Hyundai Elantra Prices Paid and Buying Experience

1343537394087

Comments

  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    You have probably already checked out Fitzmall, but if not you should do that as they offer consistently low, no-haggle prices.
  • harlqnharlqn Member Posts: 18
    With the SE you also get the option of the black interior (looks a lot better than the light gray they use IMO).
  • vikasyadavvikasyadav Member Posts: 3
    In OHIO.

    Getting SE for $14,882 plus 6.5% tax and $161 transfer plate or $181 for new plate.

    and GLS with Preffered Package (3) for 14,465.

    Both silver color.

    Are these good deals in OHIO ? I know Taxas has extra 500 $ rebate for finance and california has extra $1000 rebate. I I am looking for best price in areas closer to me.

    I need to decide this weekend to go for one of these or go for a Corolla LE with SideAirbag,ABS,Audio Package(VV) for $16.3K.

    Advice please
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    Corolla is much smaller inside if that matters. Elantra is a nicer car too.
  • remag1234remag1234 Member Posts: 32
    Sounds good from a NY prospective. Keep in mind, we are MID-YEAR when prices change with many rebates. This is due to dealers must move cars to make room for the 2008's. Don't buy because you're in a bind. You will get a good price if you do your homework and are not afraid of walking out of the dealership. Remember, it's a game and they're experts at it. Now go get 'em.
  • remag1234remag1234 Member Posts: 32
    I was set on buying an Elantra SE, but I've decided on a Corolla even though the price is higher. The 5 year cost of owning is cheaper for one thing. The deciding factor is that it will be my wife's car and she likes it better than the Elantra [I like the Elantra]. I have an '03
    Santa Fe and love it.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    If you like driving each car about the same, then it should be a no brainer: I'd take the Elantra GLS (more comparable to the Corolla LE), the longer warranty, and the 2 grand. Or the nicer SE, still for a lot less than the Corolla.
  • prosource1prosource1 Member Posts: 234
    this was told to me by a dealer friend
  • remag1234remag1234 Member Posts: 32
    I see your point and your numbers are correct. Take a look at the 5 year cost of owning the 2 cars. It's about $2K more for the Elantra, so the $2K cheaper is a wash and all is left is the 5 more years on the warranty. One must consider how long will the car be kept and other personal choices and tastes. You could then rationalize they're close enough to be the same. :):):) Have a great day.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Well, whether or not the two cars are "close enough to be the same" depends on the buyer's requirements. For me, the Elantra has huge advantages over the Corolla, such as:

    * Comfortable driving position (Corolla's stinks, for me)
    * Roomier interior, especially the rear seat
    * More equipment for the money, e.g. XM radio, 4-wheel disc brakes, and alloys (SE) vs. plastic covers on the Corolla LE
    * Better styling (subjective of course)
    * Better handling
    * Less noise at cruise
    * And the warranty

    So even if the Elantra cost more, it would be my choice over the Corolla. But it doesn't. :)
  • bhmr59bhmr59 Member Posts: 1,602
    If you're estimating the 5 year cost to own a car based on Edmund's TCO, recognize that Edmund's is an estimate and is not always accurate.

    For example, I used Sonata, not Elantra, beccause I have the actual figures from the Sonata we bought in February. The Sonata is an SE w/XM, no package or options other than floor mats. We paid $18,189 including all rebates, fees and taxes, "out the door." Edmund's TCO says the price OTD is $20,825 including rebates, fees & taxes. So right off the bat, in our instance Edmund's is "off" by over $2600.

    Edmunds shows 1st year depreciation over $6100 and a resale value of $15,334. (That depreciation is apparantly taken from MSRP, but it still is "off" a little). IF resale on our '07 Sonata SE is $15,334, the depreciation on our purchase price of $16,651(before fees, tax & reg) is only about $1300.

    We, in CT, have to pay personal property tax each year on a car's value. That is not contemplated in the TCO. Insurance costs vary from town to town and there are too many other variable for TCO to give a reasonable estimate.

    We financed $15700 for 60 months @ 5.9%. If we go the full term of the note, our finance charges will be almost $900 less than TCO projects.

    TCO is an estimate based upon general assumptions. Those assumptions don't always hold water and I don't think they change from month to month as the real world market does.
  • prosource1prosource1 Member Posts: 234
    Listen! Do you really think you need to spend all the money on maintenance, at the dealership, that they include. I don't. My car runs perfect. I change fluids and brakes thru the garage I use and the only major issue is the timing belt. I am telling you from experience that these estimations are not accurate. You could buy and Elantra and spend no more than the best out there. But do what you want. I owned 3 Sonatas and will tell you that you will not get a better deal for the little bit of money you are going to spend in comparison to the competition
  • mrcellusmrcellus Member Posts: 52
    This is what I was concerned about up until now. I find it strange that the New Hyundais resale takes a hit but as I am looking to buy a 07' Elantra SE real soon and keep it I wondered if I would pay so much over a period of time just to own the car with the resale kill. Then there is the reliability part that has been great with this brand for awhile and I can't help but prepare for my purchase as I know regardless It won't be as much as these websites portray. I believe the hardest part of the game is being prepared to get THE DEAL YOU WANT. Thanks gentlemen for settling my worries as I want this car so bad I have nothing to worry about really -right :D?
  • remag1234remag1234 Member Posts: 32
    Everything may be as you say, but keep in mind; if you're happy with the deal then it's a good deal. The dealers never lose a dime and make at least 25% profit no matter what you've heard. They couldn't survive on anything less. They get rebates that only the owner of the dealership knows about. :):)
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    So are we to assume you are the owner of a dealership?
    Otherwise, you could not know. Or you are mistaken.
  • pingyawangpingyawang Member Posts: 19
    Wow, really? That would be great. Hope I can get the same price in Hot-lanta here. IMO, it should be cheaper. LOL
  • remag1234remag1234 Member Posts: 32
    I am not a dealer, but be sure my information s correct. :):)
  • islande393islande393 Member Posts: 7
    I just purchased a new 2007 Hyundai Elantra SE w/ floormats, no preferred package, for 14,800 + tax, title and lic. I'm feeling pretty good about my deal. This was a hail damaged car that will be fixed to look brand new, and after doing a little research I believe that the hail damage does not go on a carfax report. This is a black peral model. I also got $800 more for my trade at hyundai than at any other place that I had been looking. Any thoughts on the deal, does this seam like a fair price?
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    You've pulled the trigger, you feel good about your deal, and that is what is important. Enjoy your new car!

    P.S. Hopefully they can repair the hail dents with paintless dent removal so they don't need to touch the factory finish.
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    You could not know that according to your previous posts.
  • islande393islande393 Member Posts: 7
    it is a paintless dent removal, had it not been I probably wouldn't have done the deal. As a whole I feel pretty happy about the deal, but I'm just curious to know how the price compares to other peoples prices.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Someone else will always get a better deal than you got, and will be glad to tell you so. So a friendly word of advice--ask about how good a deal it is before you pull the trigger. Afterwands, don't look back.
  • islande393islande393 Member Posts: 7
    I know people will have gotten better deals than I have, and no matter what I am happy and that is what matters to me. I guess I'm just trying to find out how the price stacks up versus those that are around the country. I wouldn't have signed the deal if I wasn't happy. I'm sure someone somewhere paid less than I have, but I'm just trying to see the prices that others have had.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Okee doke then. Your deal is pretty good but there's better prices to be had. If you live in CA, with a $2000 rebate, it's a pretty poor deal. For example, the advertised, no-haggle price at Fitzmall for the Elantra SE with no options is $14,478 + T&L (with the $1000 rebate applied). Did they offer you $800 more on your trade before or after you got the $14,800 price from them? If after, then you did well. (Or the other dealer was low-balling you?)
  • islande393islande393 Member Posts: 7
    I got them to do 14800, and then worked on the trade vaule. I should have mentioned that my SE has an Auto Trans. The MSRP was roughly $17600 (before the $1000 rebate)
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Well I think that is a great deal then!
  • caazcaaz Member Posts: 209
    i'm new at this...1st time..i hope thgis goes to the right place....lol..im considering buying an Elantra...fairly loaded...MSRP is 17,440....my dealer will give me 4095 off sticker....including rebate...for a total of approx 13,350. Is it a good deal or not?
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    That is a pretty darn good deal these days. This is the manufacturer's sticker, not with some dealer add-on stuff, right?
  • percussionistpercussionist Member Posts: 204
    What exactly is "fairly loaded"? What trim level and options are included in this price? Then we could give you a better idea of what is a good price for this car.
  • percussionistpercussionist Member Posts: 204
    Seriously, I agree here. 25%? How did you find that out, and if it were actually true, how can I get cars without that kind of mark up?
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    He was just blowing hot air. And his posts were not consistent either.
  • remag1234remag1234 Member Posts: 32
    My source is not relevant to his board. As to the comment "blowing smoke", obviously it was made not and never having been in business. Consider these facts. Cost to dealers: property, building [and upkeep] taxes, utility costs [includes water, sewer, electric, heating/ac costs, telephone service], office machines [fax, computers etc. and SALARIES just for the office staff, the so-called salepersons are not on 100% commission. Some Einstein will probably say "the service department takes care of those costs". The service & parts departments are entity. Look at the cost of running a service department, it's more than the sales department. They have the DEP, OSHA and other city, state and government agencies dealing with safety etc. which also costs money. With costs running into the 10's of thousands they must work on at least a 25% profit margin. Try to answer this, how many cars a day, week or month does a dealer have to sell to pay for the above costs if they only made $1000 profit? If this doesn't answer your question, then this post was for nothing.
  • percussionistpercussionist Member Posts: 204
    So, what's the solution? How can we get cars cheaper?

    Just to clarify, I don't consider legitimate business expenses to be profit - the dealer does not keep that money. Lease of building, office equipment, utilities and taxes are the cost of doing business. Where I take issue is with things such as "dealer doc fees", "ad fees", and other assorted fees which are doubled, due to the fact that those type of fees are already included in the invoice price.

    Let's also not forget that the dealer has to pay for the car - they are a middleman.

    The bottom line is this - we, the consumers, need to figure out how to get cars straight from the factory without dealing with the dealer middleman, just like we get jewelry, furniture, and electronics.

    P.S. - the last time I bought a new car (6 months ago), the dealer made $318 profit (plus whatever extra they could get from the sale of my trade - I'll never know that number). I'm sure someone bought a car from them the same week and gave them $2000 in profit.
  • bhmr59bhmr59 Member Posts: 1,602
    How do you know the dealer made $318 profit on selling you that car?

    Our Sonata purchase 4 months ago was $1900 under invoice before $2500 in rebates. We also paid $189 doc fee and the registration & title fees were probably about $100 high--call these fees $300. Do you think the dealer actually lost $1600 on that sale?
  • hyundaiman3hyundaiman3 Member Posts: 12
    Working the telephone today at a dealership in Virginia, I got an Elantra Limited with everything (premium sound, sunroof, xm, etc.)but with manual transmission (it's for my 20-year old son and he wanted a manual, I'm actually looking forward to driving it) - for $15,000. I'll be driving to VA from NJ in the a.m. to buy it - does the price make sense?
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    If the registration and title fees were too high by $100, you should be getting a refund in the mail soon. I guess some dealers estimate the amount rather than find out exactly how much the state/county fees are going to be when they write the deal. Is that what you understood when you bought the car... that they estimated the government fees?

    Good question though about whether the dealer lost money on that under invoice sale. I don't know how anyone but the dealer and manufacturer could know for sure. My guess is that occasionally a dealer will cut his profit into negative figures on a deal occasionally, in order to come out ahead in some other way. One example is when they need one more sale to qualify for some special bonus from the manufacturer. The bonus may be many times more than the amount of profit lost on one of those occasional "losing" deals.
    And, there is such a thing as a loss leader in car sales too. An offer to sell a limited number of cars at a loss just to get customers into the showroom. Overall, the dealer thinks he'll profit in spite of losing money on the advertised special.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    This presentation by Steve Wilhite, Chief Operating Officer for Hyundai Motor America, may be pertinent. Especially slides 5 and 6. Note that according to the NADA, new vehicle gross profit margin deteriorated from 6.5% in 1998 to 5.1% in 2005, while average sales price increased.

    http://www.autonews.com/assets/pdf/07_anwc/wilhite_steve.pdf

    25% profit? Doesn't look like it.
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    5.1% profit on billions of dollars is still an infinite percentage return (profit) on the dealer's investment.

    How can that be? Because the dealer BORROWS all the money! And the interest he pays on the loans are figured as business costs so do not cut in on any calculated profit. The interest charges are paid out of sales proceeds before the profit is determined.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    Billions? You must know some really big Hyundai dealers!
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    From the way the post was written, I assumed it was not ONLY Hyundai dealers, but ALL auto dealers in North America.

    But yeah, I do know a really big Hyundai dealer not far away. He's got to go about 320. He's about 5' 6", so not tall but still big, right? He's a nice guy and has a great sense of humor too. And, when we go out, he always picks up the bill at the All-U-Can-Eat Country Trough Buffet. (We like rib nights best.)
  • bhmr59bhmr59 Member Posts: 1,602
    Joe131. We were transferring title & registration from another car (registered here in CT). A 20 day NJ temporary registration was also included in the $200. It was a "flat charge" the dealer apparantly applies to all CT customers. We didn't care,it was included in the bottom line (OTD) # we agreed to.

    This was not a special deal that we negotiated or lucked into. It was their standard internet offering available for the month of February. The price was the price, no haggling-take it or leave it- and applied to any Sonata, regardless of trim level or options. As of the start of business on 2/24/07 they had already sold 70 Sonata's that month. I don't know how many were internet sales.

    They quote their prices on the internet relative to invoice, not MSRP. June pricing: Elantra $1200 under invoice plus the $1,000rebate totaling $2200 under invoice. Sonata is $1400 under invoice, plus $2,000 rebate plus $500 loyalty (if qualified)totaling $3400 or $3900 under invoice. Quoted prices include destination.

    Good point on "gross profit." Accounting sometimes has different definitions than common language. We'd really need to see the definition of "gross profit" as there could be other "costs" besides "interest" considered before determining "gross profit."
  • bhmr59bhmr59 Member Posts: 1,602
    That looks like a great price!

    Check out Edmunds and you'll see that the car (with floor mats & destination) has an invoice just under $17,900).
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    Ok, ok. I think I get it now.
    That temporary registration makes it legal for you to drive on the roadways of the U.S. until you can get your home state registration all squared away.
    We have a similar thing in my state for in-state car owners who need to drive to get their new registration or emissions tests, or even to drive to get repairs so the car is more likely to pass the inspections next time.
    Our temporary registrations in those cases cost $1.00.
    So I guess you did get charged a little (like $199) too much and you should NOT expect a refund.
    But, like you said, it was all part of the deal that you approved, so no worries. Enjoy your Sonata.

    And on the profit thing, either that dealer makes a lot of high profit deals to offset the losing advertised internet prices, or those internet deals actually were profitable despite the apparently no profit pricing.

    Regardless of what a person might infer from a common joke, it is awfully hard to sell cars at a loss every time and make up for those losses with high volume. (But with lenient corporate tax and bankruptcy laws, the ever present stock market shenanigans and community incentives meant to attract businesses, I could be wrong about that. I guess it all depends on whose money is being counted in the end?)
  • vikasyadavvikasyadav Member Posts: 3
    Today I paid $15640 to a local dealer for Elantra GLS AT with preferred package for $15640 OTD. This is very close to Fitzmall price.
  • hyundaiman3hyundaiman3 Member Posts: 12
    Yesterday, from a dealer in No. Va., I bought an Elantra Limited with Manual 5-speed, with Sun and Sound package - bascially loaded with everything you could possibly have on it, including XM, 6-CD changer, 6 speakers, 220 amps, etc.and even floor mats and mud guards, for 15,000, including the 1000 rebate. Out the door was 16,001 (including processing fee, sales tax, title and registration). Drove back to NJ with it - great car.
  • mrcellusmrcellus Member Posts: 52
    Hyundaiman3, That is an excellent deal on a 07' Limited Elantra. I would not imagine you would get such a great deal with the Summer just starting but congrats. If I can find a limited that can be had for this price or closer I would be all for the limited. I do not think I will come close as you have-I am in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area.
  • joe131joe131 Member Posts: 998
    If you want one like his for a similar price, go out and offer it to the local dealers. Be nice. Do it in person and be ready to buy if one says yes. As soon as one says no, stand up, walk out, and drive away. I'd almost bet money one of the naysayers will run after you and agree before you can start your car.
  • mrcellusmrcellus Member Posts: 52
    Joe131, thanks for the advice. I want this car so bad I will do what it takes to own a 07'SE or Limited Elantra. I have my numbers together, great credit score, and I am prepared. I am holding off a little longer.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 267,637
    I want this car so bad I will do what it takes

    Don't tell the dealer this part.. ;)

    Edmunds Price Checker
    Edmunds Lease Calculator
    Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!

    Edmunds Moderator

  • hyundaiman3hyundaiman3 Member Posts: 12
    mrcellus:

    Agree with Joe131 - I did my research for a few weeks - went to four dealers in NJ. Got a sense of price. But as Joe says - you have to have to know what you want. My routine - and I love buying cars - is to walk in, tell them I'm a committed buyer, that I'm going to buy. I know exactly what I want and what I want to pay for it. I will pay XXX dollars. (okay to start $500 below what you'll really pay). They'll check with sales manager - will be too high - tell them you're interested but you work hard for your money and every penny counts - too bad they can't come down lower. AND you have to be willing to walk out the door.

    Even in places I didn't buy I was able to bring the price down between 1000 and 2000 in about 20 minutes. What's sad is the number of people who accept the first offer. BUT you have to be willing to walk out and they have to know it.

    I bought mine over the phone. At the end with one dealer I asked "is there anything else I should know re: processing fees, etc. - "oh, there's the destination charge of $600." I went ballistic - I assumed this charge was already in - I told him how disappointed I was - how it was deceptive. He called me back in ten minutes offering to forget the $600.

    I see that Huffines has a nice quicksilver Elantra Limited - http://www.huffineshyundai.com/frameset.htm?url=/about.htm
    Go in and offer them 15,500 and tell them you'll write a check right then and there if they can do it for 15.5 K plus tax, title and processing fees. I bet you can close it at 16K with the 1000 rebate.

    Good luck.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Your Privacy

By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our Visitor Agreement.