For your average car-buyer, mileage expectancy is just about the most important thing to consider when buying a vehicle. You’re not just buying the car, you’re buying those miles, so the longer your Hyundai Elantra lasts, the more value you’re getting for your money.
So how long do Hyundai Elantras last? Typically 100,000 to 150,000 miles. That’s assuming typical driving habits and regular maintenance. With a lot of abuse, it might not reach 50,000. With careful driving, it could reach 250,000.
It’s all about how you treat your car. You know when you have it for the first week, and you treat it like it’s made of gold? If you keep that up, there’s no reason you can’t join the high-mileage club at a quarter million miles. Here’s what you need to know.
When is a Car Kaput?
When exactly is a car gone for good? Technically speaking, you can always bring it back to life as long as you still have some major components left over from the original build, so how exactly do we determine that a car will last 150K miles?
It mostly has to do with the transmission. The transmission is, usually, the first major component to break down in such a way that it’s more expensive to repair the damages than it would be to scrap the vehicle and buy a new car.
The engine is usually going to outlive the transmission by several thousand miles, but it would be the next part to go. If you want to keep your car on the road forever, you can always find replacement parts. But for the typical driver, dead transmission = get a new car.
Keep Your Car Running
If you can hit 150,000 miles on your Hyundai Elantra, that’s a pretty good deal. But there’s no reason to settle for that. With good maintenance and careful driving, 250K is a reasonable goal. And you could far surpass that. Here are some tips:
- Treat every minor problem like a major problem. The sooner you get it fixed, the less damage it’s going to do.
- Ease into your transmission when shifting in and out of reverse instead of jerking the shifter. Think of it less like pressing a button and more like lifting your dog’s paw to shake.
- Check your motor oil and fluids once a month, or whenever you already have the hood open.
- Follow the maintenance schedule to the mile. Your owner’s manual was written by some very smart people; they know what they’re talking about.
- Synthetic oil will have you changing your oil less frequently, and it runs a little cleaner.
- Watch your payloads and think twice before towing with an Elantra. You’re rated for around 1,000 payload and 1,000 towing, and preferably, not at the same time.
- Elantras are highway and city cars. They’re not for offroading or a gravel hill. Drive your car on the terrain it was intended for.
- Give it time to warm up in cold weather. Don’t rev your engine as soon as you start it up.
There are about a million other things you can do, but these tips will make a big difference over the years. Not to say those other tips aren’t worth checking out, too. The more safe driving and maintenance habits you develop, the more miles your Elantra will go.
Know What to Expect
If you’re a very careful driver, you might get some extra miles out of a car with low mileage expectancy.
But why not check the Vehicle History and make sure your new ride is built to last? A good car with a good driver can easily hit 250K miles.
