Faults:

Front rotors rusted; needed replacing at 22500 miles.

Front rotors rusted a second time at 39500 miles; this time not replaced, but resurfaced.

Right lower control arm rusted through at 43600 miles, causing a wheel to fall off the car 14 days after the warranty expired. "Good Will" reimbursement was denied.

Faults:

My clutch began slipping at about 55,000 miles.

The driver's door seal is worn, and when I questioned the dealership about it, they advised that the previous owner had it replaced, so it could not be covered under warranty a second time, even though it was worn out originally before 10,000 miles!

I don't understand if the manufacturer has a "bumper to bumper" warranty, why the repairs that I need to have done don't seem to be covered...

General Comments:

Overall, I have been quite happy with the car.

Other than the clutch issue, I've had very little need for repairs from the dealership.

Gas mileage seems to be on the low end for in town driving with the A/C on.

Faults:

Minor cosmetics.

Paint chips easily.

Power locks stop working intermittently.

Replaced front rotors at 40k miles.

General Comments:

Our Elantra has been a very economical and comfortable car for us. Gas mileage is good- we get 33-36 mpg highway. We bought this vehicle after having a horrible time with our previous Volkswagen. Depreciation is steep and I do think the brand is underrated, but since we aren't planning on trading this little econobox that's all irrelevant.

Faults:

At 40,000 miles a sound emerged whenever I backed up and turned- no mechanic/dealership could figure out how to stop it.

Aside for this, I have not really had any problems and have been mostly delighted with it.

I just had a big car accident and totaled this car (at 68,000 miles). I was turning on a wet road and completely lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. I don't know if it was the tire or what, but I totally lost control It was very scary. The car just lost control and I could not break in time.

Over the last week, I had started to notice that the car would not speed up/slow down/respond like it used to... I was going to get it checked, but then I crashed. Now that I have discovered this site, and read other reviews, I wonder whether the steering of the car was at fault in this accident.

General Comments:

Now I have to buy a new car. As I research different cars in the same range, I see that Honda civics have a lot more wear and tear and customer dissatisfaction. I am scared that another Hyundai Elantra will have similar problems, but it seems that the problem s of the 2001-2003 collection have been corrected.

Plus- I walked out of that accident, with a totaled car, and absolutely no injuries other than whiplash. The air bags deployed perfectly, and the car kept me safe and alive.

As I read reviews, the Elantra still seems like the best and safest and most reliable car for its money... And if there was a problem, then hopefully the 06 model has corrected it. So, I am thinking I may very well invest in another one.

I welcome other people's feedback or thoughts- both about the safety of the 02 and about whether it is worth risking a new one or trying another safer car of a similar price range...

Faults:

At 21,500 miles and despite driving the car moderately, all brake pads were worn down and had to be replaced. Since the car had actually lost one brake pad before it started to make noise and alert me of the issue, the rear brake discs needed to be replaced since metal had cut into them beyond resurfacing. The dealer told me that it was my driving style and refused to take anything under warranty.