2001 Hyundai Elantra VE 2 litre from North America

Summary:

It punched well above its weight !!!

Faults:

The main issues have been the brakes, where the brake pads remain in contact with the rotors after you take your foot off the brake pedal. I'm on my 3rd set of rotors.

CD player stopped working after 5 years of use.

Park brake cables have finally seized at 270000K.

The car didn't like CV axles; the originals lasted 140000k, but the aftermarket replacements lasted as little as 20000k (always the lousy boots).

That's about it other than routine oil and filter changes, plugs and wires, valve cover gasket, timing belts every 100000K, tires, and wheel bearings at 250000k.

General Comments:

This car was a dealership demonstrator that was leased, and I bought it when the lease was about to run out for $6000 back in 2005... the car was 4 years old and had 69k on it. Now today in August 2015 I'm preparing to sell it to the scrap yard. I will drive it there with 290k on the odometer and everything still working. The car has rust and a blown steel power steering line, and I take that as my sign that time is up.

This car is an absolute warrior!!! I live in Snow Lake Manitoba, and I work shift work at a mine in Thompson Manitoba, which is 250 kilometers (2 hours 20 minutes) away. I have made this trip 8 times every month for the last 8 or 9 years, plus holidays elsewhere. Sometimes I drove in -40 degree weather in the winter. This car never once let me down! In its last year, as my winter car (reliable), we had the coldest winter in 50 years and I'm not kidding when I say it was -50 everyday for three weeks. My little car, battered from the road and starting to lose the battle against years of highway salt, started every morning at 5 a.m.

R.I.P. Elantra!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 31st August, 2015

2001 Hyundai Elantra Si 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Decent, reliable, won't set your world on fire

Faults:

O2 sensor needed to be replaced; apart from that, nothing.

General Comments:

Decent space in the cabin, though I found the seats to be uncomfortable over journeys of more than one hour. The boot is a good size and there is good space for oddments inside the cabin (cupholders, good sized glovebox and door pockets etc). Only one fault in the time I owned it; the O2 sensor was faulty. This was quite an expensive repair; £160 from Hyundai main dealers, but it was fixed quickly, and they even washed the car for me afterwards!

Apart from the said O2 problem, reliability was very good with no other problems that I can think of. The engine was a little noisy above about 60 mph, but I would put that down to the gear ratios (65 mph was equivalent to 3,000 rpm in fifth). The ergonomics were good, with a nice driving position, and all the controls fall easily to hand. Excellent air conditioning, always cold, despite me not having looked at the levels in the time I owned the vehicle.

I bought one on the strength of my uncle having an Elantra, which has served him well, and would probably buy another, possibly a diesel version.

One final point for any American readers; Elantras sold in the UK seem to be much more reliable than those sold in the US. Admittedly they are not as common here, but the ones that were sold here seem nowhere near as prone to faults as other markets. I wonder what the reason for that is? Please feel free to comment if you have an answer or suggestion.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th September, 2012

2001 Hyundai Elantra from North America

Summary:

Good engine, crappy everything else

Faults:

Needed both wheel bearings replaced.

Radiator died (expensive fix).

Car quivered and shook when I went above 70km/h (something wrong in the axles).

Clock ran fast, not sure why, but had to change it every couple days.

A couple other small things.

General Comments:

This car was awful. The sound system was good, and the pick up speed was good. If it hadn't been for the almost $3000 I spent fixing it in the two years I owned it, I would have loved it. It had a good little engine, and picked up speed fairly well. Maybe I had a lemon? Or maybe it was time for the car to die.

I sold it because it quivered on the highway, and I do a lot of highway driving, so I brought it in, asked if it would be over $500 to fix, the guy laughed at me and said yes. Well over.

He suggested I get a new car. When I would bring it in for an oil change, they would laugh at my car (though it looked decent on the outside, minimal rust) and suggest I get a new one before my car fell apart.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 3rd August, 2012

4th Aug 2012, 08:55

Please read your Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue that comes out every year in April. It has a lot of great used cars starting out at less than $4,000.00. Unfortunately an early Hyundai Elantra is not one of them.

Do your homework before you buy your next vehicle. Also take it to a mechanic to check for any prior damage or expensive components that are starting to fail. The days of taking guesses on used cars are over... with the economy in turmoil... lemons and abused cars are being sold left and right.

4th Aug 2012, 13:02

My good friend has the exact same car. Decent car, but what you said was right on. His engine is still running perfect at 240000 kms, which is great, and the original automatic transmission too. The car gets good gas mileage too.

However the low points are the front end, wheel bearings, steering mechanism, suspension, etc.

This car is driven on the west coast where there is no rust, and my friend still spends an average of $2000/year on front end parts, suspension, CV joints, etc.

I have driven this car, and it is impossible to get it aligned properly.

Great car engine and drive train wise, but as his mechanic said, very cheap steering/front end parts that require expensive and frequent maintenance.