2012 Hyundai Elantra

Pros

looks, design, price, value, comfort

Cons

if you stuck going uphill much, it is not a fun drive then.

Purchased As New

my wife fell in love with the limited light blue (carolina) blue color the first time she sat in it. Thankfully dealer was willing to match truecar.com price, and I still believe I got a very good deal. Only grevences...... we had little misshab, and had to exchange 2 tires, and no one at all, in decent size city, even official dealer did not cary even one pair of sporty tires that goes on them........had to replace them with cooper time.....somewhat different look......read morehide

Pros

Very respectable style, leather trim, braking, warranty, service

Cons

Suspension / handling, horrible mpg, no spare tire (who does that?!)

Purchased As New

Good value for the money (except for the spare tire issue ... which I didn't even notice until I needed one) :(

I was attracted to the Limited for its style and price point. The vehicle comes with an excellent warranty *bringing the car in for scheduled maintenance is not a dreadful experience (as it is with most other manufacturers).

The ride, however, is very rough and definitely does not get the kind of gas mileage I expected.

Overall, I would recommend the Limited for style, appearance, comfort and VALUE points (especially if you want to try something different and are sick of driving VWs)....read morehide

Pros

head turn'er style reliability braking fuel saving

Cons

no true spare tire & jack or cigar lighter' offer'ed

Purchased As New

Man am, the Man w/this baby.if i had two-tone seat's i truely be hard 2 touch. purchase 10-31-11new just 0ver 13000mi & still Proud & beaming' two-tone had'nt came out when I got it darn it' Great buy 4sure the 2013 got a lot 2up hold

Pros

Style and fuel economy

Cons

none

Purchased As Used

My wife and I bought this car used used(it was only 3 months old) and been nothing but impressed with its overall performance. We would recommend this car to anybody

Pros

Looks, interior quality and comfort, driveability

Cons

Needs more horsepower

Purchased As New

Bought my burgundy Elantra Limited in January at Antwerpen Hyundai in Clarksville, MD, and have been delighted in every respect from Day One in this vehicle. I bought it for my daily commute, which involves a 38-mile jaunt from rural north-central Maryland to downtown Washington, D.C. Lots of stoplights, lots of traffic. Have put nearly 12,000 miles on it since January. I get 28-30 mpg consistently and have experienced zero problems. Antwerpen's service department has been great, too. I especially like the appearance and comfort of the interior. It looks nothing like a cheap econobox, more like a moderately upmarket sedan. I know this sounds like a fake review but I wrote a weekly new car and truck review for multiple newspapers and blogs for nearly 25 years and have a great deal of experience in evaluating new models. Bottom-line is I love my Elantra....read morehide

Pros

looks good

Cons

horrible mileage

Purchased As New

I bought this car for the advertised mileage and am not even getting close to 29 city/40 highway. I avg 19-22 mpg. The MOST I've ever gotten is 32/mpg when I was driving from LA to SF where it was open highway and zero traffic. The car is really light and lacks power which is were the fuel savings supposedly come in. But I'm getting worse mileage than with my Lexus IS 250. I was hoping that the mileage would improve after my 1st oil change as some people said, but that never happened. I'm at over 9,000 miles now and I feel completely swindled as well....read morehide

Pros

fuel economy, comfort, style

Cons

none atm

Purchased As New

2011 Elantra Limited (purchased in Anaheim)

Yes, as many people have said, do not buy this car if you expect you will get 40+ mpg. However, if you are like me, I do not drive in ideal conditions in CA and I certainly do not drive the speed limit. That said, let me tell you a few things about my driving habits:
1. I drive between 80-160 miles a day (I have just over 55K miles on it)
2. I drive on very busy freeways (101, 134, 405, 605, and 210) during all times of the day
3. If I can drive 80 miles/hr I do so. However, under ordinary freeway conditions, I usually keep it at 70 miles/hr.

If I keep it at 70 miles/hr, I can get 35-37 mpg without much of a problem (I just make sure the Eco light is on). If I kept it at 60-65 mile/hr, I could probably get that magical 40+ number; but seriously, if I were to drive at that speed, I would only prolong my misery on a freeway and for another 5 mpg, and that amount of "gas savings" is not as important as my time.

I have not had any mechanical problems and I take it in for its regular scheduled maintenence. I have my car serviced at a Hyundai dealership (Ladin in TO,CA has great customer service and a great waiting room).

I am quite happy with my choice. I owned two Saturns and a Mustang before buying a Hyundai. FYI: before buying the Elantra, I looked at comparable cars at the following dealerships: Honda, Kia, Nissan, Scion, VW, and Subaru.

Would I buy another Hyundai in the future? Very Likely. It would definitely be one of the first places I would visit....read morehide

Pros

nice looking car

Cons

Horrible mileage

Purchased As New

I purchased this car for the sole reason of the advertised average mpg of 33 - 47 highway & 24 - 34 city - I get 18-19 city - 22-24 highway and I am livid! I've had it in to service to see why with no reason found! I am now working with the Regional Manager so we'll see what they offer to do. I am thoroughly disgusted and feel "duped" because I paid sticker price because the salesperson told me because of the mileage they couldn't "keep them on the lot"! Has anyone else gotten this bad? I've read reviews and although not great I don't think anyone has had as bad as mine....read morehide

Pros

Cute car

Cons

Terrible gas mileage, bluetooth cheap and problematic

Purchased As New

The main reason I leased this car was for the gas mileage. As of now, at a little over 7500 miles, I am still getting horrible mileage. I was told that the car wouldn't start seeing decent mileage until it was broken in at 2000 miles, then at 5000, then at 7500 miles. Now, I'm told it could be 15,000 miles before I start getting the mileage I had expected. Seems to be a common complaint, from what the service manager told me.

The BlueLink bluetooth is problematic; it doesn't work as often as it does works. Again, the service manager told me that since it's a device new to Hyundai, there are a lot of bugs to work out and they've had many complaints.

A minor issue is the placement of the front dash air vent. The vent is positioned so that when your hands are on the steering wheel they block the air coming from the vent.

Not to mention that neither the sales person nor the finance manager told me about the $400 fee I would have to pay when my lease was up (a return fee, waived only if I buy the car or lease another from them) or that the Sirius Radio would expire in 90 days (I was led to believe it was part of the package).

So, Hyundai misled me on the gas mileage, downplayed the cheapness of the bluetooth, hid a $400 fee from me, and lied about Sirius. Once my lease is up, I'm walking away from this car and from Hyundai permanently!

Oh.....and I REALLY hate when everyone I deal with at Hyundai makes sure to tell me to please give them all 10's when I get the evaluation. Seems they're more interested in getting a good rating than in being honest about their cars....read morehide

Pros

Comfortable ride, nice interior

Cons

Paint chips too easy

Purchased As New

I was super excited to purchase this car because it was the first brand new car I ever purchased. I really like the way my car looks and I find that, for the price, the interior offers a lot of things that similarly priced cars don't have. I drive 50 miles round trip every day, and I think it's a smooth and comfortable ride. There's also enough leg room in the passenger seat for my 6'3 husband to ride comfortable.

Negatives- The paint has already started to chip due to rocks being thrown into the front end. None of the chips are very big, but they go down to the metal. Not covered under warranty. Also, car has zero get up and go, but that's to be expected in a 4 cylinder.

Gas mileage- At first my gas mileage was not as promised, but now that I've hit 5000 miles, its getting closer to the advertised stick mileage. Note* calculate your own mileage. The computer in the car is consistently much higher than your actual mileage....read morehide