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Girlfriend considering new Elantra

Atty

Atty

Golden Member
She's wanted a SUV for the longest time, we drove a 2013 Escape and Rav4. She liked the Rav4 but it had a giant blind spot. She then drove a Jetta, a used Elantra, and a few other options. Didn't find anything she wanted.

So I forced her to go test a brand new Elantra. We drove the limited and sat in a few of their other options to see what was what. She really likes it. Good warranty, everything she needs inside, decent gas mileage (her '98 4Runner gets horrid mileage in comparison), and most of all she enjoyed the car.

I've been reading reviews on it and comparing options and prices but I wanted to know, has anyone owned one? Or been in one that has been owned? I'm curious on to how well they hold up.

What is the opinion on the new Elantra boys? Worth it?

Oh and I know it will come up, we won't be paying MSRP obviously. I used TrueCar but one of her co-workers husbands works at the dealer in town and I'm going to try and negotiate a great deal. We will see how it goes. She wants to put up to $10,000 down in cash so I'm sure that gives us some negotiating leverage.
 
A down payment doesn't give any negotiating leverage. Regardless the dealer is going to make the same amount if you pay half cash and finance the rest or finance it all. In fact, they may get less of a kick back from the financing body.
 
I think you might get a better deal if you let the dealer finance it. How much better I have no idea. In my limited experience so far the issue of payment has had zero bearing on the price except for the cash-back vs. financing incentives.
 
If she liked the Rav4, but not the blind spot, she should maybe check out a CRV and a Forester, they are very similar cars, but she may have better visibility from the CRV or the Forester.
 
My wife got me to buy her a Civic in 2007 (best car purchase ever) but if I had to buy another car today the Elantra would be at the top of my list. Other than complaints related to it being "cramped" it is a good car and potentially a great deal.
 
new elantra is a fantastic car. Warranty lasts forever good incentives from dealers usually.

Have her also test drive a cpo G37 and a acura TL in the mid 20s and ask her if the elantra is twice the car.
 
I've rented the new Elantra a few times and I think it's among tops in its class. The worst thing about it is the numb, yet hyper-sensitive steering. (The steering is great for people with weak arms 😛 )
At first, I found the acceleration anemic, but then I drove it rental-car style :whiste: and it was fine. Of course, the result of this was poor fuel economy.
Styling is subjective, but I would get tired of the exterior if I owned an Elantra.
 
I rented a '13 a little bit back. It wasn't the limited, but it wasn't the base either. I thought is was pretty good. I got 38MPG on the interstate doing 75 MPH on a long flat stretch. Sound isolation is average, but the tech features were really nice with BT audio/phone.

The car was pretty peppy for a 4 banger, but I wouldn't mind a little more power.


But.....

If she likes the '13 Elantra, perhaps she can wait a bit for the '14 Kia Forte? That car looks like a winner in the compact market.
 
BurnItDwn said:
If she liked the Rav4, but not the blind spot, she should maybe check out a CRV and a Forester, they are very similar cars, but she may have better visibility from the CRV or the Forester.
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She doesn't like the CRV styling and she doesn't care for the Forester. She's extremely difficult with car choices.

Dari said:
What's wrong with a wagon/hatchback? Like a Prius C?
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She dislikes hatches and wagons. She wants a car that her friends will think is "cute". Again, hard to please when it comes to cars.

manimal said:
new elantra is a fantastic car. Warranty lasts forever good incentives from dealers usually.

Have her also test drive a cpo G37 and a acura TL in the mid 20s and ask her if the elantra is twice the car.
Click to expand...
She doesn't want to "waste time" driving anything she doesn't want. She is really against anything used for whatever reason.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
I'd look rather at Civic or Impreza at that price range. I bet either would be cheaper to maintain in the long run, and have better resale value.

Edit. It seems that discounts this year haven't been so good, due to great sale numbers from all makers.
 
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If I was in the market for that size of car, the Elantra would be a top three car I'd consider for sure.
Have you looked at the new Sentra? It looks nice, and the price is still under 20. If it had the tech features, I'm one of the few that kinda likes the Nissan CVTs.
 
Piano Man said:
If she likes the '13 Elantra, perhaps she can wait a bit for the '14 Kia Forte? That car looks like a winner in the compact market.
Click to expand...

Just went and looked at the 2014 Forte 5-door SX first looks. Wow, not bad. Not sold on the flower petal wheels though. Almost like the base ones better. But otherwise the turbo & options you get available are very cool.
 
RedRooster said:
If I was in the market for that size of car, the Elantra would be a top three car I'd consider for sure.
Have you looked at the new Sentra? It looks nice, and the price is still under 20. If it had the tech features, I'm one of the few that kinda likes the Nissan CVTs.
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The new Sentra is nice, has she looked at the Tucson/Sportage or the Nissan Rogue?
Both fit the cute-ute thing pretty well and get much better gas mileage than the 4runner.
 
Fiance drives a 2012 Elantra, which I drive quite often. Good cars, reasonably quiet and comfortable, and they get the job done. At least on the 2012 models, the rated MPG isn't as high as the actual MPG, which is something I noticed months before Hyundai announced a recall on the matter (by providing gas cards).

They're good though.
 
vi edit said:
Just went and looked at the 2014 Forte 5-door SX first looks. Wow, not bad. Not sold on the flower petal wheels though. Almost like the base ones better. But otherwise the turbo & options you get available are very cool.
Click to expand...

Interesting. We went to the Kia and Hyundai dealers Thursday in Halifax and test drove both the 13 Forte and the 13 Elantra.
There was no comparison, the Elantra beats the forte hands down and we were so impressed we ordered the GLS version. We're picking it up Monday.

I did ask about the 14 Forte and the dealer said he had none available yet. it's a good looking car but if it's anything like the 13 model, I would have passed anyway.
 
A co-worker went to buy an Elantra, when he saw that he could get the Sonata for about $500 more, he bought that (these were low end cars, not fully equipped).

A different co-worker, bought the Elantra almost fully loaded (he wanted a coupe and also like the 5MPG over the Sonata much better). His daughter was looking at the Dodge Dart, so he took her to the Hyundai dealership, and she ended up getting a Elantra coupe like his (well equipped) but with a 6-speed manual transmission. Sure enough, the same guy ended up leasing a Velociraptor Turbo (fully loaded) for his girlfriend. Sheesh, it must be nice to have money!

BTW: My sisters friend has a Hyundai that is about 4 years old. She says that a lot of little things go wrong that you wouldn't expect to go bad on a car that is only 4 or 5 years old...
 
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vi edit said:
Just went and looked at the 2014 Forte 5-door SX first looks. Wow, not bad. Not sold on the flower petal wheels though. Almost like the base ones better. But otherwise the turbo & options you get available are very cool.
Click to expand...

Wheels can be replaced pretty easily. The dealer might even be able to do it for you.

Number1 said:
Interesting. We went to the Kia and Hyundai dealers Thursday in Halifax and test drove both the 13 Forte and the 13 Elantra.
There was no comparison, the Elantra beats the forte hands down and we were so impressed we ordered the GLS version. We're picking it up Monday.

I did ask about the 14 Forte and the dealer said he had none available yet. it's a good looking car but if it's anything like the 13 model, I would have passed anyway.
Click to expand...

The '14 is very different from the '13. The '14 Forte is based off of the same chassis as the current Elantra, but will have more engine options, with the sedan coming with the 1.8L from the Elantra or a 174 HP 2.0L GDI. The hatch will come with either the 2.0L or the 201 HP 1.6 Turbo from the Veloster Turbo.

If I were the OP I'd hold out long enough for the '14 sedan to show up, and choose between the '14 Forte and the '13 Elantra. I bet they discount the Elantra a bit more when the new Forte arrives too.
 
She already bought it. Turns out the manager of the Hyundai dealership is the husband of one of my girlfriends co-workers. He gave her the best deal possible (so they say, I wasn't there). She got a black Limited spec Elantra. She likes it. She's having trouble understanding why she isn't getting "30+mpg" when she drives it like I drive my GTI when I'm in a hurry. She's used to her old 4runner that didn't go anywhere in a hurry without liberal throttle application.

All in all she is happy.
 
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