OP, have you checked out the Hyundai Veloster? It's stylish, new, great mpgs, great standard features, and I think it has more space than the elantra, and is priced really similar to it also.

With that said, I obviously voted for the Elantra. Honda is crap.

 

2012 Civic if not 2012 Impreza.

 

This is a very tough decision. Both cars have their high points. In the end, I chose the Civic because it's a car I trust. My family has had two recent Hyundais and while they are good, they are not great. There is just something about them that does not feel 100%. As mentioned above, they look good on paper but don't quite deliver the full shabang.
I'd also say the Elantra is a little overstyled, which to me is a turn off.
While the Civic was once excellent, now it's only good. So in the end, both cars fall into the good range, again making it a very hard choice.

 

I'd go Civic again in a heartbeat.
Bought a new '08 for my son and it's been bulletproof for 80K miles and he's hard on a car.

 

from design point i like the hyundai and also theres not much huge difference..so in that case i look for design..n the hyundai wins

 

Hey I was cross shopping between a Ferrari 599 and a new Civic last month and went with teh Civic because Ferrari didn't have the Vtach meter yo.

 

Good: 40mpg on GDI engine, lots of standard equipment, stylish
- Bad: Interior space a little smaller, good warranty, price gouging for a Huyndai?!!!

The Elantra does not utilize GDI for its 148 hp 1.8 I4. It is EPA rated as a midsize sedan so I fail to understand why it has less interior space than the compact Civic. Also did you just put good warranty as a bad thing? This seems like bait.

 

In fairness to the Civic, if you were looking for the standard model and not the HX, availability would be a lot better. HX's have always been rare.

 

My gf was in the same situation about 3 months ago. She went with the Civic. She just couldn't justify spending $20k on a Hyundai. Her words, not mine.

 

Civic even if its the lesser car because the dealer support \ service \ customer service from Hyundai, at least around here, has been poor at best and until they work on \ fix that part of their business.............

 

I choose Hyundai, I have a 01 honda civic and the auto tranny went out at 90,xxx. Even my old ek hatchback had 150,xxx + still running til this day. Hondas are built cheaper now i guess.

 

I voted for Civic.

 

I completely agree!

 

I've reviewed both the new Civic and Elantra. Both seem to be pretty-well-built, though the new Civic's interior uses more hard-plastic than its predecessor. Both have good paint jobs, and both can be expected to be reliable. I don't particularly like the styling of either car, outside or inside....the Elantra, in particular, looks too much like a space-ship. In a pinch, I'd probably choose the Elantra. Its warranty trumps the Civic's, it can get 40 MPG in a cheaper version than the comparable HF-Civic, its interior (though somewhat overstyled for my tastes) uses nicer-materials than the Civic's, and, unlike Hyundais of long ago, no longer loses half its value in depreciation practically overnight. Hyundais also (usually) have more-incentives than Hondas do.......Honda usually doesn't try to move its products through rebates, low-financing, etc.....at the factory-level, prefering, instead, to rely on dealer-advertising (dealer ads, of course, often an insult to one's intelligence).

One thing, though, that the Civic does have going for it, is a long record of well-above-average reliability. The Civic also has, if you like to row your own gears, what is, IMO, the best FWD manual-transmission-linkage in the buisness. Using the Civic clutch and gear-linkage is a piece of cake, even in heavy traffic.

 

I've read the same reviews, BUT my daughters 2011 Elantra got 43mpgs on a 3 hour trip a few weeks back. In town she gets 27-32mpgs. So I think they are more accurate that their getting credit for. Most people just have a heavy foot.

Space wise, the Elantra feels MUCH bigger inside than the Civic. We test drove both and went with the Elentra because it out features, comforted, and road the other cars we looked at. It cost about the same also. I think the Focus was the only one that, when maxed out with equipment, cost more.

We looked at :
2011 Civic
2011 Focus
2011 Optima
2011 VW <-- horrible
2011 Mazda 3
2011 Corrola.