2012 Hyundai Elantra

Falling in love with this car! <3

By jaysays (TX) on Monday, February 11, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 3,500

Pros: "price, features, panaramic roof, comfort"

Cons: "navigation system, buttons on steering wheel."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 9

"With some reluctance, I got rid of my 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT (after over 300K miles together). I originally thought I'd grab the 2013 Hyundai Veloster, but found it cramped for my height (and big Texas hair). My spouse pointed out the Elantra GT while we were on the lot. I hated the base model's look, but found with the Tech and Style packages, the car was amazingly beautiful. After a few tests drives and lots of research, I decided on the 2013 Elantra GT and I'm very pleased so far. Favorite things: --- Lots of bells and whistles at a reasonable price. --- The driver selectable steering is nice, although I'm primarily in sport mode due to the number of curves involved in my commute. --- I'm impressed with the gas mileage averaging near 35 MPG with 95% highway driving (but with hills, curves and traffic). --- Talking via bluetooth is crystal clear. --- The Proximity Key was hard to get used to, but I really love it now. No more digging for my key when I have my hands full. --- Plenty of space. --- Love the driver seat adjustments (electric in my Elantra) -- you can put the seat in a lot of different positions and be fine. My husband is 6'7 and has enough room as both driver and passenger. --- The panoramic sunroof is amazing and the one touch controls are super handy. After a run in the park, I sometimes sit in the front seat, lean it all the way back and stare up at the sky. It's wonderful that you can do this. In my Vibe, I'd be staring at the roof of the care in that position, even though I had a moonroof on it as well. The front driver seat lays way back too, pushing into the top of the backseat (which may be bad for the seat, but is super comfortable for a quick roadside nap on a long trip). --- There is ample room in the vehicle. I fit 5 adults in with only minor complaints about being crowded. I don't recommend piling that many in for a long trip though, unless they are much smaller people than those I piled into the car. A few things that need improvement imo: --- The buttons on the steering wheel are easy to accidentally push while driving. More than once, I've either hit the "phone" button. Thankfully, the DSSM button hasn't been a problem thus far. --- The Nav System is too old school. I can't seem to use the voice controls well with the Nav system and would prefer a more natural voice system like with Siri or S Voice --- and I hate the way you input addresses and the like into Navigation. Also, I was trying to find a nearby state park and even with point of interest name search, the park wouldn't come up as an option. --- Using the manual shift (dual shift) is a bit jerky. The caveat being that I'm used to having a clutch, and without that it just seems to jerk from gear to gear so I keep it in automatic mode. --- It's difficult to see behind you, and if I didn't get the rear view camera, this would be devastating. I do love the rear view camera. I thought it would be annoying, but it's actually very useful. I wish you could turn this on without having to put the car in reverse do to the visibility issues mentioned. Perhaps shorter people don't have the visibility impairment though. --- A bit loud on the road, but much quieter than some compact cars I've been in. --- There is no video support for the Nav system/in dash screen, which isn't a huge deal, but I spend so much time in the car, it would be nice to catch a show on the screen rather than have to pull out my tablet when I stop. -- and wouldn't it be nice to be able to connect to a mobile WiFi on it? --- The switches for the lights confuse me. Perhaps that's something I'll get used to, but there are too many switches to turn things on - but the automatic lights feature seems to do the job. I've seen a lot of negative comments about gas mileage, and it is a bit disappointing. The computer shows me at roughly 35 MPG average (usually). I did get 39.6 MPG on the display on my 56 mile commute to work on an unusually low traffic day, but I drove very gently and accelerated very slowly onto highways and such. In reality, you can't drive like all the time without infuriating other drivers and endangering yourself. I was getting around 30 MPG in my Vibe even with over 300K miles on it. As for handling, it handles pretty well in my experience and as mentioned, I have a lot of curves to manage on my commute. It does decelerate too fast when you let off the gas pedal --- I'd expect the deceleration to be much slower on such a light vehicle. I can't really rate the vehicle reliability yet, but with the significant warranties from the manufacturer as well as inexpensive upgraded warranties, surely this won't be a problem."

3 people out of 3 found this review helpful

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Great design but poor handling on Winter roads

By e (WI) on Tuesday, February 05, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 5,300

Pros: "price, design, heated seats"

Cons: "poor winter handling, mpg"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 1

"I purchased this car on black friday 2012 and was very excited about the styling, look and fun features. Heated leather front AND back seats, awesome! Also I love the color and the way that the car feels. The seats are very comfortable. I drive 45 miles one way to work daily so put on a lot of miles and was excited about the fuel efficiency; however within the first few fill-ups my bubble burst as I seem to be only getting 30 miles/gallon and was expecting much better based on the advertised mpg. Also as the roads have gotten snow covered and slick the handling is very poor. I am not comfortable driving even if there is a tiny bit of snow or slush because the car feels like it is sliding all over and I have almost went in the ditch several times. This is not my first winter and I have never had a vehicle that handles so poorly in winter weather conditions. If you live in an area that stays dry and does not see snow this would be a good car for you."

9 people out of 9 found this review helpful

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