23rd Nov 2004, 08:51

Right now, I am agreeing with Korean Turd. At 70,000 miles, I have found a transmission leak and I don't yet know if I have to be responsible or the dealer does. I have been on the Internet and reading of similar situations. I thought I got a good deal, but I too have had to replace tires like mad. I have also had the check engine light come on, but next time I think I will buy a used car. I have two more years of payments on this thing yet, but now I am afraid of what else might happen. We shall see.

16th Dec 2004, 10:11

I'm surprised by what you have to say. I had a 2002 until yesterday when I traded it on a 2005. I had nearly 62,000 miles on it, still had the original tires, never had a leak, and drove it like it was a Corvette. I had it serviced regularly and never had it in the shop except for what I felt was a defective AC system. When I got it back the AC was fine. My only gripe is that they wanted $400 to install a new timing belt. That's kind of high for that activity.

29th Apr 2005, 17:26

I have an automatic so I can't relate to the clutch etc. problems. However, I am now replacing my second water pump in less than a year and it's no longer covered because I'm just over 60,000 miles and it's not covered on the extended warranty I bought. I had the work done at the dealer and they used Hyundai parts so go figure. My car is about 3 1/2 years old and I've had to replace both head lights (after one year) all tail lights (after one year), engine problems and now two water pumps. I've had 15 year old cars that didn't need new water pumps until they were 15 years old. I seriously don't think I will buy another Hyundai, even though I think they are nice looking.

9th Aug 2005, 10:00

I own a 2002 Elantra GLS, stick, 53k. I've been very happy with the car overall, considering its price and package. The car has had several minor issues for which it was taken back to the dealer, and each time I've had no problem making appointments or getting them to honor the warranty. The itemized list:

* Six months into ownership, the "Check Engine" light came on and stayed on. Dealer looked at it the next day, giving me a rental. Turned out it was a bad gas cap; they replaced it and sent me on my way.

* Two years into ownership the driver's side seat belt stopped recoiling. Took it in and was told it needed a new motor; they ordered the part and replaced it while I waited a week and a half later. Again, no problem getting them to honor the warranty.

* In just under four years, I've had to replace both headlamps twice. I was amazed at that.

* In just under four years, I'm getting ready to replace the tires again. I had to replace them at two years, despite the fact that the vehicle came with Michelins.

* My biggest complaint: The paint job is minimalist, to say the least. 2002 model year didn't offer very snazzy colors to begin with, and my burgundy has a BRIGHT orange undercoat and apparently no clear coat. I know about the under coat because I see it in approximately 30 places on my car - every time a bird flies over it the paint chips off.

I've got 53,000 miles on the car and have not had any major problems. It runs fine, the A/C is fantastic, and it's fairly comfy for a compact. I test-drove Hondas and Saturns and my Elantra has far more elbow room than the comparable models in those families. The trunk is way roomy and the stereo is decent. The mileage is average. I paid just over $11,000 for the car and I don't regret the purchase.

30th Apr 2007, 14:19

I agree with the second comment. The review is too vague and general in every aspect. I can almost be certain that whomever posted this review doesn't own the car. Just a false review from maybe... ahh ummm a Honda sales rep??. Please ignore the original review. Thank you.

3rd May 2007, 00:07

Why on earth should this review be phony? I agree it's not very well written and is probably not written by a car person since it's difficult to really figure out what was wrong with this car. But a blind man should not comment on the actions of a near sighted man if you see what I mean...

My story is that I have about the same experience with Hyundai dealers, but I never had the Elantra, but the Sonata. They really hadn't a clue when I had a hard-to-find electronics problem on my car. It was just the same. No proper diagnostics. They plugged in the computer, but got no error code back and they just stood there scratching their groins. What then? Well just try to replace every component randomly. I must admit that they really tried, but they never found the problem even I was in about ten times. Finally I demanded my money back or a replacement vehicle since this car was less two years old. At that time this car had spent about 1.5 month in the shop in total and the car was at that point useless and I couldn't trust it.

At the end they got someone that actually knows car electronics (an outside company) to look at it and problem was fixed within one working day. So the clutch problem in the review may very well have happened in my experience. They really haven't got a clue.

27th Feb 2008, 00:06

What year is your Sonata sir. Pre 2001 Hyundai have problems. 2002 and beyond they are as good as Hondas and Toyotas if not better.