A True Hyundai Guy   I started with Hyundai some time ago. It was '88 and my parents were buying their first brand new car. We looked at Yugos and Hyundais. We were asked what we liked and my brother and I both said Hyundai.  So there was our first car, a brand new 1988 Hyundai Excel 4 door. The next car was a 1990 Excel hatchback. This would ultimately become my car in '96 when I received my license. However, some years before, my father would take me out early on Sunday mornings on some back roads in NJ and there I learned how to drive a a manual transmission.  I either spun the tires or stalled, no bucking for me! It was all over from there!   I was hooked on Hyundai and when my '90 took a dump with 180k on the odometer, I bought a '94 Excel in that very horrible teal green color.   This would be the first car that I would modify. It started with lowering the car on Intrax springs and using KYB struts. Then I picked up a set of Enkei rpo-1's (15") I painted the taillights, had GTS headlight covers, and some other hideous things. On a long trip the slave cylinder went out of my and I burned up the clutch getting it home. Vermont to New Jersey is a pain without a clutch!   I then picked up my '00 Tiburon and again the modification bug hit. The Enkei's that were on the Excel went onto the Tib and so did the full setup of Eibach equipment springs/struts and roll bars. Too bad a deer and a corner ruined the car and it was totalled out. Three trees did about 8 grand worth of damage.   So... I went on the offensive and went looking again. I called up my guy at the dealership and he had a black Elantra GT that I would be able to roll 6k on to it ( I had no GAP insurance, I know stupid me!). So went down and picked up my new '03 GT. I did not know at the time what the car had in store for me. I loved it when I bought it and I still love it as much if not more! Even with 174k on the clock, it runs just as well as it did from day one and has given me almost no trouble at all! Well, except for the fuel pump going out at 120k and barely making it to a friends house and then squeezing into a PT cruiser with 5 other people on a very long ride home.  Found a replacment and did it in my friends driveway and drove home. Most of my modfications have been to the suspension, because thats where I needed it the most.      I happened to come into some money and bought my self what would be my first modification. Tein super street coils were installed at about 30k and I have never looked back! Other mods followed and they will continue to follow. I left the motor alone for driveability reasons and for fear of blowing it up and not having a car. Even now with the know how and experience I'm not sure I would turbo it or not. So there it sits N/A but a fantastic car to drive!! I must also mention the versatility of the hatch is unsurpassed! I have stuff so much crap into it it's unbelievable.  It's been an excellent daily driver and I'm sure (now that I can rip it apart and put the whole thing back together again) it will continue to be no matter what happens to it! haha     About me. Where to start? Upon graduating HS in '97 I went straight to college at Rider University in Trenton NJ. I hated it. Dorm life was just not for me. Found myself in chat rooms and car forums. I ended up failing out. I moved back home and went to county college. I did however make some good friends and one of them,  that I met online would lead me to the love of my life, helped me through some tough times. The up and coming months were turbulant and by the summer Michelle and I were together and we were on our way as friends and ultimately being together.   I started at East Stroudsburg University in '02 and graduated in '04 with a BS in psychology and a minor in philosophy. I quickly found out that I either had to go for a doctorate or deal with not getting paid enough for the work you do. Sorry I didn't love it that much, but I did end up with some great life expierence and learned alot about myself. From working in residential facilities to being a case manager for schizophrenic patients to working at a crisis house and talking people out of killing themselves (essentially thats what I did).   I got burned out and started working on cars first for fun but then I found a job working on Volkswagon Vanagons. I worked for a company called Vanaru. We swapped Subaru motors into the Vanagons. That ended and the company split.  So I was unemployed and looking for something. My wife had been working for over a year now as an LPN and we decided to make a move. We thought about Florida and within a couple of weeks we said screw it and I started to make some phone calls. I found a job at a local Hyundai dealership and that's how I got my foot in the door!. The rest is history!   I moved down and worked with a fantastic Platinum Tech called Jerry. I worked out of his tool box for six months and he put up with my stupid questions. I could not have asked for a better mentor! Things changed and the economy went south. I have since been laid off and out of work for quite sometime. So again I went back to school and that's where I am now... at a local university studying sonography. I start my core classes in May and am looking forward getting back and hopefully have a nice career in something that will be a little more stable.     So there it is...along the way Michelle and I married in '01 and had Isaac in June of '05. Along the way the car forums have been a big help not only for modding but for my mental sanity. Although I left EClub, I have come to appreciate the close knit family that you guys/gals have created and I'm not going anywhere!! I looking foward to future Hyundai products and will remain true to Hyundai. They have yet to do my wrong! The same goes for this wonderful site/club!! My thanks to Mitch and all the other club members. - Derek