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Two days later the right fog light went out!? I am taking it to the dealer today to see about getting it replaced (free of charge).
Is there a known (or recognized) problem with GT or Elantra head/fog lights?
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
I was going to say "guys" but then I thought about the PepBoys commercial and how not everybody here is a guy, which is very cool, methinks!
Anyway, thank you Ingtonge18 for your helpful suggestion. The only problem was to make my college-day eraser last for the whole operation! (It was like like cutting down an oak tree with a nail file, but heck, it worked!).
I checked the Hyundai web site to verify if I was entitled to the perks related to the horse-power ad. It appears I'm not. Does this mean my car has a 140 horse-power engine? I've been looking around the manual and all the papers associated with it but I can't seem to find any info related to this issue. Any ideas?
I thought I had posted this message about a week ago but it seems I didn't! Merry Christmas everybody!
Thanks!
My personal disappointment is from the area of poor paint and a strong solid body. Not only have I noticed two places where the paint has chipped away but on the hood a spot exists where bird droppings weren't promptly removed leaving a splashed type spot of flaked away paint and exposed white undercoat/metal whatever. Now that snow has arrived in PA I continue my routine of tapping my boots on the bottom side of the drivers door to shake off excess snow. This minimizes the amount brought inside that melts and at times refreezes (no garage) on the floor mat. Guess what? Having done this only 5-6 times it has caused dents in the underside rocker pannel. Isn't the metal there to be extra strong and protect from road hazards? No other car I've had over the last 23 years has showed any impact from my doing so. I never would have dreamed that the structure would be so weak and impressionable in this area.
Yes I know my neglect and actions caused these problems but my past history with cars led me to believe they're all sound with paint/body. Perhaps waiting 11 years to buy again left an impression of good external quality, or perhaps my first Hyundai experience will also be my last.
it seems people want to find something wrong with their car to complain about because of its lack of major problems... and because its a hyundai and they feel that it should have problems...i'd rather have a hyundai with little issues mentioned in tehis forum than a X5/focus with all the recalls, or a camry with its engine sludge issue, or a honda wiht its bad tranny...
The GT's paint and sheetmetal thickness may not be its best features, but I wouldn't touch my shoes to the paint on any new car. At the very least, the grit from your shoes is going to damage the paint eventually. When I want to get the snow off of my feet, I kick the tires.
Now it gets very high quality ratings.
http://www.jdpa.com/studies_jdpower/pressrelease.asp?StudyID=410&CatID=1
http://www.jdpa.com/studies_jdpower/pressrelease.asp?StudyID=619&CatID=1
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
I have a 2001.5 GT and had the same problem after about 6 months. My clock display would go blank randomly and sometimes return. The service dept just replaced it (they had them in stock!) and its been fine since. The fact that they had them in stock tells me they knew about the failing clocks. Service has been very good about repairs. Enjoy your GT.
see my cousins selling his CRX si...
he is going to "gift" it to me... its in perfect condititon...low mileage 91, he jsut spent 2k upgrading it and replacing some parts...
As you know... I "own" a 2001.5 Elantra GT
(auto)...my father bought it for me to replace the hand me down Raider...its in my name... his money...
there is another 4 cars currently in the family...
a 96 XJR...
a 96 Toyota LC
a 95 Accent...
a 2002 Elantra GLS
and here's the deal... there are only 2 "real" drivers' in the family... me and my mom... my sister is 18 and has a license but is away at college most of the year.. my mom however refuses to drive anything but the Accent for fear of messing the other cars up...so i'm the only one left..that leaves me with 2 Boutique cars, 2 Elantra's and soon 1 CRX...now I am paying insurance on the GT myself but dont want to add insurance of the CRX on top of that...
what should I do... convince my father to sell the GLS and have my cousin buy it? (he wants a sedan for his family..)
get rid of the accent and make my mom drive the GLS? (leaving us with 5 cars)
junking/giving away the Accent, selling the GLS to my cuz or someone, giving mom the GT... leaving me the CRX my sis sharing the GLS with my mom
(selling the LC or the XJR is out of the question since they'd fetch less than what we value them at... *very low mileage*)
selling the elantras on the private market will not generate much intrest in the price range i'd like to get...
even if i dont register the CRX right away I know it'll sell if i decide to because its a very popular car...and I have yet to learn to drive manual...
damnit...
any ideas?
Andrew
Noises - some owners have reported that tightening the front strut mounting nuts just a bit can help with front end noise. Others have had their windshields reseated to quiet noises up there. In back, be sure the spare tire is tightened down and the tools aren't clanging around.
Maintenance - I stick to the 3750 interval for oil changes because I only drive about 8000 miles a year and a lot of that is short trips, and in cold weather. $19 for an oil change seems reasonable, but watch out on the bigger services, like 15k and 30k. Some dealers try to slip in services that are not required by Hyundai's maintenance schedule, like fuel system cleaning. These can really add up. So have your maintenance schedule with you when you talk to the service writer and be clear that you only want the manufacturer's recommended services, plus anything else you are sure you want (like tire rotations). Then get an estimate on only those services. If you are handy at all with cars, you can do the fluids checks/topping offs yourself and save a few bucks.
Can someone tell me what the difference is in the numbers 2-3 and L are used for?
Also, if you start in 2 , can you shift into D after you get going?
TIA
All above cars are excellent rigs, all have some flaws & reliablity questions. In terms of overall performance & comfort, the Elanta GT comes in 3rd, extremely close to the Si in my humble opinion. In the end the Elanta GT met & exceeded all my needs, has a better warranty, lower cost to own, and cost over $3000 less than the closest competitor (both 02 models). The truth be told, I just did not feel justified spending more than 7$K!
I purchased the HGT with sunroof for $6,070 cash (including Tax & license!) plus my 97 Del Sol Si. I still have plenty of money left over for a strut bar and better bigger tires (205/60 HR15 Dunlop Sport A2s on OE rims).
Time will tell if this was the best decision. I suspect I will occasionally long for cheap summer thrill of the SOC VTEC running thru the gears with the top down, but right now I am quite happy!
I appreciate all the help I have gotten on Edmunds! I will miss you all, it is time to get on to real life priorities.
PS Please pray for a peacefull solution to the Iraq situation.
I've had mine for two months now and am just loving it.
miles now. No problems, nothing but fun.
Now here's the problem. I've noticed, on at least four occasions, a humming vibrating sound coming
from the rear driver's side, right before my
cell phone rings!
It sounds like an electric motor.
When I mentioned this to the service department,
they looked at me like I was nuts.
Has anyone else experienced/heard of this occurring? Are there any RF controlled parts in the GT?
Hi tjm1957- You may also want to copy/paste your message in our Elantra Owners - Problem & Solutions discussion. Someone there may be able to offer some feedback. Good luck.
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
Have the service man call you while in the shop with phone in car.
It could work!
http://www.gwebworks.com/elantra_gt/garage3.shtml
The rear swaybar for the 2003 Tiburon fits the Elantra and seriously tightens up the handling. Check it out.
and have read all the posts on this forum. but i got a few questions. i presentley own a 95 chevy cavalier that is approching 100,000 miles and i estimate that i have done approximitley 25 oil changes since the car was new. all with the same oil drain bolt and oil pan. and also with the same headlights, and cd player.
if the gt is that great then why am i hearing about people haveing to replace thier oil drain plugs and/or oil pans after 1 oil change as well as headlghts blowing out within 1 year of ownership. this does not make sense to me. i think it comes down to the old addage u get what u pay for and its as simple as that. thank you steve
Believe me, I was always inclined to buy American cars until I researched this one (mine is a GLS). The test drive sold me, and I have been happy for nearly 24K miles. I am glad you had such good service from your Cavalier (my '87 Lynx was my high mileage benchmark), but I seriously doubt you'll duplicate it with another American small car.
if the gt is that great then why am i hearing about people haveing to replace thier oil drain plugs and/or oil pans after 1 oil change as well as headlghts blowing out within 1 year of ownership.
The answers to your questions are quite simple actually.
Oil pan / drain plug -- The oil pan is aluminum (as are the head of this engine - weight concerns) and the drain plug is steel. The 95 Cavalier had steel oil pan, I believe. Besides, how can one fault a manufacturer for the incompetence of a person replacing a bolt in a threaded hole?
Bulbs -- many cars have Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) which means that the bulbs are used more. Many folk drive with their lights on more these days than they did before, irrespective of if their vehicles are fitted with DRLs. The factory bulbs in the Elantra are Sylvania / Osram, not Hyundai. Halogen bulbs are very susceptible to failure if contaminated when installed. If these bulbs are touched as they are installed, this could lead to premature failure.
CD player -- I have no problems with my CD player which is now 14 months old. Plays all my CDs, including CD-Rs.
I don't think that you can compare the 1995 Cavalier with the 2003 Elantra when it comes to quality. I would not even compare the 1995 Cavalier to my 1995 Elantra.
If you are considering buying a GT, rest assured that in most respects (esp. quality, fit and finish, N/V/H) the Hyundai of today is more competitive with the Japanese products than with the offerings from North America for cars in their class.
If you want even handed reviews try this link.
http://www.gwebworks.com/elantra_gt/reviews.shtml
I shopped around all the cars in the GT's class and am convinced I made a good purchase decision. For the money it is a great car. Period!!
I've taken my Elantra to Wal-Mart for oil changes and they haven't stripped anything yet, even though they're not the sharpest tacks in the pack.
As far as lights, the Elantra uses H7/H1's more common to high end cars such as Lexuses. I have gone through three H7 bulbs and replaced the H1's as a precaution last summer. I do wish the Elantra came with standard bulbs as they do seem more durable, you can get them in long-life versions as well-- unlike the H1's and H7's. I found my first bulb change to be far harder to handle than the standard units, but the job goes faster with more experience.
Other than the bulbs I've had absolutely not one thing go wrong with the car. 4000 mile oil changes and rotations every 8000 and I'm home free. Still haven't been back to the dealer in 31,000 miles. Will probably get an independent mechanic to do the 30K check with coolant change in the next week or so.
The Cavalier has given me little trouble for 80000 miles, although there's been a fair amount of ignition problems. Compared to the Elantra, however, it's very uncomfortable and crude and the quality of materials is far worse.
I wish Chevy well and GM is on an improvement path, unlike Ford. The Cavalier platform should have been replaced ten years ago. The 03 redesign simply made a pretty if crude car, ugly and crude. The money would have been better spent in pushing up the replacement date by a few months.
http://cartalk.cars.com/Info/Testdrive/Reviews/hyundai-elantra-gt-2002.html
A snippit:
" Five-door hatchbacks like the Elantra GT make a lot of sense, which may be why you're finally starting to see more of them on the showroom floor. In addition to the aforementioned Saab 9-3, Mazda is selling its Protege5, Kia has the five-door hatchback Rio, and Ford, Toyota and Pontiac are all getting into the act with the Focus ZX5, Matrix and Vibe, respectively. But excluding the Rio, which is really much smaller than the Elantra, not one of these vehicles is within $2,000 of the Hyundai's base price -- and that's before you begin adding options to bring them to the Hyundai's level of equipment.
We wish for a little more power from a standing start, but that's a quibble in a $14,000 car. We have to admit that at this price, it's hard to find fault with the Elantra GT."
Wayne, you may want to add this review to your site.
Wayne, you may want to add this review to your site.
Done. I thought about it before, Frank, and didn't agree with their harping on a power deficit, and I guess I decided to skip them.
I figure, if all the other reviews say that it has good performance, albeit a "soft launch", then it would temper Click and Clack's opinion.
I find it has lots of power on the highway ... or course I have a K & N Filtercharger, Mobil One, and Bosch Platinum Plus 4 plugs, all of which help.
steve
hood block fuses look like when they burn?), or if the original relay is shot now. Anyone know where to find the horn relay? If I can't do this myself, I'll (gulp) take it to a professional. I do have the relay that came with the kit.
You are a godsend. As a Hyundai tech, you will be invaluable on this board. Like I said, I only learn the hard way. If I had looked closer, I would have seen the box cover says "fuses and relays", I thought it was just blade fuses and some weird Hyundai box fuses I'd never seen before. I've also owned mostly American cars and much older foreign cars, and didn't know that you can't really see a burnt fuse from the top, you have to remove it to look.
It was a burnt fuse, I put the spare 15 amp in, and it worked again. I love that European air horn sound. They cost me $14.00 at Harbor Freight. Now for my follow up questions-the Fiamm instructions call for a 20 amp fuse. Will I be asking for trouble to install one in the place of the 15? Too much amperage for the wires? Or not a problem? The relay that came with the air horns-it won't plug directly in place of the Hyundai one, but the markings near the blades on the bottom are the same numbers as Hyundai. I could, without too much trouble, devise a way to jumper this relay so that it is installed instead of the original. My question is-if the horns work using the original relay, do I need to replace it with the new one, or is a fuse upgrade enough? The Hyundai relay says it is 20 amps, and has a 15 amp fuse, the Fiamm says 30 amps, and calls for a 20 amp fuse.
My original thought was that if it worked as is, how often do you use the horn in more than a short blast, so it shouldn't overload and blow a fuse or the relay, right? Well, this obviously isn't the case, since I did blow the fuse, probably goofing around in an underpass. You know, some kids never grow up.
Again, Mike, thanks for your help, you saved me from sitting at the shop on my birthday, and countless dollars to tell me a fuse was blown.
PS I'm in Ft. Worth, who's the best tech dept in the FW/Arlington area. There's only 3 dealers, do you know who to recommend?
Click on Dodge, then the Avenger. Are we slightly ahead of our time or what? Also take a look at the Hyundai OLV concept.
I wouldn't ever change the size of a fuse in the car's fuse box. They're probably sized the way they are for a reason. The wiring they protect may not be up to the demands of a higher current device.
So far with 7500 miles of stop and go driving my GT is doing great. I changed the horn to the fiamms (I didn't use the relay, but no problems with a lot of use.... I think I'll re-do that one, though)