LocostUSA.com

I just have to share. It has been about 10 years since I bought a new car. I have been looking for a new car to replace my rusted out '99 Buick Century (I hate the Northern state road salt!). I was looking for a higher mileage smaller car. This car was in my sights for a while. It has great mileage ratings, great test reviews, the best Mfgr warranty in the market, and I just like it. After a test drive and the obligatory price negotiations with a few different dealers, I finally pulled the trigger. I really like the car for only driving it for ~30 miles. The styling is a bit edgey, and may become dated in time, but who really knows? On the way home from the dealer, the computer reported 37+ MPG in mixed driving. We must have hit all green lights! The 2012 Elantra is assembled in both Alabama and Korea. My particular car was built in Korea. The only real difference between the 2 plants is the brand of tire.

Not that it entered my decision process but last Monday, the Hyundai Elantra was named 2012 North America Car of the Year. And JD Powers has just determined Hyundai as First in Customer Retention for 2012. Not too bad....

We got home late Wednesday night with the car and then Winter struck yesterday so I haven't had time to take any photos of my car. SWMBO always gets the nod on color schemes. While not my specific car, this is the same color scheme outside and inside; Red Allure/Beige. My car has fabric seats (much preferred) not leather seats, and has no sunroof, but otherwise much the same as gthe picture.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Congrats! Hyundai has really stepped up their game in the last couple of years. I love the new Veloster, and a turbo version soon! There's been a lot of talk in the automotive community of how Hyundai is now in the place where Honda was in the 90's with a growing customer base and new designs. Hopefully they just don't continue to follow... haha

Thats on my list of cars. My work just implemented preferred parking for 40+mpg cars, and I need a vehicle to haul the kids around in ocassionally (which neither my Miata or pickup can do at all). Its between an Elantra or a Sonic Turbo I think.

It's amazing what they've been able to do since cutting ties with GM...

Super slick. I really think Hyundai has become a force to be reckoned with. Their styling is contemporary, they have a fairly complete product line (less a pickup truck, essentially), and they have performance models that are reasonably priced (Veloster, Genesis coupe, Sonata turbo).

I keep turning my head when I see the new Elantra--it's a nice looking car. And with fuel economy in the high-30s, that's the same as my Smart, but the Elantra is 150% more practical.

Congratulations on the purchase. I had a rental Elantra a few years ago and thought it was a pretty nice car.

Hyundai has pretty much done to the American car market in recent years what Toyota did in the 80s. They're making some good stuff.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

I'm a fan. They've been stealing more and more market share lately, and rightly so.

My only grievance is the hard plastic that always seems to be right where I'll rest my leg / arm. Nothing a re-wrap can't fix though.

The fact that they put out the 2.0t Genesis is huge. The US market had been lacking a straightforward "toy" car like that for a long while in the low 20's.

I'm a fan of the color, if that matches what you drove home.

I was unaware of any ties between Hyundai and GM. Hyundai was partly owned by Chrysler once upon a time, and was passed through to Daimler during that buyout, but by 2004 Hyundai and Daimler split ways. Beyond that, I know of a 1960's era affiliation between Hyundai and Honda, and another 1980's partnership between Hyundai and Ford (which we can thank for the Ford Festiva). But I am unaware of any Hyundai GM partnership.

For some reason I thought Hyundai used GM tech... Accent/aveo have the same drivelines...

Close. The Aveo is manufactured by Daewoo - another South Korean auto manufacturer, and subsidiary of GM.

Wife and I are on our 3rd Hyundai. Sante Fe, Entourage, and we just got a new Vera Cruz about 2 months ago. They are well put together and the list of standard features is hard to ignore.

_________________
RacerDan
+442 Chevy 2.8
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the
Ark, professionals built the Titanic.

Neither is correct.
Festiva's had nothing to do with Hyundai. They are Mazda assembled elsewhere. Mistubishi was tied in with Chrysler. Suzuki and Daewoo and Isuzu with GM (to each of those 3 company's huge losses)
Hyundai have never been involved in sharing ownership of the company with any outside vendor. They did a co-development with Chysler on an engine at one time, strictly a one time $'s deal (they were paid by Chrysler). Hyundai still operate (for Chysler) one of the Jeep assembly plants last I checked. There's all but a ban on publishing that fact, but it's true.

A couple things to point out- South Korea has very "strong" poltics we don't follow too closely because they play nice with us. They were a strict military dictatorship until at least the late 80's. They operate on an idea that certain companies control certain industries; the govt is very much pro-monopoly.
The company history is: they started off as an offshoot of the Shipping/contruction/contruction equipment company, building each model that Mitubishi had just phased out, as well as an odd ball Mitsubishi powered Ford of UK Cortina as an offshoot at one time. They always styled their own cars. The parent company invested heavily.
Kia are a bicycle and yard and housewares manufacturer who expanded into building Mazda's old designs under a kind of license arrangement. They were more of a shoe string operation. When the Asian ecomomy went through a bad patch, they were going under and Hyundai bought them out and made them into badge engineered versions of Hyundai's. In the last several years they have made an effort to slice each niche differently so that it's fair to say the line ups compliment eachother.
Anyway, I've worked for Hyundai (a pair of dealers) for going on 10 years, with an 18 month break to work for a Mercedes dealer. They are good cars, & they have been since around 2001, with the exception of the 2.4 four of the type prior to mid/late 2006, and the 1.5, both of which had extreme premature timing belt failures.
As for the new Elantra, yes great mileage.

I find the negatives to be: poor rear three quarter visibility, poor OE tire quality, too-quick, and unnaturally weighted power streering. Some underspec-ing of the structure which turns up on poor roads and extreme temps (Canada). But *nothing* goes wrong with them. Great appliances. Just not something that makes me run out to buy. I drive very very little, so I think the move might be to pick up a used VeraCruz for trips and for social acceptability...

Wouldn't know but they certainly bought engine licences from Mitsubishi and built them for a long time and shared the more recent 'Tigershark' design and development with Mitsubishi and Chrysler.

Hyundai is a huge company. They've recently been accused of dumping transformers into the US market by other manufacturers (basically selling $1M to $2M power transformers at a loss to gain market share). I've met with their people a few times, and they remind me a lot of the Japanese tech companies I worked with a few years ago. Imagine that. I lived with a bunch of South Koreans for a few years. Their culture is very different from that of the midwest USA.

_________________
Minibuggy build to see if I could hack a car build: http://www.minibuggy.net/forum/ar51-buggy-group/16171-ar51-build-ky.html

Finished product: http://www.fawbush.org/images/2012_8_19_buggy/2012_8_19_first_drive_6.JPG

Aveo is the next generation of the platform used for the Suzuki Forenza/Reno. Isuzu also used the engine in a 2.4L version. Cheap cars, easy to work on, a few common issues that are relatively easy to fix, but some parts are really pricey ($260 water pump!).

The new Hyundai stuff looks great from where I stand (pro-wrench). I've been watching them closely for a few years, and the progress has been remarkable.