Civic hb vs Elantra gt sport vs golf gti
 

Need new car after the winter. Looking at these 3.
Reason I pick these three instead of like a civic si is because these three will fit in my garage I need a car that’s 180in or shorter so limits my choices. My heart wants the gti, but worry about reliability. Keeping this car for 8-10 years.
I’m using this car just from home to work, so the practical choice would be the Hyundai. This is hard.


Civic Hb touring 31-32k
Pros all option I want, reliable brand
Cons expensive for civic, not as sporty, 3yr com warranty

Elantra gt sport 28-29k
Pro new model with 205hp 195tq. All option I need, cheap, 5yr com warranty
Cons it’s a Hyundai, had a 98 tiburon many years ago ruin my perception of Hyundai.

Gti 32-33k
Pro. Fun, sporty, 4yr warranty
Con. Reliability reliability. Lack of the option I want

GTI for driving experience
Civic for reliability
Hyundai for best price

pick one thats most important to you.

Id go for the GTI

Given your planned duration of ownership, I would skip the GTI. Year 6 and on becomes rather annoying and $$$.

I would go with Elantra, it's brand new and a lot of be desired. If you want to keep it for 8-10 years a GTI will have some problems down the line. The civic is good but it's pricey for touring I would just go for the Sport instead.

I'd go with the GTI. (biased as a golf owner)
- for power, and fun to drive
- I like heavier doors
- super easy for parking
- only downside its made in mexico

Civic Hatch as 2nd
- more cargo space?
- made in UK (so technically euro)
- rear visibility is crap (i don't trust cameras)

Elantra
- best bang for dollar with everything you want/need
- economical w/ 87 instead of 91 for the other two
- cheap plastics all around car you'll eventually hate over time
- questionable reliability and the depreciation rate...

Civic would have a lot more aftermarket support compared to the Elantra, so technically it can be as sporty as you want it to be.

+1 for Civic

Civic sport then Hondata flash it, remains very reliable, it's cheap, and gets you much more power than even the civic si (230hp/260ft/lbs). Hyundai is intriguing, but very blah and don't see it holding any sort of value. And gti obviously if you want the best overall pkg out of the box. My vote would be civic hatch sport. Good luck

I have a 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring, no problems.. always did my maintenance on time.. nothing major needs replacement...

Deciding between Hyundai Tuscon (fits like a glove... looks nice) or the Mazda CX 3/5.. my mom has the CX5 and its very nice..

Not to jack OPs thread, but I just picked up a '17 Tuscon 1.6T, absolutely love it, no gripes at all. Mom has a' 16 CX5 and thought I'd go with that, until I drove the 1.6 Tuscon, sporty to drive, all the torque you need down low from the turbo and the dct is very quick and responsive for a small suv, drove the base 2.0ltr Tuscon and it wasn't inspiring at all in comparison. Plus the looks of the Tuscon are great, especially with the 19" wheels and full glass moonroof

I keep hearing Hyundai has come a long way since the 90s. Quality and reliability wise. Is it true.

Why can’t vw be reliable. Why can’t the si be 4 inches shorter or Honda have a hatchback si.

The civic hb sport don’t have leather or led headlights. I want those, but I was willing to sacrifice those for the gti.

Cars are so big these days.

little disappointing that you cant put a hitch on the civic.

they have exhaust in the middle.

so i cant bring my bikes with me.

The difference is night and day, but when the reference point is the early 90's Hyundai, that is a really, really low standard to compare against. The question you want to ask is -- are they reliable enough today? Recent incidents like this is not exactly confidence inspiring:

https://globalnews.ca/news/3363691/h...ngine-failure/

First thought that came to mind when I read this -- cheap, fast, reliable, pick 2. That has always been the case.

Second thought that came to mind -- why can't my gf be smart, hot, rich, and have a nice personality? EleGiggle And why can't I be 4" lon... I mean, taller? EleGiggle EleGiggle EleGiggle

Leather seats burn my a$$ and thighs in the summer, and freezes them in the winter. Not sure why anyone would ever want leather seats in a car.

After owning many cars with leather seats, I finally got one with cloth and I will never go back to leather again.

I have a hard time recommending Hyundai, despite how many people say "they've come a long way." There are so many little quirks in Hyundai's I've driven over the years that add up very quickly and it pisses me off. Given the choices you've listed, I get the impression you want something fun and sporty, yet practical. I simply do not equate the Hyundai to the Civic or GTI, but this is personal.

Some things you may want to consider as well, such as your cost for insurance. It may make or break your short list of vehicles and influence your purchase decision.

Have kids. Muddy shoes plus cloth don’t mix.

And leather does? :confused:

Any how, you may want to update your original post to include that. You originally only posted that it was going to be an A-to-B car (to and from work.)

Well the kids won’t be in the car all the time. Only if I have to take them somewhere without the wife. leatehr clean up better and don’t stain like cloths does. And if the sport had led or even hid headlights I would go for it.

Which is why I was willing to sacrifice leather for the gti.

For me, it's been reliable enough. Had a 2011 Sonata 2.0T and I didn't have any major problems. Some small QC problems but I had those parts replaced under warranty. Never broke down on me other than when the battery died about 4 years in.

Only traded it in because I found FWD boring. It was my first and last FWD car. Traded it in for a Genesis Sedan last year. No complaints about this car either. In 3-4 years time, I'll probably trade it in for another Genesis.

How’s the trade in value. Big depreciation? If I keep this Hyundai for 8-10 years it probably will have no value when I want to trade in for another car.

Golf GTI. Civic hatchback looks awful, IMO. Dislike the Hyundai.

I didn't lease the car, I was on the 84 month financing because I thought I was going to drive it to the ground when I bought it. Didn't think I would get bored of it.

I was basically happy if they just paid out what I still owed which was about $15k left after 5 years. The car was about $40k after taxes, fees, extended warranty, replacement insurance, etc...

I probably would've got more if I went with a private sale but I didn't want to deal with that. Private buyers are picky. I didn't want to explain the 110k mileage, curbed rims, damage from a rear ender, etc... The dealership didn't even look at the car. They know it well because they did all the maintenance on it and my friend is a service adviser there.

There will be large depreciation values for most of the compact sized cars, especially Hyundai's. From what I see at work, I suggest you to go with the Civic HB Touring if you plan on driving it for a longer period of time. You'll have Honda reliability plus most bugs or kinks should have been worked out with the Civic when compared with the Elantra GT. The Civic should worth more when are you done with it.

Although the Hyundai has advantage for warranty, you can always purchase extended warranty for the Civic and GTI.

buy a delorean man

Earlier this year I was comparing a GTI, Civic Sport HB, and a Mazda 3 GT Hatch. I was going to go with the 3 before I decided to save the money and buy a beater 3 instead.

I loved the Civic HB except it was just too ugly - only a mother could love the look (I don't mind it in Type R form though). Nearly everything else about it was better than the 3 (the 3 has fantastic steering and was much more premium) but way too ugly for my tastes.

The GTI was nice but I couldn't justify the cost and it wasn't as practical compared to the huge on the inside Civic.

If you can stomach the looks then the Civic is it.

Holy crap! 23 posts in and nobody has said go drive the 3 cars you're considering. That is what you're going to do with the thing every day. We can blather on all day about aftermarket parts support and reliability 6 years from now blah..blah..blah but really what matters is how much you enjoy driving it. Is reliability 6 years from now the key consideration? Are you going to buy a car that you like the least among your options because it might and the key word is might at some indeterminate point in the future have less issues than a car that you liked better? I've been in your shoes cross-shopping similar vehicles in a category, test driving the different cars made the decision easy. I'm not advocating for any of your options over the others, just go drive the things and let that guide your decision.

You're looking at 3 new cars all dripping with warranty, you can't really go that far wrong...or we could help you find a great deal on a 10 year old Audi S6 with a stomping V10 motor, what could go wrong with that?

Yes I will test drive them. And yes if it will be unreliable no matter how good it drives It won’t be on my list. Which is why I’m asking for opinion on the gti reliability and from what I been hearing it will be last on my LIst due to its reliability.

Honestly do you think I was gonna just go down to the dealership and buy the car without test driving them. I’m asking for people opinion and advice. Hence why there are reviews on cars. If everyone just answer with just go test drive them why even bother writing reviews.