2002 Hyundai Elantra GLS from North America - Comments

Well let's see. The check engine light came on 2 days after I had it. Took it in and the gas tank had a leak..

Now that's scary!

I drove this car to a business meeting I had a few hundred miles from town to Michigan and the transmission was sruggling to shift. I took it in, and the drive shaft was having problems, some "engaging flange went"... I was given a loaner, automatic and it got me to the meeting OK, but on the trip home with my car still in the shop the automatic transmission was slipping pretty bad. On the highway it would lunge into gear, not smooth at all. What is with these Hyundai transmissions???

I guess I should sell this car before it self destructs.

Styling is nice, so so fuel economy, I have had some problems with it. It's a Hyundai so I can't really complain can I?

I had some shifting problems as well with my 2001 VE (felt like the transmission was slipping). It turns out that this is called shift flare and Hyundai has a computer software upgrade that fixes the problem. This is not generally known however and it is not a re-call so you'll have to go to your dealer and ask for it. It is covered under warranty.

AB.

I have owned Hyundai's for over 12 years, the majority of these problems stem from operator error. The "gas tank leak", that was mentioned comes from the gas cap not being put on correctly, allowing air to escape from the pressurized tank. I have had no problems with any of the transmissions on the vehicles I have owned. And I'm not sure which Hyundai model has a VE trim level. I'm pretty sure that is a Toyota Corolla trim level. I would put my Elantra against any other Vehicle in a long term, out-of-pocket expense, comparison.

The VE trim level is a Canadian Trim level

Essentially it's a GLS with 'Package 4'

The previous poster will put his car up against ANY car as for out-of-pocket expense? How about my 98 integra? It has 80k miles and has only needed to have an O2 sensor replaced. I red-line it more than half the time, and it simply takes everything I dish out. Anyone who is foolish enough to buy a Korean car deserves to have it break down on them.

Out of pocket cost can include insurance costs too. Integras (and any Honda or Toyota product) are more costly to insure than competitors, and don't even mention repair costs when something DOES break down and need replacement. I've owned American, Japanese, and Swedish vehicles. The Japanese were the most costly in the long run, beside being more costly to buy in the first place.