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Car&Driver and plastic puke

5K views 32 replies 11 participants last post by  Old's Cool 
#1 ·
Car&Driver has a pretty positive review of the new Elantra with their biggest gripe being the hideous new car smell - which they describe as 'plastic puke'. (They claim that every Hyundai & Kia seems to exhibit this phenomenon)

Is this true - is the new car smell in the Hyundai that bad? I have yet to test drive one so I'm curious...
 
#2 ·
Let me tell you just how bad it is!!! Everyone that has taken a ride in mine ALWAYS says, "Don't you just LOVE that new car smell?"

The critic may be overly sensitive to off-gassing. His problem, not mine. Hasn't offended my nasal passages. Smells no different than my 2011 or 2013 did. Besides, they HAVE to find something they can report negatively on. Otherwise, their boss would fire them and hire someone that would. Just like auditors.

Go test drive one and report back what you think.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Besides, they HAVE to find something they can report negatively on. Otherwise, their boss would fire them and hire someone that would. Just like auditors.
I typically find the opposite - they never say anything really negative - i.e. this is the greatest car ever made, except we wish the seats came in tan. The Focus is the greatest car ever made, except we wish the air conditioning vents were more convenient.

Not knocking the "E", but they get the cars to review for free and then sell advertising space to the car companies, so they aren't about to say "The E is a terrible car and only an idiot would buy one" or HMA would pull their ads and only give them cars to test drive after everyone else had reviewed it.

(Although I do remember one of the rags managed to say about the new Mitsubishi Mirage, that if you can only spend $13K on a new car and are considering this, you should highly consider a good used car instead.>:D)

http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/Mitsubishi/Mirage/Mitsubishi_US Mirage_2017.pdf

(Oddly, I liked the looks of the car, although I don't trust Mitsubishi to be around as long as the warranty will last ...)
 
#4 ·
Well, there you go! Buy one and you'll like it even more!!! I'm doing everything in my power to keep that smell in there as long as possible.

What issue were your reading this review? I wouldn't mind reading it, as well.

BTW, 00000732 Welcome to the forums.
 
#5 ·
The Car and Driver write up I found, on the 2017 E Ultimate, didn't gripe about anything.
"It's no sports sedan" is the worst they said. And it isn't.
But with a rear sway bar and some sportier shocks, it will be sporty enough to make me smile a lot. I can't wait for people to discover this so aftermarket shocks and sway bars oriented towards sport driving will become available!
 
#6 ·
Like I said, they seemed to like the car - especially since their only complaint was the smell. It's in the June edition of the print magazine, evidently not on the web site yet.

I'll wait till the weather gets warmer so I can roll the windows down on the test drive. :laughing:
 
#7 ·
I read it this morning and although I bought mine about 10 days ago, neither me nor my wife smelled anything like that. I probably shouldn't say this but sometimes if someone has a smelling problem it is because of a medical problem; possibly brain cancer. I doubt that but unless more than one person has smelled that particular car and agree I'd be concerned and would be talking to a doctor.

Otherwise the review was quite positive.

And BTW, if you have the 17 inch wheels as on the Limited, be sure the air pressure is correct. You can read that on the instrument panel as it tells the psi on each tire; a real convenience. The ride difference is YUGE!! Set it at 35 psi although the door jam says 33 psi. Sit it higher and it is like driving a log wagon.
 
#8 · (Edited)
And BTW, if you have the 17 inch wheels as on the Limited, be sure the air pressure is correct. You can read that on the instrument panel as it tells the psi on each tire; a real convenience. The ride difference is YUGE!! Set it at 35 psi although the door jam says 33 psi. Sit it higher and it is like driving a log wagon.
Mine is at 35, initially. Saw them get as high as 39 on my recent trip. I had been driving several hours at the time, it was during the afternoon, and the temp was upper 70's. The highway was pretty nice, so no log wagon wheel ride for me.
 
#9 ·
Plastic puke, eh? Smells are pretty hard to describe through writing without some sort of comparison. I'm unfortunately pretty familiar with the smell of vomit, as I had the stomach flu recently, but I don't really see that being accurate. I guess I'll have to find out for myself.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Trust me. I work in a hospital around the patients in the ICU, OR, and Recovery departments. It's not even remotely close!

I wish I could duplicate that "new car smell" and sell it as a home and car refreshener. I'd be wealthy beyond measure. I've looked all over the planet. That smell can't be duplicated, no matter what that manufacturer's fragrance label says.

Besides, what car owner wouldn't want his man-cave to smell like his new car? Even my missus would be okay with it, considering how much she loved the smell of her new Tucson when she bought it.
 
#18 ·
HA! I missed this! "Look like I picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue."

I actually used that line last week when what should have been a simple job turned into a nightmare. ;)
 
#19 ·
Car and Driver eats, breathes, sleeps, and pukes BMW so if it doesn't smell like a new BMW, it must be plastic puke. Seriously. I've seen them compare cars and say, "This BMW is terrible at absolutely everything. Stuff broke while we had it and one time it abducted a writer's children but when we put it on a curvy road, it just makes us smile so....FIRST PLACE!!!!!"
 
#22 ·
Old's Cool;4432513Seriously...having to lift the engine to change the alternator???[/QUOTE said:
That did it for me...I'm out. "IF" I could have my choice of BMW's, it would be the 2002 design. Awesome little cars. Cute as heck. Those, and the original Mini Coopers from the 60's. Maybe a Subeam Tiger. Never mind, I'm dreaming, again.
 
#25 · (Edited)
My Volvo mechanic took me out for a ride in his Tiger. The original owner had blown the 260 V8 (not uncommon from what I hear) so he replaced it with a 289 Mustang engine. Bet it still has the white-knuckle marks in the dash! :eek:

I've already passed on 2 2002s because of the cost of parts. :eek:

Man, my roomate had a '74 2002 tii. There was one corner I could only take at 45 in my Corolla (a 1200, not the GTS) and I ripped through it at 70 in the 2002! :eek:

his mother had given it to him. He gave it back. "Why?" "It costs too much." "But I GAVE it to you!" "Yeah...but it was cheaper to buy a new car than to pay for the maintenance on the BMW." :eek:

PS: That same mechanic also had the most awesome 122 I ever saw in my LIFE. Actually, it was a 123GT.
 
#23 ·
Not sure why car companies don't think about alternator placement - except it will probably last 36K or 60K miles, and beyond that, they don't car how long it takes the technicians.

My 2002 Focus you had to pull the motor mount and rock the engine forward to remove it.

My 1986 Integra you have to pull the driver's side axle to change it.
 
#24 ·
My '89 626 you had to pull the passenger's side axle. Better than lifting the engine!

Seriously, they usually wonk out ~125,000 miles, and while that's a good run, it will still need to have at least the brushes replaced, so why make a nightmare out of it?
 
#29 ·
Then there was the '79 928 for $400. Owner said it "overheated" after ~25 miles driving distance. Most of these things I ran across when I was a Dell Rep...

 
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