This little car has been a great addition. It has been a solid little performer since day 1. I think Hyundai has come a long, long way from the days of the Excel. I've put on 12 years worth of mileage on this car in less than 6 so I have had the opportunity to get to know this car real well. Mind you, this car is no race car, but it will confidently cruise at 80mph all day long and not miss a bit. Considering this car cost less that 15k when I got it, it was very well equipped, with leather interior, a very nice sounding stereo, comfortable seating, and even some nice extras like heated mirrors and foglamps. This car has been a godsend, because of it's low cost to own and drive, and because it has been a very capable little vehicle. It is a 5-door version of the Elantra and with the rear fold down seating which is 70/30 split, there are different options for carrying a mix of people and cargo. I've driven this car cross country and it has consistently delivered 32-34mpg on the highway, which has given us a range of about 380 to almost 400 miles per tank without us really worrying about pushing it. Of course keeping the car well maintained has been a key factor, but definitely those are good numbers for a car that was rated at 26mpg city/31mpg highway.

Pretty good car at a good price. Power is respectable for the year - at the time of purchase it was in the upper half of the market power wise, but since the compact market has upped the ante performance wise. Shifting is good, if a bit thrashy, but preferable over the rubbery action of the 2007-8 models. I also prefer the hydraulic steering over the electric steering of the new Elantra - it's overboosted and feels like a video game. Handling is pretty good, given the type of car. Love the hatch too, but at times you can feel the structure is weaker because of it. Quality issues suffered mainly have to do with a leaky hatch and a few other issues with the body. No mechanical issues as of yet, except for the motor in the driver's side mirror quitting.

I've had this car for the last 7 years of its life, mostly needed for commuting (60 miles round trip, at first; 78 after an office move), with the occasional road trip hauling my parents somewhere. It's been quite fine for the commute and the occasional passengers have found it comfortable enough. A/c never let me down in south FL heat; basic (cassette) stereo's had satisfying sound with my mp3 player du jour. And I was surprised to find this model was only marked for 22/30ish mpg - for the first four years, I saw more like 28/38. It's been quite a reliable, safe-seeming little car. Got rear-ended at a red light two months after I bought it - older driver in a Toyota used me to brake down from 30+ miles per hour, but my car actually looked better than his did and I wasn't injured, which impressed me a lot, for my first-ever accident. It's also easily gotten me home several times through flooded major roads (due to tropical storms) that were stranding and ruining similar-looking small sedans all over the place. 95k+ miles later, I'm searching for its replacement, and due to the surprising mpg, the reliability ('til recent transmission woes), and safety features, I don't think I'll be looking away from Hyundai. Great little car; I'm very fond of it.

Good little commuter car, very weak on the power, but its not really supposed to go fast. Interior is good, nice build quality. Being a hatchback it has a lot of room when you put the rear seats down. Had great reliability with mine, routine maintenance was very inexpensive, even more so because I did most all of it myself. Overall a great little car.

I love my little Hyundai. It's inexpensive to repair, though a lot of minor parts wore out, gets awesome gas mileage, has little to no blind spots, really comfortable seats and has lots of storage(enough for me to keep all of my random stuff plus minimum of 6 yoga mats at all times) for a little sedan. I couldn't have asked for a better first car.