Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Sedans (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans/)

-   -   Stop me from buying Elantra! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans/10204-stop-me-buying-elantra.html)

My profile:

Age: 43, profession: IT Executive, family size: 3, City: Pune-Mumbai, Monthly running 1200 Km, Driving style: soft, safe, always within posted speed limit, Car Ownership duration: 5-7 years. Wants: luxury touches and safety features (ABS, Air bags etc).

Earlier Elantra was not on my list because of its price but later Hyundai started offering some deep discounts on this car and dealer in Pune offered me fully loaded Elantra GLS (BS III, 2006 model) for 8, 75,000 on road.

Cars considered, OTR prices (w/o finance discounts, give and take some 5-10 K) and some negatives I found:

1. Baleno: (6,72,000 OTR)
[No safety features, cheap plastics, Gear shift, lacks Luxury feel, resale value]

2. NHC Gxi: ( 7,86,610 OTR, no discounts)
[Low ground clearance, bumpy ride, over assisted steering, no safety features]

3. Optra Elite LS: ( 9,22,560 OTR)
[No safety features, costly maintenance, GM’s after sales service, resale value]

4. Ford Fiesta Sxi w/ ABS: [7,95,653 OTR, no discount ]
[Cramped, rear seat angle, costly maintenance, Ford’s after sales service]

5. Hyundai Elantra GLS (petrol): (8,74,819 OTR + anti rust + Teflon)
[FE, resale value, image]


So friends, please let me know if I am missing something. any specific reason/s for not to consider Elantra etc Elantra owners please let me know your experiences.

Regards

There is nothing wrong in Elantra(except looks..which are subjective, and maybe FE,resale).. and i would say your choice is good.. go ahead and buy it!..

P.S. Any thoughts on Elantra CRDi.. its a very good engine as far as i know..

IMO, I would suggest the Optra from the list. It is the costliest from the whole lot, but you get a pretty good looking, comfortable car with a very good engine.

If you havent, try reading the reviews from member owners of the listed cars.

No reason not to consider the Elantra as it indeed gives everything that you want from your car.
It has good performance, good safety features and features for a price which is not that much compared to others on your list.
Now I also saw the ad for the Lancer Cedia which is quite luxurious from what I saw in the ad (leather, chrome, wood etc etc) as well as discs all 4 wheels (ABS) but has a price of 9.7x (ex showroom)

It could be worthwhile looking at that if the price is no major issue.

As far as luxury is concerned, the Optra beats everybody else by miles - it is the most confortable ride and has wonderful seating space.

Also, its wonderful build quality and heavy-duty steel body makes it one of the safest vehicles in its class - minus the ABS of course.

Are you sure about the dicounts on this one ?
I was able to get a quote of 7.5L (with 5.5% finance discount) OTR price for Delhi for the 1.6 Elite version. I think a price of 8.0-8.5 L can be reasonably bargained out in Mumbai/Pune.

You should be able to compare the Elantra with other cars for individual specs on this site:
Hyundai Elantra Compare

AND

if you dont want to buy the Elantra, dont buy it. WHy look for excuses?

Stop me from buying Elantra!

Why did you put that name for this thread? It sounds like you don't want to buy an Elantra but within your budget that's the only one you're getting.

Finally any car you pick should meet your needs/demands. No reason for not going for Elantra if you like it...

I don't have any problem with GM sevice (Sundaram Motors). We have two dealers in Bangalore. Other one (Garuda), I believe is better. I haven't been there though.

Only the 1.8LT Optra comes with ABS and Airbags as options. This car OTR comes to around 13L(ABS + 15inchers) without any discount. With discount it can come to around 12L. However the Optra 1.6 without ABS also has good brakes. Buttttttttttttttttt at the price you are getting an Elantra its a steal and i think you should opt for an Elantra put nice leather seats and there you have a very good car. Only drawback of the car is the petrol gives 7kmpl and resale wont be good. But as far as looks go you can pimp her up. Elantra in white looks superb also you can decrease the GC from 185 to 170 and your car will be more stable. My pick would be the Elantra at that price. Otherwise the Optra. No use comparing smaller cars like Baleno here.

The Optras resale is better then the Elantra and Skoda but not as good as the Toyota.
Maintenance is not costlier any more since GM has decresed the cost of spares.
After sales service is not a problem atleast in Mumbai, cant say about Pune.
Safety features are there only in 1.8LT version.

I think what he means is - his head says go for Elantra, but his heart lies somewhere else (or vice-versa), or maybe some gut feeling says its not a great deal.

Thats why the desperate search to prove that his decision's right (or wrong).

Busa, I have no idea where you get your info from but it sure isn't reliable! The Octavia TDi has one of the best resale values out there in its class as is comparable to Toyota on this front.

Unfortunatly the Elantra is a depreciation disaster, atleast here in Bombay. But, I've heard that the CRDi holds its value better in the South. The Optra 1.6 holds its value better than the 1.8, so expect to lose more if you go for the top-of-the-line model.

Family man ,
Wants luxury as well as safety features,
Pune-Mumbai - so there could be some highway drives.
Wants to keep car for 5-7 years
Is concerned about A/S/S.

IMHO Elantra is the best bet. CRDi would have been the better bet.
The 3 -ves you have identified are
FE, Image and Resale.
FE - if petrol doesn't pinch you, then GLS is fine, else CRDi.
Image - Is it a bigger priority than cost and safety features ? If not, forget it.
Resale - should not even come into the equation, since you want to keep the car for 5-7 years.

Go for the Elantra. Period.

In times Drive adverts have come like this. Corolla 2003 go for 9L, Optra LT 2003 go for 8.45L and Skodas 2003 TDi for 6.9L and 2.0L Petrol 4.99. Elantra no idea. Never seen any advert of it in the Drive.

aah ok. Thought so. Without knowing the history of the car for sale, you evaluate the average resale value of these cars do you. Say no more!

Steeroid: "if you dont want to buy the Elantra, dont buy it. WHy look for excuses?" .

Your reply sounded very rude. You don't want to help a fellow member, fine, then stay away.

Rudra: "Why did you put that name for this thread? It sounds like you don't want to buy an Elantra but within your budget that's the only one you're getting.
"
I think there is some misunderstanding. I never said I don't want to buy Elantra. I was looking for luxury as well as safety features and still wanted to remain within my budget of some 8.5 lakh. I researched and found Elantra offers everything I wanted and with the discount scheme it is now within my budget too. A test ride further confirmed it. So before signing on the dotted line I just wanted to cross check. I am not an Auto expert like you guys, so thought of putting this question so that some points I didn't considered/ missed will come to surface and also was interested in knowing from Elantra owners.

goldie_malhotra:" I think what he means is - his head says go for Elantra, but his heart lies somewhere else (or vice-versa),"

Your are spot on, indeed I liked Optra Elite LS , but it lacks ABS, Air bags, traction control etc. And it is Rs 75,000 more.
In your earlier post in this same thread you wondered about the Optra price I mentioned. The fact is Optra 1.6 comes into three varients; base model costs Rs 8,40,116 , LS model costs 9,17,606 and Royale costs 9,95,000 (all OTR after considering Rs 20,000 cash discount, no finance discount is considered)
.

It wasnt meant to be rude - it was meant to convey that if your heart is not on a car, dont buy it. Regardless of what others say.

Also, if your title said "Any reasons for not buying an Elantra" instead of "Stop me from buying an Elantra" (which sounded like you're being coerced into it), I guess you would've got the right responses.

However, in view of this:

I think I mistook the tone of your title for something else. Perhaps you should think in terms of a better title the next time around.