I wasn't worried about your manual driving. A clutch should last much longer than 10 x's that.

Curiously, what was the actual problem with your car? And was it soon after servicing? I wonder if some mechanic put the wrong tranny fluid in.

Just troubleshooting out loud here without knowing more about it.
Problem - Clutch is burned out.
Possible reasons - wrong tranny oil
- no tranny oil
Possible cause - pressure plate didn't have enough pressure (always slipping)

I would most likely say with 80% accuracy that it was the pressure plate in your clutch not engaging properly. Why that was, is another story. Perhaps the pedal on your clutch was getting stuck and not letting out all the way, or it wasn't set properly from the manufacturer, defective clutch plate to begin with (that one is a hard case to prove).

I certainly hope Hyundai's don't have weak clutches :eek:

I highly doubt they do. Has your clutch given you any problems? How many miles are on your ET?

Has there been anyone else complaining about bad ET clutches here? The answer is no.

Yeah, that was a stupid assumption I made.

My thread is starting to get a little off topic because of me, I will try to stick to the original first impressions theme. Haven't driven my new car for 3days so nothing really to report.

I did move my car from under a shady Black Locust (which is shedding little black dot things on my silver car and starting to leave marks) but I was able to wipe them off in the morning before the sun baked them into the roof - don't have a garage to park it.

I should probably get a portable cover to protect it from the "shade things" and of course the suns UV breaks things down too.

Kids using booster seats in the back will complain of it being too hard to buckle into those recessed seat belts. It's nice they are recessed so the folded seats go down better but your kids will complain.

One other thing. The cooled glove box is a neat idea but partly not practacle. Mainly because you store car manual / registration maybe wallet in the glove box - if you want to put a cold drink in their and some veggies to stay cool on a hot summer day you would need to pull out all the manuals and make room for them. It would have made more sense to make a seperate cooler box or make the center console big enough to store your manual in. The cooled glove box idea seems like an afterthought.

why do you keep manual in the car, I say weight reduction and leave those at home.
If you are leaving your wallet in your car's glove box, please let me know your address so I can give you a nightly visit.

My only advice, don't put bigger than 16" wheels on it otherwise the ride is too stiff

over here that same engine was also found in Tiburon (2 door coupe sport-ish car)

Good point about the manual, the only problem taking it out of the car is, if you forget where you put it and you need it, you'll pull your hair out trying to find it if someone moved it on you in the house.

I store my wallet in my glove box only while I'm in the car. If it's not there, neither am I.

A clutch shouldn't go bad at 12k, that's utterly rediculous, especially for highway driving.

Adults who buckle the kids in the back will complain too. :)
I most certainly recall that being a pain- but as you said it allowed for the seat to be more flat without pressing into the seatback.

The A/C struggled enough cooling the cabin...I couldnt afford the luxury of cooling the glovebox.

Yeah, the AC is crap...have to keep it on recirc in city driving otherwise I'll sweat. I actually like this car for rear child seats. I think it has more door opening han other small cars I've had.