Life Goes On.: October 2009

Hyundai Avante/Elantra X20 review by Kenso, a Team Hyundai Malaysia forumer.

To Kenso, great review and write-up!..

Impressions are, at times funny things. Most of the time, it is limited to our past experiences and more often than not, colored by other people's opinions and feedback. Hyundai, in my books is for someone who couldn`t afford a Japanese yet wants to move away from Malaysian brand cars. Hyundai equates to poor build quality and high fuel comsumption, thanks to some comments made by some owners of earlier generation Sonata and other Korean cars like Atos.

The Avante is a company car; for business owners/directors, the 5 year warranty is a very encouraging piece of argument for company cars since company cars that are trashed within the period can be repaired at very lost cost to the company. Furthermore, it's size makes it more ideal to ferry Caucasian clients around. I wasn't thrilled when I heard I was going to get a Hyundai which was a much bigger car (reasons being listed above). When when the car came and I had to return the Vios I was driving for the past 3 years, I wasn't excited at all. Moving from a Japanese brand to a Korean sounds like a downgrade to me.

Without a doubt, the X20 is a car with very sexy curves. I may be biased against Hyundai but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate beauty when I see one. Seeing it parked beside other sedan cars will give you the impression that it's a really big and tall car. Sure enough, headroom is absolutely fantastic, both for front and rear passengers. Moving my butt in, I`m struck by how supple the leather feels and its perforated leather. A friend once told me only with good leather can we have homogenous perforation. I was surprised to note that the leather in the X20 is DK Schweizer leather, 1 of the more reputable brands around. Seat comfort is seriously one of the best in its class.

I`m a tech freak .... I like buttons and controls. The dash of the X20 has a minimalistic quality yet with sufficient buttons to satisfy me. The locations of the buttons are ergonomically designed and placed. There are audio controls (volume, mode, search) on the steering wheel. Too bad there is no cruise control unlike many found in other countries. There are a few compartments to store ur stuffs. A 2-tiered compartment center armrest is useful. I keep my Touch&Go card as well as my car keys on the shallow tier while the 2nd tier is deep enough to put a big Ricola candy can and a spectacle case easily. One compartment is above the headunit, one below the aircon controls and an illuminated glove compartment. Moving all my things from the Vios to the Avante, I've got so many extra spaces. There are a total of 4 cup holders, 2 in the center next to the hand brake and 1 on each side of the front passenger doors. In case you're wondering how many drinks can a normal person bring to the car, young parents will find this most useful as they need a place to put their water container, milk container, baby bottles, etc. when mixing milk.

Many owners have said they love the airconditioning unit of the car. This is very true as the airconditioning unit behaves very much like a automatic climate control system, the fan speed gradually increases as your car engine warms up. While this car doesn't have rear aircon vents, there are 2 vents under the 2 front passengers. The bottom vents works when the driver selects the blower to aim the top/leg and leg. This helps to cool the car down very quickly. Not cool if anyone in the car has smelly legs ... your cabin will also have a particularly offending aroma in a short time as well.

Moving the car out for the first time, the 143PS power is nice. Having tested both Nissan Sylphy, Lancer and Civic (was looking for a 2.0litre car), the power is better compared to the Sylphy and Lancer but loses to Civic. What blew me away was the suspension; it was absolutely fabulous. After the first few kilometers, I wondered at myself why Toyota has always been regarded the KING in suspension ... this Hyundai would definitely give it a run for its money. It has independant suspension, a far cry from those linked MacPherson systems and this really shows as you go through our country's ample potholes and bumps. NVH surpasses all my expectations. It's even better than a lot of Japanese cars. The next time you find yourself in a Hyundai showroom, just slam the door and you'll find that's very good insulation on the door itself. The only gripe I have against the NVH is the Goodyear NCT5 tyres are well know to be noisy. This issue can be easily rectified by changing to a more silent tyre.

Ok, so what about the main issue I have with Korean cars? The fuel consumption. Since the car is new and has yet to do makes its first 1k km run, I decided to run it in a little (keeping below 3k rpm while revving it up and down without keeping to any constant speed). For my troubles, I was rewarded about 440km/43litres of fuel. Not bad, considering this is a much heavier car (and I'm not even driving it very efficiently). Now that I`ve done the first 1k km service, FC is still erratic but it's still clocking an average of 0.17cents/kilometer. I am impressed.

Oh, not sure if this was mentioned by others ... it's a small thing, really but I appreciate this feature. In most cars, if you forgot to switch off the lights and you turn the engine off, your car would give you an audiable beep to indicate your lights are on. The X20 doesn't ... it turns off the lights when your engine is off. Some might argue they need the lights on when they open the gate, etc, but honestly, how many of us actually turn off the engine when we alight? How many of us have forgotten to switch off our headlamps?

In the end, the Avante is an eye opener for me. Not only is it a far more comfortable car, fuel consumption is seriously not bad. If you were to look at the owner's manual, you'll note a lot of specs is missing from the X20s found here in Malaysia. Sun-roofs, auto cruise, keyless entry/start, etc. But the fact is, that's how these cars come in. You don't get as much features in a Sylphy and yet it costs so much more. The Civic and Mazda 3 is probably the most well endowned with features but look at the price. Speaking of price (and the often associated 2nd value), let's look at the following:

Price difference between X20 and Civic = approx. RM30,000
Loan interest = 3.5% x eg. 5 years loan = RM5,250
Total amount of difference = RM35,250

Civic 2nd value after 5 years = estimated RM76,800 (calculated at 10% depreciation/year)
X20 2nd value after 5 years = RM57,900
Price difference = approx. RM18,900

So you see ... at the end of the day, the total initial payment price difference would have offset the 2nd value difference. The difference is actually greater because imagine you have RM35,250 in your bank account ... even if you were to put it into Fixed Deposit running at 3.5%p.a, you would have made a couple of thousand in 5 years time. Granted the above calculation is based on assumption, you have to ask yourself this ... do you think, 5 years from now, the 2nd price of the 2 cars will be more than RM35,250 apart? Compared to the Civic, you pay less but you get a more comfortable car that has comparable cabin space. The only setback is .... you're not driving a "Honda".

I used to think my next car would be a Honda or a Toyota. Now I would very seriously look at Hyundai when I'm shopping for a new ride. Don't let others impress you with what they think .... at the end of the day, impressions are, after all fleeting. Your car, however should last longer

This morning I realize that my battery is out and the clock stop at 1.00am. Try few time until it comes to the rattling sound.

Call Hyundai emergency call center for new battery but after waiting for almost 1hr. I decided to cancel it and get it by myself.

Lucky me, I manage to start the engine and immediately goes to the workshop nearby my house.

First, they put in DIN55 as per stock but later, they found out that the new battery is not functioning and that is the only one that they have in stock.. back to square one. So, they replace it with NS70L battery at the same price.. hmm bigger is better huh.

My stock battery last for about 1.5 years and running about 58,000km only.

Maybe it is about time to replace or it is about time for me to consider installing voltage stabilizer and improve my battery life in future?? arghh sakit kepala!!