[shikh_oberoi]

Our plan initially was to buy a new car for my dad since I was satisfied with the Verna which didn't have any issues besides some suspension work. But as always our plans took a U-turn and decided to buy a new car for myself and that dad will drive the Verna.
I took the delivery on 26th April 2017.

The initial Budget was set to 15 lakhs.
Let me take you back to November 2016. We were considering buying the Creta, yes the Creta. The car I hate the most just because of the high pricing and various cost cuttings.

Requirements- A 5 seater Petrol car Below 15 lakhs and it shouldn't be a C-segment car or a hatchback. Choices were very few.

• Renault Duster: Outdated car. No top-end petrol variant but with the best suspension in the segment and above.
  
• Honda BRV: Wouldn't spend that much for a beefed-up mobilio.
  
• Ford Ecosport: Too old but an excellent car for a first-time buyer.
  
• Hyundai Elantra S: I was reluctant to buy this also, manual AC, no rear parking sensors. Hyundai was known for a feature-rich car but slowly they are deleting features from their new cars. I remember the old gen Elantra had most of the features standard across the variants. Plus dad was reluctant to buy a sedan again.
  
• Maruti S-Cross: Another underrated car and I liked it very much but it had a diesel engine. Rejected.

That's pretty much it. I was reluctant to buy the Creta but my sister and dad liked the Creta very much and thought having a Suv will be a welcome change. But then demonetization happened and we put all the plans on hold.

In March, dad again asked me to choose a car and I rejected Creta for Elantra 2.0 SX Petrol Manual by increasing the Budget by 2 lakhs and dad agreed.







Pricing

Ex.Showroom: 1490189
Registration:.....156148
1% TCS:............14902
Basic Kit:.............2500
________________________
Total:.............1663739
Discounts*:........28739
________________________
Net:...............1635000
Insurance**:......49500
Bank P.F:.............2500
________________________
OTR:................1687000
________________________

*Friend recently bought a Tuscon and I bought the Elantra from the same dealer so I got this discount. At the time of delivery, my adviser told me the prices have been increased by 1673 rupees and I need to pay it. I politely asked him to adjust the difference in discounts. Effective discount - Rs.30412. Plus I also got a 4th-year warranty free as loyalty.

**Bought the insurance policy from the dealer which includes Zero Depreciation cover, consumables cover, engine and gearbox cover plus tyres and key loss.

Buying & Dealership Experience:

Initially, I was happy since I got around 30k discounts but the adviser was lazy and weird. He specially came home to collect cheques for loan and forgot to get them signed. Told him to collect the balance cheque and he picked it up after 2 days.

I waited at the service center for 2 hours for the delivery because he didn't do all the paperwork. Forgot to take sign on some forms related to registration when he came home. Didn't do the insurance paperwork. He told me he was delivering some other car but still, he had sufficient time to do all that beforehand. Poor experience.

Observations

• Reverse gear doesn't slot freely many times. The current odometer reading is 35000 kms and this still happens.
• Only after getting the seat covers, I found a comfortable driving position. Stock seats weren't that great.
• The brakes are excellent. I avoided some reckless people and the car brakes performed really well.
• The headlamps' throw is fantastic. My friend having the new Tucson told me that my Elantra's halogen headlamps seem better than his Tucson's HID.
• Auto Headlamp turns on even when there is a good amount of light. They turn on around 6:00 pm in the evening nowadays and I don't think I require them until 7:00 pm. Looks odd with the only car on the road with headlamps on.
• The navigation system is great. Tells you with visual aid which road to take.
• Power delivery is linear and the car never feels underpowered.
• "Safety escort headlamps" are really useful. If the setting is at auto, headlamps turn on as soon as the car is unlocked.
  Headlamps stay on for 10 seconds after locking the car and many times people have reminded me to turn them off.
• No insulation sheet under the bonnet in my petrol variant. Truth be told, it doesn't need one. The cabin is silent.
• The volume knob on the center console is placed on the driver's side. It should have been on the passenger side.
• Interior dome lights illuminate the cabin very well.
• Spare tyre is an alloy wheels.
• Comes with a Factory-wrapped leather steering wheel and gear knob.
• Rear armrest has access to the boot which has been helpful a lot of times.
  

Dislikes​

• The Music System is really poor. The sound level is not up to the mark. My friend's Tucson has much better speakers.
• ORVM aren't that great compared to my Verna.
• No chrome usage in the interior plus I am not a fan of all-black interiors. I like a combination of beige and black.
• No speed Sensing Auto-lock.
• The door lock button beside the door lever doesn't operate locks for all 4 doors. If I use that button only the driver's side door gets locked. In Verna, all doors get locked from the driver's side. Have to use the different buttons provided near the power window which I previously used only for unlocking the doors.
• Driver Armrest is fixed and not at all comfortable to drive with a fixed armrest. These little things take away the fun to drive the car.

Drive.
The first thing I noticed driving the Elantra after my 2012 Fluidic Verna is that the car stays planted to the road. On many highway trips, I could feel the Verna jumping up and down on uneven smooth roads but the Elantra is at another level.
Clutch travel is long but it's light.
The ground clearance is average but if you are careful, the underbody will never scrape even with a full load.
This is our main car for all the family trips and the interior, as well as the boot space, has never disappointed. It easily accommodates all the luggage.
Since the car has all 4 disc brakes, the brakes are excellent. Although during initial ownership the brake pedal juddered 5-6 times. Felt similar to ABS engaging but during this time I never applied hard brakes.

Modifications and accessories added:

1. Garware sunfilm for all windows.
2. Noodle floor mats
3. Black front grill
4. Seat covers and door color change
5. Trumpet horns from Hyundai.
6. Sunvisors
7. Armrest storage compartment.

[shikh_oberoi]

1st service: June 2017, 1100 kms. 0 rupees.
2nd service: April 2018, 8400 kms. 0 rupees.
3rd service: May 2019, 13500 kms. 0 rupees.
4th service: June 2020, 21500 kms. 0 rupees.
(Services were free of cost from Hyundai including parts as well)

5th service: September 2021, 28300 kms. 4230 rupees.
Cabin air filter: 280
Oil filter: 200
Castrol 5w30 Synthetic engine oil - 2300
Coolant- 500
Air filter- 550
Labor- 400

Mileage
City with AC- 10 kmpl.
City with AC on open roads- 12 kmpl.
Highway+Mountain roads- 13 kmpl.
Expressway- 15 kmpl.

Parts changed
1. SF Sonic 60ah battery. 4400 rupees.
2. Yokohama Earth-1 tyres. 28500 rupees.
3. Bonnet repaired and front grill changed. Insurance.

4. Rear Windshield. Insurance.


5. Passenger Window. 3800 rupees. Very expensive.





6. Silencer. Under warranty.





7. Front brake pads. 2300 rupees plus 300 labor. (Hyundai charges 5300 rupees plus labor)





Would like to share my experience.
1. Stock battery lasted a little over 4 years.
2. Stock Hankook tyres were really pathetic and had developed many cracks even though tread life was good.
3. Ecosport in front of me started driving, and I did too. He stopped but I couldn't :( Bonnet got bent a little because of the Ecosport's spare tyre and the front grill had a crack.
4. Someone broke the glass at night.
5. We go for a morning walk at a popular place and this has happened with several cars with no help from police. Even my Verna's glass has been broken the same way. Thieves target these cars' storage compartments and look for mobiles and wallets that people keep there while they walk.
6. This was not at all expected. The car is parked in a covered garage and yet this happened in less than 4 years and with low usage.
7. Hyundai always charges more for parts with their own packaging. So buy OEM products rather than Hyundai's. Eg, Verna's master cylinder costs 900rs for the OEM part and Hyundai charges 4000-5000 for the same part. Verna's front brake pads costed me 1200 rupees as against 4000 rupees from Hyundai.

Adding some pics and will surely update the thread regularly.

[shikh_oberoi]

Keyless Entry. Both the keys are the same.


3-year service promise.


A leather Pouch came with the car to keep all the documents in.


The top portion uses soft-touch plastic.


Dual Zone Automatic AC controls.


Just below the AC controls is this compartment which houses a cigarette lighter, 12V power socket, USB, and aux connections.




Just below the driver's side ac vent, there are two buttons to control the headlamp level and the brightness of the ODO.


The chrome lever on Verna is much better looking than this.


Glove box with the chilling feature.


Odometer has 2 trip meters and tells the range, and mileage of the car plus an option to turn off the digital speedometer.




I found Verna's ORVM better than the Elantra. Visibility is less compared to the Verna.


Power Window buttons with auto fold mirror button. Sadly these are not backlit.


This is the home page. This will pop up every time the car starts. Maps on the left and media sources on the right.



Settings menu.


Android auto and Apple car play.


I don't think it does anything. Pathetic system for a car costing 17 lakhs. Tiago's system is much better at least at that price. No point in giving this sound software if there is no proper hardware.


Call Log and the screen which pop up as soon as you press the call button on the steering wheel provided the phone is connected via Bluetooth.


Display settings.




Maps settings.



Navigation settings.


This screen pops up after pressing the map button.


After pressing the media button.


This screen is what you get after pressing the radio button.


Screen saver.


The LED lights are the best feature of this car. I love it.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage tomorrow

[UMXR]

Lovely car! I personally love the sixth and fifth gen of the elantra,also i despise the 2019 facelift which makes a really elegant car look like a geometry experiment!
2 weeks ago we picked up a pre-owned hyundai verna, a 2013 sx(o) petrol manual in phantom black shade! hope our ownership experience goes smoothly.
p.s-Do you have any idea which spark plugs the verna requires? for e.g copper, iridium, platinum, etcetera pls let me know

[07CR]

Originally Posted by shikh_oberoi

The LED lights are the best feature of this car. I love it.
Attachment 2359606

Elantra is a fine car and the only Hyundai I adore. You have also maintained it very well.

I hate the fact that Hyundai gave a step motherly treatment to the Manual Elantra as opposed to the fully loaded automatics. Sad to see Hyundai completely ignoring it at the moment.

[sai_ace]

I love the Elantra - and consider it the best design from Hyundai India! Congrats on the journey so far - and wish you many more miles ahead!

[100Kmphormore]

Nice review. This generation of the Elantra is far better than the previous one, which looked fat and bloated on the edges. many more miles of happy ownership to you!

[Turbohead]

Congrats on the car!

What really shocked me was the price! 17 lakhs is a great price honestly! The Octavia (it's closest competitor ) is going for 10 lakhs more today at the minimum.

[GForceEnjoyer]

Great review and wishing you many more happy miles behind the wheel of this car. The Elantra is definitely one of Hyundai's best offerings, and a well-respected name in the D segment. Do keep updating us on your journey in the future. Tasteful mods, by the way. The interior colour and grille look great!

[Piyush Kanthak]

Ahh yes, those good old times when a Premium sedan costed 16 lakhs, at present we don't even get the top model of sedans let alone premium sedans. Good old days.

[rkv_2401]

That's a nice review. I've long been joking with my friends that owning the VW Vento TSi over the years probably adds up to more than an Elantra from that timeframe would have cost (having the previous gen Elantra and knowing how little it costs to own), despite the lower initial cost, and it seems to be true!

The OTR was 14-14.5L in 2016, yearly service ends up costing at least 20k, with another 20-40k if any parts need to be replaced (so 30-35k on average for 6 years - 2 lakhs), extended warranty for 20k a year for the last 2 years and due this year, 7k for a battery replacement, 14k for those damn ABS sensors, and dismal fuel efficiency (6kmpl usually with our driver, 8kmpl in the city and 10 if you're lucky) - seems to add up to the same or slightly more than what you've spent in your time with the Elantra!

[shikh_oberoi]

Thank you guys for your comments. I will surely update the thread regularly.

Originally Posted by UMXR

p.s-Do you have any idea which spark plugs the Verna requires? for e.g copper, iridium, platinum, etcetera pls let me know

Just get the conventional NGK spark plugs. Get the fuel injectors, and throttle body cleaned. Change the fuel filter, and check the coolant quality as well. Please make a new thread for all other discussions.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Congrats on the car!

What really shocked me was the price! 17 lakhs is a great price honestly! The Octavia (it's closest competitor ) is going for 10 lakhs more today at the minimum.

My preference at the time of purchase was Skoda Octavia. It was costing 18 lakhs plus for the base manual variant. The cost was not an issue but the maintenance definitely was. Several people have faced problems in the car and dropped the idea. It was a Heart vs Mind decision and I chose the latter.

Originally Posted by Piyush Kanthak

Ahh yes, those good old times when a Premium sedan costed 16 lakhs, at present we don't even get the top model of sedans let alone premium sedans. Good old days.

That's true and you won't believe it, until February 2020 the car was on offer with a 2 lakh rupees discount and Hyundai had made 80% of the feature standard across the range. The same variant I bought now had a Sunroof, Led headlights, and whatnot. They increased the price by 1-1.5 lakhs ex-showroom, threw in these features, and gave a discount.

Originally Posted by rkv_2401

That's a nice review. - seems to add up to the same or slightly more than what you've spent in your time with the Elantra!

This was my only reason for now going with Skoda Octavia. The maintenance would have killed all the joy of owning the car. I played it safe and bought the Elantra.

[Peet Stop]

Originally Posted by shikh_oberoi

7. Hyundai always charges more for parts with their own packaging. So buy OEM products rather than Hyundai's. Eg, Verna's master cylinder costs 900rs for the OEM part and Hyundai charges 4000-5000 for the same part. Verna's front brake pads costed me 1200 rupees as against 4000 rupees from Hyundai.

Hi, Mr. Shikh Oberoi ,a brilliant thread. I always thought automaker branded parts and oem are one and the same.
As i read your post i wonder how would one know who the oem is and where do you even buy it and whether it is original / the correct part?
Could you point me in the right direction so that i could learn more. Thanks.

[shikh_oberoi]

There's no guarantee that a part is original. You just have to buy from a reputed shop.

Mando makes brake parts for Hyundai. They supply Hyundai with Hyundai packaging and logo on parts, and they also provide parts in the market with their own packaging without the Hyundai logo on parts.

I will explain using Verna's items I have bought over the years.

1. These are the front and rear brake pads for my Verna.
The front one cost me 1200 rupees with Hyundai packaging and the imported rear ones cost me 1900 rupees with Hyundai Packaging.





Now, this is when I got to know the whole parts and packaging scenario. I overpaid even for the imported rear brake pads because they came in Hyundai packaging.
The previous shop was selling me Mando brake pads in the Mando packaging and he quoted me 1500 rupees for both front and rear brake pads. Fearing a lower quality ( since I did not know about this at all) I overpaid for Hyundai packaging.
When the mechanic removed the tire and I saw Mando written on the brake caliper, that's when I got to know the seller was genuine in saying Mando is an original part supplier to Hyundai.

2. Clutch Master Cylinder
This is the original part that went bad. You can see the Hyundai, Kia, and Oem logos.


This is the OEM part that I bought for 900 rupees as against the part costing 4500 rupees which comes in Hyundai packaging with all the logos. (Hyundai packaged part is also imported)


This is an Imported item but with OEM packaging.

I hope now it's clear.