Elantra at One Year Old

Odometer: 7,700 miles
MPG: 33.5 at the end of the day

This is the one year report on the Elantra SE, which I purchased late August 2007. Today was actually my first extended highway trip (over 2 hours) in the car, so I was able to finally gauge true freeway MPG over a continuous amount of time. I drove from Millbrae down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is over 90 miles. After filling up the tank I reset the trip meter and off we went. On a Labor Day morning, the traffic was brisk all the way down. Averaged 71 mph and 35.2 mpg when we got down there. Maybe I could've gotten 36 if I stayed under 65. (2007 EPA MPG figures on this car is 28/36. 2008 is 26/33) AC or fan was on 40% of the time.

Coming back we hit some traffic on 101 and 156, so of course the mileage wasn't as good. So by the time I got home the MPG was 33.5. Pretty decent for 10% street vs 90% freeway driving. My usual driving is more like 90/10 which you can tell from previous posts, I've been averaging 25-26mpg.

How's the car? Everything is working as it should be except for the turn signal which sometime fails to auto-shut off after a left turn. I will check if that is a warranty fix next time I go in to the dealership. Pet peeves: The door arm rest isn't in the right place for me. It is too far away. The thick C-pillar and high back do hamper visibility some. I knew that was something I needed to live with going into the purchase, but I did not think the beefy A-pillar and large sideview mirrors would also pose visibility issues. I find myself being extra careful that there are no short kids crossing from the left or when I make a left turn that I avoid the center island on a street, because the mirror and A-pillar can make seeing these thing hard sometimes. I am not saying it is an unsafe design, but the driver needs to take extra care. I am guessing many of today's cars have visibility issues, because of sportier styling and wider pillars needed to accept airbags.

How is my head? I think the new car fever is finally fading. I haven't washed it is over 3 months. The trunk is a little dirty from bricks and stuff I've been hauling from OSH.... and I don't care. I don't consciously look for other Elantras on the road.