Third Hyundai; third winner!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Great looks, nice creature comforts, good power & nice handling!

Cons: Not-so-hot mileage and the seat-belt alarm is WAY loud and repetitious.

The Bottom Line: 
Buy it! The Sonata runs several thousand dollars less than comparably equipped Accord's & Camry's according to what I saw on Edmunds and is a wonderful car.

Author's Review
I've now gone from a 2000 Accent to a 2003 Elantra GT to the brand new 2006 Sonata. They have all been good in their own way and a step up each time. However, I'd have to say the Sonata LX was a large jump up for me.

I'd been wanting to get a slightly larger car than the Elantra GT (great little car!) and knew the Sonatas had been getting great reviews for several years now. I went online back in May to look at the specs on the 2005 Sonata & found out the mid-year 2006 was to hit the dealerships in June. I looked over the online previews & decided to wait.

In July I took the V6 GLS for a test drive and liked it very much. It had plenty of acceleration entering the freeway and passing power aplenty (more later), all the while having a wonderfully quiet, smooth ride. In spite of the smooth ride it didn't feel like a boat. I deliberately took the offramp a little faster than the salesman liked, but felt in control all the way around. It doesn't have the stiff grip that the Elantra GT did, but it also weighs several hundred pounds more. Like I said; comfort without feeling like a boat.

If the mid-level GLS came with leather as an option I'd have been perfectly happy with the GLS V6, however I got spoiled by the Elantra GT leather seats & can't go back to cloth. Also, both the grey & beige cloth interiors seem so light in color as to invite dirt, IMHO. After talking with 3 dealers it became apparent that the GLS V6 with aftermarket leather was going to get within a few hundred dollars of the base (HA!) LX, I realized I should go for the extras I wasn't really in need of & get the LX. It turned out the first dealer I went to had the LX in the color (Deepwater Blue - aptly named) I wanted, but with the option package I didn't want to pay for. However I caught them at a good time & ended up with the LX with sunroof/6 CD changer package for the price I'd have been happy to get the base LX for.

I almost immediately went on vacation to Yosemite with one other person & the rest of the car packed with camping gear, music instruments & 2 bikes on a trunk rack- really loaded! The LX climbed the mountain roads like a champ and felt in control around all the curves. Coming down a very steep grade on the return trip I got a good chance to appreciate the manual use of the 5 speed Shiftronic. By downshifting to control speed I never felt I was riding the 4 wheel disc brakes at all.

On the 2 lane highway backroad I returned on (on Labor Day) I was able to comfortably blast by some slow trailer-pullers on some very short and few passing sections. Plenty of acceleration fully loaded.

Fully loaded the best mileage the indash trip computer showed was just over 20 MPG: not near what they claim, but then I was packed. I'm curious (and will supplement) to see what mileage I get when just the better-half & I take a highway trip without all the gear. It should be a bit better I'm hoping.

All things said, after a lengthy trip both my girlfriend & I found the leather seats very comfortable, the ride very smooth & quiet, the indash CD changer/system great & the compliments on the looks plentiful.

I'm a happy camper!