Hi all,
I've had my 2013 hyundai elantra for 4 years now. My parents bought it for me as a gift in 2016 when I was a Junior in high school. The alternator failed at 48k miles and thankfully I've gotten that replaced under warranty, however my trust for the car has been lost, so I have been a bit obsessive and replaced many things over the last year since I lost trust in my car's quality. I've done the battery, starter, serpentine belt, the oil pan needed resealed, i did new shocks and struts as well as recently I needed a new fuel pump. Currently I'm at about 78,000 miles on the car and it's an automatic. I also had all my fluids flushed at 59,000 miles.
So my question is: should i wait until the car acts up and then just go toyota, or ditch the car now and just get a corolla. I've been looking at 2003-2007 toyota corollas. I know they would need some work done probably, but I wonder if it's worth it just because I'm not sure what my hyundai will turn out like in the next few years. And I know toyota corollas would last much longer than my car. But then again should i just keep this car since i've already dumped thousands into it and since my parents paid it with cash? I got no car payments either, but if I get an older corolla I'd just pay cash for that.
Thanks
You got it for free, you can do a lot of normal repairs and still be. Ahead, the motor and trans should be ok up to and maybe over 100k. Baby it do normal upkeep, the devil you know etc. It's still a newer car that you are sure of the history.
I agree with Jackofall.
Baby your car until the wheels fall off. If you want to sell it, you do not get that much money for it. Also, you took good care of the car and hopefully the engine and tranmission will not make trouble. Also consider that it is not easy to find a good used car and there is always at least a major issue that people decide to sell their cars.
The Elantra is not as good as a Corolla but it is not a terrible car either. I might not buy one but would not turn down a free one! A friend bought an Elantra 10 years ago and it's still like new. (He maintains it really well.) Alternator failure is not a big deal, or struts for that matter. Certainly not something that would make me lose confidence in a car. I fully agree with the sentiment of just maintaining the Elantra and running it until the wheels fall off.
Thanks everyone! I've had the car since 18k miles and am the 2nd owner. Forgot to mention that too.