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pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/20/18 8:34 a.m.

Free Car

 

Step 1: Buy an Elantra

Step 2: Install gnarley front protection bars

Step 3: Drive one million miles in 5 years

ProDarwin
ProDarwin PowerDork
12/20/18 8:36 a.m.

I'm probably taking step 1 today.

Step 2 I am skipping.

Step 3 would take me 100 years

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/20/18 8:42 a.m.

Honestly if I were her, I'd sell the new car and use the money to try to get out of the business of spending every waking moment of my life driving.

RevRico
RevRico GRM+ Memberand UberDork
12/20/18 8:42 a.m.

I do feel better about the 13 Elantra in the driveway after reading this article

captdownshift
captdownshift GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
12/20/18 8:45 a.m.

Screw that, I want to know if a 5 year Elantra with 1M miles can be had for $2000 or less, for reasons. 

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 UltimaDork
12/20/18 8:53 a.m.

I keep hearing these unlikely stories of satisfied Hyundai owners, but just last night I met a lady who was driving a new-ish Sonata.  My son found out from her son that it threw a rod in the first week of ownership.  Replaced under warranty of course, but still.

My wife's Sonata suffered from a plethora of transmission woes, along with a few annoying electrical glitches which prompted her to trade the car for a Honda in the first year of ownership.

So where are they keeping the reliable Hyundai's, and why are they so hard to find? angry

No Time
No Time Dork
12/20/18 9:09 a.m.

Assuming no days off, that is almost 548 miles a day. 

Everyday. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Years. Yom Kipper. Chanukah. Kwanza. Easter. Memorial Day. Labor Day. (You get the point)

No thank you. I made my payments and I’ll enjoy the time outside the car. 

As for reliability, My 2011 Elantra had the trans replaced at approx 65K miles and the engine at 90k miles (now at 145k). 

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/20/18 9:11 a.m.
No Time said:

Assuming no days off, that is almost 548 miles a day. 

You don't have to assume, it says in the video that she drives "7 days a week, day and night"

joey48442
joey48442 PowerDork
12/20/18 9:11 a.m.

If she drives 200,000 a year, 7 days a week, that’s averaging 547.9 miles a day. If she’s putting in an average of ten hours a day, every day, 365 days a year, that’s an average of 54.8 miles, ever hour. If it takes 10 mins a stop, and she only makes 10 stops a day, she’s needing to cover those 54.8 miles in 50 mins. So in reality she’s having to drive 63.9 miles in an hour. , every hour, 10 hours a day, 365 days a year. I call bs on that. 

Nick Comstock
Nick Comstock MegaDork
12/20/18 9:16 a.m.

Our 13 Elantra was super reliable. We just outgrew it.

 

I would however love to have her job.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/20/18 9:17 a.m.
joey48442 said:

If she drives 200,000 a year, 7 days a week, that’s averaging 547.9 miles a day. If she’s putting in an average of ten hours a day, every day, 365 days a year, that’s an average of 54.8 miles, ever hour. If it takes 10 mins a stop, and she only makes 10 stops a day, she’s needing to cover those 54.8 miles in 50 mins. So in reality she’s having to drive 63.9 miles in an hour. , every hour, 10 hours a day, 365 days a year. I call bs on that. 

If you bump it up to a 12 hour work day with the same stops (a good minimum if she drives "day and night"), she'd only have to drive at an average speed of about 53MPH.

T.J.
T.J. MegaDork
12/20/18 9:20 a.m.

Wow. Cool PR from Hyundai. 

As a counterpoint, I just ticked over 80k miles on my 2005 Miata that I bought new and used as my daily driver for four years.  I guess that makes me below average. I put just under 2.5k miles on over the past 2 years combined. 

Cooter
Cooter Dork
12/20/18 9:24 a.m.
GameboyRMH said:
joey48442 said:

If she drives 200,000 a year, 7 days a week, that’s averaging 547.9 miles a day. If she’s putting in an average of ten hours a day, every day, 365 days a year, that’s an average of 54.8 miles, ever hour. If it takes 10 mins a stop, and she only makes 10 stops a day, she’s needing to cover those 54.8 miles in 50 mins. So in reality she’s having to drive 63.9 miles in an hour. , every hour, 10 hours a day, 365 days a year. I call bs on that. 

If you bump it up to a 12 hour work day with the same stops (a good minimum if she drives "day and night"), she'd only have to drive at an average speed of about 53MPH.

And that sort of average speed isn't something you get unless all of your driving is highway.

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy UltimaDork
12/20/18 9:28 a.m.

How many auto parts are this critical to require this service?   At this cost?   

4000 miles a week?   Somethings wacky here.  

joey48442
joey48442 PowerDork
12/20/18 9:36 a.m.
GameboyRMH said:
joey48442 said:

If she drives 200,000 a year, 7 days a week, that’s averaging 547.9 miles a day. If she’s putting in an average of ten hours a day, every day, 365 days a year, that’s an average of 54.8 miles, ever hour. If it takes 10 mins a stop, and she only makes 10 stops a day, she’s needing to cover those 54.8 miles in 50 mins. So in reality she’s having to drive 63.9 miles in an hour. , every hour, 10 hours a day, 365 days a year. I call bs on that. 

If you bump it up to a 12 hour work day with the same stops (a good minimum if she drives "day and night"), she'd only have to drive at an average speed of about 53MPH.

I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like it adds up.  (Okay okay, I does literally add up lol) but it just seems weird. Most of the shops around here aren’t even open 12 hours, and certainly not 7 days a week. My friend is a rep and she’s on the road a lot, but she’s only putting in about 75,000 a year, but she only has a 5 day work week. This just seems odd. Maybe she runs parts all the way state to state, but it seems like other than every once I. A while a company would have the figures out, logistically. 

02Pilot
02Pilot SuperDork
12/20/18 9:36 a.m.

In practical terms, this sort of use means fewer warm-up cycles and far more time spent at operating temperature than a car used sporadically and over shorter distances. I guessing this has a fair bit to do with the longevity of the powertrain.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin PowerDork
12/20/18 9:38 a.m.

Yeah, it seems like an insane amount of driving.

The article I read said 'delivery driver'.  I don't think we are talking about parts or pizzas here.  I do recall seeing a few people in medical deliveries that have daily routes in excess of 500 miles.  No stops, just point to point.  If she has something like that out west it could possibly be further.

mr2s2000elise
mr2s2000elise Reader
12/20/18 9:41 a.m.

No thanks. I don't want a Hyundai for free. 

bobzilla
bobzilla MegaDork
12/20/18 9:59 a.m.

You'd think with all the press I give them I'd get at least a press car for a week. Ungrateful twats! 

Sparkydog
Sparkydog Reader
12/20/18 10:14 a.m.

Slightly more believable if it's kilometers not miles. But only slightly.

Pete Gossett
Pete Gossett GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/20/18 10:17 a.m.

I used to drive 100-300 miles per day, 5-days a week. That worked out to almost 3-full days of my life per month was spent behind the wheel. I’m very happy to work from home now. 

Cooter
Cooter Dork
12/20/18 10:17 a.m.

If the car has another driver, and/or is used for cross country trips, then I can see the mileage as legit.  She lives in Kansas, which is pretty darn flat, and with lots of open roads.  That sort of mileage is about right for the people I know who drive pilot cars.  I wonder if that is a large part of her "delivery" work.

 

Professor_Brap
Professor_Brap GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
12/20/18 10:26 a.m.

I know a few delivery drivers that do 600+ a day, my buddy has a TDI that he does across the country transport and says he averages around 65-75mph daily. 

dculberson
dculberson UltimaDork
12/20/18 10:33 a.m.

If that's her personal vehicle and she's getting reimbursed mileage she must be absolutely raking it in. I can't imagine her per mile cost is very high, and at just the federal standard 54.5 cents per mile that's $545,000 over those 5 years!! And that's plus any hourly or salary pay she's getting. If you're gonna be a driver, that sounds like the way to do it to me.

 

Joe Gearin
Joe Gearin Associate Publisher
12/20/18 10:34 a.m.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

My Mom's Azera has been relatively trouble free for the 8 years and 60K miles she's owned it.  The center console has an annoying squeak, and the memory for the power seats has quit---- beside that it's been hassle-free.   That said, her Avalon was more refined and a nicer place to spend time in.  

Yes....my mother likes her "cloud machines".   

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