> I'm retired and looking at getting one of these [Elantra 2003 or 2004
> cars] and I'd like to know how the reliability of the 4 and 6 cylnder
> compare.
? IIRC, the Elantra is only available with the 2.0L 4-banger in the
USA. Did you mean "Sonata", which is available with 6cyl or 4cyl?
What's your geographic location? FWIW, the 2.0L I4 "Beta" engine used
in Elantras is fairly reliable from what I've heard from Elantra owners
on this newsfroup. Again IIRC, the 4-banger used in the Sonata is less
reliable than the one used in the Elantra. ICBW though.
> Also, [I'd] like to know if their great warranty is transferrable
The 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty is not transferable AFAICT.
> Will either of these cars go 200,000 miles with normal maintenance or
> are there [big] problems at some milestone like transmission or other
> big cost item?
100,000 for sure. 150,000, highly probable. 200,000... don't know.
Your geographic location is also important for answering this question;
cars last longer in places like Arizona than they do in places like
Michigan or Florida. (Road salt, sea salt, potholes, large number of
idiot drivers, etcetera.) HTH,

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Matt G|There is no Darkness in eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see
"We should have a policy against using personal resources for company
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Henry Kolesnik - 23 May 2005 22:03 GMT
I should have looked at the Sonata.
I'm in Tulsa, OK with sights set for Green Valley, AZ south of Tucson.
Hank
>> I'm retired and looking at getting one of these [Elantra 2003 or 2004
>> cars] and I'd like to know how the reliability of the 4 and 6 cylnder
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> Michigan or Florida. (Road salt, sea salt, potholes, large number of
> idiot drivers, etcetera.) HTH,
> I'm retired and looking at getting one of these cars and I'd like to know
> how the reliability of the 4 and 6 cylnder compare. I'm looking for the
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> 73
> Hank WD5JFR
Let's put it this way. This was in the Economist:
"Warranty claims are less than expected. Hyundai has trimmed warranty
provisions from 5.7% to just 1.8% of its revenues." - Economist
Quality is definitely improving fast. And with the newest and the most
technologically advanced state of the art Hyundai manufacturing in
Alabama making cars, made by Americans, the long term quality will
improve drastically. I predict Hyundai will top the JD Powers (both
short and long term customer satisfaction), by year 2007. Remember all
those Hyundai jokes? Look who's going to have the last laugh.