Ace of Base: 2018 Hyundai Elantra SE

by Matthew Guy

Published: December 6th, 2017

This Korean automaker has been known since the dawn of time as a purveyor of value-packed cars, making a name for itself by offering machines comparable in price to its competition but stuffed to the gunwales with features for which The Other Guy charged extra.

Hyundai introduced the Elantra nameplate about 20 years ago and has since taken it through more styling iterations than Mickey Rourke — frequently, and often dramatically, updating its looks. The current model went on sale a couple of model years ago and continues to pack ‘em in with valuable features at a cut-rate price.

The base Elantra, in SE trim, has a list of standard equipment that would cause a lot of expensive cars to blush. Air conditioning (a key feature, in this author’s opinion), a tilt/telescope wheel, and height adjustable driver seat mean the Elantra makes it easy to get comfortable. A remote keyless entry fob will hang from the keychain of your brand-new Elantra SE as well. Oddly, selecting a manual transmission causes Bluetooth capability and cruise control to vanish from the spec sheet. Smartphone input via a USB port remains, as does an auxiliary input.

The base model (and the more costly Eco trim) deploy drums for rear brakes. It attempts to make up for this safety faux-pas by offering side curtain airbags for the front and rear passengers as standard, along with the expected inflatables up front. The driver gets a knee airbag, too. 15-inch steelies are found at each corner, shod in cheap-to-replace 195/65/15 rubber.

Don’t worry about flat-black side mirrors giving away your frugality; the base Elantra has body-colored caps on those. Economies of scale, always the Ace of Base best friend, assure power windows (with one- touch service for the driver) and a 60/40 split rear folding seat appear on the SE.

A 2.0-liter inline-four is under the hood, making some 147 horsepower — fairly standard for this end of the segment. A six-speed manual transmission is available on the SE, the only trim where one can spec that shifter, save for the much more expensive Sport model (which has a different engine).

The thing is not bad looking, and is certainly an improvement over the “fluidic sculpture” of the last Elantra (and leagues ahead of the frumpy iteration before that). Its tail lights look like triple afterburners. All eight colors are offered gratis, refreshing when so many manufacturers limit choice to the greyscale on base models. One is not forced to take a beige interior on their Elantra SE, either.

Hyundai’s famous warranty helps to seal the deal, guaranteeing five full years of roadside assistance, no matter how much you drive. The powertrain is covered for twice that long or 100,000 miles.

I don’t often mention incentives in this series as they are fluid and may change from region to region However, it’s worth noting total rebates on the base Elantra could total up to $3,500. Given an MSRP of $16,950, that’s nearly a 20-percent discount. Looks like Hyundai pegs the value meter once again.

[Image: Hyundai]

Not every base model has aced it. The ones that have? They help make the automotive landscape a lot better. Any others you can think of, B&B? Let us know in the comments. Naturally, feel free to eviscerate our selections.

The model above is shown with American options, sans destination fee, and is priced in Freedom Dollars. As always, your dealer may sell for less.

#AceOfBase #BaseCar #Elantra #Hyundai

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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CKNSLS Sierra SLT on Dec 06, 2017

I have rear drums on my pickup truck that weighs 2-1/2 tons. BTW-I tow a 5,500 pound travel trailer all over the Intermountain west with it. No issues!

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Bd2 on Dec 08, 2017

The Elantra is a decent buy, but for those interested in having some fun driving, the Elantra Sport is the one to get. In order to compete with the very good (sans the styling) Civic, the next Elantra needs to grow larger and get a nicer interior (something more in lines with the interior of the Elantra GT/i30).

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Kmars2009 I rented one last fall while visiting Ohio. Not a bad car...but not a great car either. I think it needs a new version. But CUVs are King... unfortunately!
Ajla Remember when Cadillac introduced an entirely new V8 and proceeded to install it in only 800 cars before cancelling everything?
Bouzouki Cadillac (aka GM!!) made so many mistakes over the past 40 years, right up to today, one could make a MBA course of it. Others have alluded to them, there is not enough room for me to recite them in a flowing, cohesive manner.Cadillac today is literally a tarted-up Chevrolet. They are nice cars, and the "aura" of the Cadillac name still works on several (mostly female) consumers who are not car enthusiasts.The CT4 and CT5 offer superlative ride and handling, and even performance--but, it is wrapped in sheet metal that (at least I think) looks awful, with (still) sub-par interiors. They are niche cars. They are the last gasp of the Alpha platform--which I have been told by people close to it, was meant to be a Pontiac "BMW 3-series". The bankruptcy killed Pontiac, but the Alpha had been mostly engineered, so it was "Cadillac-ized" with the new "edgy" CTS styling.Most Cadillacs sold are crossovers. The most profitable "Cadillac" is the Escalade (note that GM never jack up the name on THAT!).The question posed here is rather irrelevant. NO ONE has "a blank check", because GM (any company or corporation) does not have bottomless resources.Better styling, and superlative "performance" (by that, I mean being among the best in noise, harshness, handling, performance, reliablity, quality) would cost a lot of money.Post-bankruptcy GM actually tried. No one here mentioned GM's effort to do just that: the "Omega" platform, aka CT6.The (horribly misnamed) CT6 was actually a credible Mercedes/Lexus competitor. I'm sure it cost GM a fortune to develop (the platform was unique, not shared with any other car. The top-of-the-line ORIGINAL Blackwing V8 was also unique, expensive, and ultimately...very few were sold. All of this is a LOT of money).I used to know the sales numbers, and my sense was the CT6 sold about HALF the units GM projected. More importantly, it sold about half to two thirds the volume of the S-Class (which cost a lot more in 201x)Many of your fixed cost are predicated on volume. One way to improve your business case (if the right people want to get the Green Light) is to inflate your projected volumes. This lowers the unit cost for seats, mufflers, control arms, etc, and makes the vehicle more profitable--on paper.Suppliers tool up to make the number of parts the carmaker projects. However, if the volume is less than expected, the automaker has to make up the difference.So, unfortunately, not only was the CT6 an expensive car to build, but Cadillac's weak "brand equity" limited how much GM could charge (and these were still pricey cars in 2016-18, a "base" car was ).Other than the name, the "Omega" could have marked the starting point for Cadillac to once again be the standard of the world. Other than the awful name (Fleetwood, Elegante, Paramount, even ParAMOUR would be better), and offering the basest car with a FOUR cylinder turbo on the base car (incredibly moronic!), it was very good car and a CREDIBLE Mercedes S-Class/Lexus LS400 alternative. While I cannot know if the novel aluminum body was worth the cost (very expensive and complex to build), the bragging rights were legit--a LARGE car that was lighter, but had good body rigidity. No surprise, the interior was not the best, but the gap with the big boys was as close as GM has done in the luxury sphere.Mary Barra decided that profits today and tomorrow were more important than gambling on profits in 2025 and later. Having sunk a TON of money, and even done a mid-cycle enhancement, complete with the new Blackwing engine (which copied BMW with the twin turbos nestled in the "V"!), in fall 2018 GM announced it was discontinuing the car, and closing the assembly plant it was built in. (And so you know, building different platforms on the same line is very challenging and considerably less efficient in terms of capital and labor costs than the same platform, or better yet, the same model).So now, GM is anticipating that, as the car market "goes electric" (if you can call it that--more like the Federal Government and EU and even China PUSHING electric cars), they can make electric Cadillacs that are "prestige". The Cadillac Celestique is the opening salvo--$340,000. We will see how it works out.
Lynn Joiner Lynn JoinerJust put 2,000 miles on a Chevy Malibu rental from Budget, touring around AZ, UT, CO for a month. Ran fine, no problems at all, little 1.7L 4-cylinder just sipped fuel, and the trunk held our large suitcases easily. Yeah, I hated looking up at all the huge FWD trucks blowing by, but the Malibu easily kept up on the 80 mph Interstate in Utah. I expect a new one would be about a third the cost of the big guys. It won't tow your horse trailer, but it'll get you to the store. Why kill it?
Lynn Joiner Just put 2,000 miles on a Chevy Malibu rental from Budget, touring around AZ, UT, CO for a month. Ran fine, no problems at all, little 1.7L 4-cylinder just sipped fuel, and the trunk held our large suitcases easily. Yeah, I hated looking up at all the huge FWD trucks blowing by, but the Malibu easily kept up on the 80 mph Interstate in Utah. I expect a new one would be about a third the cost of the big guys. It won't tow your horse trailer, but it'll get you to the store. Why kill it?