N/A —Thinking about a Hyundai Veloster

 
 
Civic SI or Focus ST

If those are still too much $$$ I would look at the regular Focus and all of the Japanese compacts (not sub-compacts) -- Civic, Corolla, Mazda 3, Impreza, Sentra. Yaris type cars for sure are cheaper but often have poor safety ratings.
 
I’d also look at a used caddy ATS coupe.
 
bradg33 said:
From looking at various hot hatches to a Yaris? Come on man... :)
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Actually the 2017 Yaris iA is a re-badged Mazda2, if I'm not mistaken. Among bottom of the price ladder econoboxen, not a bad choice.

I think a Fiesta ST might be a better choice, though.
 
“Sporty” can be a state of mind.

Our 2005 Honda Element is the antithesis of sporty. Yet, weirdly, with its 5-speed manual it can “feel” sporty as we hustle it through the twisties in and around the southern Appalachians where we live. I think the manual is the key, though these are getting harder, or impossible, to find.

I guess my point is that “sporty” is subjective, and even an econobox can fill that bill. With a little imagination, of course.

As an aside, I think the Civic and CRV share the same underpinnings as the Element.
 
genna said:
Used? Just beware that Hyundai 10y/100mi drivetrain warranty is not transferable. I haven't driven the base model, but turbo is pretty peppy. Some turbo lag, but not too bad. DCT(7 speed) is not terrible, only a bit slow and slightly jerky at low speed. Otherwise, you can shift it without going to manual mode which is nice for passing.

Fit and finish is not too bad for a cheap car. I find it acceptable in general.

It's pretty low, fairly wide, and surprisingly roomy in the back because it's based on an Elantra, but rear head room is pretty bad. Taller occupants need to be warned if you are closing the hatch on them. It's 3(4 with hatch) doors, so a little weird. Trunk space is pretty small and although it's a hatchback, with the sloping roof, it's not as useful as most hatchbacks. It's also 2+2.
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I picked up the Ioniq. The powertrain warranty is transferable. Up to 5 yrs/60,000 miles. After that it continues for another 5 yrs/40,000 miles for the original owner only.
 
gsengle said:
Go drive a Golf GTI
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I've purchased two german cars brand new. A 1975 Rabbit, that was, by far, the worst car I've ever owned.

Of course, I didn't learn my lesson so bought a new 1998 Mercedes E430 Sport. In the first 3 months of ownership it had to be towed to the dealer 3 times.

German car? Forget it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
kgruber said:
German car? Forget it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Click and Clack swore off German/European cars at least 15 years ago. I miss those guys. They said for a long time, if you want quality, go Japanese.

My all time favorite quote of theirs' was:

Volvo owners believe that Volvos get good gas mileage and are relatively mx free. And they also think that their Volvo is the only exception to those two rules.
 
Click and Clack................still love their reruns!

Only buy Corvettes now!
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FastEddieB said:
Which one? Hybrid, Plug-in hybrid or all electric?

I like the plug-in hybrid, but I would love just a bit more than 29 miles on battery alone.

Regardless, looking forward to your first impressions.
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The straight hybrid. I was thinking about the plug in, but after looking around where plugins are available decided against it. None were at places we normally go so most of the time so I’d use it mostly at home on my dime. Not worth the purchase cost. Probably never come close to getting it back. Have it for a couple days now. So far no complaints. All the keyless stuff is new to me but I’ll get used to it. It’s the base model so I don’t have a lot of the Gucci wizbang stuff.
 
luvflyin said:
I picked up the Ioniq. The powertrain warranty is transferable. Up to 5 yrs/60,000 miles. After that it continues for another 5 yrs/40,000 miles for the original owner only.
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I guess it’s a matter of wording. Power train is covered in “new vehicle warranty “ that is 5y60kmi. And that warranty is transferable. The actual powertrain 10y/100kmi warranty is not transferable, but it only kicks in after 5/60. That is exactly what I meant. Basically, used Hyundai is only covered up to 5/60
 
genna said:
I guess it’s a matter of wording. Power train is covered in “new vehicle warranty “ that is 5y60kmi. And that warranty is transferable. The actual powertrain 10y/100kmi warranty is not transferable, but it only kicks in after 5/60. That is exactly what I meant. Basically, used Hyundai is only covered up to 5/60
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Gotcha
 
Ryanb said:
Looking at the Hyundai Veloster’s and strongly considering one. Anybody have any experience or currently own one?
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I saw plenty of responses about this without the first-hand experience, so... isn't Veloster a compromised Elantra? Carmakers sometimes do this. For example, BMW X6 is a compromised X5 too, sold purely on the exterior design. Performance is the same, utility is worse. BTW, Elantra GT is faster than Veloster Turbo.
 
Ryanb said:
Ended up finding a 2017 Toyota Yaris for $13,500 that I like. 22k miles, 32mpg-city/40-highway.
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Modern Yaris is a very underappreciated car. No CVT, even now, when Fit went to it. Just don't expect much instant gratification. I should note that seats on Yaris are very thin, so they aren't as adaptable to body types. They fit me great (although I sampled a previous year model).
 
zaitcev said:
I saw plenty of responses about this without the first-hand experience, so... isn't Veloster a compromised Elantra? Carmakers sometimes do this. For example, BMW X6 is a compromised X5 too, sold purely on the exterior design. Performance is the same, utility is worse. BTW, Elantra GT is faster than Veloster Turbo.
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I gave a first-hand experience. My wife drives one. It is a compromised Elantra GT. Mostly the same car. Just less doors(by 1), less seats(by 1), and less headroom(in the rear). All in the name of style. But it's not compromised by much(unlike X6 which is just dumb IMHO).

The OP was looking at it based largely on style.
 
BTW, the reason we ended up with Veloster: She wanted a (real 2-door) coupe. I did not want to buy a coupe because we were working on a baby. We compromised on 3. So, you can chose to look at it as a car with a missing door or as a coupe with an extra door for a baby and a relatively generous space for the infant carrier. It is working out ok so far with an infant seat. Although, i admit a 4th door would provide more utility.
 
zaitcev said:
Modern Yaris is a very underappreciated car. No CVT, even now, when Fit went to it.
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Modern Yaris is a rebadged Mazda2. For whatever reason, Mazda doesn't do CVT. You can bet that if this were a genuine Toyota product it would likely have CVT.
 
genna said:
BTW, the reason we ended up with Veloster: She wanted a (real 2-door) coupe. I did not want to buy a coupe because we were working on a baby. We compromised on 3. So, you can chose to look at it as a car with a missing door or as a coupe with an extra door for a baby and a relatively generous space for the infant carrier. It is working out ok so far with an infant seat. Although, i admit a 4th door would provide more utility.
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Our Elantra Touring worked great as a family truckster with one car seat. Fit enough supplies in the back to run an orphanage.

I was leaning towards a RAV4 or Forester when we got the Touring. Second kid came along, and we ended up buying a Forester anyway. Now I wish we'd gotten something with a third row, so we don't have to take two cars when grandparents are in town.
 
GeorgeC said:
Our Elantra Touring worked great as a family truckster with one car seat. Fit enough supplies in the back to run an orphanage.

I was leaning towards a RAV4 or Forester when we got the Touring. Second kid came along, and we ended up buying a Forester anyway. Now I wish we'd gotten something with a third row, so we don't have to take two cars when grandparents are in town.
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I, personally, pretty much hate compact S/CUVs(nothing more than a slightly taller hatchback) and pretty much most other S/CUVs unless it's a true off-roader and is used that way. I'd rather be driving a minivan. Yep, I said it. But I am keeping my ride as long as possible.

This was my wife's first car purchase - previous was a hand-me-down Outback - so she wanted something sporty. And she doesn't like large cars. Hence the "coupe" compromise. Veloster, quite obviously, will not work with 2 kids. It's even a problem with our beagle and 1 kid. But i have a bigger car and it's ok for now. If we bought a true coupe(about 2 years ago), we'd have to sell it now. With Veloster, she gets the look and feel of a "sport" car without having to flip the cars every 2 years. It will probably last at least 2 more years.
 
You guys do understand that all the cars you're talking about are just spin offs of this, right?

3E372D42-33D1-4462-B65E-AF9D32179464.jpeg
 
Well two and half weeks later and I got a ride better than I thought I would.

2015 GTI. Panoramic roof, nav and backup cam, basically fully loaded. Fast as lightning. I drove the normally aspirated Veloster and I was less than impressed. Very happy with this. More pics to come.
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Ryanb said:
Well two and half weeks later and I got a ride better than I thought I would.

2015 GTI. Panoramic roof, nav and backup cam, basically fully loaded. Fast as lightning. I drove the normally aspirated Veloster and I was less than impressed. Very happy with this. More pics to come.
View attachment 66588
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Be careful. What does GTI stand for? "Get Tickets In".
 
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Beautiful car, love the GTIs. Much better choice than the Hyundai.
 
bradg33 said:
Beautiful car, love the GTIs. Much better choice than the Hyundai.
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Thanks I agree. I REALLY like the look of the Velosters but they’re extremely underpowered. During the test drive just pulling out to merge onto the interstate and I was pushing 5,000revs to get up to speed. No bueno.

The GTI is a little rocket, much better car than the Veloster by a long shot and I got a helluva deal.
 
The turbo Veloster isn't any better. My wife and I test drove them a couple of years ago and loved the looks including the quirky 3 door thing. But the power and handling were not our cup of tea.

GTI will be a blast to drive, but beware the service expense.
 
jsstevens said:
The turbo Veloster isn't any better. My wife and I test drove them a couple of years ago and loved the looks including the quirky 3 door thing. But the power and handling were not our cup of tea.

GTI will be a blast to drive, but beware the service expense.
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Yeah, it felt cheap and unbelievably slow.

Fortunately the GTI is still under factory warranty for a little while longer. Hopefully it’s a relatively trouble free car.
 
Ryanb said:
Yeah, it felt cheap and unbelievably slow. Fortunately the GTI is still under factory warranty. Hopefully it’s a relatively trouble free car, but I’m prepared if something needs a fixin’.
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I drove a Mini for 6 years and the shop that did all my work was an independent that specialized in German cars (Mini is made by BMW). They do Porsche, MB, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen. And they were excellent-didn't over diagnose, didn't over charge, explained everything. When I decided I was getting rid of the Mini I asked them about replacements that were convertible, stick shift and had a back seat, the folks there told me they'd never own any of the cars they work on without an extended warranty. I took the hint and bought a 370Z.
 
jsstevens said:
I drove a Mini for 6 years and the shop that did all my work was an independent that specialized in German cars (Mini is made by BMW). They do Porsche, MB, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen. And they were excellent-didn't over diagnose, didn't over charge, explained everything. When I decided I was getting rid of the Mini I asked them about replacements that were convertible, stick shift and had a back seat, the folks there told me they'd never own any of the cars they work on without an extended warranty. I took the hint and bought a 370Z.
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Yeah I’m going to look into getting an extended warranty on it. I’m just about to head over and pick it up.
 
Ryanb said:
Well two and half weeks later and I got a ride better than I thought I would.

2015 GTI. Panoramic roof, nav and backup cam, basically fully loaded. Fast as lightning. I drove the normally aspirated Veloster and I was less than impressed. Very happy with this. More pics to come.
View attachment 66588
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Nice ride, stick or DSG?
 
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