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Observations - 2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited Navigation

eweinereweiner Member Posts: 36
edited February 2012 in Hyundai
Over the last 60 days I have documented some thoughts on my new Elantra. I strongly believe that some of these items can be easily addressed o rimplemented and would stregthen the product quality.

Do not construe this list to mean that I hate my Elantra. I dont, but would like to see many of these items addressed.

Computer

- There are a number of car behaviors that should be directly programmable by the consumer without having to involve the dealer. These include: Door unlock on park, door lock on drive, TPMS swing/trigger point, rear defogger ON time. This ability is either being blocked by default settings or has been left out of the system. All Hyundai cars should work the same as the Sonata and allow the driver to make changes. We should not have to pay the dealer for these changes and believe me dealers are charging

- TPMS monitoring could be better. I’d like to be able to see the condition of each tire. This should not be costly to do as the engine computer is already polling the devices. You can display the condition as part of the trip computer options

- The owner should be able to set the minimum TPMS PSI for tires

- The owner should be able to change the auto door locking settings

- The owner should be able to change the rear defroster timer setting

Interior

- The Window lock, door lock, side mirror buttons are not lit. All of the other buttons are lit

- The Trunk is not adequately lit and it is impossible to see the back of the trunk at night

- The glove box is not lit and it’s difficult to access it a night

- The voice and phone buttons on the steering wheel are too dim. The red call end button almost impossible to see at night

- The sunroof button’s up and down action feels cheap and flimsy like it will break very rapidly. Usage requires a delicate and light touch. A higher quality button (or multiple buttons) would be better

- The Steering wheel gets super cold in winter and is hard to hold until the car has warmed. Core material must not be designed for cold conditions as it retains the cold very well. I suggest you add the wheel heater that you offer on the Kia Optima

- Take a look at some of the dashboard plastic. The plastic around the steering wheel attracts skin oils (fingerprints) and when cleaned shows cleaning residue. It also easily scratches

- The plastic on some of the steering wheel parts (lower part of horn) have sharp edges and are irritating when brushed against. Any surface that is regularly touched should have no sharp edges

- Carpet under passenger seat is cut open so that a serial number is viewable. Problem is that now there is an entry point for dirt to collect under the carpet. Also the carpet may curl over time at this cut point exposing the frame below. I have never seen a car delivered with such a quality issue


Exterior

- How is it that the door jams can get so dirty from rain and snow when the doors are closed? This is an indicator that water is not being channeled away but is instead being washed over these areas. It also indicates that road spray is finding its way into these areas and should not be. This is a major rust/finish risk to the body from water that stands in these areas

- Supply covers for the door strikers for a cleaner look. These can’t cost more than a penny each and you already have a part number for them (81353-3M000)

- When doors are opened while raining water falls down into car, on jam and seats. Snow as well. Water does not appear to be channeled around the door very well. I don’t like having water fall inside the car when it can be prevented

- Door edge guard pieces should run the length of the door (top to bottom) and not in small segments where Hyundai thinks most impacts will occur. It’s a choppy look that detracts from the style. How much more could 20 inches of the material really cost at the factory level

- After 20 minutes the rear defroster could not remove a lightly iced window. It needs to be more powerful

- It is nearly impossible to find a high quality 14” wiper for the front windshield as this size wiper is generally for rear window wipers where the clearing quality does not have to be as good. Hyundai should have used a single wiper approach. There is also a cleaning gap between the 28” drive wiper and the 14” passenger wiper. A 15” blade would solve the problem but over extends the window by about ¼ inch on the left. I suggest that you shift the driver wiper to the right so it can accept a smaller blade allowing the passenger blade to at least 16 inches (the minimal size for a front wiper)

- The quick turn signal feature only flashes the light 3 times. This is too short for most typical situations. Five flashes would be better and safer.

- The stock blades on the new car is not very good and smears better than they clean

Rear Camera

- Use a better CCD as the picture quality that is graining/blurry at night. Suspect it uses a CCD that is not for nighttime viewing

- Publish the distances (feet) for each color range (red,yellow,green) on the rear camera in the owners manual

Stereo

- The volume on the Navigation system can only be set as high as 35 on a scale of 100. Needs to go higher

- XM signal gets lost more often than a similar Sirius equipped car. Suggest switching USA/Canada production lines to Sirius radio for better coverage

- On the non-navigation cars, the "Up/Down" button does not work with XM and when I press it, automatically changes the channel to the "XM Preview" channel

Navigation

- $200 map updates? Are you kidding me? After spending $2K on the tech package.

- Owner should be able to turn off the GPS warning screen permanently

- Owner should have a separate screen on/off button where the navigation screen remains off regardless of the other buttons being pressed

- Navigation screen brightness should have an option to be tied to the dash board dimming system

- Traffic needs to overlay on the navigation screen without that big blue box of details. I just want to be able to see the map and have all traffic issues overlaid. A voice warning would be ideal as I approach an area with a traffic issue

Phone

- System does not fully implement the Bluetooth/Control features of the iPhone and the newest model the 4S. This is one of the most popular phones in the world.

- Calling by name should be as smooth as the iPhone through the navigation system. There should be no need to say “Call Name”. I should be able to say “Call John Smith at Home” and have it work. Every voice dial phone on the planet functions this way. The Hyundai voice dial through the navigation system does not work that way.

- System should have an immediate pass-through mode so that I can use the features of the phone directly while the audio passes through the sound system I want to be able to talk directly to Apple’s new SIRI control without having to touch the phone

Comments

  • eweinereweiner Member Posts: 36
    edited February 2012
    iPod

    - Instead of an iPod cable which is clunky to use, why not build a pop out iPod /iPhone dock into the dash

    Bluetooth

    - Most Bluetooth devices today can connect to each other in five seconds or less once paired. The Elantra Navigation system can take up to 30 seconds and this it too slow

    - Use of the AUX feature to slow to connect. Music or streaming should start in under 5 seconds

    - The Elantra Navigation system does not seem to check for possible connections often enough. That should be a continuous function. I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten into the car and not had the system connect to my phone automatically

    Heating

    - There should be a way to control the constant air flow of the car. When I want to prevent outside smells from getting into the cabin it’s nearly impossible as the system flows air all the time. We need a way to turn off the constant cabin air flow

    - If I have the heat on and want it blowing on the floor, it still comes through the driver/passenger far end vents. I have to completely close these vents to stop it. This is not a logical implementation. When the air is sent to the floor it should never come through the upper vents

    - The rear defroster timer is set to 20 minutes which is too long. Most windows clear in 5 to 10 minutes. Any time over 10 minutes is wasteful of gas. Owners should be able to program this ON time themselves

    - If the heating system is OFF then the ventilation LEDs should also be off. The ventilation preference LED remains on all the time

    - Add controls to close the center air vents

    Tires

    - Stock tires are not good for snow climates.

    - Stock tires are very noisy on anything other than asphalt. Concrete roadways are very noisy and tire impacts are transmitted into the cabin

    - No spare tire make sure sales staff educate buyer on missing option. Was told only after I signed a deal

    - Hyundai recommends expensive tire sealant canisters ($65) that make no sense when a product like Slime is $10 a can and can do multiple tires

    Security

    - Car needs a flashing dash light when security system is active


    Drive

    - Wind can blow the car around making control challenging. Front end aerodynamics should be revisited.

    MPG

    - The vast majority of driving, in my opinion, is local driving. While 33 combined MPG is impressive and achievable, a car that is being touted as a 40 MPG should be able to reach that level with average driving. That is what consumers take away from the heavy advertising of 40 MPG. From my usage it seems that unless your average MPH (and that is a reading on the trip computer) exceeds 55, it’s doubtful that the MPG will approach 40. It is, therefore, deceptive to tout this car as a 40 MPG car when achieving that result requires a-typical driving

    - Local/City MPG appears to be significantly lower that reported to EPA. This is the only explanation for not being able to achieve high overall MPG.

    - Partial tank fills confuse the MPG calculation

    - MPG seems to randomly rise then adjust downward rapidly

    - ECO button seems to increases MPG only for city driving and reduces MPG during highway driving. This mode could have been designed better to where it was able to sense the driving type and adjust automatically making its usage more of an on or off type of operation. Instead, I have to manually turn it off for highway driving otherwise it degrades the MPG

    Manuals

    - No information on wiper blade sizes
    - No information on timing chain or that the engine is a non interference engine
    - No rear camera zone distances

    New features to consider

    - Onstar and Bluelink rear view mirror
    - Panoramic rear view mirror to help with blindspots
    - Power front seats
    - Power lumbar control
    - Climate Control &/Or Dual Zone
    - Rear seat power plug
    - Panoramic moonroof
    - Sirius Radio Option for better signal quality in USA
    - Solar powered air ventilation similar to that on the Prius
    - Nice spare tire well organizer in place of the missing spare tire
    - Steering wheel heater (like Kia Optima)
  • fushigifushigi Member Posts: 1,459
    - TPMS monitoring could be better. I’d like to be able to see the condition of each tire. This should not be costly to do as the engine computer is already polling the devices. You can display the condition as part of the trip computer options

    It depends on the TPMS method being used. Not all types return the actual tire pressure; some just compare the individual tire rotation speeds and report a low tire if one tire is spinning at a significantly different rate.

    - The owner should be able to set the minimum TPMS PSI for tires

    Probably a "lawyers" thing. Allow too wide a margin and there is a potential for liability.

    - The Trunk is not adequately lit and it is impossible to see the back of the trunk at night

    Lots of vehicles have this issue. If manufacturers would change to using a couple of strips of LEDs it could be resolved easily (though good LEDs would cost more).

    - When doors are opened while raining water falls down into car, on jam and seats. Snow as well. Water does not appear to be channeled around the door very well. I don’t like having water fall inside the car when it can be prevented

    Rain never falls straight down around here; the wind is always making it come at an angle. So more roof overhang wouldn't really help much.

    It is nearly impossible to find a high quality 14” wiper for the front windshield as this size wiper is generally for rear window wipers where the clearing quality does not have to be as good.

    http://www.autoanything.com/driving-accessories/61A3475A0A0A3449871.aspx has the right size wiper blades for it. Not my personal preference, which is the Rain-X Latitude blades, but PIAA blades should work well.

    - The quick turn signal feature only flashes the light 3 times. This is too short for most typical situations. Five flashes would be better and safer.

    The 3-blinks-to-change-lanes seems to come from Europe. And 3 blinks appears to be the norm. Personally I'd prefer 4 but I am content with the 3.

    Use a better CCD as the picture quality that is graining/blurry at night. Suspect it uses a CCD that is not for nighttime viewing

    A minor correction: It has light from the reverse lamp so it really just needs a low-light CCD, not a nighttime-capable one. I haven't noticed it being blurry, though I have noticed they tend to get dirty easily, which can blur the image.

    - The volume on the Navigation system can only be set as high as 35 on a scale of 100. Needs to go higher

    That's a "but these go to 11" argument. What the top number is doesn't matter; all you gain is more granularity in the volume changes from number to number. 35 represents peak power/volume in my wife's Elantra; 45 is the peak in my Outlander (with a 710 watt stereo).

    - $200 map updates? Are you kidding me? After spending $2K on the tech package.

    I agree. IMO updates for both maps & software should be free as long as the navi unit is under warranty and then not more than $100 (including installation) after that. After all, they just insert a DVD/CD/USB drive and walk away while the update loads. There's no real effort involved and the media is reusable.

    I suggest waiting on buying any updates until you feel a genuine need, i.e. when new roads that you'll take are available around you or when you're planning a trip to parts unknown and want to make sure you've got the latest.

    - Owner should be able to turn off the GPS warning screen permanently

    That'd be nice but again, talk to the lawyers. Incidentally, other automakers require the warning screen acknowledgement as well.

    - System does not fully implement the Bluetooth/Control features of the iPhone and the newest model the 4S.

    Blame Apple. Bluetooth is a standard and Apple is well known for not following standards. If you scan the Inside Line long-term road test blog you'll see entry after entry of how iPhones don't work right or stop working after an Apple update. Happens to several manufacturers.
    2017 Infiniti QX60 (me), 2012 Hyundai Elantra (wife)
  • fushigifushigi Member Posts: 1,459
    - Instead of an iPod cable which is clunky to use, why not build a pop out iPod /iPhone dock into the dash

    Because again, Apple goes proprietary instead of standard. USB, particularly microUSB, is a standard and is used by practically everyone else besides Apple. The better question is why doesn't Apple adhere to standards. Even Apple's USB support is problematic - the port on Apple's end is proprietary and Apple's use of USB commands etc. requires custom support from the automakers.

    Also, iPhones are not the dominant phone on the market. So putting in an iPhone dock would do nothing for the Android and other phone users out there. Adding a dock would not eliminate the need for the USB port so it is a literal added cost & complexity item for the manufacturers.

    - Most Bluetooth devices today can connect to each other in five seconds or less once paired. The Elantra Navigation system can take up to 30 seconds and this it too slow

    I've heard that the Sonata downloads your address book every time it pairs with the phone. I would guess the Elantra does the same. It's a good/bad thing; good in that you're always up to date but bad in that it can take 30-90 seconds to pair every time you start your car and your address book probably doesn't change all that often. I prefer a manual pairing myself.

    - If the heating system is OFF then the ventilation LEDs should also be off. The ventilation preference LED remains on all the time

    Just because the fan is off it doesn't mean the vents aren't flowing air. If you're not using recirc then fresh air will flow in while the vehicle is in motion.

    - Hyundai recommends expensive tire sealant canisters ($65) that make no sense when a product like Slime is $10 a can and can do multiple tires

    Any TPMS-compatible sealant will work.

    MPG issues

    This is an area of controversy right now. Suffice to say some are getting EPA ratings and some aren't. There are many factors that influence your economy, including the weather, the way you drive, if you get "100% gas" or "10% ethanol", if you get winter-blend gas, tire pressure, and so on.

    New features to consider

    Opinions will vary on some of these. Some folks won't want power seats as they feel it adds weight & complexity. Ditto the panoramic roof. Solar ventilation is of limited use if you, say, park in a garage. I don't mind Hyundai offering these things as options (but not mandatory) as long as they don't get bogged down and wind up letting feature-itis take over from the car's true purpose - that of being a great car at a good price.
    2017 Infiniti QX60 (me), 2012 Hyundai Elantra (wife)
  • ronnomadronnomad Member Posts: 11
    Bought this with full package (navigation, moon roof, leather seats, etc.).

    I guess my simple question is, does anyone else who has this system think it is stupid?

    Strictly, from a purely routing point of view, this system consistently chooses routes that are longer in both distance and time no matter what parameters are set. I have a Garmin that needs to have an update that does a better job.

    I live in the Phoenix Arizona area. On a trip to Las Vegas the system insisted that the best (fastest) route was through Flagstaff. This route is 408 miles compared to 315 miles on route 93 through Wickenburg. The estimated drive time on the recommended route is 6H:36M compared to 5H:35M on 93.

    Similarly, on a trip to Tucson the system suggested two routes (the first 123 miles, the second 117 miles) with estimated drive times of 2:12 and 2:15 respectively. The known route (not suggested or even acknowledged by the system) from the start point is 101 miles with an estimated drive time of 1:58 (and I know it can be done in this time without breaking any speed limits).

    It's bad enough that the fuel economy is not what I thought it would be (see my other posts) but the NavSys adds insult to injury by suggesting longer and more time consuming routes.
  • chickraechickrae Member Posts: 44
    Since I have been deciding whether to get the GLS or the Limited, do you think that it's not necessary to have the Navagation in the limited? I realize it's not an option in the Gls. I have a garmon that works fine and would rather save the money if the nav system isn't what it should be in the limited.
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