[Elantra GT] New '05 Elantra GT

[Mark Hankins - Florida Incorporators, Inc.]

Well, in the waning days of the year we determined that it would be in our best interests to replace our blue '02 with the 5-spd and the sunroof and 71k on the clock (it's our only car, so reliability is a concern). So we called around to some dealers (one of whom had sent us a letter and offered us "employee pricing"). The dealer who had sent the letter promised us there was a blue '05 hatchback GT with sunroof on the lot, the only difference was automatic transmission. So we went for a l-o-o-n-g drive 3 counties down only to discover a trunk where we expected a hatch. NOT a misunderstanding, this guy just lied to get us on the lot. They called around to try to find us what we wanted, but we walked out and went back up the I to the semi-distant dealer where we have our service done. He had a rally red '05 auto with no sunroof, and we bought it. With a 20 month old in tow we could not prolong the process by waiting for the deceptive dealer to find a car somewhere else. 

We like where they moved the safety seat attachment points (they no longer dominate the hatch area), we like the perforated leather (not sure what I think about it being a few shades lighter), I'm OK with the auto tranny, I'm unsure of the bright red and the spoiler (fear it might attract cops and complicate hanging the bike rack, respectively), and I miss the sunroof but like getting back the headroom it stole. Oh, we also like that the new dash seems slightly shallower, especially on the passenger side, which makes the car seem more spacious ... our 20 month old is having more trouble kicking our seatbacks. The mileage seems light-years better than our '02--not sure if they monkeyed with the engine or whether the 205/55s I was using on the blue one hurt mileage (was getting 31 on the highway, now 37 or so; was getting 26 around town, now it's more like 29). And I gotta get used to braking with an automatic transmission, which seems a far more dramatic process.

Now I've just got to get the windows tinted, get some door-edge moldings (and one for the top of the hatch, to protect from the bike rack hangers), a little angle mirror for the driver's side door mirror, some stainless pedals, a cabin air filter, the FIAMM "El Grande" horns, some new sticky stuff for the Sirius puck that was installed for all of 3 days on 'ol blue, etc.

Oh, and this dealer gives "tires for life" if you get all your skedded service done there, so I guess I'll need to do every other oil change in there.