Faults:

The main issues have been the brakes, where the brake pads remain in contact with the rotors after you take your foot off the brake pedal. I'm on my 3rd set of rotors.

CD player stopped working after 5 years of use.

Park brake cables have finally seized at 270000K.

The car didn't like CV axles; the originals lasted 140000k, but the aftermarket replacements lasted as little as 20000k (always the lousy boots).

That's about it other than routine oil and filter changes, plugs and wires, valve cover gasket, timing belts every 100000K, tires, and wheel bearings at 250000k.

General Comments:

This car was a dealership demonstrator that was leased, and I bought it when the lease was about to run out for $6000 back in 2005... the car was 4 years old and had 69k on it. Now today in August 2015 I'm preparing to sell it to the scrap yard. I will drive it there with 290k on the odometer and everything still working. The car has rust and a blown steel power steering line, and I take that as my sign that time is up.

This car is an absolute warrior!!! I live in Snow Lake Manitoba, and I work shift work at a mine in Thompson Manitoba, which is 250 kilometers (2 hours 20 minutes) away. I have made this trip 8 times every month for the last 8 or 9 years, plus holidays elsewhere. Sometimes I drove in -40 degree weather in the winter. This car never once let me down! In its last year, as my winter car (reliable), we had the coldest winter in 50 years and I'm not kidding when I say it was -50 everyday for three weeks. My little car, battered from the road and starting to lose the battle against years of highway salt, started every morning at 5 a.m.

R.I.P. Elantra!

Faults:

O2 sensor needed to be replaced; apart from that, nothing.

General Comments:

Decent space in the cabin, though I found the seats to be uncomfortable over journeys of more than one hour. The boot is a good size and there is good space for oddments inside the cabin (cupholders, good sized glovebox and door pockets etc). Only one fault in the time I owned it; the O2 sensor was faulty. This was quite an expensive repair; £160 from Hyundai main dealers, but it was fixed quickly, and they even washed the car for me afterwards!

Apart from the said O2 problem, reliability was very good with no other problems that I can think of. The engine was a little noisy above about 60 mph, but I would put that down to the gear ratios (65 mph was equivalent to 3,000 rpm in fifth). The ergonomics were good, with a nice driving position, and all the controls fall easily to hand. Excellent air conditioning, always cold, despite me not having looked at the levels in the time I owned the vehicle.

I bought one on the strength of my uncle having an Elantra, which has served him well, and would probably buy another, possibly a diesel version.

One final point for any American readers; Elantras sold in the UK seem to be much more reliable than those sold in the US. Admittedly they are not as common here, but the ones that were sold here seem nowhere near as prone to faults as other markets. I wonder what the reason for that is? Please feel free to comment if you have an answer or suggestion.

Faults:

Needed both wheel bearings replaced.

Radiator died (expensive fix).

Car quivered and shook when I went above 70km/h (something wrong in the axles).

Clock ran fast, not sure why, but had to change it every couple days.

A couple other small things.

General Comments:

This car was awful. The sound system was good, and the pick up speed was good. If it hadn't been for the almost $3000 I spent fixing it in the two years I owned it, I would have loved it. It had a good little engine, and picked up speed fairly well. Maybe I had a lemon? Or maybe it was time for the car to die.

I sold it because it quivered on the highway, and I do a lot of highway driving, so I brought it in, asked if it would be over $500 to fix, the guy laughed at me and said yes. Well over.

He suggested I get a new car. When I would bring it in for an oil change, they would laugh at my car (though it looked decent on the outside, minimal rust) and suggest I get a new one before my car fell apart.