PortlandRL

Well I finally got them! I am now the proud owner of a set of KDM Avante projector beam HID headlights that I purchased from another member who was selling his car. This is one of only three sets known to be in the United States and the only set outside Atlanta.





It's difficult to see but they also have stealth bulbs fitted which are silver coated when off but glow amber when lit. The original owner of these lights accidentally bought 1157 bulbs and the car calls for 2357s so I plan on replacing them with 'switchback' LEDs that are white for parking and amber for turn. I just need to work out the resistance issue to avoid the fast flash.




On.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

holy moly those are sexy! Congrats!

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

looking good man

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Looks good.

Do they have a flat cutoff? If not, has the cutoff been swapped for LHD vehicles?

PortlandRL

Thanks, everybody! I love them!!

Korea drives on the right so their cars are LHD, just like ours; no modification necessary.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

So they do....

PortlandRL

Hard to believe it's been three years that I've had this car and the odometer currently reads 53,5something. I'd get the exact figure but I'm too lazy to go get the keys and check.

Overall I'd rate my satisfaction with the car at 8.5 out of 10 and only a negative experience with the regional parts and service manager (guy's a DICK) would keep me from buying another Hyundai anything.

Pros:
- Decent room and comfort; heated rear seats are still a crowd-pleaser.
- Good ergonomics and excellent voice commands for phone/audio/nav.
- Excellent highway mileage for a non-hybrid/diesel (I've managed 43.2)
- Styling still looks good four years after introduction
- Interior and exterior wearing well
- Great value for money quotient
- Handles well in snow when fitted with proper tires

Cons:
- Rear suspension comes from 1938, handles like it too. This fact is compounded by the super-light steering.
- Lots of road noise. I may address this with a sound deadening project.
- Bluetooth sometimes fails to connect.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

At least your still enjoying it.

neuronbob

Has it been that long already? I remember when you got the Elantra. At least it turned out better than the POS Santa Fe you had.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Wow. It's been 3 years already?? I feel like I've read your thread not too long ago. haha

Good thing you are pretty satisfied with it!

The general dealership experience is terrible at Hyundai/Kia from my personal experience. They better address that!

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Hello again!

My fiancée replaced both rear struts due to creaking noises and excessive bouncing after speedbumps. Sadly they weren't taken care of under the extended warranty but the fronts will be when the time comes.

mrmako

I thought I had commented on this earlier, but glad to see I am up to date

Anyhow, the car looks good, and I was going to ask about the interior noise and if you were going to deaden it a bit but you already addressed that. Maybe I missed it, but did you upgrade your speakers? I did my Subaru with Polk Audio components and it made a huge difference.

PortlandRL

I know the three year mark is almost six months behind us but here's a quick photo of the car today after a wash and interior cleanup. I had the wheels refinished back in February to correct a poor repair job by the dealer after they gouged them up following a tire mount and balance as well as a few years of rock chips and scratches.

Spring Spritz by deloreanman14, on Flickr

Ken1997TL

Today was perfect for cleaning cars!

MTEAZY

Stop buying Hyundais. If you want to be internet cool and alternative get a Mazda or VW.

PortlandRL

I knew there was a reason you're on my ignore list.

I stopped trying to make other people think I was cool in middle school. I suggest you do the same.

Ken1997TL

You're behind the times and a bit plebian with such low aspirations. All the douches have been driving Audis for a while now.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Looking good.
From another Hyundaizine brutha

charliemike

Such bullshit we can't ignore moderators.

Doom878

My mom's Elantra is nice but the acceleration is a little sluggish. I kind of prefer driving my 05 Accord i4.

1StGenCL

Looks good but what happened to the nice headlights you picked up?

Mteazy - Didn't your parents tell you if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all? If you are going to bash other members, at least be funny about it instead of just being a dick.

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

Looking good

And +1 on the headlights

NJ SHAWD

1st, congrats on 3 years plus (wish I could do that). 2nd, it looks like it did out of the showroom (and with portland winters). 3d, love the headlights

dallison

It has a nice glow to it.

Doom878

I'll say it again. The factory sound systems in these are great. I drove my mom's most of this weekend and I didn't want to skip any songs.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

3 years already? Wow, time really is flying by. Seems like maybe a year ago you started this thread. Glad to hear it's been treating you well despite the mushy rear end handling. I've noticed the same in the Hyundia's I've gotten as rental cars, but overall they always leave me impressed with what they are.

PortlandRL

Thanks, guys.

Sadly the projector headlights began suffering from some pretty concerning issues that I think were due mostly to the way the previous owner of the lights wired them up. The power plug is compatible with the NA-spec cars but requires a battery tap and relay to function properly with the engine running. He did that and they worked fine for awhile but towards the end of last year, they began flickering on bumps and one died without explanation, then started working a few hours later. I decided it was safer to go back to the stock halogens than risk being stranded on the side of the road with no lights. I won't lie, I miss the hell out of those HID projectors.

Doom878

Yeah going from HID to stock really sucks.

PortlandRL

I finally decided to blow the $169 and update my nav system since the map data was from late 2010 or so and was lacking newer roads and businesses. Unlike Toyota and Honda, Hyundai uses a solid state drive so rather than swapping out a DVD, you get a USB stick that you plug into the media port and update the system that way. As a result, you get more than just improved mapping as they can add features and make changes based on customer feedback.

The system responds much quicker to inputs now, the map is easier to read with lower and upper case letters (as opposed to all upper-case before) and even speed limits displayed on the freeway! They also improved the legibility of the traffic flow lines on the map. It took about 45 minutes to do the update from start to finish.

Elantra Nav System Update V9 by Andrew, on Flickr

Elantra Nav System Update V9 by Andrew, on Flickr

Majofo

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cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Awesome. Speed limit info is immensely useful.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Nice. I need to get around to ordering my update on the Genesis.

PortlandRL

Just a little update: I'm still rolling this car and we're 3,000 miles shy of the big 100k. I've dropped quite a bit on it in preventative maintenance and wear items over the past couple months on things such as new tires, front struts and rear shocks. Today swapped out the spark plugs myself...stupid easy. Got it done in 45 minutes and saved on probably two hours of dealership labor.

I'm still on original coolant, hoses, belts (timing chain FTW) and even the front brake pads and rotors but I did have the transmission fluid changed at 60k just for cheap insurance. I had little things taken care of under warranty but nothing catastrophic and nothing that required a tow. The only real issue I've had with this car is the rear brakes...something is ALWAYS going on with the rear brakes, namely them liking to stick on. The first set of rear calipers got replaced at 35,000 miles, under warranty. Those lasted until about 93,000 miles when they started sticking on again and were replaced for the third and hopefully last time.

PortlandRL

Oh yeah...last summer I had it detailed by a friend and he did a KILLER job on it.

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/75234459@N00/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/75234459@N00/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/75234459@N00/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/75234459@N00/, on Flickr

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Looks great! We're at 107k on ours and no major hiccups yet

RPhilMan1

Wow 97k miles on the original front rotors and pads? How much mm is left? That's amazing.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

I remember this thread from when you first got the car. Looks clean as new still!

Aman

Nice A friend of mine recently got an Elantra of this generation, it's a nice place to be.

Never thought I'd see the day you sent out your car to be detailed though

PortlandRL

I'd say probably 3 or so. They're getting close but I'm a pretty gentle driver and a habitual downshifter on hills so they've lasted. It helps that almost nobody else drives the car.

Haha. My friend is the only person I'd trust to do it.

neuronbob

It's threads like this that are changing my mind about Hyundai. I am old enough to remember when Hyundais were legitimately pieces of $hit. Those days are long gone, and your very positive experience with your Elantra is yet another example. Continue to enjoy that little guy in good health!