Michigan Hyundai Car Dealers

Hi, I just bought an Elantra Touring this past weekend. Base GLS with manual trans. Only options were ones you essentially can't buy the car without (floormats, splash guards, iPod cable, bumper protector). MSRP equipped this way is basically $17,000 even. I paid $15,500 plus registration (this is Oregon -- we have no sales tax). Bought it from Dick Hannah's Hyundai of Portland, and had an absolutely easy-breezy buying experience. I got good quotes (about $15,850) from two different dealers through the new Consumer Reports buying service, and was able to negotiate down from there without too much difficulty. The actual dealer experience involved only minimal negotiations (beyond what we'd done with other dealers over the phone), no pressure, no tricks, no tactics. Couldn't have been easier. We're replacing a 2001 Jetta Wagon that has been extremely expensive to maintain (20c/mi!) but has otherwise met our needs. We need generous cargo capacity because we often squeeze in camping, hiking, biking or ski gear next to 3 or 4 people plus a large dog. We don't want a midsize wagon (think Subaru/Volvo/Passat) because their length and turning radius can make for difficult parking in tight urban spaces. Most folks in our situation go for small SUVs, which have largely displaced small wagons like the Jetta from the market, but those tend to be thirsty AND clumsy. A small wagon is still our ideal car, even if choices are few. I've done a LOT of research over the past year, and have test driven over a dozen different cars. The Mazda5 was mighty tempting, most underrated car in America IMO, an astounding value if you can grab an ad car at $16,600, but still a bit larger and thirstier than we'd like. Probably would have been our choice if not for the Touring. The xB is good sized, but it's no less thirsty than the Mazda5, its seats are hideously uncomfortable and its rear blind spots are big enough to be really dangerous. Most of the other 5-doors were notably smaller, but we were at least willing to consider squeezing in and throwing a cargo box on top when needed. The Kia Soul was tempting, just $13k for the very well equipped base model, but really tight on cargo space. The Versa hatchback was cheaper than the Touring, even when when stepping up from the stripped base model, but also quite small. I really liked the new Ford Focus hatchback, one of the more spacious 5-doors in back, but it stickers at nearly $19k and is eligible for NO discounts since it just hit the showrooms last week. The Honda Insight is roomier for cargo than you'd think, and very undeserving of the bashing it's received in the automotive press ... would have been VERY tempting (both for the mpg and my loyalty to Honda) but tied the Focus as the most expensive car on our list and similarly NO discounts (in this case because the Japan disasters shut down production). We ruled out the otherwise lovely Honda Fit because it's SO heinously noisy. Ruled out the otherwise great Matrix/Vibe because the shifter on the manual transmission is the clunkiest we've ever encountered. Ruled out the Scion xD because it's just too dang small (though the sliding rear seats do add versatility) and the seats are even more torturous than the xB's. After looking at all these cars, the Elantra Touring was "just right". Not too big (i.e., thirsty and/or hard to park), not too small (specifically in terms of cargo), no deal-killing ergonomic problems. And it was cheap, with only the Versa and Soul coming in lower. Reliability appears pretty good, beautifully firm suspension, decent mpg, more power than I need (which is now true of ALL cars sold in America). Has everything I want (AC, PW, PDL, good stereo), nothing I don't. Basically it's the car I've been wishing Honda would build for the last 20 years, ever since they dropped the Civic Wagon (of which I have owned THREE).

Hi Car_man, Do you know the rates for a Sonata SE 2.0 Turbo in two cases: 1) 36 month, 12k mi/yr 2) 24 or 30 mo, 12k/yr 3) 24 or 30 mo, 15k/yr Thanks,

Horrible- walk away, or better yet- demand the deal they should be more than willing to give you. The 2012's are just about here- you should be able to steal a 2011 starting about now. Back in Dec, this was my lease deal: MSRP $41,800 Fully Loaded Tech and Prem 3.6 Sedan 12,000 mi $750 Down, INCLUDING 1st Mths Payment $400/mth for 36 mths 4 Free Oil Changes Included You should be able to do at least this well or better given the 2012s are almost here. Don't waste time with MF, Resids, etc like you read on these forums- just do brute negotiation with dealer. Hyundai is super aggressive and will make the deal you are capable of negotiating.

Hello, First of all I usually 2nd guess myself when I make a decision. Having said that I just bought a 2011 Elantra GLS with the preferred package. I bought in in Lansing, Mi 48917. The cars at the dealership are moving pretty fast (there was only one left) so I wasn't really sure how much wiggle room I had on price. Anyway the invoive price was $17,842. The sticker price was $18,484 and the TMV was $18,016. I offered $17,900 and we agreed on $18,200 before fees, sales tax, etc. If you need a breakdown of the total price I can supply it. Since this was my first time using TMV, how do you think I did? Thanks, John

Car man- why is there never any discussion about Genesis lease deals that seem to be available that are way better via brute negotiation than any mf and rv calculator you can input with Hyundai's published numbers? I leased a 2011 Genesis Sedan loaded to the hilt with Prem and Tech pkgs with 0 down and $399/mth for 36ths and 12K mi. Can you pull those numbers out of published lease rates that are used in these forums? Doesn't seem like it, but I got one. Like most lessors, I have no plans to buy this car, so all the other numbers regarding purchase at lease end don't matter to me. Am I missing something about my deal?