I’ve been slacking in the writing department lately mainly because of family stuff, sick kids, long days at work and Guitar Hero addiction. This report has been really slacking as I’ve tested a bunch of other cars since the 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring you see here.
A few things about the Elantra Touring before I get into the daddy stuff.
1. It’s not the greatest looking wagon.
2. But it’s a wagon!
3. It’s pretty well equipped for its starting price of $17,800. Automatic is $800.
The good news is the Elantra Touring is big enough for almost anyone with kids. I did not get a sense that you could overload this would cargo. If I had to step down from my own Subaru Outback into this I don’t think there’d be much tradeoff and I found the back seat much more comfortable than our Subie.
The child seat fit in easily in the center position but it did intrude into the front seat area a bit. The step-in height was great too. To me, this is why you don’t get an SUV. You don’t need to step up, ever. The roof is also nice and high so you’re not banging the kids head. Not that I ever do that to poor Carter on newly loaned test cars…
My ET tester had an additional sport package for $1,500 with 17-inch wheels, moonroof and heated front seats. You could totally go without those however. It also had the manual transmission which was really easy to drive. It wasn’t sporty in any way however.
The stereo has a standard iPod adapter too which was nice. It is a full integration. Meaning song titles and playlists are displayed on the stereo head unit. The sound quality was also pretty darn good for a Hyundai.
If the Elantra Touring had optional all-wheel drive this would be great for us here in Chicago. However, let’s say it cost an additional $1,500 for AWD. Then this would be about as much as you can get a 2009 Subaru Outback for right now. But if you just need FWD and need more space than say a Mazda3 or Toyota Matrix – and don’t care about looks – than I’d definitely check this out. Plus there’s $1,000 in cash incentives right now and Hyundai’s Assurance plan too in case you’re worried about your job security.
