My wife drives a 2003 Hyundai Elantra, black...has 20k miles now, and so far it's been a great car, very good gas mileage, and pretty fast, too: In tests(I think it was a motor trend test), the 2003 Elantra beat both Corolla and Civic in power AND acceleration (the engine has about 140 HP), the 2004 Elantras have VVT even.
The only option we got in my wife's car was the Auto transmission; All else was standard: power windows/locks/mirrors; and those mirrors are HEATED, and it's standard: very unusual in this class, imo.
The car looks better than most others in the class, and the interior materials are very good, and has a very rich look/feel to them: tightly assembled, too: no rattles/noises; the car is very quiet while driving, too. The Elantra GT version has a better suspension package, which should make it handle better, although the GLS is fine in that dept., too. Very comfortable seats: we moved to NC 3 days ago, and by the time the moving was over, my wife drove the Elantra 1300 miles within 3 days; the seats are great, the fronts have manual lumbar-support. Average hwy mileage was about 37 MPG.
We were very careful about Hyundai when we were researching for cars, but after reading a lot of reviews, we decided on the Elantra, and I think we made a good choice.
and of course: 10 year power train warranty and 5 year bumper to bumper (the dealer made it also 10 yrs when we bought the car!) the only time it was used was when the cover of the visor mirror came loose: was replaced at no charge and so far the dealer service has been excellent.
..something to consider, IMO.
[ July 29, 2004, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: 97tbird ]
) next to it and drove one of those as well.
