Lol wow you were so lucky! Amazing stuff. I had a Hyundai years ago, I bought it new drove it for about a year then after my dad passed away I gave it to my mom so she was driving a fairly new car. She drove that car for years and years she adored that little car. We never had any problems with it other than the ac had to be fixed once.

I love Hyundais! I bought a 2002 new Sonata and put over 330,000 km when I traded it in a couple of years ago on a 2011 Sonata. Love them, and wouldn't hesitate to buy an Elantra or another Sonata. there are a lot of Elantras on the road.

The worst car I ever owned was a Hyundai Elantra. I never knew what a lemon was until that car!! Every thing that could go wrong with it did - transmission gave out, timing belt (just as the warranty expired) and then some radiator issue that made it virtually undriveable. I will say that this was a 1997 model and understand that they have improved quality significantly since then (and the warranty) but boy, did it put me off that car brand! I finally junked the thing with less than 70K in miles..

I have never owned a "new" car since. I currently drive a venerable 20 year old Ford Explorer with 220K miles on it that runs like a top. Gets terrible mileage but I know it will get me where I need to go.

I owned one way back in the early 90's when it was described as "the poor man's cadillac". My daughter, a young 10 at the time loved that thing. What I hated about it and recently read still plagues the little car is it's weak engine and lack of oomph. It was down right dangerous merging onto the fwy. So personally, I would pass.

The Kia which is also partially owned by Hyundai may be a better option for a car in that category as the engine has more going for it, though I'm not so sure about the warranty. Warranties are kind of a scam anyways, you could have a lemon or be experiencing problems but as long as the dealer denies the problem exists, what good is it? Kia's have tried to improve in a number of ways and have been steadily growing in popularity as a result.

Most of your smaller cars are going to be very similar in the options they offer and if you do your regularly schedule maintenance especially the oil changes, you will do fine with the majority of what's offered. Both of our cars, a Nissan truck and a Jeep Liberty had/have well over 225,000 miles on them with very few, if any problems, but we are religious about changing the oil. We just traded the truck in for a Mazda CX-5. I wanted another Jeep so this little Crossover was not even on my radar when I test drove it. Gas mileage is much better and it's spunky. Functionally it has everything we needed, plus it's very comfortable to drive. You may want to take a look at the CX 3, they're cute and spunky as well...zoom zoom zoom. :c)

I have a Kia soul, love it!

Hyundai gives you the quality of a Toyota for a lower price. A family member drives one bought new 6 years ago and has gotten very reliable service. If there's a knock, like Toyota cars (including Lexus), they're boring to drive.

Bought a used Genesis by Hyundai. It is great. Roomy and easy to get into the seats.

We've had both Elantra and Sonata. Both were reliable and gave us a lot for the money. I think they are not now, as relatively great bargains as when we first had the Elantra and people say "Hyundai? What's that?"

If you remember, we began looking around the same time, and I got a Sonata. I LOVE it. First time Hyundai owner, and I'm sold. Good luck

My son in law is on his second Elantra. And he's only on his second one because he rear ended a car a few months ago and totalled his own car. :( He researched extensively when he bought his first one almost 8 years ago and decided it was the perfect car for everything. He's never had a problem with his car. The second was is a 2017 and too new yet but he's still very happy with it so far.

The Elantra is reliable, but it's a rough, noisy ride.

If you can afford to move up to the Sonata, you'll be happier.

I've had them several times as rental cars and have also ridden a number of times in my family member's car. I wouldn't describe it as rough and noisy but it is what it is - a well built and very reliable car at the lower end of market prices.

My friend just bought a Hyundai. He likes it a lot. How do you pronounce it? It is supposed to be pronounced hun-day as in rhyming with Sunday. I asked my friend what he bought and he said a "HY UN DY". HAHA!

The proper pronounciation is that it rhymes with 'Sunday'. So many people make too many syllables out of it, similar to your post, Arkansa. Hi Yoon Die. LOL

I drive a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. I would advise anyone to AVOID buying the make/model I drive as that particular year Honda hybrid has so many issues, and I'm looking towards replacing it sometime in the near future. In regards to Hyundais...I test drove one years ago (around the time I bought my current car) and would agree that back then it was a rough ride with lots of road noise even with the windows all up.

Heck, I would advise anyone looking to go green to buy a Toyota Prius. I wish I had. :P

I've no idea how noisy the Elantra rides, but I'd not say that about the Sonata. Huh. Am I oblivious or are they that different? Dunno. Just a caveat since this keeps popping up.

My Consumer Reports magazine arrived today. Their top ten picks are:

1. Sports car - Mazada MX-5 Miata

2. large sedan - Chevrolet Impala

3. Luxury SUV - Audi Q7

4. Compact Hybrid - Toyota Prius

5. Compact pickup - Honda Ridgeline

6. Compact car - Chevrolet Cruze

7. Mid sized SUV - Toyota Highlander

8. Subcompact Car - Toyota Yaris iA

9. Small SUV - Subaru Forester

10. Midsized Sedan - Kia Optima

Ride quality was a consideration.

Many other cars were profiled in this issue and a goodly number had good recommendations also. The list above were the top picks according to their ratings. Your opinion and theirs may vary.

#1 on your list is my other car. Just got the antique plate for it. Does that tell you how reliable and enjoyable it is? 27+ years I've been driving my Miata

I have no direct experience with it, but when I bought my Kia I asked the owner of the shop where I take my vehicles what his opinion was on them. The owner said the Hyundais/Kias they've had were pretty much all very reliable and better than average. His immediate follow-up was when they tell you to change timing belts, DO NOT put it off, otherwise they're good cars. I also asked his son who works on more cars now than does his dad and he said both Kia and Hyundai were real reliable but the only one they've had higher than average calls on was the Elantra. Since that wasn't the model I bought, I didn't go into why or what kinds of problems. This has been several years now since they told me this so things obviously can change. Judging todays cars by performance of cars 10 or 20 years ago is not wise either. I'd suggest you ask your mechanic for an opinion. I will say that most any car these days is quite reliable providing they were given reasonable care and maintenance. I got a bargain on my Kia and have not regretted its purchase in any way.