Update on best car for seniors

Thanks to all of you that gave me good feedback on this topic. We finally bought a Hyundai Elantra limited. It has all the safety goodies available today. And, because everybody seems to be buying SUV’s we bought it for for almost 30% off sticker. The wife just didn’t want an SUV or big car, so this was the best compromise. Plus it has a 10 year warranty. Perfect for people just want to drive and not worry about repair bills. Another nice feature is the 1 inch tall number displaying your speed–don’t need the bifocal for that. The lane assist and smart cruise let’s the car almost drive itself on the interstates. And, the major reason we bought it was she loved it the minute she sat in it. And yes I drove almost every car and compact SUV before looking at this one.

Seniors? What’s with casting a negative light on seniors? :wink:

Define “seniors.” 70 is the new 40. I guess I qualify as a senior, but I don’t feel like it or act like it.

I don’t wear bifocals. I need vision correction for distance, but not for instrument panels, reading, or computers.

I stay fit and in condition. I just buy whatever kind of car I desire. I can hop in and out of anything, as I’ve always done.

Thanks for the tip on the Hyundai. Are they still in business? I’d only have to drive for 2-1/12 hours to get to a dealer. I don’t buy cars that have weak dealer support and no dealers near me, sorry. :unamused:
CSA

Glad to hear you are happy, Since 55 I have been using a senoir discount, that is spanish for Mr., righht?
So some times I am a senoir, most of the time I am 35 in my mind, was 29 and holding for a number of years, but life goes on if you are lucky. @common_sense_answer nothing personal i am sure, sometimes I like being an old fart so I can be called eccentric, rather than stubborn headed mule.

I’m happy you like your new Hyundai Elantra OP. Yes, a 4-door sedan with its better ride and handling is a better choice when SUV features aren’t required. I’ve never driven one myself, but I’ve ridden as a passenger, and it was nicely appointed and had a good ride feel.

10 year warranty? That’s pretty amazing. My Corolla came with a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty, even included things like light bulbs. Toyota paid for all repairs, parts and labor, except for routine maintenance (oil & filter changes and the like) for 3 years. I can’t see how Hyundai could do a 10 year bumper to bumper warranty like that, it must have some limits. Just curious, what limits does it have?

Numbers used for the speed rather than a sweeping needle? Reminds me of a story, years ago when micro-computers first appeared a coworker and I were blue-skying how they might be used in a car design. We came up right away with the idea of using a digital display for the speed. We were feeling all smart and sassy about this great idea, how accurate it would be, etc etc , until the co-worker told it to his wife. She immediately replied “That’s no good, it’s easier to glance at a needle to judge your speed and how it is changing from glance to glance than to read digits”. We got to thinking about what she said, decided she was right, so we gave up on the digital car design ideas and went back to work on what we were supposed to be doing … lol …

Edit: I did a walk-about on Auto Row a few weeks ago, visiting all the dealerships parts department to see how accommodating they were and how they treated me overall. The Hyundai dealership was one of the better ones. The best was the Nissan, followed by Toyota. Worst, Mercedes.

Probably not too car related, but when digital watches came out, I was adverse to saying it is seven fourty three when somebody asked me the time, I would say it is about a quarter to eight.

I tried a digital watch at the time but didn’t like it for the same reason, too hard to quickly glance at it to see what time it was. I switched back to the swept hand type. I don’t think digital displays are a common feature on watches now, don’t they all pretty much use swept hands? The really expensive ones don’t even use batteries, you wind them up.

Not to spoil the excitement, I believe this is for the drive train only, not bumper to bumper…

I will just add one thing and that is about your comment where you state “not worry about repair bills”.

A 10 year warranty does not cover everything and especially so in regards to maintenance. So when it comes to belts, fluids, brakes, etc you will have to face repair bills.

10 year for the engine and transmission is still pretty good. It depends on exactly what it all covers, what the exceptions are I guess. I presume it doesn’t cover normally wearing parts like CV joints & wheel bearings. I wonder if it covers the thermostat, sensors and actuators? And is it just parts, or parts and labor?

That’s the best reason of all.
Congratulations. And sincere thanks for posting.
Happy motoring!

Yes.

I just wish that was true for all of us. As someone pointed out before you have made your point.

Hyundai’s warranty is 10 year, 100,000 miles on the powertrain, 7 years on rust through and California emissions systems and 5 years , 60,000
bumper to bumper. Kia has the same warranty.

My son had a 2006 Sonata followed by a 20015, never had to use the warranty. When I bought my 2012 Camry, I would have purchased a Sonata instead but the sales dept. at my local dealership were jerks.

This senior had quite an experience with a Hyundai Sonata. My institution had signed out all the cars in its fleet and had rented a Hyundai Sonata to drive to a conference about 150 miles away. I had never driven a Hyundai before. I had a late start getting away. The first problem I had was the seat was too low and the seat back was reclined too far. I pulled up on a lever to raise the seat back, but nothing happened. I fought the uncomfortable driving position for 50 miles to pick up my research partner who is employed at another university. I was enroute to her location and couldn’t believe I was passing almost everything on the interstate. I thought I was going a little over 60 as 60 is at the top of the dial on my car. I finally discovered that.80 was at the top of the speedometer dial on the Hyundai. When I stopped to pick up my research partner, she offered to drive. The Hyundai was so uncomfortable for me that I took her up on her offer. She also found the driving position uncomfortable, so we traded off driving duties about every half hour. After the conference, we went to a great German restaurant in the city where the conference was held and each of us bought a jug of the restaurant’s craft beer. To be polite, I said I would drive 75 miles to the rest stop at the state line. When we reached the rest stop and my research partner was in the women’s restroom, I took another look at the driver’s seat. I didn’t think any manufacturer would make a vehicle with such a terrible driving position. I discovered that there was a second lever to raise the seat back. The lever I had been pulling up was to be pushed down and.pulled back up to raise the seat. My research partner then found the Hyundai quite comfortable to drive. We had gone about 30 miles when we kept getting a whiff of alcohol. I reasoned that the heater core might be leaking, although the smell wasn’t quite like antifreeze. I thought maybe Hyundai maybe used a different type of coolant. The temperature guage stayed in the normal range, so we drove on. When we reached my colleague’s house, I checked the coolant in the overflow tank and it was at the acceptable level. However, we did find the.problem–my.beer jug was leaking around the cap and onto the floor mat. Hyundai makes a fine car for seniors, but for geezers.like me who don’t know the controls and don’t read the numbers on the speedometer. they may not be the greatest car.

That pretty sums up why I say asking total unknown strangers for vehicle advice is silly. I looked at the OP’s original thread and the Sonata was not mentioned as far as I could tell.

I will defend to the death our right to be silly!

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Vision has nothing to do with how fit you are

I’m a lot younger than you and my eyesight has always been poor, and always will be . . . and nothing will change that.

Hitting the gym, running marathons, etc. will not change that

Not everybody was blessed with your good eyesight

There are people that have limitations, no matter how hard they try, or what they do

Not everybody can be as agile as you and drive whatever they feel like

I almost get the feeling you’re implying if somebody has limitations, that’s their fault . . . I sure hope that’s not what you meant

That is not always the case

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That was me, and yes, he made his point a LONG time ago

We get it