2004 Hyundai Getz GLF review from Israel

Slight misfires at certain speeds.

I am using this car as a long term rental during an assignment in Israel.

The Getz is a fairly popular car on the roads here and it appears that all of the rental companies offer them.

As I have a fairly short commute to work (20-25mins) and I decided to rent a "cheap and cheerful" car and pocket some of the living allowance into my pocket instead of choosing a more luxurious model.

I read a few reviews of the Getz which suggested fantastic fuel consumption.

So here are my comments of the actual car:

Nice looking exterior, fit and finish looks very acceptable.

Reasonably attractive interior, (the car is actually quite spacious for what would appear to be a small car) some of the trim looks very cheap, but the clocks get high marks!

Hyundai have skimped on costs by only including one LCD display for BOTH odometer and tip meter readings. This is a minor irritation and you get used to it almost immediately. This means you can only look at the trip meter OR the odometer at any time.

The non-adjustable height of the steering wheel is a real pain and would certainly put me off owning this particular specification of the Getz. The standard setting is way too high for me and not a comfortable setting.

One area where the car disappoints is the fuel economy, commuting to work which is about 25 minutes on a main road with very little stop n go results in an average of around 35mpg (IMP) or 31mpg (US).

I took a drive down to Egypt this weekend and got an average of 40mpg (IMP) or 36 (US) which is not exactly fantastic.

I had an older Hyundai Pony back in the early 90s which was a 1.5L engine. It did 40mpg (IMP) just doing general running around and 51mpg (IMP) on a long run.

From what I have observed in recent years it might be the case that you need the 1.5L engines to get the better fuel economy (especially with those fuel consuming cats fitted!).

In summary a nice little run around that should have adjustable height adjustment of the steering wheel (if you are buying one!), that disappoints in the fuel economy department.