2017 Hyundai Elantra SE or 2016 Toyota Corolla LE

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I test drove a 2016 Corolla LE a few weeks ago and it was ok. Just didn't do a thing for me. Reliable basic transport. Maybe because they've been out a few years and so common place.

I sat in a 2017 Elantra and liked it. Didn't drive it since the dealer wasn't open on a Sunday morning. I like the looks of it and the interior seems more interesting. It does have the 10 yr powertrain warranty for peace of mind. Haven't heard of any issues with these or the previous gen.


Also test drove a new Civic. When it first came out I liked the exterior but now it doesn't do much for me. Like many cars the interior reeks of way too much plastic. The center console is very wide like something you would find in a Corvette. Plus you sit very low in this car. But the thing still accelerates like a Civic. I drove the base LX automatic. It corners nicely. All in all it's about as exciting as the Corolla.

I did see one or two year old Corollas with 40k miles on Hertz selling for 10k and change. Plus they've had maintenance. The ones that really have been trashed are wholesaled off and some are listed on copart. Only the cream of the crop sold at a retail store.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: FutureDoc

That should tell you how bad the 9th gen was, not how good the 10th "might" be (which is likely not as good as the 8th).

Yeah, and this 10th gen is the "OMG, you better sober up or you are fired redesign" after Honda completely did massive amount of crack, hired some hookers, pawned over the design to the meth-addled accountants, and began producing things even GM snickered at. GM said, hey they did what we did in the 80s and 90s... hahaha. The 9th Gen Civic was awful and they made it not-horrible but not good by the end. Look at ALL of Honda's recent vehicles since the recession and with the exception of the Accord, they are mid-pack, less reliable, higher-priced "meh" vehicles. I would actually consider the very end of the Cobalt's existence to be a better overall car than the 9th gen Civic.

It is my belief that once you fall off the wagon with a good car, you can't really capture it back easily (or at all). You can't pull a "Mercedes" and go from "quality" to "profit margins" and instantly go back to "quality". Why? Because you probably focused on margins that you neglected R&D and that "starting over" limits you ability to improve on a good design (see the Toyota Method). My guess, because the 10th Gen has 2 new engines, a new tranny, this car will be a problem child year model and might only be saved if they can see multiple years where they work out this year's kinks. So the Civic's sales right now are those who "always" go out and buy Civics because the badge says civic and believe in that late 90s myth of Honda. We have to wait to see if Honda found a decent rehab clinic for those crack-addled 9th gen designers and engineers.

Considering that Civic is an unknown (thanks 9th gen), and the new model sales will keep dealer greedy, then other cars are as good/better with better discounts. If you are running out to buy the 10th Gen civic, that means you found some of the 9th gen's leftover crack.

[Roll-On-The-Floor-Laughing]
Luckily i don't drink coffee anymore...and you can see from my signature what i drive, but still funny as [slf-censored]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

 

[SatinSilver]

After going on a bunch of test drives the worst dealers to deal with were the Honda dealers. And this was just the test drive. I did like the Accord a lot and was probably my favorite in regards to test driving. Dash was nice and didn't look so cheap like most of the others. Looks more upscale than the others in it's class. The 2015-2016 Camry LE interior looks cheaper than the 2012-2014 Camry since they don't have the silver trim rings around the center screen and around some other areas. Now it's just one single plain color. Which may not seem like a big deal but that's where you spend the majority of your time. It feels like a step down which you don't want to feel after spending thousands to upgrade to a newer vehicle.

 

[SEBZX79]

The 17 Elantra is all new and a much better vehicle then the Corolla. I sell both and would not even consider the corolla. Plus the crash tests were not that great on the Corolla. If you get the bigger screen you get apple car play and Android auto.

 

[FutureDoc]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
[Roll-On-The-Floor-Laughing]
Luckily i don't drink coffee anymore...and you can see from my signature what i drive, but still funny as [slf-censored]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you


You are welcome! I needed to have an anti-Honda rant. Might add another.

So, I am not a Honda hater, I am just frustrated with their corporate thinking right now. My wife's former car was a 09 Fit. It was a decent car. Sold it at 68K because we were expecting a kid and she wanted something more comfortable (thus '14 Outback). My bother has the early 00s Accord with 250K+. Honda USED to make great cars. It drives me nuts when dedication to quality is replace by those that want to be more profitable because it is always a short-term success with long-term failures. Honda better make sure they hold onto the engineer that kept the Accord above water which is a miracle considering what else they were doing. Everything else, including the new Pilot is just "ugg". Think of all the market failures since they killed the S2000. Since then, they introduced the bird-beak Acura, 9th Gen Civic, killed the element, introduced the CRZ, launched the "Crosstour", faked the second Gen insight, any new car launched as "luxury ... ILX, ZDX, RLX... and then they let the Civic Si just rot. Think of this list... what other explanation can you provide other than that they were using the HondaJet to supply massive amount of crack to their employees. I bet there are other Honda failures but good lord, but when was the last time Honda had a good idea+market success? Don't say NSX because a "supercar" is "easy" if you can slap "NSX" to it and sell posters. The LFA is better and the GTR is cheaper. In my book, you are only as good as your cheapest-best car/sportscar. The Integra made Acura, not the NSX.

 

[FutureDoc]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
After going on a bunch of test drives the worst dealers to deal with were the Honda dealers.


Yeah, that can stink. The last time I was shopping with the Mrs, it was the Mazda dealership. Seriously had the sales person ask if WE would pay for the gas on the test drive because he could not find the fuel card.

When I bought the Hyundai, thank goodness we had two dealers (actually 3 if we drove 1 hour east). The dealer that I could actually walk (about 3/4 of a mile) to from my front door was beyond horrific. I had about a dozen calls from different reps from one dealer just to "ask" which car I wanted and if I would be willing to make a deposit. Took them weeks to give me a price (I had already bought the car by that time). They "quoted" me $34K for a MSRP of $26.9K vehicle as their "best price". Even had them look it up and when they realized it was a bonkers quote they agreed to drop it down to msrp...[censored] right? The other dealership (Hunter Hyundai) allowed me to take it to Babies-R-Us (40 miles away) to test different carseats to make sure we were happy. I must have put 150 totals miles on it before I bought it. I got it for less than $24K with minimal dealership [censored].

 

[crazyoildude]

Hyundai makes a great vehicle and it is just as good and in some cases much better than Toyota and Honda these days and Hyundai backs their engines and transmissions for 10 years 100,000 miles thats longer then both of the others two put together.

But the op asked about an elantra or a corolla not all these other vehicles people are posting about.

 

[Jim K]

I think either one would be a good choice. My current car is a 2014 Corolla bought new.I like it a lot . Great back seat room , great gas mileage, and a decent comfy ride. I had a 2005 Elantra that had no problems during the the time I had it for 45k miles. Traded that in on a 2009 Scion XB that had no problems either.I got to start hanging on to cars longer . But like I said both are good cars , maybe just go with the best deal.

 

[dlayman]

Originally Posted By: SEBZX79
The 17 Elantra is all new and a much better vehicle then the Corolla. I sell both and would not even consider the corolla. Plus the crash tests were not that great on the Corolla. If you get the bigger screen you get apple car play and Android auto.


I think I'd be willing to pay LESS for the Apple and android car play. By far the most problematic systems in new cars today. And "all new" means all new problems too. I prefer not to be a beta-tester. I guess a salesperson and a consumer see things from different perspectives, no offense intended.

 

[Jim K]

Originally Posted By: dlayman
Originally Posted By: SEBZX79
The 17 Elantra is all new and a much better vehicle then the Corolla. I sell both and would not even consider the corolla. Plus the crash tests were not that great on the Corolla. If you get the bigger screen you get apple car play and Android auto.


I think I'd be willing to pay LESS for the Apple and android car play. By far the most problematic systems in new cars today. And "all new" means all new problems too. I prefer not to be a beta-tester. I guess a salesperson and a consumer see things from different perspectives, no offense intended.

I agree . I`ve got a computer, I don`t need this. Keep it off my car and lower the price. Just looking for comfort,great mileage and a reputation of reliability at a decent price. Just described my 14 Corolla. Why do you think Corollas outsell the rest?It`s because smart people will buy them. Now the car mags just seem to care about power and sports car like handling. Heck , I`m not going racing, just get me to where I`m going as I said with comfort,reliability,and good gas mileage.

 

[dlayman]

Originally Posted By: Jimkobb
Originally Posted By: dlayman
Originally Posted By: SEBZX79
The 17 Elantra is all new and a much better vehicle then the Corolla. I sell both and would not even consider the corolla. Plus the crash tests were not that great on the Corolla. If you get the bigger screen you get apple car play and Android auto.


I think I'd be willing to pay LESS for the Apple and android car play. By far the most problematic systems in new cars today. And "all new" means all new problems too. I prefer not to be a beta-tester. I guess a salesperson and a consumer see things from different perspectives, no offense intended.

I agree . I`ve got a computer, I don`t need this. Keep it off my car and lower the price. Just looking for comfort,great mileage and a reputation of reliability at a decent price. Just described my 14 Corolla. Why do you think Corollas outsell the rest?It`s because smart people will buy them. Now the car mags just seem to care about power and sports car like handling. Heck , I`m not going racing, just get me to where I`m going as I said with comfort,reliability,and good gas mileage.


I test drove the corolla and liked it overall, but I couldn't get a comfortable driving position. The seat sits a little too high for my bad knee.

 

[ryster]

I had a 2011 Hyundai Sonata for 5 years. Purchased new, put 70,000 miles on it while I owned it, and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Hyundais evaluate well during the test drive but do not age well. After 5 recalls, a failed thermostat, countless interior rattles, an engine that was using 1qt of oil every 1,000 miles, random electrical glitches, door latches that sometimes wouldn't latch in below freezing temps, and noticeable smoke coming out of the tailpipe while accelerating I had to pull the plug and trade it. It was my first Hyundai and probably my last Hyundai/KIA product.

Hyundai dealer service started out great, but dropped in quality as the dealership's volume grew. They constantly go for the upsell, so you have to be on your guard every time you go in for service. Hyundai is notorious for not honoring the 10yr/100K powertrain warranty if they do not like even 1 thing about the service history of the car.

Even the 5yr/60K mile warranty is sketchy. At 30K miles, my Sonata was having an issue in heavy rain where the serpentine belt would squeal and the battery light would come one for 30 seconds or so. Dealer said they thought it might be a belt problem, and if it was it wouldn't be covered since the belt is a wear item. They checked the belt, said it was OK, and there were no issues found. They further said the battery light coming on in the rain was nothing to worry about and most likely normal for that kind of weather(?!) Issue never resolved, but definitely shouldn't have done it at all.

Between the Hyundai and Toyota, I would go with the Toyota.