide!!!!

Thanks

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  • Karen_SKaren_S Member Posts: 5,092

    @amanda_jones said:
    I have a friend who has a car I have sat in. It is comfortable and now he has to leave the country since something came up at his home. It is a 2001 Elantra Hyundai with only 34k miles. He got it from some old lady at 22k miles a year and a half back and she used it only to go to church etc. He had got a lot of repairs done since then to make it functional and he says that it runs fine now, but recently he had to replace some sensors. So what should I check before I buy the car? I am thinking it would be a good deal since it has low miles and he would not try to rip me off since he also wants to see it soon. I am thinking of getting a check done from firestone. I already got the autocheck.com report and will get the carfax soon. The autocheck report is clean. What should I check about the sensors? Any ideas on how long would this car last? Help me decide!!!!

    Thanks

    I think you're on the right track getting a carfax and autocheck report. If you know and trust a local shop, definitely take it there and have it fully inspected. A good mechanic can provide a lot info that should help you with your decision. You can also check out if any recalls and TSBs for this vehicle. Go to this page and fill in the required info: http://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/guide-page.html

    Good luck!

  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

    Well, I don't have a lot of faith in Car Faxes or Autochecks. You can be scared off from a good car by some trival thing and sometimes they fail to report some bad accidents.

    Instead of taking it to a "chain" store, I would take it to a dealer or to a trusted independent.

    I'm not sure if Korean quality improved by 2001 but do know that resale values on these isn't good. Thinks have improved since then.

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited December 2013

    Here's the Identifix reliability report for the '01 Elantra. I guess the CPS sensors can be an issue with these earlier Elantras.

  • amanda_jonesamanda_jones Member Posts: 2

    Thanks a lot everyone. I am getting the firestone check done. I had heard about elantra sensors being a headache and it seems Stever@Edmunds is right. I will get those checked as well.

    Thanks. :D

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454

    I had good luck with a Midas franchise years ago, but I knew the owner a little bit. I agree with Isell - you may want to ask (or search) around and find an independent shop that works on Hyundai's. Personally, I'd trust an indy mechanic more than most franchise stores. Good luck!

  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

    Without naming names I can tell you that a lot of the well known chain stores seem to only be capable of selling the easy to install stuff (the gravy jobs) and they usually aren't very good at doing the tough stuff. Yes, there are exceptions to anything. I know I sure wouldn't use one for a pre purchase inspection.

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