Car purchased

One of our goals for this year was to use the funds that were set aside in 2007 to purchase a reasonably used car to replace one of our existing ones. In late February we bought a used 05 Hyundai Elantra to replace the 95 Mazda Protégé LX.

Though the Mazda was still in reliable driving condition the wife felt she needed a newer car due to the fact that, with her new promotion, she would be required to drive with clients and coworkers more often and the Mazda was starting to show its age.

Going in we had just a handful of requirements (in order of priority):

• Sedan or large compact


• Overall cost of around $6,000


• Fuel efficient


• Reasonable reliability


• 75,000 miles or less


• 2001 model or later


• Cloth interior


• Sunroof


• Power locks/windows

I was primarily concerned with getting the most car for the dollar regardless of brand. Initially, the sunroof was more of a preference and we had a lot more options to choose from. However, after doing a bit of looking around, the wife decided that the sunroof would be a requirement. This certainly helped to narrow down our search as you just don’t see many cars with cloth interior and a sunroof.

Of course, when you talk about reliability the Honda and Toyota brands are usually at the top of everyone’s list. Because of this they tend to hold on to their value much better than others. Since I wanted to get the most for our money I gravitated more toward Mazdas, Hyundais and proven domestic brands. For a while I thought we’d end up with a Chevy Malibu or another Mazda Protégé, but in the end we found ourselves deciding on a Hyundai Elantra after finding a good price with a small used-car dealer in a nearby town.

I knew little about the Hyundai Elantra beforehand, but during the course of my research I found out that since 2001, when the vehicle was redesigned, it has proven to be a very reliable car, but because of its prior poor reputation the resale values continue to be very low making it a good buy. Edmunds even ranks it as one of their Used Car Best Bets for 2007.

So, in the end we bought a 2005 Hyundai Elantra that satisfied all of our requirements for the asking price of $7,950, which was slightly lower than the Kelley Blue Book value. We were able to trade in the Mazda for $1,300 which brought the overall cost down to what we had wanted to spend. The car had just over 43,000 miles on it and the CARFAX Vehicle History indicates it sat in a State agency parking lot for much of its life.