This is good to know. I haven't bought yet but the few dealers I've been to have been pretty stingy with their discounts, in casual conversation. I suppose when I find the right car, and the talk gets serious, maybe they can do better.

Still figuring it out.... I would luv to get a great CAR for less than 15K that is what caught my attention on the 09 but you guys are saying seats etc better in the 11?

Don't know about the '09 model but my '11 models seats are pretty comfy. My SE has heated leather and my GLS just has the material covered seats and both are comfortable on long drives. I've done 2 1/2 hour trips. The SE has a lumbar support adjust which is nice. My GLS does not. I've had back surgery in the past and the seats of both cars are easy on my back.
Good luck on your on your quest for that great car.

I dont know if theyre better...best I can tell the contours of the '11 seats look the same as mine...but in 09 there was no leather.

FWIW- theyre fine in the comfort department. The 09s have the lumbar adjust as well.

Essentially- theyre the same cars. If you want/need leather, then the '11 SE is your choice.

One thing to consider, as a rule of thumb, is that if you get an 09 vs and new 11 is that the car payment will probably be the same, it's just you'll be paying on the 11 for an extra year.
That said I'd get the 11. Some Hyundai dealers will extend the Hyundai warranty if you buy new with them. Mine in Atlanta did, and they doubled it to 200k mi.

Big drawback Elantra Touring GLS: gas consumption
 

Hi,
With gas prices so high I would not buy an Elantra Touring again. I'm at 1900 miles (3000 km) on my 2011 model so not fully broken-in but my gas consumption (can't call it "fuel economy"!) is 18.8 mgp (or 12.5 liters per 100 km) for mostly city driving. A lot worse than the figure Hyundai gives for the car. (Note that they usually give only the highway driving figure in their ads.) Other than that I enjoy the many features of the car. It has rattles and squeaks at the back of the car but a part has been ordered to remedy that. Certainly a pleasure to drive but the fuel consumption is a killer.

You didn't say what year, model or transmission you have but the Touring is only rated at a best of 23 MPG (10.2 L/100k) in city driving. I'd suspect the fuel economy will increase as the engine gets fully broken in and the weather warms up. Winter fuel and cold temps lower fuel economy. Others here that have posted their fuel economy numbers claim in the mid 20's for combined city/highway driving with MPG numbers n the 30's for mostlt highway driving.

My opinion is your economy isn't that far off given the climate and driving conditions. You can't expect to get the advertised highway mileage if you do all city driving. You should have done better research before buying.

I really didn't get good mileage until about 2000 miles, right now I'm averaging 29 mpg combined city/highway @ 4000 miles, almost as good as my Corolla got which was about 300 pounds lighter and had a smaller engine, so I'm impresssed as all hell with this car. City short trip driving always results in lower mileage, particularly in winter as the car never gets a chance to fully warm up enough to deliver good mileage. Also, a lot of people tend to let their cars sit and warm up before going anywhere which REALLY pulls down the gas mileage, and people also tend not to watch their tire pressures which tend to drop during cold weather and also results in poor mileage.

Thanks for the reassurances in your post that the mileage should improve with my car. Since mine (Elantra Touring GLS 2011 with Automatic transmission) uses twice as much gas as my previous car, an 11 year old Honda Civic (46 mpg for city driving), and consumes a lot more gas than Hyundai states on its website, I am trying to figure out if there is something wrong with this particular vehicle. (Hyundai's figures are 32.5 mpg for city driving and 43.5 for highway.) I was told they could not re-set the engine to improve the mileage. It coasts for three blocks at 30 mph without my foot on the gas so I thought that might be the problem. Anyway, I do hope it improves considerably as it gets broken in, as you say.

Those aren't the mileage figures for an Elantra Touring, not by a long shot...