Hello Todd -
I wish Nelly was a V6 - she is the 4-banger with manual transmission. I could have purchsed an SE (V6) but I was driving over 1k miles a week...I added up the maintenance cost and the 4 cylinder manual made sense:
> Automatic would need tranny flush every 35 WEEKS (at several hundred dollars a pop) but I can change the manual fluid myself every 60 weeks for $26
> Oil filter on the V6 is much more expensive (and more difficult to change) and I did an oil/filter change every six weeks
> Gas mileage on the 4 cylinder manual was a bit better than the V6 (even so my gas bills ran $300 to $400 a month)
But what closed the deal on the 4 cylinder was price. Got owner loyalty discount from Hyundai, got a $500 coupon on a Sonata at the auto show, additional $1,000 off by financing through Hyundai (paid it off in six months), found ONE manual 4-banger on the dealer lot and it was discounted - got it for less than $12,400 (plus tax and paperwork crap) - it had about 5 miles on the odometer and I put on 3 of those miles on a test drive!
Regards,
GEWB