Late response and update but I decided to pass on that one. another somewhat short story but after driving my girlfriends cousins Hyundai Accent home from Monster Jam this weekend I lost ALL faith in Hyundai at least their newer models; The Accent had just over 36,000 miles and shifted poorly, idles rough, and sounded like the rear wheel bearing might be bad! To think my 10 yr old car with 170,000 MI runs better than a car that has 36,000 is beyond me. I was astonished. Some may argue that the Accent is "a cheap economy car and you shouldn't expect much" but aren't our HHR's economy cars too?!!?!? I swear they make cars cheaper and cheaper and more tailored to the people who Lease cars because at the end of the day most people who lease only need to get about 50,000 miles out of it or so, after that who knows.

 

I replaced my HHR with a Hyundai Tucson. After 21K miles I have had no issues with the car. If cars are maintained, you should have few issues with it, but today many car owners do not. Hyundai offers free oil changes at 4000 mile intervals, so it goes in. I did replace the engine air filter with a K&N and also a cabin air filter. I can get 28-29 mpg just a tad less than what I got with the HHR.

Dealers today want you to lease a car for they know they can get another "sale" a year or so down the road. A lease is only good if you can write off auto expenses, other wise, it is a poor deal for you, but a great deal for the dealer.