GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Went car shopping this weekend. I am very disappointed in the gas mileage of other cars in direct competition with our Vibes. Consumer Reports loves the Elantra Touring, so I went and had a look. On paper, and in person, it crushes our Vibe on amenities. I like the GLS base model with the added power package since it has 15 inch tires and steel wheels. The way my wife drives, she'd ruin the alloy wheels on the ES model in no time.The car has a ton of storage room in the back; too much if you ask me. I wish they had given the driver another inch of leg room. The Vibe actually just nudges out the Elantra in driving position comfort. The Vibe (Japanese build quality), also has the edge. The SK doors seemed a bit thin when closing them. The SK gas mileage still is the big sticking point; the Elantra Touring is rated at 23/30 for the automatic. Considering I get a steady 30 with my Vibe 1.8 liter, going down to 23-25 in town seems like a big step back, just for 0.2 larger displacement. Sadly the Scion XB and Subaru Outback are not better on mileage. So for now, should the '03 die, the Elantra Touring is our next car. The passenger leg room is significantly better than the Vibe. I also did the most important test of all; I crawled underneath to fully touch the oil filter and drain plug. It is simple to change the oil on that car. Now I'll have to poke my head in the Edmunds Elantra forum to see what people are reporting on the car.

I just ordered our new 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring. I actually drove it yesterday, but did not find the drive very compliant. I found out that the manufacturer sends these cars with 60psi in the tires. My dealer today lowered the pressure to the proper amount and it made a HUGE difference. I also test drove the Tucsan to be sure I was doing the right thing. The Tucsan is selling like hot cakes, but falls short of the Elantra Touring in that the visibility is worse, it does not have the storage in the rear compartment like the ET, and the rear seating and entrance/exiting is pathetic. The ET is quite a value. I got the base GLS with preferred power package, floor mats, cargo tray, and i-pod cable at the Navy Federal price (out the door) for $15,990. Our 2003 Vibe will be given away to our nephew who will drive it all the way to California. I'm not too happy about giving up the first gen Vibe, but we would have had to put in a lot of $$ over the coming year to keep it on the road: windshield, Michelin tires, cat converter or valve seal job (whichever came first), battery, tune up, and maybe a fluid or two that I have never done (like the rear differential fluid). I made the right call by not puting any money into the car over the past two years (other than new brakes). BTW: I also tried the following cars this week: Kia soul, Mazda 5 and 3, Subaru Outback and Forrester, Hyundai Sonata, Honda Fit

Excellent! For those wanting pics of what it looks like, Like I did, look here: http://www.edmunds.com/hyundai....html

Enjoy the new ride !I remember the 1st Hyundai's,went to look at em,was around 86/87 I Think.

Price steer you away from the Subaru Forester and or Outback? The new ones are excellent...

Welcome to the elite club of Hyundai ownership. The Elantra Touring is a very cool little wagon, I'd love to have one myself... Probably would go with the GLS like you, it has everything you would ever need and is cheap!Sucks about the 60 PSI thing -- not the first time it's happened, Hyundai dealers all too often overlook this vital pre-delivery adjustment. They probably lose a lot of sales that way when people test drive cars and find it rides like a brick. Keep us posted on how things are going with it.

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Price steer you away from the Subaru Forester and or Outback? The new ones are excellent... i hope the new ones are an improvement. my GF has an '02 Forrester. what a complete piece of poo that thing is. the interior is about 3 generations behind the '98 GM vehicle i owned and recently parted ways with. cheap rattlemaker fold-out cupholders located right above the stereo controls (worst stock stereo i've ever seen FWIW.) ultra cheapo quality plastics are everywhere. consistently dreadful mileage for a 4 cylinder (17/24.) i know it's AWD, but it has always been a gas hog, and a real slug. not sure why anyone would want a boxer engine that is not from a WRX... enough headroom to accommodate a 7 footer, but not enough legroom to accommodate a 6 footer. interior fabrics and foam/springs that wreak of a car at half it's pricepoint.oh, and then there's the "stainless" exhaust system that has rusted so thoroughly that it's pretty safe to say it's not made from what they claimed. and then there's the electrical gremilins that subaru knows about but can't fix. amongst other things, the car likes to lock and unlock itself hundreds of times long after you've parked and pulled out the keys-good and loud so as to draw the attention of anyone who might want to help themselves to your stuff inside. needless to say, she bought the thing before we started dating. better cars were out there for half the price. but now that Subaru's are built "with love" i hope they're at least of passable quality/design.cannot give a big enough "thumbs down" to our subaru experience.

grizz: here's my take on the two models of Subaru, and Subaru in general. I believe Subaru is the most pompous of auto companies. Regarding the new Forrester, it once again is a beautiful car which will likely continue its trouble free reputation. However, Subaru arrogantly cannot find its way to providing a telescoping steering wheel (something I can get on a $15,000 Korean car) unless you get the Limited model. Now for the Outback wagon: the latest version is definitely a crossover looking car: big, bulky, and well appointed inside. However, once you put the front seats all the way to the end of the chair rail, an adult cannot sit in the back seat. Now the arrogant part: Subaru gives you 5 feet of floor space in the back/cargo section of the Outback, yet cannot provide ample leg room for an adult. Unbelievable. Just what I need for 99% of the time: 5 feet of cargo room for my umbrella. But you are also correct in that my $15,990 out the door price for the HET does indeed trump the $23,000 I'd have to pay for one of the Subarus.

Caretaker, I think the you made a good purchase getting the Hyundai at a reasonable price. Not to change the thread but my Forester was anything but trouble free, to many problems,and the gas mileage was not anything to write home about, now if Subaru introduced a two wheel drive model at a good price I might be interested again. Good Luck with your new Elantra !

Thanks trask. I'll have it in the driveway on Saturday. More thoughts on the HET while I'm typing:1. compared to the Vibe, the car does not appear to be as solid as Japanese engineering. The doors are lighter for one. Again, this is just a first appearance comment.2. the HET is much more comfortable in the back seat, and fits 4 adults just fine; obviously our Vibe falls short in back seat leg room for adults3. the HET has an incredible amount of trunk room, and has lots of nooks and crannies to store little things. Under the floor in the cargo area is a styrofoam tray to hold more goodies. At first you think, this is just cheap, black painted styrofoam. But when you think about it, it is ingenious. The foam acts as as soundproofing from road noise, and at the same time, holds items without allowing them to rattle on to hard plastic, like our Vibe's plastic storage compartment over the spare tire.4. Once you lift up the styrofoam storage compartment under the carpeted floor, the spare tire has its tire iron and jack in another styrofoam compartment. Again, it looks cheap until you think about it; the metal won't rattle against anything.5. Atop the carpeted cargo area, you can purchase an inexpensive rubber "cargo tray" which is more like a form fitting, raised rubber mat to keep things clean and dry in the back; brillliant!!6. All the passenger doors open extra wide, much like my Malibu Maxx doors did.7. The A/C blows out much harder than our Vibe8. The front passenger leg room is significantly more than our Vibe9. The panoramic view is much better than our Vibe, and much better than the H Tucsan.10. The seats are much softer than our Vibe, which I don't like. I think they are too spongy; the wife likes them. We'll see over time.11. The glove box has a little window to allow air conditioning in to turn your glove box into a cooler; just slide the window up or down as you wish12. The oil filter is up front and easy to access13. The car's roof line is lower than our Vibe which I don't like14. The transmission (4 speed auto) seems excellent and smooth.15. The windshield wipers seem much less refined than our Japanese Vibe16. The sunglasses holder in the roof is much appreciated17. The center console is way too small, but is a two compartment box. The upper one can be used for spare change and very thin items. The bottom section is woefully small, but does have an i-pod cable port which allows you to listen to your i-pod saved items via the radio, and then use the steering wheel mounted buttons to manipulate the i-pod. Overall, for $16k, this is an excellent car, just as long as Consumer Reports' much better than average rating turns out to be true.