2012 Hyundai Elantra Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: My honest review of the 2012 Elantra. by aeonix81

Exterior styling

I love the sporty look of the Elantra. The body molding is what originally drew me to the newer Elantras.

Color choices

I love the blue color of this car. It was a color I hadn't seen done so well before, and even now I think Hyundai did it best.

Safety & braking

This car has an excellent history of safety, which as a mother of 3 was very important to me. I have had a few times I needed to brake suddenly (such as someone ahead of me stopping for no reason, in the rain no less!) and I have never felt like I lost even the slightest bit of control over the car.

Reliability & durability

This car has not had to be repaired yet, and the warranty gives me great peace of mind.

Past personal experience

We originally bought a 2011 Hyundai Elantra and we loved it, so when the dealership offered us a 2012 at the same price with $0 down, we traded our 2011 in.

Fuel economy

This is one of the most disappointing aspects of the 2012. The Active Eco is no longer anautomatic feature, and I've found I don't get the great gas mileage that I used to. I would consistently get 40mpg highway, and about 30 mpg in the city. Now I get 32 highway, 28 city. My parents live an hour and a half away, and I have other family living further away. I find it frustrating that I don't get the great mileage I did previously, especially since gas prices just keep going up.

Quietness

It's not the quietest car out there. It beats any minivan I've ever had the misfortune to drive, but it's still quite loud out on the highway.

Driving position & visibility

The way the windshield is positioned leaves an awkward blind spot for the driver.

Dealer practices

I mentioned earlier how our dealership offered us the 2012 at the same payment with $0 down. That was not the case when we actually went in. We had to haggle to get $0 down and they raised our payments about $50/month. I love the 2012 with the added features, it just makes the car that little more slick than its 2011 counterpart, but I am still unhappy with the gas mileage.

We bought this car only because our dealership offered us the 2012 with no money down and same payments we had on our 2011 Elantra. Unfortunately that was just a gimmick (we should have known) but we decided to go forward with it anyway.