Choose 2012 Prius Five or 2012 Elantra Limited?

I wonder if a guy could get paint to stay put on that black bumper? Looking at the non-hybrid verses the hybrid bumper, it appears to be the same bumper. If they only made that Elantra as a hybrid :blah: Leather is a must for my car. I have a Garmin already that gets me to the destination with no drama. So many decisions :twitch:

Mike

 

That's good info to know :thumb: I don't see a problem finding a shop local that can do the task. That would make that car look oh so sexy
The Sonata Hybrid loaded up is a click under $32k. Inline with a Prius Five with Nav. About $8k over a loaded up Elantra Limited. Tomorrow I hope like heck the rental place has an Elantra to rent. I told them I would be willing to sit around an hour or so for one to arrive if need be. I must rent one to see how I like it or not. Next rental could be a Sonata Hybrid. Not a chance in hell to rent a Prius Five I need to do my homework well before making the decision to buy which one next spring. So much to do...

Thank you,
Mike

 

I go down there at 4pm Central. I'll be sure to post here if I get it. Today should be a very slow day at a rental place so I am way more confidant that they will have several to choose from. The last trip we were down there on a Sunday evening and the airport was a zoo with business travelers. A very bad day to try to get something specific although Hertz had a cool silver Gen III for us

Mike

 

Got the Elantra. 2011 silver GLS. Wife drives it 20 miles from the airport to her parents. I am following in my Vue. About 4 miles down the road she calls on the phone and says I want to trade in my black car for one of these That didn't take long

Anyhow, arrive at her parents, eat dinner, watch her family look at the car and so forth. Now it's my turn at the wheel. Fire up the motor, sitting there finding this and that and get the MPG meter reset to zero. It was at 35 something MPG. My short trip is a ~5 mile city drive then ~20 miles country roads with hills and corners. A few stop lights along the way. The car is in ECO mode. After I get to the end of the 5 mile city stop & go mess, the MPG meter says 32 something. Hmmm, not bad for city stop & go. Out on the country roads running 55-60 MPH and I clocked in a 38 something MPG average at the end. It was still climbing but I had to go home

Handling was good. A bit of a heavy center feeling to the steering but fine with me. The throttle is very very sensitive even in ECO mode. Acceleration is more than plenty. This car would give a Prius a good run for it's money :bolt: It handled the twisty's just fine at normal speeds. I didn't dive into any corners; after all, it's an econo car The A/C will freeze you out of there in a hurry.

Now to check the tires, clean it up and hit the road for a few thousand miles. I'll have some real MPG figures on Tuesday night when I arrive in Louisville Kentucky. That'll be a bit over a tank of gas so I can get actual calculated figures rather than the car's computer reading.

Also the audio system has XM and sounds damn nice for a bone stock base audio system. I haven't done Bluetooth or fed it a MP-3 yet. Bluetooth & Aux audio input and USB ports are standard

Anyone need any pics? Just ask & I'll post 'em

Mike

 

Yea, there are two trim levels, GLS is the least options and Limited is loaded like a Prius Five. I don't know if a Limited could be rented so I got a GLS. I have sat in a Limited and was very happy with what I seen. The GLS is fabric and no Nav but it sure drives nice and got me some decent MPG figures for my very first time. This trip will tell me if it will be a 40+ MPG highway car or not. Since I am very very biased toward a Prius, the Elantra has to be super saweet to win me over. Even if I do buy an Elantra Limited, I will always have a passion for the Prius. I think you know what I mean. Something about a Prius that keeps people attracted to it. Don't know why, but you likely know what I mean But, I must at least sit in a Prius Five before making any decisions. I surely would like some seat time in one, but I doubt that will ever happen. I was at O'Brien Toyota in Champaign Illinois a couple weeks ago looking for a Five to check out. They had a used Gen II and that was it That was a freakin huge Toyota dealer and to have no new Prii, wow... I'll keep my eye's out in my travels. I run all over the Great Lakes States every other week.

Mike

 

Completely different missions. I think in my original post I mentioned a Five without AT as the comparison vehicle. I have no need for the radar cruise or park assist. Check out my driving style in post #1 The LED lighting would be neat on the Elantra. It could be converted all except the headlamps which I would not mess with. It's odd looking under the hood with an alternator and a belt to stare at I wonder when all manufacturers will eliminate that and go with a direct driven generator? I believe it will be 2015 when all Hyundai's will shut off the ICE at a stop. That's another thing that would up the overall mileage of a non-hybrid. Sitting at a typical stoplight, this Elantra loses about .4 MPG on it's meter. It quickly gains it back, but still, if it didn't drop at all, that'd be cool We'll see how it goes on this trip. From my short snippit drive last night, I know it will go over 40 MPG cruisin America :usa2: Gotta remember, I am very very biased toward a Prius :hail:

Mike

 

Ah shucks, your forgiven today :tea: But next time look out :nono:

Mike

 

In my eye's it is a very pretty car inside & out. I like it more than the Sonata. Just to satisfy my curiosity and what others here are telling me, we will rent a Sonata on the next trip and see what I think. Funny thing now is our trip before the last one, we go into Hertz at the airport and checked the list to see where our rental was parked. Turns out there was a white Sonata sitting there I asked my wife if that is what she wanted to drive and she says, lets get a RAV We have driven RAV's all over the country in the winter and liked them for what they are. I actually averaged 30 something MPG on that RAV on my last tank coming thru Iowa on US-52/US-61. Pretty damn good in my books. She flew into Michigan on a quick trip a while back and called me and said she was driving a Sonata and thought it was a nice car. The Elantra is a mini Sonata with more sexy looks :loco:

So back to the Sonata, I knew about it's huge trunk and sure enough, I peaked inside and holy crap, it'd easily fit 3 bodies in there No serious, it is freakin huge in there. The Elantra trunk is the same way. There is also a huge under the floor area like the Wireless Prii has :thumb:

So yea, we'll rent one of those Sonata's just to say we did and report back my findings. The wife knows about this forum and others but she is a newbie when it comes to forums and other online stuff. How a banker can be a newbie on the Internet puzzles me :noidea:

I should start one of those Blog things :ranger:

Mike