[Turbo Dave]

So after months of driving cars and watching reviews on YouTube, I wanted the Elantra Sport. I've posted here and followed the community since I really liked the car. Unfortunately, after months of trying to both find one at a dealership and trying to buy one,i had to give up. I went to 3 different dealerships that had one, but the experience was ridiculous. The dealership in Daytona Beach was charging a $2500 markup for limited availability and had ugly rain guards and stripes on it for another $1000 so the sticker was $29,900. They also hit me at $3k under bluebook for my Prius. I tried Vero Beach and they had $6000 in markup saying it was the only Sport in a 300 mile radius. The sticker was just shy of $33k. I gave up and went to my dealership in town and tried to locate one. They found one but the manager didn't want to get it and they kept trying to sell me a Sonata sport or a Veloster.

So. I was playing around on Jalopnik and read an article about ridiculous deals on Ford Fiesta STs. I went to Bozard Ford and I bought a 2017 black Fiesta ST with 34 miles on the odo for $16k even. Ive been driving it for about 6 weeks and have 3000 on the odo. My wife just bought a 2017 Hyundai Tucson limited ultimate a couple of weeks ago.

I love Hyundai, they have nice cars. I love my wife's Tuscon. It gets over 30 mpg and it's really comfortable and has tons of features. I really loved the Elantra sport, too.

Soo. The Fiesta ST is a ridiculously fun car. It is smaller than the Elantra and weighs under 2700 lbs. It has 197 hp and 214 lb-ft torque when over boost kicks in. It feels like driving a go cart. The back seat and trunk space is a joke compared to the Elantra, though. The thing is almost clownishly small but it is a great car. I like the handling and the steering is more direct feeling than the Elantra sport but the steering wheel is thin feeling compared to the Elantra. The Elantra makes amazing off the line torque whereas the Fiesta doesn't hit it's sweet spot until about 4000 rpm but it pulls like a train until 6500 rpm. I think the Elantra had a more progressive feeling clutch but the shifter feels a little quicker in the Fiesta. The Elantra feels much nicer as an overall daily driver with more features and comfort. The Fiesta is small, has no storage, you can't have a drink in the cup holder without banging into it while shifting and you can't get basic options like a backup camera even in the highest trim. However, you can throw the Fiesta into a curve at triple digit speed without drama and it has torque vectoring to sort out the front during spirited driving. I still feel pangs of jealousy whenever my wife asked me to drive her Tuscon since it's like an overgrown Elantra, though.

One thing that really does stand out is the insane aftermarket for the Fiesta ST. Want a tuner? There are like 20 companies with a tune. You can use an accessport and buy a tune for $50-100. Intake? Choose one of 15 companies with one. Turbo upgrade? We have 13 to choose from...the list goes on and it's almost overwhelming. I'm still trying to get my head around which direction I want to go in when I start to mod.

I do hope to stick around here too, I love the Elantra sport and feel it's the beginning of a new chapter in Hyundai as they continue to build awesome cars. I think there are great people here on the forum and the guys at Tork and Sxth are awesome too. If anyone has comments or questions of how Ford and Hyundai compare, I'll give my say in it as well.

 

[nels0300]

That stinks, and is kind of surprising that you couldn't find a reasonably priced Elantra Sport.

Markups on a Hyundai, that's a new one for me.

I guess it must be a more popular car in Florida vs. Minnesota where I bought mine.

Congrats on the new Fiesta though, that's a super fun car, and for $16K, it's hands down the best bang for your buck fun car you can buy. If car seats fit in one, I would've seriously considered one. Same with the Focus ST as well, back seat is too tight, otherwise I'd probably have one.

 

[Turbo Dave]

That stinks, and is kind of surprising that you couldn't find a reasonably priced Elantra Sport.

Markups on a Hyundai, that's a new one for me.

I guess it must be a more popular car in Florida vs. Minnesota where I bought mine.

Congrats on the new Fiesta though, that's a super fun car, and for $16K, it's hands down the best bang for your buck fun car you can buy. If car seats fit in one, I would've seriously considered one. Same with the Focus ST as well, back seat is too tight, otherwise I'd probably have one.

Funny you should say that. 2 days after buying my Fiesta I was looking at a tuner for it when my wife sat down and told me she is pregnant. Needless to say I had to delete the shopping cart and look at a carseat instead. I'm not sure how I'm going to fit one in it and a stroller in the back but thankfully her new Tuscon is plenty big.

 

[Poolnoodle]

Holy **** congrats to you and your wife man!! Both on the cars and on the baby!

 

[n0thing]

The Fiesta ST is a hilariously fun car but family vehicle it is not. Get as narrow a car seat as you can and throw it in the middle spot in the back seat.

The Elantra Sport aftermarket will always be a tiny percentage of what's available for the ST line unfortunately.

Congrats on the car and baby!

 

[electricelantra]

Congrats on the news! Thats awesome.

Speaking to the Fiesta, I had a black 2016 ST for the past 2 years before changing up to the ES...and like you and others have said, the ST is a HOOT. I love that car. I put 24k miles on it and had zero issues whatsoever, other than balding the factory summer tires. Seriously, the ST is the best drivers car I've ever owned (I liked the driving experience more than my previous FRS).

I switched to the ES because the fiesta's stiff suspension was starting to wear on me a bit. The ES is not as fun (or fast) but is a little bit more livable for a car that I will be keeping for the next 5+ years. I am looking forward to buying another ST used in the coming years for autocross/back-road fun though!

 

[justsayyes]

Funny you should say that. 2 days after buying my Fiesta I was looking at a tuner for it when my wife sat down and told me she is pregnant. Needless to say I had to delete the shopping cart and look at a carseat instead. I'm not sure how I'm going to fit one in it and a stroller in the back but thankfully her new Tuscon is plenty big.

Congrats! Word to the wise, use your knee and body weight to push down on the car seat so as to eliminate as much forward travel/rocking as possible. This is for the BASE of the car seat. A VERY common mistake among new parents especially since the father is loathe to damage the rear seat cushion. So, in deference to your new car, you may want to get a car seat protector.

 

[kdetlor]

2 days after buying my Fiesta I was looking at a tuner for it when my wife sat down and told me she is pregnant.

You'll be getting a Subaru in a few months! LOL

Congratulations!

 

[Wolf_Speed]

heres some advice, dont let a woman dictate what u drive or anything u do in life. they dont allow men to control their lives so dont allow her to control yours especially when it comes to a car you drive. have babies but still continue to drive the fiesta. the fiesta is a nice car and you just bought it. keep it, children can fit and so can a stroller. my sister has one and has 2 kids.

now, if u must switch wait until hyundais n divio
sion. dont buy some pos subaru or handuh. even the new elan gt will suffice. its very spacious.

 

[justsayyes]

Wish I had a picture of it, but my "hero" new father was the owner of a Ferrari 308 with camel colored leather interior that I saw parked on UC Berkeley's campus one day. Had a backward facing baby seat in the passenger seat!

 

[1freshelantra]

Wow you went to 2 Hyundai dealerships and they let you leave without getting what you wanted? I am smack dab between both of those locations and both dealerships have the ES for way below those prices you stated. Makes me sad you may have settled Sure hope not. Cocoa and Melbourne Hyundai Dealerships have never let me down. Good luck on your Fiesta

 

[MNBear]

I had to look again when I read a dealer charging markup.

I got my 18' 1350 below msrp before and rebates or cash back. I am not even sure if that was good.... ?

 

[XSOCRUZ]

My last car was a 2016 Ford Fiesta ST model but it was built late 2016 so it had the stuff that came with 2017 model. It was such a fun car to drive. Sold it cause I bought a house. Now recently I was going to buy another Fiesta ST when I came across the Elantra SR (Aussie version). I'm loving it! Got the manual version with sunroof and other goodies with it. Even the 17inch wheels stock looks kool.

I had the Mountune Fiesta ST version from Germany to Australia pulling 158kw. Best exhaust for it is the Remus cat back brand which needs no cutting of existing stock and has the best mid sound no droning. Trust me I spent heaps of money on different types and the Remus from Australia is the best.

Now I'm here with my new car. A white Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo. The learning and fun begins here for me with this Elantra SR as I say bye to the Fiesta ST.

 

[Jendo]

My 1st sporty car was '16 Focus ST, this car is awesome and engages the driver very well, very fun car. My daughter who is 5 now did not fit in the back seat comfortably. I traded the ST for a '12 F-150 FX4 Ecoboost. Fully loaded looked awesome lots of space, felt fast for a truck...but it was not a car. Sold truck and bought '16 Subaru STI, HANDS DOWN best car I've owned. Awesome car handles great! Chose this one after test driving the Evo X, Golf R, Focus RS. Was choking a little bit on the payments so I HAD to downgrade...but I did NOT want to give up on the fun factor. The ES is the BEST I found for the price range I needed. I even drove a WRX with the new engine and didn't like it. This car is roomy, fun to drive, and looks great. Thumbs up!

 

[mccaslin0]

I know you didn't just say POS subaru. Dude waaaaaay off. If subbies weren't so expensive no a days I'm sure half the people on this forum would buy a wrx in a heartbeat.

 

[Voodoo Idol]

I know you didn't just say POS subaru.

I don't see anyone saying anything like that. That said, I'd be in the other 50%. They may perform well, but they're ugly as sin. Not as bad as the new Civics, but still pretty bad.

 

[n0thing]

I know you didn't just say POS subaru. Dude waaaaaay off. If subbies weren't so expensive no a days I'm sure half the people on this forum would buy a wrx in a heartbeat.

I mean, they kind of are. Crap interiors and finicky/sensitive engines that love to knock and go boom. I have zero interest in owning one even if I could afford one. If I'm paying that much for something unreliable I'll just take my chances with something from Germany.

 

[Inlovewithsue]

I mean, they kind of are. Crap interiors and finicky/sensitive engines that love to knock and go boom. I have zero interest in owning one even if I could afford one. If I'm paying that much for something unreliable I'll just take my chances with something from Germany.

I have to agree. I have two close friends, one of my neighbors, and a work associate who have all owned WRX's and hated them. All four of them took deep losses to get rid of their cars and none would ever go back. Three of the vehicles were bone stock and one was heavily modified, but all of them said that they had continual mechanical problems that Subaru would never cover under warranty - always blamed it on the driver not knowing how to drive the car. LOL.

 

[CoolRonZ]

wow congrats. I live way up north in Canada, my nearest stealership is an 8 hour ferry ride and another 8 hour drive away. They managed to find exactly what I wanted and MSRP plus incentives. I was in the same boat as you, I knew what I wanted but I would not give in, either be fair for forget it. Fiesta would be fine for having a baby. I remember growing up when we didn't even have car seats or seat belt laws. I did actually look into a Fiesta also, but they are just too tiny for my tastes, but big on fun! I'm happy for you and a little jealous.

 

[MarinaBlue]

Wow, really surprised that you couldn't find one near you at or below MSRP. Hyundai had a ridiculously good rebate when I was looking to buy, but I bought an Si sedan instead for several reasons (looks not being one of them because the Si has some not so easy to look at angles).

The Fiesta ST is definitely a go-kart, enjoy it Congrats on the baby too!