[VIDEO]: 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe | "Check"

Every parent wants to share their passions with their kids. In the fun and sensible Santa Fe, it's never been easier.

Video courtesy of Hyundai's YouTube channel.

Your Daily Deal: A 2011 Hyundai Genesis with just 9,972 miles on it for only $33,945!

Your Daily Deal: Check out the latest Fairfax Hyundai has to offer, with this 2011 Hyundai Genesis with just 9,972 miles on it for only $33,945. That's over $7,850 in savings off the market price! Follow this link to view a complete list of our daily deals.

Hyundai building its reputation one satisfied customer at a time

Jane Shorago is a proud Hyundai Elantra owner. Click here to hear her testimonial!

2013 Hyundai Elantra GT: city car with highway ambitions

This year, Hyundai relaunched its Elantra GT -- the replacement for the slightly larger Elantra Touring. Winning the award for Best New Small Car over $21,000 from AJAC, the Elantra GT is designed using Hyundai’s Fluidic Design style, giving it the appearance of motion, even while sitting still.

The starting price of the Elantra GT is $19,149 and can go up to $26,349, excluding freight and taxes.

I was given the range-topping SE TECH Auto model to evaluate. Powered by a 148HP, 1.8L 4-cylinder engine paired up with a 6-speed automatic, the Elantra GT is a city car with highway ambitions. 

Safety-wise, the Elantra GT comes equipped with seven airbags, ABS, and traction control, just to name a few safety features. 

Hyundai says the Elantra GT can do 7.6L/100km in the city, 5.3L/100km on the highway and 6.6L/100km combined. I’m sure it can achieve those numbers, but with snow tires equipped on my tester - I was able to get 8.2L/100km in the city.

On a 480-km highway trip from Kingston, I was able to get 8L/100km.

During my regular commute – a 382 kilometer combined trip – I was able to only get 9.1L/100km. That was with both the cabin heater and seat heater switched on - and keeping up with stop-and-go Highway 401 traffic.

Over the years, Hyundai has improved its vehicle quality inside and out. And the Elantra GT is no exception.

The demo vehicle came equipped with leather seats, Bluetooth connectivity, dual zone temperature control, auto-dimming mirror, panoramic sunroof, reverse camera, Sirius XM Radio, and a touch screen navigation system to name a few features.

Basically, it came with everything you’d find in a pricey competing model, but configured more affordably in the Hyundai.

With the exception to the logo on the steering wheel, it was tough to find anything that reminded me that I was in a Hyundai.

The car’s cabin was well-appointed. The heated front seats were very comfortable, and even during my long highway test drive I wasn’t exhausted from the drive – as some compact cars can make you.  

The controls were within easy reach of the driver or the passenger – though I did find that the audio controls on the dash were a bit of a stretch when driving. Thankfully, this specific model was configured with audio controls on the steering wheel, so I didn’t have to deal with the dash-mounted buttons.

And speaking of audio system, the stereo in this car is very good and the touch screen is amazing.

I’ve used touch screen systems in cars before, and most of the time the buttons on the screen are too small to do anything. But not this one.

The buttons are not only in easy reach, but are also large enough that you don’t need to use your pinky finger to choose your destination or your radio station.

The navigation system is a very easy to use and up-to-date. From programming your destination to adjusting the volume of the navigation voice, you did not need to have a computer science degree to understand how to get things done.

And the seven-inch touch screen doubles as your screen for the hidden reverse camera that is only available on this trim level. The camera is great during all types of light.

In the dark, I was able to see what was behind me quite clearly, and the camera wasn’t blinded by the sun during the day.

As an added touch, the camera is actually hidden behind the Hyundai logo on the hatch – so it will never get covered in road grime in the winter – unlike the exposed cameras competitors.

However, the motor that turns the logo around is loud and distracting whenever it’s called upon to reveal or hide the camera. It’s something you get used to very quickly and eventually it becomes just background noise.

The Elantra GT SE Tech Auto’s panoramic sunroof was one of the first things that passengers noticed when they got into the car.

And if you didn’t want the sun to be beating down on your passengers -- or yourself for that matter -- you just hit a button by the mirror and activated the sunshade. It closed off the entire sunroof, making the ceiling it look like any normal compact hatchback.

Figuring out the controls for the sunroof was a bit of a trick. There were two buttons that controlled the shade by itself, and also the sunroof button that controlled both the sunroof and the shade. So sometimes, when I meant to open up the sunroof, I’d end up closing the sunshade. This process did reveal, however, that the shade could be stopped halfway, so that you could still have the sun shining in the middle of the car, but not beating down on the driver’s head.

The seating capacity is rated for five passengers, but it could only hold four comfortably. You could do five, but only for a very short distance.

The rear seats aren’t as comfortable as the front, and sitting in the back, the headroom isn’t as high as it is in the front, so you might not be comfortable if you are over six feet. That being said, when I did have four other adults in the car, the little engine didn’t even feel like it was struggling.  

Packing this car is like any other hatchback. You can load in several hockey bags in the back, with the seats up, and still have room for a potted plant. The rear seats fold flat like in any other car, and you’re able to go to the build-your-own furniture store without having to rent a truck to pick up the larger items.

Pretty standard.

Except its not. The Elantra GT has a little secret. Where all other compact cars you can fold only the backs of the seats down, the Elantra GT’s rear seat bottom can also be moved to be flush against the backs of the front seat, and with the simple removal of the rear-seat headrests, you soon end up with a completely flat cargo area – an almost truck-like capacity. Not even the Elantra Touring – the station wagon Elantra - had that ability

Through the city, the highway or the suburbs, the Elantra GT handles well. The steering is very quick to respond to your inputs and the car goes where you want it to go. 

One of the features that no other car that I’ve driven has is what Hyundai calls “Flex Steering.” This feature allows you to adjust the resistance of the steering wheel, by simply pushing a button on the steering wheel. So if you wanted it to be really quick, you could set it to Comfort Mode, if you wanted it to be a little tougher, you’d set it to Sport Mode, and if you wanted to be like a normal car, you’d set it to Normal Mode.

Normally I drove the car in Normal Mode, but on my trip out to Kingston and back, I set the car to Sport Mode, which – though – didn’t adjust anything in the suspension, made it easier to drive the car on the highway, allowing it to be more planted and offered less resistance to the ruts on the 401. But you should remember to turn it back to Normal Mode the moment you get back onto the highway, because the moment you turn the wheel, at a green light, you will find yourself having to turn a little harder than you normally would, almost giving you the impression of driving a car without power steering.

The acceleration, though not as peppy as I liked, was good for the car. It responded when I needed the speed, and kept it going as I passed slower-moving vehicles. And the de-acceleration is very good too. As long as you kept a good, safe distance between you and the car ahead of you, you can keep that distance just by simply releasing off the gas, and letting the engine slow the car down – so though you’re not driving a standard, you almost are. And even with the car equipped with its winter tires, the road noise was practically non-existent, which is very surprising for a compact car – it was almost luxury car-quiet.

Hyundai has done a great job on this car. The standard features they have included put it into the top of its market, but the price keeps it in the middle.

The Elantra GT is designed and intended for those who want the top-of-the-line competitor, but can’t afford the top-of-the-line price.

Courtesy of: http://bit.ly/Z1ijWv

[VIDEO]: 2012 SEMA | Hyundai Recap (Part 2)

Feast your eyes on more tricked-out Hyundai rides from 2012 SEMA in part two of our exclusive. Even Santa Fe gets some mod love.

Video courtesy of Hyundai's YouTube channel.

Your Daily Deal: 2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited with just 18,660 miles on it for only $22,995!

Your Daily Deal: Check out the latest Fairfax Hyundai has to offer, with this 2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited with just 18,660 miles on it for only $22,995.

Call us at 571-748-4466 to speak to a sales consultant today! Or, follow this link for more information!

All-new 2013 Santa Fe finds robust sales demand while attracting a higher demographic CUV buyer

Hyundai Motor America today released key sales metrics and early buyer demographics from the highly successful launch of its all-new 2013 Santa Fe CUV. Last week, Santa Fe received ALG’s prestigious Highest Residual Value for the Midsize Utility Vehicle segment, establishing market expectations for superior value retention, both off-lease and in the pre-owned vehicle market. Equally impressive, Santa Fe has earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick recommendation as well as top-ranked 5-star NHTSA crash ratings, indicating superb crashworthiness in various critical collision categories.

2013 Santa Fe Launch Highlights Industry Accolades ALG Highest Residual Value for Midsize Utility Vehicle segment IIHS Top Safety Pick NHTSA 5-star crash test ratings New, Higher Demographic Santa Fe Buyer Average household income level up 36% above previous model Younger median buyer age, nearly five years below previous model High Turbo model sales mix of 39%, a premium buyer preference Early Launch Sales Metrics Dealer days-to-turn rate: 30 days 49% faster than industry average 59 days for same period Year-over-year sales nearly 15% above previous model

“Santa Fe is enjoying outstanding consumer demand with a new, higher-demographic CUV buyer, higher transaction prices and top-ranked crash safety ratings from the most respected safety agencies,” said Michael O’Brien, vice president of corporate and product planning for Hyundai Motor America. “Santa Fe dealer inventories are turning at a brisk 30-day pace, and we are very pleased with the new, upmarket class of buyers attracted to its combination of fluidic sculpture design, exceptional value, interior flexibility and outstanding safety credentials.”

Even with Santa Fe’s outstanding safety ratings, curb weights remain class-leading, a benefit of Hyundai’s strategic use of high-tensile steel in specific structural areas of the platform.

CUV	Santa Fe Sport	Edge	Equinox	Journey	Venza	Escape
Base Curb Weight (lbs.)	3,459	4,050	3,777	3,818	3,870	3,502

Early internal Hyundai buyer studies for the 2013 Santa Fe indicate a younger buyer than the previous Santa Fe by nearly five years, with 36 percent higher income. It is also attracting more educated buyers than the compact CUV segment in which it competes.

In terms of in-market shopper demand, Santa Fe has surged over the past few months since the introduction of the new model, according to the marketing analytics firm Kantar Compete. Further, according to TrueCar studies measuring a cross-section of shopper demand on a variety of shopping-oriented websites, Santa Fe demand is up 67 percent over the previous model. Using industry inventory data from Cars.com, Santa Fe has the fastest days-to-turn rate (30 days) in its segment by a large margin.

	Santa Fe Sport	Edge	Equinox	Journey	Venza	Escape
Days-to-turn rate	30	57	72	71	49	34

Santa Fe sales for the early launch period, September through November, are outpacing year-over-year sales for the previous model Santa Fe by nearly 15 percent, even without the benefit of the soon-to-be-released, larger 3-row Santa Fe. The new three-row, seven-passenger Santa Fe configuration made its world debut at last week’s 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, joining the two-row, five-passenger Santa Fe Sport. The new three-row Santa Fe will be on sale early 2013.

Santa Fe Model Line Sales Volume

	Sep.-Nov. 2012	Sep.-Nov. 2011	New Model Sales Increase
SANTA FE	20,154	17,541	14.8%

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 820 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable new vehicle warranty, Hyundai’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance.

Article and image courtey of Hyundai News.

Your Monday Maintenance Tip: Preserve your car during long-term storage

Not going to use your car for more than a month? Make sure you store it properly to prevent unnecessary damage and repairs upon your return by placing a vapor barrier on your garage floor. A 4-mil polyethylene drop cloth will do.

Your Monday Maintenance Tip courtesy of Reader's Digest.

[VIDEO]: Hyundai Holidays Sales Event

An amazing deal on a brand-new Hyundai? Now that's a gift that's sure to please.

Video courtesy of Hyundai's YouTube channel.

We want to thank Ashley A. for sharing her experience in this 5-star review on DealerRater!

ashleyarneson Dec 06, 2012

Overall Score: 5

Johnny was extremely warm and inviting upon first walking into Fairfax Hyundai. He walked me around to view the various models available and never pushed me into leaning one way or another. I was never inundated with phone calls or emails as I was throughout this process with other dealerships, which was much appreciated. As a first-time car buyer, I can say this experience exceeded my expectations and made it an enjoyable one. I look forward to doing business with Johnny and the rest of the team at Fairfax Hyundai in the future.

Click here to read more reviews on DealerRater.

Your Daily Deal: A 2010 Hyundai Elantra FWD with just 29,506 miles on it for only $14,995!

Your Daily Deal: Check out the latest Fairfax Hyundai has to offer, with this 2010 Hyundai Elantra with just 29,506 miles on it for only $14,995.

Call us at 571-748-4466 to speak to a sales consultant today! Or, follow this link for more information!