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Sedans Hyundai Elantra 2007 Elantra vs VW Rabbit
140 messages, Last post on Apr 27, 2007 at 4:43 AM
You are in the Hyundai Elantra Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: percussionist (Nov 19, 2006 11:28 am) To be honest I would agree with you that they should be options for those who want them. Realistically I see very little use for them especially in a small car. Finally, if you want your car to be safer, DRIVE MORE CAREFULLY! Traction and stability control will not compensate for bad driving habits. Those with god winter driving habit will rarely engage those options. IMHO a good set of tires and good driving skills/habits goes a lot further than traction and stability control. And of course I am talking from decades of northern winter driving experience. I just love driving during and right after a storm on my FWD car and seeing all the 4WD/AWD cars in the ditch. My guess in the future I will be driving my FWD car sans traction and stability control past all the cars with traction and stability control that are in the ditch. 
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Replying to: eldaino (Nov 20, 2006 8:05 am) Now don't get me wrong, I am not upset about VW having additional safety equipment. I just question if that traction control and stability control is actually worth the extras $3-4K in price. it is a little unfounded: the rabbit costs more because i think the build quaility on it is better than the elantra; Everyone I know that has a VW has had issues with them. Everyone I know with a Hyundai has had few, if any. There is a reason the elantra is so much cheaper and alot of it is interior materials. And your source for this? its always a mistake to argue with a hyundai faithful. sometimes there is just nothing you can do to even present the idea that another car may be better than theirs... Oh and people like germancarfan are unbiased?
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 20, 2006 8:28 am) People like germancarfan have their preferences and i don't blame him. You have yours. You can say you are unbiased all you want, but everyone is in some way. You are towards hyundai. Nothing wrong with that but don't call people out on it. |
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 20, 2006 8:28 am) And again; car size doesnt matter. You need to be safe no matter what. I don't even understand the point of questioning any kind of safety feature on a small or large car. SKILLS. You may have them. But not everyone has had 'decades of winter driving experience'. SO that would make them welcome additions. (i guess your ideal ad for the elantra would be : the hyndai elantra: no traction control but if you have decades of experience you wont need it.  ) Besides even the best drivers can have total control of everything around them. NO amount of experience can deny or counteract that, in my HUMBLE opinion. If you enjoy seeing people in ditches after a storm, then you have a lot more than paying extra for traction control to worry about.
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Replying to: eldaino (Nov 20, 2006 8:38 am) Here's a couple of places Hyundai saves money on the Elantra, vs. the Rabbit: * Labor: first, Korean labor is a lot less expensive than German labor. Second, Hyundai is an industry leader in plant automation, so they need little of that less expensive labor to build a car. VW may use a lot of automation also, I don't know. * Steel: the Rabbit weighs about 400 pounds more than the Elantra. That extra material costs something. * Features: things like seat warmers, traction control, and 6-speed automatic transmissions cost money. By not including features like these (at least not standard), Hyundai saves money. Note that none of these savings has to do with the quality of the car or the materials in the car. When a third party review such as that in C/D call the Elantra's interior materials "top quality" and an individual on Town Hall who happens to own the model we are comparing to the Elantra calls them "cheesy", guess which opinion I tend to think is closer to the truth?
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Replying to: eldaino (Nov 20, 2006 8:38 am) No but that would be the price difference between the two cars and given the fact that those two are the only main difference my statement stands that traction and stability control is not worth the additional $3-4 that the Rabbit costs. Having issues with a car doesn't mean that the quality of the materials used is bad. No but it gives question to the quality of those materials and the workmanship putting them together. I also know vw owners with no problems at all..and then some peeps who have lots of issues with their hyundai. The Hyundai dealer I do business with also sells VW's. Guess which they have more of in the service bays? Hint, it aint Hyundai. I don't have a source for what i said; So its just your unsubstantiated opinion and not a fact. OK we know wher you stand. its apparent. Hyundai has got to cut corners somewhere; I guess that since VW costs less than a Benz VW must be cutting corners somewhere. The point is that there may be many other reasons why Hyundai is less expensive. VW could be overpriced Exchange rates could play a part Hyundai may be willing to take lesser profits to earn market share. Hyundai may not have the overwhelming socialist burden that VW has. Hyundai may have more efficent manufacturing Any combination of the above or many other things could contribute to it. i doubt they are suing sub par components for their engines and drivetrains, Mine is near 140K and its still going strong. and since the interiors still have that cheesy feel, i assume this is where it is. I have since sat in both the new Elantra and a new Passat within minutes of each other. If the Elantra has cheesy interiors so do VW's. You are towards hyundai. I own one, I like it, will I buy another one? Who knows. If I do it won't be the Elantra. To be honest my current daily drive is a station wagon and I would like to replace it with another one. Since Hyundai no longer makes station wagons I most likely will not be getting another Hyundai unless I go all out and get the Azera.
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Replying to: backy (Nov 20, 2006 8:54 am) but thats why we are here; to give our opinions. I don't know if i buy your steel story. The rabbit is heavy, yes, but so are most german cars. My old civic was lighter, but was more expensive than my rabbit easily. So that puts that to rest... and if i recall, the hyundai does have heated seats and leather...you cant even get leather on a rabbit but you can get an elantra equipped with one for a lot less...hmmm i guess traction control and a six speed auto are just that much more expensive?
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 20, 2006 9:03 am) Your dealer issue? I think its funny that the mention how many more problems they have with vw's. They don't sound like much of a dealer, regardless if thats true, but like i said earlier, arguing that point makes no difference to me, but i understand that paying attention to what i post seems to come as unfamiliar to you so no biggie. No but it gives question to the quality of those materials Hmmm...this doesn't make sense. I said that the QUALITY of the materials is good regardless if the car is unreliable...just because it MAY make you question their actual quality is a weird thing to say to answer to the original statement: most people agree that faulty sensors and check engine lights and stuff like that were the problem of previous generation vw's, but not the quality of the materials used on the interior and such, which is what i am referring to. Why anyone would cross shop the elantra and a much much more expensive passat is a little bizzare too. (insert defending the right to sit and test drive whatever you want. )
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Replying to: eldaino (Nov 20, 2006 8:46 am) tell me how is it arrogant? I agree that they do not negate the need for bad driving habits, The need for bad driving habits? but if its possible to get into a ditch without them... its also possible to do it with them. Huh? Sorry but so far you're not making much sense, put down the bottle before posting next time. Geez why do you need this explained? Let me explain this to you. I consider myself a pretty decent driver for winter driving. In 3 Alaskan winters and 20 something upper Midwest winters I have never gone into a ditch or even slidded off the road. Even when I ventured out in some very bad weather and at times in RWD cars. I owe this to the fact that I usually have a good set of tires and drive per the conditions. That being said how many times would have traction or stability control would have helped me? The answer is few. How many times would it have prevented an accident? the answer is none. Now seeing that it would have minimal, if any, effect on me why would I spend thousands more for it? Thats what you don't get, I don't want to spend thousands more for something I can easily do without. SKILLS. You may have them. Yes and because of that why would I spend thousand more for a car with stuff I really don't need? How hard is that to grasp? But not everyone has had decades of winter driving experience. SO that would make them welcome additions Fine and dandy, let them pay more for the car that has them, no problem. Just don't go around saying that car 'A' is automatically better and safer because it has them. Besides even the best drivers can have total control of everything around them. NO amount of experience can deny or counteract that, Again that doesn't follow your argument. If you enjoy seeing people in ditches after a storm, then you have a lot more than paying extra for traction control to worry about. I don't enjoy the fact that people are in the ditch. I find it "interesting" that people put so much trust into these things that they don't realize that it doesn't compensate for poor driving.
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Replying to: eldaino (Nov 20, 2006 9:15 am) What does cheesy actually mean in relation to the quality of materials or operation of controls or driving experience or the visual appearance of the Elantra? Perhaps you can provide greater detail. Is the Elantra more like a Gouda or an Imsil cheese? 
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