General Comments:

If you're wanting a hatch that is so reliable it's a joke.

I bought one new. Driving it for 4 years daily, about 220 KM a day .

Never stopped one except this...

Must do timing belt every time scheduled, including water pump and thermostat while you're there.

Must do fuel pump once in its life.

Must do alternator once in its life.

Battery must be changed once.

Not so serious repairs:

Indicator stalk - change it as soon as you buy, they have a fault in the switch and catch on fire.

Globes burn out regularly.

Accelerator pedal starts to become soft and loose, and eventually cracks off.

The pedal sits wrong and the full throttle is not full any more, thus becomes less responsive. A big fault they never told the buyers about.

Small problems are:

Paint fades if left out.

Rotors need changing, maybe twice.

Seats are sad, buy a Recaro seat instead. My back is sore every time driving it.

For performance upgrades on the 1.6 litre:

DIY UPGRADES...

Change the gear knob to a longer knob so you able to hold the shifter in your seat; the original is too short and fat.

Cut out the plastics that cover your radiator for more cool air underneath.

Monthly do a fuel injection cleaner with any additives.

Remove spare wheel.

Remove back seat.

Fit an Elantra twin fan radiator.

Fit an Elantra airbox and drill holes underneath the airbox.

Fit an Elantra fuel rail.

95 Octane fuel every time only...

Now they do 0/100 in 9.6 seconds. With these fast easy mods your new 0/100 is 8.999 seconds.

Faults:

Most items already replaced when bought (brake pads, tyres, wiper blades, oil/filter, etc..).

Clutch replaced at 110000kms.

Little bits of interior trim starting to wear/tear and come loose, but only cosmetic stuff.

Checked water every 10,000kms, only had to fill up once when it got too low.

General Comments:

Got the 1600cc model, which went better than the 1500cc/1400cc/1300cc, still lacking in high revs, but makes up for in great fuel economy (some Japanese and European brands are better, but not at this price).

The 5speed gearbox is pretty decent, gear ratios are high for this engine size, which is good on the petrol, however performance is lot slower. Gear shifting is pretty smooth and the clutch isn't too light, just enough feedback to fool you into thinking it's sporty.

The dash has a redline of 6500rpm, but would rev cut around 6200rpm; doesn't matter because power stops at 5800rpm. Found the accelerator to be touchy, causing the car to either wheelspin or stall.

Also this car is compatible with E10, should Australian laws decide to replace 91UPL.

0-100kph is 9.6s and 1/4 mile 17.5s standard.

The newer models came with 4 wheel disk brakes, ABS and EBD as standard (along with PS/AC/dual airbags/etc..). The brakes are pretty responsive, and can stop it pretty quickly.

The standard tyres in 175/65r14 (had Maxxis brand tyre at the time) didn't inspire confidence when braking from high speeds (over 100kph), wheel spin in the rain became a problem, changing to a better quality and wider tyre has helped a lot (185/60r14 Bridgestone RE88), but otherwise very good in city/urban speeds.

Handling is pretty zippy, not too soft over bumps, holds the road pretty well, even better with the wider tyres. With the standard tyres, the car has more body roll and tends to be bouncy over speed humps. With the lower profile Japanese tyres, it seems to have lowered the body roll (not a lot, but can notice the change) and bounciness over humps. Stiffer swaybar would help the roll, but not much after market support with in Australia, yet.

Inside the car is pretty roomy, the seats sit high for easy entrance/exit and comfy for long drives (I'm 185cm and 90kgs). Not a sports seat; pull the car hard into a corner and you could find yourself on the other side of the car. Rear seats are OK, made to fit kids or "small frame" persons.

Outside the car looks alright; being the MY06 model, it had the facelift with new headlights, front and rear bumpers, comparable to the Echo/Yaris upgrade. Being a bloke, make sure you get the darkest legal tint... Would suit the lady type, but if you're on a budget, this car will do!