How many miles can you get out of a Hyundai Elantra

hrossi

My 2007 Hyundai Elantra transmission may be shot at 70,000 miles. The garage man that I went to said that you can expect to get about 5 years from a Hyundai (60,000). What have others found? I'm wondering if my car will steadily decline and want to plan for the eventuality of having to buy another car because costs outweigh benefits. I'm not there yet but I'm very disappointed to be having such problems at 70,000 miles. Unfortunately, I'm not the original owner and I'm out of warranty for something that would otherwise be under warranty for 100,000 miles/10 years.

Docnick

A friend of mine has an older Elantra which is basically perfect and with more miles than yours. Your car was either mistreated or not maintained well by its previous owner. Elantras, if properly cared for, will go 200,000 miles or more before engine or transmission fails.

The "garage man" is shooting from the hip which is typical of those who are either ignorant or too lazy to find out the current facts. His "opinion" was true of earlier Hyundais, such as the Pony form the mid 80s. He's about 20 out of date.

Please take your car to a reputable INDEPENDENT transmission shop (not a Chain like AAMCO) to get a full report. If it is "shot" it will be worth fixing if the rest of the car is OK.

Good Luck1

edb1961

My sister-in-laws both had 2000 Elantras. Neither car was particularly well-maintained and both were city driven. One lasted 8 years and the other for 11 years and it was replaced with a 2011 Elantra.

One note, at 70000 miles it may be getting getting close to a timing belt replacement.

Good luck,

Ed B.

VDCdriver

+1 to the previous comments.
All too often, people buy a used car that did not come with maintenance records, and wind up buying a vehicle that has seen little or no maintenance. Or, some folks might buy a new car and then proceed to ignore vital maintenance. The end result is the same in both cases, namely a drastically-shortened life span and/or high repair costs for the vehicle. And then, to make matters worse, many of these negligent people automatically assume that the problem lies with the automotive manufacturer, rather than with themselves!

Think of it like human longevity. As the availability of vaccines, life-saving medicines, and advanced surgical techniques have improved, so has the average life span. However, if someone smokes, is a couch potato, and fails to seek medical treatment, he may wind up living only as long as folks from earlier in the century.

Ergo--with your car, and with your own body, it is necessary to periodically take steps to ensure long-term well-being. This particular Elantra has not been maintained properly, and the OP is now paying the price (literally) for that lax maintenance.

lion9car

Your car should be good for many more miles and years if it wasn't abused. Of course, this one might have been. Do you happen to have the service history on this car, especially on the transmission?

hrossi

There was no service on the transmission prior to when I bought it (at 25,000 miles). The tires were a bit worn at 25,000 miles and I wonder if the previous owner really beat the car up somehow.

hrossi

I had my car taken to an INDEPENDENT transmission shop that was recommended by a garage that is listed on this site. Good mention about the timing belt. I wondered if it was the thing that went but I didn't lose power. That's next on the list.

The maintenance records show routine maintenance--like oil changes. I had managed to call the previous owner (after finding his # on maintenance records) to ask how he liked the car. He said he liked it but traded up to a Sonata. But none of this means that the guy didn't abuse it.

Several thousand miles ago, my husband was accidentally in an alternate gear (accross from '3' on the highway that seemed to be stressing the engine. I thought the car felt rough and an hour into our trip I noticed that he had the selector in the wrong place. Could that have compromised the transmission early on?

DfromSD

My sisters Elantra has 170k+ miles on it and still going strong! About 90% are in town miles too.

hrossi

My car is at an independent transmission shop. No service history on the transmission--I bought the car at 25K miles.

MikeInNH

Pretty much every car these days can easily reach 150k miles.

250k and above - While all cars can reach that...some require more repairs then others.

I think 70k is way too low for a vehicle to be having problems. Either it was abused or it wasn't maintained properly...or both.

shadowfax

I don't know what "alternate gear across from '3'" means. The car hasn't had a transmission fluid exchange - usually owners who keep current about maintenance do it at around 30k, so you bought it with too few miles on it for the previous owners to have done it, and since you say you don't know the transmission service history, I take it that means you haven't done it either. Driving a car with 70,000 mile old transmission fluid is a good way to make the transmission misbehave. Get the fluid exchanged (not flushed - exchanged. There is an important difference) and see if that makes it better.

Also, you haven't ever told us what exactly it is doing that has it in the shop for the transmission in the first place. . .