Faults:

Besides normal wear and tear items (starter, brakes, alternator, water pump, timing belt, and battery).

Clutch has gone out twice (bad design probably). The first time was at 32k and I complained until they fixed it for free. The second time was just recently at 135k.

General Comments:

It is a decent cheap car.

The power of the engine with the manual transmission makes this car easy to get into city and highway traffic while achieving very good gas mileage (30+ MPG).

The ride quality though is very noisy, and the way this car eats clutches is horrible. Those are the only reasons I won't be buying another Hyundai/Kia again. I had my 84 Ranger for decades and never even replaced a clutch.

Faults:

Only the engine at 90,000 miles.

I have only had to do regular stuff to the car like brakes, oil changes, and I was recommended to replace the timing belt at 60,000 miles so I did.

It now has 90,000 miles and the car overheated. I towed it to the nearest Hyundai, and they stated it was a leak in the cooling system, however no engine light came on, or the temperature gauge never moved to hot; I just noticed steam under the hood. I was told that I had to replace the some hoses and the thermostat, however they told me that they would give me a whole new engine, and I would only have to pay $400.00, which I was happy about, so I think Hyundais are great.

I also wanted to mention that I was also at 90,000 miles, and the warranty was till 100,000, so this was great. I was a little mad that my car did not have any warnings to indicate anything wrong ahead of time. Well at least I am getting a new engine. Wohoo!!!

General Comments:

My last car was a Hyundai Elantra, and this one is a Hyundai Elantra, and they are very reliable cars!

Faults:

Australia.

Rotted out steering wheel (chunks fell off) by sun damage. Was replaced under warranty. 3 year old windows not tinted then.

Broken ashtray mechanism. Required full dashboard removal to be repaired under warranty.

Sun damaged rotted out driver door seal. Warranty replaced.

Clutch had been repaired by dealer when bought in from previous owner.

Very narrow clutch take-up. Seemed like 2 to 4 mm between total engage and total disengage, making it hard to take off smoothly and without stalling. Never got completely used to it in 9000 kms of use.

Problems mostly caused by previous owners neglect and/ or heavy towing.

General Comments:

Positive... Driven gently, it feels like 6cyl performance with 4cyl economy, and is quiet and comfortable on a long run. MP3 CD gives quality sound.

Same fuel consumption as my Excel on the 85km round trip to work.

Fantastic leg room in rear seat.

Disappointed with the performance, although the engine is certainly powerful enough.

Poor gear ratio match to the engine character.

Long wheelbase; backend would easily swing around cornering on wet roads.

Engine would "hunt" continually when cruising at 100kmph or any set speed. This is a manual transmission car. Annoying.

Poor rear vision. Dangerous blind spots in mirrors.

Faults:

Nothing that wasn't normal maintenance.

General Comments:

I cosigned on this car for a young couple 3 years ago, and they defaulted on the loan last January. I had the vehicle repossessed, and then paid off the balance with the intention of selling the car.

I had to catch up some maintenance, and started driving the car on occasion. I liked it enough that I sold my Dodge and decided to use the Elantra as my commuter car.

After replacing the brakes, tires, fluids and timing belt, the car has been completely dependable. I get 34-36 MPG on a regular basis for my 55 MPH 32 mile commute.

I never would have considered a Hyundai before this, but when I finally wear out the Elantra, Hyundai will be on my short list.