Married couple in their “sensational sixties” talk about today’s hottest, newest cars—and still manage to go to bed without getting angry at night.
First impressions?
LAURIE: Well, bundling three Hyundai’s into one car review reminds me of the “Three Little Pigs”.
The First Little Pig—call him Pepe—was the youngest so naturally he wanted to get the job out of the way. He built a beach cabana out of bamboo, blended himself a Smoothie, and went surfing. Roger, the middle brother, constructed a stick-built house with three bedrooms and a large backyard in a pleasant commuter’s suburb and after he was done, picked up a latte on his way to dropping the piglets off for soccer. The oldest brother, Mike, built a mansion on the end of the island after a successful career trading corn on the Pork Exchange, and when it was done, mixed himself a Martini.
Pepe drove a Hyundai Elantra, Roger drove a Hyundai Azera, and Mike owned a Hyundai Genesis. And the moral of my story is, Hyundai offers a car for every pig in the pen.
JOHN: Is this my wife talking? Who is this woman? I am checking the liquor closet. Three little pigs? And Pepe? Who’s Pepe? Actually, my first impressions were—Azera— “hmmmmm”, Elantra— “that’s better”, and Genesis — “I want one!”
Which one did you like best?
2015 Hyundai Genesis.
LAURIE: The Genesis. Ever since I read The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I realized it was okay to surround yourself in luxury so long as you don’t get fixated by a green light shining from the end of a pier on Long Island Sound at night.
JOHN: Okay, call me a pleasure snob. The Genesis is a luxury package without a luxury price tag. There’s the “Signature Package, “Tech Package”, and “Ultimate Package,” which add to the car’s MSRP of $38K. The Signature and Tech Packages add features I like, maybe ‘need,’ at my age: HD headlights, blind spot detection, Rear Cross traffic alert come with the Signature Package. The Tech Package adds lane departure warning, Smart Cruise, auto emergency braking, and front and rear parking assistance. The 9” display screen is good for older eyes.
Besides ‘Pepe’, who will buy the Hyundai Elantra?
2015 Elantra Sedan.
LAURIE: The Elantra has some stiff competition in the compact sedan class. It’s up against the Honda Civic, the Mazda 3; the Toyota Corolla, the Chevy Cruze, the Ford Focus, and the Nissan Sentra.
JOHN: Cars this size and price range come down to, “who likes this style?” Laurie’s right—there is a lot of competition in the $25K price range. Look into resale value, MPG, and operational costs and try to make an informed decision is key to car buying.
And besides Roger, who will drive the Azera?
2014 Hyundai Azera.
JOHN: The Azera Limited we drove had all the ‘bells and whistles,’ the interior was very nice, and if you follow our column, you know I like comfort. I don’t like to drive long distances anymore and I like being comfortable whatever distances I do. With a V6, it has good acceleration. I like that. A little jump, however, can get some not-yet- savvy young, and older people, as well, in trouble—but if you are a competent driver, ‘a little jump’ can get you out of trouble too—like on the highway behind a stop-and-go driver. Who would buy the Hyundai Azera? People who want an economical ‘big’ car.
LAURIE: The Elantra rocks with 34 miles per gallon highway, compared with 29 for both the Azera and the Genesis. And of the three, the Azera comes with proportionately more standard features than the other two, so you get a lot of bang for your buck. This is a great car for empty nesters; take the $12,000 price difference between the Azera and the Genesis, fly to Europe, and take an eight-day river boat cruise on the Danube.
Final Thoughts?
JOHN: The big winner is the Genesis. Every now and then, you drive a car that speaks to you—kind of like a fine painting, or a beautiful woman…Ow! Laurie, what was that for?…and you just want to take one home…Ow! What are you doing? It’s a car for Pete’s sake!
LAURIE: Depending upon my time in life, I would have loved any of these three —but now that I’m in the “autumn of my years,” as Frank Sinatra crooned, the 2015 Hyundai Genesis fits me like a kid glove. You know, the elbow-length kind that Grace Kelly wore in To Catch a Thief when she planted that kiss on Cary Grant outside her hotel room door and then there were lots of fireworks outside (and between them, too.)
Johnny and I want to close this week’s column on a serious note, for a change. There are many cars we love, and the 2015 Hyundai Genesis RWD 3.8 is one. It’s the first rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan to earn the Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), with optional Automatic Emergency Braking, and a 5-star Overall Safety Rating from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. J.D. Powers ranks the Genesis No. 1 for the second year running in the Midsize Premium Class. There’s good reason. By a quirk of Fate, in a sliver of a moment, this car might very well save your, or a loved one’s, life. Log onto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPTIXldrq3Q and understand why.
Bravo, Hyundai! Full Marks!
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Driving Me Crazy Columnists Laurie and John Wiles.
John and Laurie Wiles have a combined driving history of ninety-five years. Laurie is one of only thirty-six journalists who are members of the prestigious New England Automotive Press Association (Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of National Public Radio’s “Car Talk” among them.) Since 1998, Laurie has test-driven and reviewed over eight-hundred new model cars, trucks, and SUVs. John, a lifelong car enthusiast, has owned more than forty vehicles (so far.)
John and Laurie recently got the idea of combining on a weekly car review. Laurie explains. “One day, a gorgeous blue Porsche Cayman pulled in the drive. Johnny slides behind the wheel, cocks an eyebrow, and says, ‘The name’s Bond. James Bond,’ like he’s Sean Connery or something. The next week, a Chevy Camaro rolls in. Johnny gets one glimpse of that muscle car and shouts out, ‘Can you say N-A-S-C-A-R?’ Once I realized he wasn’t speaking in tongues, I realized his voice, together with mine, might be fun. After all, ‘sixty is the new forty.’”
John adds, “Men and women have very different opinions about cars and I think it’s good for people to get an understanding of what a couple think about a car, and what they like and don’t like. Of course, that doesn’t mean they have to agree on everything—you know, like the way it is in a marriage.”
Laurie, whose professional name is Laurie Bogart Morrow, is the author of a dozen books, including The Hardscrabble Chronicles (Penguin Putnam) and The Giant Book of Dog Names (Simon and Schuster. John is a retired program manager in the National Defense contracting industry and a teacher in the public school system. They live happily in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
