New Car

After months of research and debating whether or not I could afford itI finally went out and bought one.

I seriously considered keeping my old car but even though it was a Toyota I hadn’t taken good car of it, too much on my mind for the last few years. And I didn’t think I’d ever be able to buy a new car again after this. Which was my reasoning on the Toyota, I got the most reliable car in America at the time because I thought I’d have to keep it 10 years or more and I was right, kept it 13 years, which made it a wise choice and I got my money’s worth.

So I bought this car with the same idea. By a fluke of luck (not all good) I’m able to afford to buy a car right now. I was aiming for a Honda Civic because it’s the most reliable car in America right now. I was also looking at a Honda Fit as the best gas mileage of any “normal” car, I was feeling a bit leery of hybrids or the Smart Car, the technology was too new and I needed something that might need to last me the rest of my life with little maintenance.

So I ended up with a Hyundai Elentra, yeah, surprised me too. But I found it listed as Consumer Report’s number one rated small sedan - above a Civic. And found it rated between one to three on everyone’s list, so I went and test drove one, as well as a Fit and Civic. The Fit I didn’t like at all too small so the ride was rough and it had terrible pickup. Now I know I’m not going to get a car with an automatic and getting good fuel mileage that’s going to be too fast, but there are limits. The Civic wasn’t bad but it had a dashboard that was so long I couldn’t see the front of the car, at all. More than a little disconcerting.

Bottom line, the Hyundai was more comfortable and was far faster and more agile than the Civic. Compare Hyundai’s 10 year power train warranty and a price tag $3,000 less than the Civic and it was no contest.

The longer I have the car the more I like it. I have to try hard to not accelerate from a stop light too quickly while I’m still in the break in phase, but it’s so tight and fast it’s hard to avoid it. And it takes corners better than any car I’ve ever had except my Nissan 280ZX.

I tried to take some photos of it but nothing makes it look good in a picture. It looks really good in real life but that can’t be captured in a photo for some reason, so I’ll leave it with just one.