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Let me throw my two cents in here...
First of all, I was a bit skeptical about the whole hyundai idea until my fiancee purchased a 2000 elantra (despite mild protests from yours truly). Granted, the 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty is nice, but a piece of paper won't save your life if you are involved in a collision. Her car is nice, and it drives very well considering what it cost, but I wouldn't want to be in one in an accident. I am on volvo #3, and volvo #1 ('85 740) gave its life to save mine... I lost control on a rainy Sunday morning and drove it into a jersey barrier head on at about 65 mph. I walked away literally without a scratch. I shudder to think what shape I would have been in if I was driving some rinky dink plastic roller skate with a motor. I went right back out and bought an '89 780, and now I have a '91 780.
It is difficult at best to weigh cost effectiveness against the value of your life or others lives. I'm sure we all value our own lives at somewhere above the cost of your average luxury car, but that doesn't mean we're all driving Sport Utes or $50,000 volvos or mercedes or other high priced vehicles that do well in safety ratings. It is easier for a lot of us brickboarders to justify buying a relatively inexpensive older volvo and performing more frequent and costly maintenance on it rather than purchasing a more expensive newer car (say, a hyundai?) and having maintenance costs covered by warranty. Why is it easier? Because we defer a lot of that maintenance cost by doing as much work ourselves as possible.
I'm sure that you are happy with your decision, and I congratulate you on your new car (even if it's not a Volvo). Bear in mind, though, that you have purchased $10,000 worth of peace of mind, spending it all on a new car that may be less safe than mine but that will require very little maintenance. It'll probably start every time you ask it to, and won't make any funny noises or smells. I have purchased almost that much peace of mind myself, spending $5,500 on an older car and another couple thousand on parts and maintenance... but my peace of mind comes from knowing that my car will protect me in the event of a collision, even if I sometimes catch myself crossing my fingers when I turn the key hoping it will start and even if my ears are finely tuned to detect squeaks, rattles, and shimmies.
To each their own... I told my fiancee that she could drive "Ellie" until the warranty ran out, if it made it that far, but that she was getting a Volvo after that!
Good luck,
-Jon '91 Coupe 155K "Gustaf"
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