2008 Hyundai Elantra 2.0 from North America

Summary:

Love Hyundai, but not the Elantra..

General Comments:

My father just bought a used 08 Elantra, and I must say I cannot drive this car.

I own an 07 Sonata 3.3L V6, which I love. It has good power, it is comfortable, and it has more than enough room...

The same cannot be said for the Elantra. For a 2.0L, it is very underpowered.

I spent a few days with this car and noticed the following: it is hard to find a comfortable driving position, the steering is very light, and there are a lot of blind spots around the car.

The only plus points I can give the car are that for the price of a basic Civic or Corolla, you can get a fully loaded AC/leather/sunroof Elantra. The car does not give any personal reassurance that it is capable of everyday city driving. Personally, I would not take this car on long trips... I do not like the way it acts on the highway. Lane changes are very difficult... given the light steering.

Bottom line: I am not a Hyundai hater, but the 4 cyl does no compare to others. If you want to buy a Hyundai, buy a V6 or V8, which are better than other companies.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th September, 2009

22nd Apr 2010, 21:11

I don't know why you wouldn't take this car on a long journey. I took my 2007 Elantra from Ontario to Florida and back for Christmas 08, and it was a good trip. I had no problems at all. At that time it would have had almost 60000km on it.

It presently (22 Apr 2010) has 101000km on it, and it's just going in for it's 96k check up, even though it has no problems. Just getting recommended maintenance done, because like everything else, parts wear. Call it preventative maintenance.

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2008 Hyundai Elantra GLS 2 liter from North America

Summary:

Very good vehicle

General Comments:

So far this has been an impressive car, even though we just bought it 3 weeks ago.

It has a very solid feeling car, not cheap at all.

The car is peppy and handles very well.

We took a 600 mile trip with it and it is very quiet, even with strong head winds and doing 70 mph.

I had no problems passing slower vehicles at high speed.

It turns around 2100 rpm at 60 mph.

Got around 31 mpg with highway driving.

The sound system is quality with an impressive bass response.

Ours came with the XM radio and mp3 option, which is nice.

We got a very good price since we paid 12500 without tax and license. Couldn't even come close price wise with other cars of similar styling.

One thing I don't care for is that the speedometer goes up by 20 (20, 40, 60, 80, etc) for each number shown, which makes it harder to see what the speed is when glancing at the dash while driving.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 14th July, 2009

9th Jul 2012, 13:53

I don't know how you DRIVE, but I'm doing 33.8 miles per gallon, and I need to test more times, because I think it will do more. My wife had it for 3 years, and was making 26/27.

Now that I have it, I'm making 29 city and 33.8 on the highway. I put my cruise control at 60mph on the highway, and I got so far 33.8, and I'm sure with more time I could get 35.

1st Dec 2012, 17:05

I wrote the original comment. My daughter just got in an accident on the freeway and was sandwiched between 2 vehicles.

The car is totaled, but my daughter wasn't injured except for bumps and bruises. I am really impressed, as the front of the car was totally smashed, but the cab, including windows, was intact, and my daughter was well protected. The one disturbing thing was she said the brakes locked up and she slid into the car in front. So much for anti-lock brakes.

Really sad as the car only had 40k and we never had a problem with it. I was looking forward to owning it for another 10 or 15 years.