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NEW YORK — I considered driving a fancier car, but this city is inhospitable to such automobiles. You can’t park them on the street without worry, and your angst doesn’t end when you pull into a garage.

The attendants look at you with either envy or greed. In any case, it’ll cost you extra money. “You want us to look after your Mercedes?” Tip. Tip big.

So I chose the 2000 Hyundai Elantra GLS station wagon — the Korean anti-car, or so much of America still believes. You can park a Hyundai Elantra anywhere. Thieves tend to ignore it. They figure it will fail them in a getaway.

Garage attendants get an attitude, too. No envy. No greed. Just disdain. Their body language says it all: “You want us to park that car?” An attendant hands you a parking ticket without looking at you. The Elantra sits there with the driver’s door ajar and the key-in-the-ignition alarm going ding, ding, ding…Moments later, another attendant moves it to an obscure corner of the garage.

Nobody will bother the car. They’ve already forgotten it’s there. When you leave, you can get away with tipping the attendant a dollar. He actually expected less.

Suddenly, you begin to appreciate the value of ignorance. If they only knew!

The shady fellow peering into sport-utility vehicles parked on West 99th might have zeroed in on the Elantra. The thing can run! It’s not a racer. But it can boogie, especially in tight, urban traffic, where its compact size, tight construction and well-crafted fully independent four-wheel suspension system offer excellent maneuverability.

Law enforcement people leave you alone, too. In an Elantra wagon, especially one loaded with domestic stuff, they don’t think you’re going fast. They ignore you and go after the hotshot in the Audi A6 who chose to zoom past you. Thank God for egos!

There’s also this: The Hyundai Elantra wagon creates a community of other Hyundai owners and drivers at rest stops along the New Jersey Turnpike. I noticed this at my favorite stop, the Molly Pitcher rest area. There were empty spaces all around me. But a fellow later pulled up in a spiffy silver top-of-the-line Hyundai Sonata sedan. An Elantra sedan appeared shortly thereafter, followed by the most inexpensive Hyundai, the Accent, and yet another Elantra.

Members of the happenstantial assembly exchanged polite greetings and smiled knowingly. “Like that wagon?” asked the woman in the Elantra sedan. I said, “Yes.” She nodded and said something about her sedan serving her well. “The best car I could get for the money,” she said. I nodded, though she should have added a caveat: “One of the best.”

There’s lots of competition in the small-car arena. But Hyundai, despite its lingering reputational deficit, is serving notice with its much-improved Elantra wagon. It’s in the game to stay.

Nuts & Bolts

2000 Hyundai Elantra GLS Station Wagon Complaints: The optional electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission is not the best match for the Elantra wagon’s standard four-cylinder engine. You get discernible engine rumble at idle. Shifting to neutral eliminates this unpleasantness, which never occurs with the manual gearbox.

Praise: This is a well-made compact car with lots of standard equipment, including air conditioning, power four-wheel-disc brakes, child-seat anchors, power windows and locks. Anti-lock brakes are optional. Hyundai also offers the best powertrain warranty in the business — limited coverage for 10 years or 100,000 miles. The basic bumper-to-bumper coverage is for five years or 60,000 miles.

Engine: The car is equipped with a standard 16-valve, double-overhead-cam 2-liter four-cylinder enginer that develops 140 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 133 pound-feet of torque at 4,800 rpm.

Head-turning quotient: High reverse snobbery appea l. You can b uy this one and think everyone else is stupid for spending more.

Capacities: Seats five people, but a maximum party of four is recommended for best comfort. Fuel tank holds 14.5 gallons of gasoline (regular unleaded is recommended). The Elantra wagon and sedan can be equipped to tow up to 1,500 pounds.

Mileage: Easily 28 miles per gallon in mostly highway driving.

Price: Base price on the automatic Elantra is $13,149. Dealer invoice price on that well-equipped base model is $12,190. Price as tested is $14,984, including $1,400 in options (cruise control, premium sound system and anti-lock brakes) and a $435 destination charge (which rises to $585 for Alaska delivery).

Purse-strings note: An excellent value, and a highly competent car in a very competitive field. Compare with Toyota Echo, Ford Focus, Saturn SW2 and Subaru Impreza.