The used 2001 Hyundai Elantra(essay #2)

The used 2001 Hyundai Elantra

When I was looking to get a bigger car about a year ago, I decided a used car was the way to go. I needed a 4 door mid sized family sedan, with low mileage, something that was stylist, and it had to be at the very most $6,000. I compared the used 1999 or 2001 Honda Civic, the used 2001 Ford Focus, and the used 1999 or 2001 Volkswagen Jetta and this is what I found out. I put my criteria in the order that I feel to be most important to the least important.
Crash Test Scores were important to me. When comparing the Elantra to the 2001 Civic they both got “4 stars in the rear test, the Elantra got 5 stars (the highest possible) for the front and the Civic got 4” (Honda 1). So overall both vehicles are good vehicles with the test proving safety, but there are other reasons why I choose the Elantra.
I also wanted something that had average or above average gas mileage. The manufacturers estimated each of the cars to have the following miles per gallon (MPG). “The 1999 Civic gets 29 city and 35 highway mpg” (Thursby 4) “The 2001 Civic gets 32/37 mpg” (Plunkett 4). “The 1999 Jetta gets 19/28mpg” (Moorhead 4). “The 2001 Jetta gets 19/28 mpg” (Moorhead 4). “The Ford Focus gets 25/33 mpg” (Matras 4). “The Elantra gets 24/33 mpg” (Moorhead 4). Upon calling the current owners of a certain car, I determined that the manufactures were wrong. All the Civics owners I talked to got about 30/35 mpg. The Jetta owners got 17/26 mpg, and the Focus owners got about 27/33 mpg. Well the most shocking thing I found was, that most Elantra owners got more than the estimated mpg. They were getting about 26/35 mpg, and now that I am an owner of an Elantra, I can tell you that is true, I get about 27-29 mpg in the city. My boyfriend owns a Ford Focus and I can tell you that he gets about 25-27 in the city, which is around what the manufactures said Focus’ would probably get.
Another real important deciding factor in buying a used car was to see how many miles were on the car. I looked at one Ford Focus and it had close to 110K, now that would be fine if the car was 6 or more years old, but when I was looking at cars, it was in the beginning of 2006 meaning that they should have just over the average for 5 years. The average number of miles driven a year ranges from 15K to 20K. That would means when I was looking for a 2001 car at the beginning of 2006; I wanted something with 75K to 100K. Well when I found the Elantra, it only had 61K, which is great! I knew I couldn’t pass up on a car with such “low” miles. Buying a used car really doesn’t give you much choice in how many miles a car will have on it, but if you have a choice, choose a car with as low of miles as possible, it will save you from more problems (mechanically) down the road.
When I was looking for a used car, I wanted something that was practical, something that I wouldn’t have to do a lot of up keep on. I needed something that didn’t have a lot of damage to the outside or inside of it. Going with a used car, I knew I didn’t really have much say in this but, I was able to look at different cars before I choose to buy the Hyundai.
Another important feature for me was the interior design and features. “The Elantra has 39.60 in. of headroom; it has 38.00 in. of read headroom” (Compare 1-2). It also has “53.00 in. of front hip room, and 55.60 in. of rear hip room” (Compare 1-2). “It overall interior is more spacious then both the 1999 and 2001 Civic and both of the 1999 and 2001 Jetta” (Compare 1-2). The Elantra seats 5 average sized adults comfortably. I knew at certain times, I would need to fit as many people in my car as I could, and I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible.

So with the criteria that I had, my decision was made easier with the help of the Hyundai Elantra. It was exactly what I wanted, and I have and will continue to recommend it to anyone.