A few days ago I finally sold my 2006 Hyundai Elantra. I thought I'd pass on a few notes and observations about the time that I had it.
I purchased it in January of 2010. It was a unique set of circumstances that put the car in my possession; I paid $3,200 at that time for it.
In the roughly 4 1/2 years I owned it I put just over 100,000 miles on it, and spent $1,441 in maintenance. That included 2 sets of tires, 1 timing belt change, 1 set of struts, 1 set of brake pads, non-fuel fluids, a set of spark plugs, 1 Interstate battery and a few other miscellaneous items such as bulbs and wipers.
In the summer I consistently achieved 32+ MPG in my 95% highway driving. In the winter it dropped to around 28 MPG.
I changed the oil around the 6,000 to 8,000 mile mark with whatever conventional oil was on sale at the time. There were a couple times when it went over 9,000 miles on an oil change. I usually used a Baldwin filter, but if that wasn't available I used whatever was on sale. It was run through a car wash 3-4 times a year.
The good.
The car was completely dependable. It never let me down, there was never a concern about it not starting even in sub zero weather. Maintenance was simple and cheap, insurance was inexpensive and license/registration was cheap. While small, it fit my 6'4" frame quite well. While it would have been less comfortable than a larger car, I would not have hesitated to drive the car anywhere in the US. It was completely and utterly dependable. The AC was always cold (the few times I used it) and the heater was extremely hot-even in sub zero weather I only had the fan on medium. It plowed through snow without a problem and handled very predictably.
The bad
Nothing really. If I were nit picky I could complain that the 4 cylinder engine sounded like a 4 cylinder engine. At highway speeds you knew it wasn't a V8, but then it never pretended to be anything but a 4 cylinder engine. It was an appliance, but a very dependable appliance. I don't find that to be a bad thing.
It was never fancy, it just had an AM/FM radio (I only used AM). The fanciest option was a sunroof, which I rather liked (again, it never gave me any problems).
When I sold it the car ran like a top and shifted perfectly. There was a very small rust spot started over the passenger side rear wheel (about the size of a dime). There were a couple of road scars, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 140,000 mile car.
I sold the car for $3,800 to a family who will use it for their high school age daughter's first car. I have no doubt that by now it has a school sticker on the back window and is being personalized in a way that only high school girls can personalize a car. I have no doubt that it will be as dependable for her as it was for me, and I wish her as many happy miles in it as I had.
I won't miss it-vehicles are just machines. I do respect it though, in the same way that I respect my dependable 67 year old Ford 2N snow plow. Nothing special, but it just works and does what it needs to do with no fuss or problems. And it is/was always there when I needed it.
I purchased it in January of 2010. It was a unique set of circumstances that put the car in my possession; I paid $3,200 at that time for it.
In the roughly 4 1/2 years I owned it I put just over 100,000 miles on it, and spent $1,441 in maintenance. That included 2 sets of tires, 1 timing belt change, 1 set of struts, 1 set of brake pads, non-fuel fluids, a set of spark plugs, 1 Interstate battery and a few other miscellaneous items such as bulbs and wipers.
In the summer I consistently achieved 32+ MPG in my 95% highway driving. In the winter it dropped to around 28 MPG.
I changed the oil around the 6,000 to 8,000 mile mark with whatever conventional oil was on sale at the time. There were a couple times when it went over 9,000 miles on an oil change. I usually used a Baldwin filter, but if that wasn't available I used whatever was on sale. It was run through a car wash 3-4 times a year.
The good.
The car was completely dependable. It never let me down, there was never a concern about it not starting even in sub zero weather. Maintenance was simple and cheap, insurance was inexpensive and license/registration was cheap. While small, it fit my 6'4" frame quite well. While it would have been less comfortable than a larger car, I would not have hesitated to drive the car anywhere in the US. It was completely and utterly dependable. The AC was always cold (the few times I used it) and the heater was extremely hot-even in sub zero weather I only had the fan on medium. It plowed through snow without a problem and handled very predictably.
The bad
Nothing really. If I were nit picky I could complain that the 4 cylinder engine sounded like a 4 cylinder engine. At highway speeds you knew it wasn't a V8, but then it never pretended to be anything but a 4 cylinder engine. It was an appliance, but a very dependable appliance. I don't find that to be a bad thing.
It was never fancy, it just had an AM/FM radio (I only used AM). The fanciest option was a sunroof, which I rather liked (again, it never gave me any problems).
When I sold it the car ran like a top and shifted perfectly. There was a very small rust spot started over the passenger side rear wheel (about the size of a dime). There were a couple of road scars, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 140,000 mile car.
I sold the car for $3,800 to a family who will use it for their high school age daughter's first car. I have no doubt that by now it has a school sticker on the back window and is being personalized in a way that only high school girls can personalize a car. I have no doubt that it will be as dependable for her as it was for me, and I wish her as many happy miles in it as I had.
I won't miss it-vehicles are just machines. I do respect it though, in the same way that I respect my dependable 67 year old Ford 2N snow plow. Nothing special, but it just works and does what it needs to do with no fuss or problems. And it is/was always there when I needed it.
