Current generation Hyundai Elantra.
 

So I was looking for a used small sedan in the low teens, like a 3-4 year old Civic or a 7-8 year old Jetta TDI. Then this car pops up on my radar. 6 speed, 150 hp, air, Monsoon stereo system, best in class fuel economy, cabin room, and it's only about $15,000. I've seen claims online of non hypermilers getting 42-45 mpg, Hyundai claims on long stretches of highway and ideal conditions, it should hit around 50mpg for some stretches. I realize that they don't have the long heritage of other imports, but their warranties are great, nearly all auto publications say currently they are near the top of the industry as of recent. I look at their line up, and they are actually clearly moving forward with their vehicles, as opposed to Honda, who has sat idle with microscopic changes for the last 10 years. So I say, why not get this car?

yes...
 

And let's not forget the long warranty. It sounds like this could be a 50mpg car without that much effort. I'm looking at this car also now. It looks great, and the price is awesome. Just a bit small for my perceived safety. I'm sure it does get good crash test scores also. Hyundai has stepped up their game lately.

Wife and I had bought a new Elanatra back in 04 just because of the warranty and the good reviews. That was one tough little car. Didn't mpg as well as the contemporaries, but we are talking 7 model years and I know that the newest models are kicking butt in that regard.

The Hyundai / Kia twins are solid products.

I'd say Hyundai / Kia are the new Honda.

Many Kia's are technically Hyundai's or vice-versa, but Kia warrants them for 7 years or some 100.000 miles. Even the Japs are don't that over here.

And I've read that the 275hp turbo Sonata can also hit 40mpg on the highway. That's incredible.
By the way nice Volvo. I have a D11 360hp 1685tq for my work truck. What a nice ride they are...

The problem is that when you go to resell the Hyundai, it won't be worth as much as an equivalent Civic would.

Edmunds.com's "True Cost To Own" shows the 2011 Elantra Limited's ($20,195 MSRP) 5 year depreciation to be $12,470. In comparison, a 2011 Civic EX Sedan's ($20,405 MSRP) 5 year depreciation is $9,632. $2800 buys a lot of gas...especially if you are an ecomodder! :)

So you're saying the Hyundai is going to be a better used car than the Civic. Excellent!

I'm also looking at this car. I've been very impressed with it.
It is constantly getting high marks in testing and kicking out Honda off the top.
Even the styling is nice. I can't say the same for other cars at this price range.

Depreciation is negated if you keep the car. Plus the current Civic struggles to get 34mpg even with the long geared 5 speed on the highway. It's a nice car, I've owned 3 Civics, but they just seem to rehash and spit out models with few improvements. Don't get me started on the rust, yes rust issues on 08-11 models.

The latest Motor trend scores the top 8 small cars. Hyundai's real world MPG's were not good. All the cars tested had lower mpg's than advertised but Hyundai did the worst with the Civic scoring much higher for fuel efficiency. Although Hyundai's quality and style has improved I don't believe it is on par with Honda and Toyota just yet. Also I believe the least stylish tend to age slower.

My family, including my son's family, has owned 5 Hyundais (1 Sonata & 4 Elantras) since 1994. They've held up well, with the biggest problem being a broken timing belt that killed the 1994 Elantra this year (despite proper maintenance). The next, and commonest problem is broken window regulators. The '94 broke 4 manual regulators. The 2002 Elantra broke 2 electric regulators. The only other common problem is front strut replacements on the '94 and one of the 2006 Elantras.

I'm with tjts on this. Lower resale value means better bargains for those of us who buy our cars used and keep them until they drop.

Bottom line: If my family needed another car tomorrow, I'd start looking for a Hyundai. I'll look at Kias, too. However I'm not convinced Kias will hold up as well as Hyundais

What kind of MPG's were you averaging out of your Hyundai's?

You can always buy any used 88-2000 Honda or Toyota, drop in a 30-60k imported engine and drive it for another 200k.

I recently purchased a 2011 Civic LX 5-speed auto and it has no problem achieving 40-44 MPG highway at 65-70 MPH, even with the A/C running. I just recently picked up a SGII for it and I've been seeing 50 MPG on highway trips through the hills of Pennsylvania so long as I keep the A/C to a minimum and keep the speed to around 60 MPH.

I'm far more interested in the 2012 Accent/Rio hatch with its 1.6 DI engine. Both gets 6 speed and should be worth a few more MPGs over the Elantra.
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http://www.carsleaks.com/wp-content/...Rear-Angle.jpg
Should depreciate like yesterday's news paper.

I've seen a lot of different reviews on the mpg as well. Hyundai says the 6th gear is being used to soon in a press release earlier this year. With the manual, they say 6th shouldn't be used until 65 mph. The engine is quite powerful, but doesn't have massive torque at 2000 rpm to keep from lugging, which wastes more fuel than revving it up. They also claim a longer break in on the new engine than most manufactures do. Driving style also obviously has the biggest impact on mpg, and nearly every test by every car magazine exhibits mpg lower than EPA ratings. They are running brand new cars and usually pushing them to see what they're made of. Another year or so and there should be enough solid data out to either prove or debunk the claims.

I appreciate the info on the new Civic. I was using EPA data and a neighbor who claims to drive gently as my source. I just passed up a 2010 Civic LX with 9,000 mile on craigslist for $14,500. I don't technically NEED it until my 96 dies, which may be a while. Only 120,000 on it, but a lot of thongs are starting to go bad due to it's age rather than running. I'm not looking to extreme hypermile anymore, like belly pans, EOC, etc. Just looking for a nice car that can get great mileage when driven correctly.

Any hard data on Civic 5spd auto vs. 5 speed manual? Not counting coast or EOC...just plain highway results please.

Considering they both roll off the same assembly line with the same components from the same suppliers, I would be surprised if there is any difference in quality today.

I didn't keep mileage records until I started hypermiling. I only record full tanks when drive my wife's 2006 Elantra on long trips, but I'm averaging 40.1 mpg over 4200 miles with her car. On local trips to the next town, I typically get mid-30 mpg with it, according to my Scangauge

Nonetheless, your 33.9 combined mpg shows the limitations of relying on highway averages.

??? Hyundai's Birmingham, AL plant assembles Sonatas and Santa Fes, and will assemble Elantras this year. Kia's West Point, GA plant assembles Souls and Sportages, and will assemble Optimas in 2012. There's no duplication there. If you have proof of your claims, how about sharing it?

Wayne at CleanMPG got 65 mpg out of a review Elantra manual. That's without his usual "max mpg" segment because he had to return it early. It would have been even higher with that segment included.

Sounds like a winner to me. I have no doubt the Accent will be equally / more capable.

On the contrary, you need to prove your claims. They are for all intents and purposes the exact same car. Claiming that the Hyundai is somehow better is pure fantasy not supported by any facts.

The Sonata and Optima are so incredibly different I can't tell them apart. I bet one is brilliant and the other is garbage.
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You made the claim "Considering they both roll off the same assembly line with the same components from the same suppliers, I would be surprised if there is any difference in quality today."

The Hyundai Sonata and Elantra roll off Hyundai's Montgomery AL assembly line. The Kia Optima is made in some plant in India or South Korea, until next year, when it will be assembled in West Point GA. You made the false claim they roll off the same assembly line. Unless you have some facts proving otherwise, you're dead wrong.

I made no claims I have to prove. I simply said I'm not convinced Kia reliability equals Hyundai reliability.

I think that in general, the 8th gen manual Civics do better in the city, whereas the automatics have a taller final gear which gives them the advantage on the highway.

My current 33.9 is my average since purchasing the car which only has 3k miles on it right now. In addition, I have yet to log any tanks with the use of my new SGII yet. Right now, my tank average is about 38 MPG which has been over my daily commute (mix of 70% hilly highway [2-mile long, 5% grades] and 30% windy, hilly country roads with some city).