1 day Ago By Matthew Guy
Article content Welcome to a new series at Driving, one in which we chronicle the adventures of a new driver getting the keys to a decade-old economy car with 347,000 kilometres on the clock. We will be talking about smart ways to buy a used vehicle, how best to approach simple repairs, plus ways to make an affordable second-hand car safe and look good. We hope you find it helpful.
The last time we checked in with our budding teen driver , he was busy wading through umpteen different Marketplace ads, most of which only had the most basic of grasp on grammar or vehicle detail, eventually forking over some of his earned dough on a 2013 Hyundai Elantra which had the equivalent of travelling the entire Trans-Canada Highway system some forty-five times under its Korean belt. As one might realistically expect, the car needed some work. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any serious rust of which to speak, with one of the former owners performing a solid if mismatched job of rocker panel repair some spell ago.
During the two hours between finding the car in a gravel parking lot and its owner appearing with the keys, Lucas was encouraged to explore YouTube a bit to discover what good engine oil should look like and how to check it on this particular model – important in any car but especially key given issues exhibited by some cars with this powertrain. Him confidently hoisting the hood and checking this Elantra’s oil as part of the buying process was a great learning experience and hopefully helps set him up for success with future purchases. But there were items which needed attention, all of which were understandable in this price bracket (which, by the way, was less than some people spend on a trip to Costco the way inflation is these days).
Of primary concern were the front wheel bearings ( Amazon | Walmart | Ebay | Canadian Tire | Auto Zone ) units which growled like Chewbacca and were seemingly set in beach sand instead of grease. A bit of research by Lucas, and past experience from Dear Old Dad, confirmed this generation of Elantra has front wheel bearings which need to be pressed into the axle hub with a large machine – hardly a DIY job for anyone without the tools. Plus, the job is a pain in the rear.
This explains why, the next day, we were standing at the parts counter of Maritime Auto Parts, a vehicle recycler that’s been in our neck of the woods for the better part of a century. Collisions and mishaps take an innumerable amount of cars off the road every year, many of them with an abundance of useful parts which are in perfect shape and safe for the road. The fifth-generation Elantra was outrageously popular in Canada, selling well over a quarter-million units during its run, so parts are plentiful.
And affordable, as it turned out. New bearings would have cost $91.00 each (plus the headache of pressing them into the hub) compared to $51.
00 for an entire hub-and-spindle assembly from a recycler like Maritime Auto. The assembly would have to be removed from the car for bearing replacement anyway, making the decision a no-brainer. Digging into the job required more education from YouTube University for Lucas, along with a few tips and tricks learned over the years by the Old Man.
When the lower driver-side ball joint refused to give up its grip on the spindle, for example, methods involving a BFH were deployed, not all of which are approved by Hyundai Canada. Using the trick of elevating a floor jack ( Amazon | Walmart | Ebay | Canadian Tire ) under the spindle to take some unsprung load off the offending unit did the job and the final piece was then disassembled in jig time. Any new drivers reading this post who may intimated by the thought of tackling a repair should remember that we all didn’t know how to complete a task the first time around.
The cool thing about the 21 st century are the multitude of resources to which one can turn for education – whether it’s a service manual, video, how-to post, or simply asking someone you know for a hand. Dig in, research, learn; so long as you take care and perform the work in a safe manner, the sense of pride and accomplishment will be immense. It certainly was for our young driver.
Funky or exotic tools weren’t required for these jobs, save for a jumbo 32 mm socket to break loose the main axle nut. Even that was easily sourced at Canadian Tire for a pittance. In fact, it seems just about everything one needs to fix common problems on a common car can be found at the place; all the tools here are an accumulation of three decades of wrenching on rigs in rural Canada.
And no, this post is not sponsored by MotoMaster – I just believe in shouting out tough, long-lasting tools with reasonable price tags. Tires were the next step in getting Lucas’ new-to-him Elantra on the road. Technically, those four fist-sized patches of rubber are the only parts of a car which actually touch the road ; if they’re in bad shape, modern safety suites and driver aids are less likely to work at their peak and save the day from going all pear shaped.
With cold weather around the corner, we sourced a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 non-studded winter tires ( Ebay ) for excellent grip when the mercury drops. High quality tires from a brand like Nokian are worth the cash for an advanced and heavily tested tread pattern (ample shoulder tread blocks and saw-toothed sipes, for starters) but also a rubber compound incorporating the likes of microscopic crystals for extra grip. Its appropriately engineered rubber will stay pliable even in coldest February.
Nokian looks after new drivers who may not know how to check a tire’s tread depth but molding the numbers 8-6-4 into the rubber tread, representing the approximate number of millimetres of tread depth remaining. When the digits are gone, the tires are sufficiently worn to warrant replacement. It’s a great teaching tool and confidence builder for those new to cars.
I’ve exclusively run Nokian winter tires on my rigs for years and highly recommend the brand after it has seen us through umpteen horrible Atlantic Canadian winters, so I know it’ll keep my son safe. These ones were mounted on the set of steel wheels which the previous owner included with the Elantra. The final skiff of mechanical work – for now – was a simple engine oil change ( Amazon | Walmart | Ebay | Canadian Tire ) to make sure the Elantra had fresh fluids flowing through its 1.
8L engine. Lucas says he plans to pre-emptively change the oil every four months or 4,000 km which is not quite double the recommended 6mos/6k intervals. Some will say that’s overkill but he figures it is cheap insurance to counteract the engine’s high mileage and a propensity to grenade under bearing failures or extreme oil sludge.
Turns out the kid isn’t just learning hands-on skills but also a dose of critical thinking and decision making. None of this stuff is incredibly difficult nor requires much in the way of exotic tools. What really helps tackle repairs like these the attitude that you can do it.
Just because you don’t know today how to make the repair doesn’t mean you can’t do it, just that you don’t *yet* know how. And there’s all kinds of ways to learn: ask a friend or colleague who’s faced the same repair, dig into the subject online, have an annoying father with a back catalog of experience. Then once you’ve learned, as Nike used to tell us, you just do it.
You can bet that’s a lesson which will translate to other parts of his life beyond cars. Hey, who knew a cheap Elantra could be so profound? The next post in this series will talk about getting a well-worn and grungy interior back into some semblance of order. Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X , Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.
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