[adkhunter]

Hi all. My father in law just recently gave me and my wife a 2004 elantra. It was his friends daughters car and she never checked the oil so she blew the motor. My father in law owns a car garage so he bought it off her and replaced the engine and put in all new belrs timing belt alternator all new tires and a new steering wheel since the old ones foam hsd cracked and came apart. Its like a whole new car pretty much. Minor scrstches and small dents on the outside but nothing bad. Odometer says 172k. No idea what this new engine has on it though. Makes for a good gas saver and going to work car for me so my wife can use my new f150 pickup. Now I've never owned anything smaller than a half ton pickup truck before. Let alone a foreign car maker. Is there any certain problems these cars experience over time? Common parts to replace? And what kind of gas mileage should I be getting? I kmow its a **** of a lot better than my truck but just curious. All in all its a very nice car. Very clean and tight feeling for a about 10 year old car with close to 200k on the body. Hoping this thing can last us a few years of commuting while we buy a house and then can afford another new vehicle. Thanks for any insight you can offer!

 

[PLP]

depends how you drive it. I get on my daily commute with gentle driving 36+ MPG US. If I hypermiling I can go over 42 MPG, but this requires technique and good traffic lights timing. It is now with 2009 Elantra.

With 2004 I had it was pretty much same as the engine is same. I could hit 40 MPG.

Now, if I want to have some more fun, it will drop to 28 MPG. In stop and go it goes down... reaching 25 or so. Highway, speeds <65 MPH you can reach 35 MPG. Anything about 65 MPH will affect MPG in sharp cuts.
My recent test showed that going 80 MPH on highway will result in about 29 MPG. I guess still much better than F150.

Parts to replace? Pretty much none.
Attention to be paid to timing belt (I bet it was changed). Common issues - spark plugs and wires (pinging), but with new motor should be OK.
On synthetic you can easily go 7.5k miles.

If you have all-discs brakes - rear brakes tend to collect rust and seize up. Cleaning and lubricating them every other year helps a lot. Front not so much, but could be done as well.

Mine had blown engine mounts at 65k miles. It was stick shift though. Other than that - nothing bad. It was non-ABS (drums on rear).

 

[Em-squared]

:00000732: akdhunter.

 

[adkhunter]

Thanks PLP. I drive it like a old lady so I guess I should see good mpg and long life out of this car. I have a 2011 ecoboost F150 that's got a lot of stuff done to it when I wanna go fast. This is just the commuter and run around town to save gas car lol. Yeah I think all the plugs and wires are all new as well as timing belt. All new sensors in the exhaust. I have to bring it back to my father in law today though because I'm pretty sure the power steering belt is making a god awful squeling noise on start up and turns. Its all new belts but I think they just need to be tightened up a bit

 

[Qasimrasul]

I haven't experienced with renting a car but used to exchange my old car with the brand new ones. I am not having complete idea about this. Could anyone experienced please share few of your experiences for the detailed view. Thanks in advance.