Hyundai Elantra Tops Reliability Report

The Hyundai Elantra has earned Consumer Reports' "excellent" rating in predicted reliability among small, high-mileage cars road-tested by the magazine.

It beat out the Honda Civic EX for the top spot, also finishing ahead of the Toyota Prius, Mazda3, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus, all of which achieved "very good" ratings in a report on the potential reliability of small gas-saving sedans.

All but the Corolla earned "recommended" ratings. CR said it didn't have enough reliability feedback on the new '09 Corolla to give it a "recommended" rating yet.

"The Elantra's top rating in the small-sedans class shows how far Hyundai has come in the last decade," CR said of the findings in its July issue, which goes on sale Wednesday. "Its cars used to be unreliable and unrefined, with low scores in tests. Now, some compete with the best in their classes."

CR called the Elantra SE "a well-rounded package with a quiet, roomy cabin, comfortable ride, nice fit, excellent braking and very secure emergency handling aided by the standard electronic stability control."

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Comments

I'm not surprised. I have a 2003 with 120k miles and have never needed a repair. I didn't have to replace belts until 100K and I just now need to get new break pads replaced for the first time. I just wish that I could get better than 33 mpg.

The Koreans have always made good cars. They had issues in the past but our American throw away society just compounded the issue. Just because the cars are cheap does not mean you do not have to maintain them. Can't wait for the Genesis sedan!

Terry,
Would you mind expanding on your conflicting statements? You said that "Koreans have always made good cars" and then turn around and say that "they had issues in the past."

This post got things a bit confused. While CR did rate the Elantra's reliability as "much better than average," it did so months ago. What's new is the CR ratings, which does not factor in reliability, in which the Elantra outranked the others in the order provided based on CR testing: acceleration, ride comfort, seats, fuel economy, and so forth. It did not outrank the Civic or Prius in reliability, however.

It's correct that Hyundai had issues in the past but that is when Mitsubishi was providing powertrains for Hyundai. Now that Hyundai is designing and building engines in house, they have become quite reliable vehicles. I have an '07 Accent SE that has 26,000+ miles and has not required one single warranty repair or adjustment. It's awesome when a car has a 100,000 mile warranty and may not even need it. At least it's there just in case. This is also my 5th Hyundai and every one has been a good car. I'm not keen on lumping Hyundai together with other Korean cars other than Kia which is owned by Hyundai and uses the same components. It would be nice to see Kia achieve the same numbers and ratings.

why not do the '08 corolla?

Guys,
Hyundai? - its normal!
My Protege ES is 10yo and has 145K miles.
I had not changed belts or antifreeze. I had a single problem with 1 piece of exhaust pipe. I've changed O2 sensor, because fuel economy became lower and that fixed the issue. This is darn reliable car. The best part is that it is feels as tight as before and nothing rattles, nice and smooth.
I had Civic and I had 2 small issues with it. Plus one - it burned lots of oil.
I had Corolla and also had couple of issues but also its interior plastic parts, like door handles were breaking.
Out of this trio I pick 98 Protege ES because it not only didn't have more issues then Corolla or Civic had, but it also rides and feels the same, unlike Corolla and Civic after 10 years. Also, there are small things - Civic and Corolla needed CV boots @ 120K. Protege has originals in good shape after 145K.

So here we go. Hyundai didn't invent the car. They took all the best practices from most successfull car manufacturers and made it irresistable package - price, warranty, etc. It is going to be soon that Hyundai will be one of the top manufacturers. Something American automakers failed to do - learn fast, in Korea was taken seriously. They working their behinds to improve their product. And right now they are close to become what they always wanted. Once their re-sale value gets better their sales will kick really big. I know many people holding purchasing Hyundai because monetary it is not so good now if you planning to sell it in few years.

The past Hyundais I've owned have been very unreliable. Normal maintenance items that need replaced periodically, failed much earlier than recommended change intervals and might I add, much earlier than other brands of cars I've owned. I followed the maintenance schedules, drove them conservatively and kept them clean and tidy too. They were a 95' Accent and 02' Elantra. They ended up costing more to maintain than a higher cost vehicle from another manufacturer. I was burned twice and don't plan to go for a third time. I think I'll see if this "reliable" trend continues before adding Hyundai to my list again.

Keep in mind that Hyundai has been in business for over a century building ships and other cargo carrying conveyances. It's not like they are some upstart business trying to make a go of it. Like I said, when they started their delve into the automotive manufacturing end of things, they farmed out the powertrains to Mitsubishi. It's because of that reason, I will never buy a Mitsubishi. I'd take another new Hyundai anyday, though.

Troy S., normal maintenance items that needed replaced periodically that failed earlier than most brand of cars you've owned? What items are you speaking of. Just curious.

Items that failed on me were a passenger side CV boot on the Accent @ 28,000 miles, battery at 30 months and a thermostat. A driver's side window regulator ( 6 months old), and the radio in the Elantra at 2 years old. The regulator and radio I suppose aren't normal maintenance though. I'm very gentle on my vehicles too. I can say that the cars were comfortable and got great gas mileage. Ride quality was good for a small car and the overall drving experience was excellent. I won't rule out another Hyundai if the quality has improved.

I have lived in South Korea for 2 years and rode on numerous Hyundai buses, in Hyundai taxis, cars, etc. Never had a single stranding with any of them. I also saw lots of Hyundai shipping equipment as well. Quite a huge company!

It tends to take a while to gain back my trust when my vehicle lets me down.

I'm actually touring the Montgomery, Al Hyundai plant this week. My faith may be renewed after all.

CR's ratings are as flip-flop as you could ever get from any major publishing material.
Anyone had subscribed to them knows better.

"why not do the '08 corolla?"
Well, because it's out of production and most are gone from dealers' lots, so why bother?

"It did not outrank the Civic or Prius in reliability, however."
CU doesn't give a numeric score, but it did just edge by the Civic Si. The Prius was well above the Elantra, while the Civic Hybrid was a tad ahead. The Civic Couple looks about tied, though perhaps just a hair ahead. All were rated "Much Better than Average."

As for as Mitsubishi's being the source of all of Hyundai's past problems, I'd note that Hyundai had many problems well beyond engine trouble in the past. What the company did was take on a massive effort to increase the number of quality staff it had once the founder's son instead of brother was in charge. So yes, any Hyundai before MY '03 is likely to be crap. But past that Hyundai seems to be delivering on its promise.

I toured Hyundai's Mont. Ala plant today. I'm a stickler when it comes to quality and attention to details on automobiles. I am fully confident that Hyundai is making a top notch product now. I wouldn't hesitate to put one of thier automobiles in my driveway. I fully expected to see half-ass engineering, shoddy workmanship and mediocre quality before starting my tour today. I couldn't have been any more wrong. I will never talk bad about the company again. My trust has been restored.

That's good to hear Troy S.! I have owned three Hyundais in the recent past and all of them have performed flawlessly. The prices are creeping up as Hyundai's numbers show better but they are still a better buy that most other Asian imports where features and warranty coverage are concerned. Now they should work a little harder on fuel efficiency because they are kind of at the bottom of the pack in the MPG numbers.

to those people that say hyundai is unreliable and had many problems in the past....

yeah thats right in the past....

please try or drive a new hyundai and then make more accurate comments...

its like saying oh japanese cars were awful 40 years ago or american cars are the best of the best...

drive one...