Faults:

One of the wheel bearings failed at 43,000 Km. Replaced under warranty.

Wiring came loose behind the door panel causing an annoying vibration. Fixed under warranty.

General Comments:

The seats in my car are very supportive and comfortable over long distances.

The Elantra is also very versatile thanks to the car being a Hatchback. It also has the largest trunk/boot in it's class (Focus, Golf).

I have to say that the ride is a bit bone jarring over rough surfaces because of the European Spec suspension, but it handles competently and safely. However it does tend to roll at little to much for my liking when cornering.

I do however have a concern regarding the quality of the paint finish. It appears very thin and scratches extremely easily even compared to my last car which was 10 years old. Does anyone else share this concern?

Another problem with the car is it is quite thirsty compared to similar cars from Honda and Toyota.

I just wish I had bought the standard transmission instead of the automatic. The automatic is only 4 speed and it definitely hurts the performance somewhat.

Overall I like this car. It's been completely reliable to date apart from the minor problem with the wheel bearing. My dealer has been exceptional to date. Not many dealers offer courtesy cars just for servicing related matters. Basically I would recommend this car to anyone.

Faults:

Black paint started to get small perfectly round spots on just about every panel down to the bare metal at approximately 5000 miles.

General Comments:

Dealer was called and I was told to call corporate to get a work order number. I got a number and went to the dealership where a very rude man took pictures of the spots and claimed each one was birds#*t! He could have used better language! I was told they would paint certain panels and I had to pay 50% to get the rest painted. I don't believe bird-do can etch the side of a car. Another black car was there at the same time with the same problem and they were told the same thing! This is not a bird problem, but a paint problem!

Faults:

Approximately 1.5 months after purchase, the fuel gauge quit reading full when the tank was filled. This resulted in one trip to the dealer for trouble shooting, one more to have a new sending unit installed, one more to have it reinstalled correctly, and one more to have it reinstalled once again. The gauge then read correctly.

Everything remained fine until the spring of 2002. The check engine light then came on. A trip to the dealer resulted, where they supposedly tightened the gas cap. A week later, the problem recurred. The dealer fixed it by tightening the gas cap. By now, the gas cap was so tight, my wife couldn't undo it. Again, the check engine light came on. Back to the dealer we went, where I gave out some advice that they better not point to the gas cap. Surprisingly, they found a leak in the fuel canister. This was replaced and the problem has not happened again.

The car made it until the fall of 2002 when the next problem came along. This marked the return of the dreaded fuel gauge problem noted above. Two trips to the dealer have resulted in the gauge reading full once again, but not because the dealer did anything, but take the sending unit out and mess with it. I do not get the strong impression that they know what they are doing.

General Comments:

The styling and interior on this car are nice.

The car has good acceleration and pretty good handling.

Reliability is not nearly as good as the two Ford products I own. This, coupled with the lack of skill in the dealer service department, will keep me from owning this car longer than I have to. A long warranty means nothing if you can't get the car fixed.