2008 Honda Accord LX or 2012 Hyundai Elantra

[A Casual Fitz]

I'm in the market for a budget-y car and they're both about the same price from my mechanic. I loved my 2001 Honda Civic so I'm leaning towards sticking with Honda, but the 2012 Elantra is the same price. They both have around 130k miles. I'm pretty car stupid. Thoughts?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Hmmm... can you afford a 2008-ish Camry? No car is bulletproof, but they're more bullet-resistant IME.

If the Accord is a 4-cylinder, it's going to probably go another ~60k without issue, unless somebody was having fun with it. ~200k is about when it's time to at least consider a timing chain and water pump, usually. But that's assuming it was well-kept.

The Elantra is... potentially less solid, anyway.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I an not a particular fan of the Elantra, just kind of a dull car overall, even a 4 year old accord is probably a nicer car. However, the Elantra probably has traction/stability control and antilock brakes, whereas the accord may not. If those safety features are important to you, check it out. I believe the accord has a timing belt, not a timing chain, and is an interference engine, which means you will bend the valves if the belt breaks. Same is probably true for the Elantra, but I am not familiar with that engine. I have a 2005 Civic, and have been very happy with it, excellent reliability. Overall, the Accord would have better reliability, but the Elantra is newer, so that would favor the Elantra. But lets face it, with any used car of this age/mileage, it just depends on how well the car was maintained and the luck of the draw.

 

[A Casual Fitz]

I an not a particular fan of the Elantra, just kind of a dull car overall, even a 4 year old accord is probably a nicer car. However, the Elantra probably has traction/stability control and antilock brakes, whereas the accord may not. If those safety features are important to you, check it out. I believe the accord has a timing belt, not a timing chain, and is an interference engine, which means you will bend the valves if the belt breaks. Same is probably true for the Elantra, but I am not familiar with that engine. I have a 2005 Civic, and have been very happy with it, excellent reliability. Overall, the Accord would have better reliability, but the Elantra is newer, so that would favor the Elantra. But lets face it, with any used car of this age/mileage, it just depends on how well the car was maintained and the luck of the draw.

I appreciate the input, and the last couple sentences are exactly how I feel. I bought my 2001 Civic in 2010 and it's been great, but the Elantra definitely looks/feels much newer than the 2008 Accord. Hyundai isn't the junky company that it used to be.

 

[Yuriman]

The 4 cylinder Accord uses a timing chain, and they're generally good for the life of the engine... which is generally a lot more than 200k miles. It's other things that might take it off the road that soon.

 

[RLGL]

Daughter put 225k on a 2007 Accord with a 4 banger, no issues with engine or tranny.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I believe the accord has a timing belt, not a timing chain...

It depends:

http://tbk-garage.timingbeltkit.com/honda-timing-belttiming-chain-complete-list/

 

[SearchMaster]

I vote Accord but definitely drive them both first.

I rented an Elantra in SLC last year and it was utterly anemic. Maybe the altitude ate up all the power but it was painful. I had a 4cyl 6g Accord for many years and never felt like I was whipping the hamsters in the engine bay like I did the Elantra.

Like you, I'm biased toward Honda (we've owned 4) but I do recognize that Hyundai is doing good work. My '98 Accord was possibly the best car I've ever owned when everything is taken into consideration - it did absolutely nothing perfectly but absolutely nothing poorly either. It was just a reliable, comfortable, well put-together and well-designed car that did its job for over 250K miles before it gave its life to keep my son safe.

 

[pauldun170]

I'm in the market for a budget-y car and they're both about the same price from my mechanic. I loved my 2001 Honda Civic so I'm leaning towards sticking with Honda, but the 2012 Elantra is the same price. They both have around 130k miles. I'm pretty car stupid. Thoughts?

2008 Honda Accord (assuming 4banger and 5spd auto): Roomier faster car that you will need to either:
A: Deal with brake jobs every 20K
B: Chuck the Honda rotors for aftermarket cross drilled rotors and brake pads

That was fresh redesign and Honda wasn't exactly pumping out the bullet proof products they were once known for. At 10 years old and that mileage, a lot of the junk from the factory should have failed already and been replaced. It should at least have bluetooth.
Handling and composure will probably on the "safe for grandma" side. Definitely appliance like.
That generation Accord was when old Honda kind of sharted on its history.

2012 Elantra: Slower smaller car that when brand new "presented well" when not moving or simply stuck in traffic. Perfect car for people who haven't driven many types of cars and just want a pure appliance. The type of car you drive where "driving" means how well the radio works when you are on your way to work and everything on the car is a "thingy".
On any type of road that has something called "curves" or "imperfections" that car's faults pop up. Can't even call it numb. It's not composed. It's wonky. It's from the time when Korean ideals of suspension and chassis design was based off an 80's Pontiac that was had a few suspension bolts replaced by duct tape.Its a car for the driver whose commute is all flat, perfect roads preferably Florida where every road is straight.
Having said that, get used to this noise
TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK,...
Elantra's got a rep for ticking...there was a TSB out on it. Check the Elantra forums and you'll find more info.
You'll probably get better gas mileage

 

[A Casual Fitz]

So, my mechanic actually mentioned the ticking in the Elantra. He said he wouldn't sell it until he got it fixed.

 

[Yuriman]

It depends:

http://tbk-garage.timingbeltkit.com/honda-timing-belttiming-chain-complete-list/

Not relevant to OP, but that article mistakenly identifies Honda's K20 as having a timing belt. All K series engines are chains.

 

[ondma]

Well, thanks for the info. My civic has a timing belt, as did my friends accord, so I just thought they all did.