Have been reading the comments above, unless they compare with higher end cars, I assume, Avante is above par.

As with resale value, I think it doesn’t really matter, cos ALL cars devalue in time. It’s always a Freakonomics. It’s always perceived value at the point to sale. Even branded luxury marques devalue much more, ie BMW Merc.

With Hyundai, I get value for $, & I’m willing to pay for value ie comfort, ride, space, safety, etc just as people are willing to pay premium for BMW, Merc.

As a X20 owner, I am in the same bracket of value appreciator as those owners of BMW, Merc albeit on the lower price bracket.

So, what is your value? or is it cost you are more concern about?

Hyundai will be in same par as toyota n Honda in few years.

especially now with the Hyundai i30 2.0 selling at 112K, it shows the X20 is really a value buy for such a good quality car… some people said RM 90 over thousand has Peugeot 308 vti to choose as well, but my colluege who has owned the 308 vti for some months, he complained that it is under power especially when his car is loaded and fuel consumption not that good too, maybe the car weight is 1400kg…

X20 with only weight like 1230kg and 186NM torque has better pick up and acceleration than P308vti … however for P308 turbo, its torque is higher than X20… anyway, not that fair to compare X20 (2000cc) and P308vti (1600cc) engine, but maybe price is near, so make buyers to compare…

I plan to buy this car next time after my wira. Now I am saving my money, hehe.

I personally also look down on Korean Car. My dad owned Hyundai Sonata about year 2002 ago. In fact this car did not had a big problem but minor problem can make us become mad, such as the car engine stop by itself during traffic jam. Reversed sensor sometime not working cause us really knob on people car one time. We have checked with Kah Bintang service center and they claim this car has “temperature “sensitive. This mean this car cannot stand for high temperature otherwise problem maybe come in. And they can’t even solve this problem. About last year, we sold out the Sonata and change to Honda Accord.

Well, before I sit in my dad new car. Same year, I went to USA for the company product training purpose. Usually we need to rent a car in USA as the public transport not convenience at all. First car was a Malibu which is the GM car, the car so nice, powerful and easily pick up. If you want me to compare with my dad's Sonata, I can say Malibu much better than that however, as you know American car usually very poor in fuel consumption.

Talking about Hyundai Elantra X20, I did drive this car about 2 months later after I changed Malibu to this car. At first, I even request the Alvis car rent center to change another GM car for me instead of Hyundai because I told them about my concern on Hyundai car. They said I maybe dreaming too much and they pursue me could try this car before I request to change the car.

Since this car is using CVVT a new model of engine for 2.0L car, I think it could be generate the same power rate with Malibu. Generally this car performance is not bad, driving more stable and safety, and powerful. More important thing is the fuel consumption is better than Malibu. I drove Malibu from Texas Austin to Houston for one day trip, after one day trip the fuel tank remain only 1 quarter left. This car still remain quite nearly half of the tank after I did the same trip from Austin to Houston and second day I still can use remaining half tank for the city trip. Unlike Malibu I need to fill up petrol if I want to go to city center next day. One thing I agree is the noise level is high when you driving in highway, and especially when you accelerate the car the sound just like racing car boots up the engine. Other than that I still accept the noise level of this car because it so quite during normal drive. Although this car runs can be more powerful, but I am not using for racing purpose anyway. I do test on cornering turn running about 50km/h, this car turning stable and won’t feel lost control. But of course if you turn corner in high speed, even BMW can lost control easily, so how about my proton Wira? Sorry to say, I did test my Wira car in cornering turn with same speed but the car like lost control. Hence I stopped testing like this because who know my Proton Wira maybe turn turtle.

About the problem on Hyundai car I mentioned before that your car engine maybe stopped by itself especially during traffic jam. USA also has traffic Jam like KL indeed, the car even can’t move within 1 hour. I seen Hyundai Elantra X20 does not stop the engine by itself during traffic jam, don’t forget it was about summer time and temperature was so high. I have my friend who drives Elantra X20 also, never hear his complain on engine die during traffic jam. At least one time, we faced a big traffic jam when I was with him in KL and finally, my friend also never does restart the engine. I say really amazing, not like my dad’s previous car.

Overall, this car has been changed my mind on the Hyundai ‘s image. Secondly, I don’t think it is difficult to get the part from the market since Kah Bintang service center is around, you can even get cheaper but good quality part from Kah Bintang. If you get expensive part this mean you must be cheated by your service center or you get some where else who also an agent for Hyundai car. This is based on my dad experience when we have Sonata car. Well, buying a car is not for investment purpose, not need to worry about the 2nd hand price. Even you sell out your Japanese car, you can just pay for downpayment only for your new car but still you need to pay more money for your new car.

I am not sure how reliability on the CVVT engine, whether it can stand for 10 years later. I can only share with may dad’s sonata car engine which is not the CVVT model, except the minor problem I mentioned earlier, in between 6 years this car never give us a big problem. Until we sold out this car, this car performance remains good like last time. I don’t think new CVVT engine could cause a lot of problem. My friend has about 2 or 3 years warranty, which actually save him a lot of on maintenance fee. Even the warranty is over, he also spent less on the maintenance fee. Compare to my dad’s sonata, we spent about RM200-RM500 for normal service.

Since after I drove this car in USA, I am looking for this car as I plan to sold out my proton wira car. The price of this car is about 93K in Malaysia price but compare to 2.0L it is quite cheap and I am working in MNC electronic company, salaries not so high, should able to afford for down payment and monthly payment. Well, people may suggest me to buy carmy, but should understand my finance abilities before ask me to buy carmy. For me, I can drive this car around 5 or 6 years, and if I have more money, I will looking for Carmy next time.

I think Hyundai Elantra X20 really recommended to buy, first thing first, fuel consumption is the main reason, second thing you save a lot of in your maintenance fee. Compare to my proton wira, I bought about 2004, firstly it could be better than Hyundai Accent car. After a while problem come in too, I can say good thing that wira is better than Sonata because it won’t stop the engine by itself. But when you reverse your car, the engine suddenly die easily. And one time my wira suddenly engine die and cannot restart again, hence I am the one cause traffic jam. At this moment, I should change my statement” Wira not longer better than Sonata”. At least my dad ‘s Sonata still can restart the car and can run even further away. And see how much I spent on my wira? Nearly RM1K sometime because need to change absorbed, suspension, timing belt and so on after one year. I never drive to very bad road condition and I do service every 3 months. And every 3 months service, also cost about RM500-RM600. Compare to Korean car, which one better?

Well I heard people say Hyundai car can be very good if you are lucky, if you unlucky it can put you in the fire. Then you have to spent more for maintenance. I am not sure whether is true, I have friend working on Hyundai car workshop, not one complain on engine problem, and all do normal service. That’s why he resigns and goes to other workshop to work for repairing an accident car.

Once again, my suggestion is don’t listen a lot of rumors on people comment on Korean car or other type. In fact, a different person has different view on the car and it can be very subjective. If you never drive Korean car, you can go ahead to test it. If you wish to buy cheaper, but resulting in good quality, more stable, reliability and good fuel consumption. Hyundai Elantra X20 will be your best choice.

I hope one day people will have more confident to buy Hyundai cars. Then we could have another better choice apart of Japanese cars.

Still not sure which to get.

After consideration I put Sylphy and Altis away. Why?

Sylphy for me is not for men, exterior look bad, suspension feel like to hard or not comfort compare to others. One thing I like is interior.

Altis is like a new casing for me, looks boring. But I like the accelerate.

X20 for me all ok. What make me hesitate is people always judging by it pass and wonder the second hand value in case I want to chance car after 5 years(maybe).

hmm….[/quote]

I initially was influenced by the comments by Paultan on X20 which was not that positive on some aspects, so I decided to drop X20 in my selections, however I have finally chosen X20 after some test drives and hearing good feedback from the X20 owners and also did serious comparisons with Civic, Altis, Sylphy and Lancer and went to each car forum to compare the weaknesses and complaints. And now I happy with my choice and never regretted owning the X20.

I tested Civic 1.8 and 2.0 as well, the Civic 1.8 does not have Electric Power Steering (EPS), nowadays EPS is quite common to have for new cars, even Honda City and Vios have it. For Civic 2.0, it has high power train than Elantra X20. But X20 has comforter suspension and quieter cabin than Civic. I think the sound proof of Civic is quite poor, the wind noise of Civic is strong at high speed. But Civic has better handling than Elantra. Buying Elantra X20 at about RM 90K and investing few thousand extra on performance parts will turn the X20 very good driving machine, it would still cost a lot less than Civic 2.0 at over RM120K.

Nissan Sylphy has the Renault like suspension which is on stiffer side, not as comfortable as X20 and Altis. Sylphy though has longer leg space, the body width (1695mm) is just as big as Toyota Vios and Nissan Latio, 3 adults

sitting at the back will have not enough room for shoulders. The rear veiw of Sylphy is like Latio, tall and narrow. The maximum speed (at the speedometer) is only 180KM/H, driving on highway at 160 will float.

I always drive my Elantra X20 on highway at 160 and very stable.

I have friend who owns Sylphy, the feedback is it is not good performer on highway. Anyway, Nissan Sylphy has quieter engine and cabin and good sound proof.

It depends on what you want For me, i have chosen Elantra X20 over Civic and Sylphy, as I just need to pay about RM90K to get a 2.0 car, it is just good at all aspects need by me from town to highway driving comfortabily. Fuel consumption for my X20 is as very comparable to Altis 1.8.

For second hand value, it is still unknown for the X20, it cannot be compared with the old Elantra 1.8, I think it has better resale value than the old model. You hardly can find second hand X20 now as I believe the buyers really seriously properly before buying X20. But you can find quite many second hand Civic 07/08 in the second car market

Still not sure which to get.

After consideration I put Sylphy and Altis away. Why?

Sylphy for me is not for men, exterior look bad, suspension feel like to hard or not comfort compare to others. One thing I like is interior.

Altis is like a new casing for me, looks boring. But I like the accelerate.

X20 for me all ok. What make me hesitate is people always judging by it pass and wonder the second hand value in case I want to chance car after 5 years(maybe).

hmm….

With less than 1K investment to install Ultra Racing Front Strut Bar and good Voltage Stabllisiers, my X20 turns out to be very good driving for my satisfaction. The new CVVT engine also gives good fuel consumption for a 2.0 car.

Before owning Elantra 2.0, I compared it with Civic 1.8, power wise Elantra 2.0 is better than Civic 1.8. The supension of Elantra is comforter than Civic 1.8, so Civic 1.8 is better cornering than Elantra due to harder suspension. Civic 1.8 does not have Electrical Power Steering (EPS) and steering is quite heavy at low speed for turning and parking, Elantra X20 is definitely easier to drive at low speed than Civic 1.8. Sound proof wise Civic has stronger wind noise and road noise than Elantra. However Civic 2.0 is different story which has better power than Elantra and also has EPS, but NVH is just like Civic 1.8. Interior space is about the same for both cars though Civic looks a little broader from outside. Civic has nicer and more futuristic dashboard. I had finally chosen Elantra 2.0 over Civic 1.8 as I love comfort car and also due to budget. Also 2.0 also sounds better hearing than 1.8

Just RM 90 over thousand with discount given by Kah Bintang, for me it is really worth to own a 2.0 car though knowing Hyundai brand is not as famous as Toyota or Honda in Malaysia.

Also went through 3 car services by Kah Bintang, thought the service charges is very reasonable. Kah Bintang also allows me to use Full Synthetic oil which can be replaced after 10,000KM, and within 5,000KM I would go back just to change the oil filter at just RM 14.50 with no labor charges. Also checked out the hardware spared part lists from Kah Bintang, the prices look reasonable and competitive to even local cars. Previously heard people saying expensive spared parts to mantain Korean cars, not sure they r referring to Kia or SsangYong, my uncle owns the old Elantra 1.8 for many years and he is happy with it, but he has now envy me for getting a much nicer look Elantra 2.0 than his Unclish look Elantra 1.8

I previously drove a Japanese car and was negative on Hyundai cars, after owning the Elantra, it has now changed my mind to think Hyundai can now produce good and quality cars like Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Just a sharing.

September 8, 2008 @ 12:57 pm

distance display on reverse is quite cool… but only if u know how to read reverse numbers, or twisting ur neck to the limit. It’s suppose to be mirror friendly for crying out load..

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Quote from article:
So basically, when put it into reverse and look at your rear view mirror, you can clearly see the distance in feet, and as you get closer to the object behind you, the car “talks” to you, alerting you on the distance.

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But the CORRECT way to do reversing is NOT by looking at your rear view mirror, you have to turn your head to look behind to ensure certain things such as no one is approaching from both sides.

I am sure the Korean carmaker thought of that and further equips the reverse sensor to ‘talk’ to you.

I believe the singaporeans have about the same perception of korean cars as we do.

as for the elantra, I dont know much about it, but i’m pretty sure the engine is powerful. I was driving back from ipoh recently, and I came up behind one of these cars, and the acceleration was really decent for a 2 litre as he decided to speed up rather than pull over for me to pass.

Considering its so-so 138 horses, the 2008 Hyundai Elantra is decently quick out of the gates (zero to 60 mph in 8.4 seconds), especially when equipped with a manual gearbox. The engine suffers from a somewhat coarse demeanor above 3,500 rpm, however. More refined is the ride quality, which is smooth yet stable, even at high speeds, and is one of the Elantra’s best attributes. Wind and road noise are also negligible. Although its personality isn’t overtly sporting, the Elantra is actually a capable handler. Body roll is moderate, but this Hyundai manages to hold tight through turns, offering plenty of grip and decent steering response.

The reason is simple: cost. fitting a 6 or 7 speed DSG definitely wont be cheap and will definitely add to the cost of the car.

This car is sux, better Nissan Sylphy, better FC for 1 litre is 16KM for 2.0 Litre engine, better responce, more powerful engine, and bla bla bla…

September 7, 2008 @ 6:33 pm

……Suggest the reviewer should take a closer look at interior quality of the current available japanese CKD cars in this country. Some of them are even worst then our proton cars. ……

What cars? Vios against Perdana?

An honest review, I like it.

but if it drives that bad, then its better to get something else.

save up a few more, get either a civic or a sylphy.

altis is pretty much same as last generation.

civic for those sporty youngsters.

sylphy for those who want a tech savvy, coventional and economical vehicle.

Engine performance gives more to be desired for, but then again this aint a performance car. With 140+ ps tucked under its hood, it will certainly give you a pull and smooth ride without much problem.

Dont jump the gun just yet cause its carries a korean badge. Outside Malaysia, these cars are doing even better then japanese make in some countries. In Malaysia – well mindset – is tough one to beat – with herd mentality.

September 7, 2008 @ 4:45 pm

EPS sucks, can’t agree more.
The better way of doing this is coupling conventional Hydraulic & Electronic Motor.

the diesel i30 will be interesting if they can get it into the msian market. or maybe the diesel i20.