Excellent car, excellent value

Author's Rating:

Pros: Quality, comfort, value. Surprisingly refined and sophisticated for the price.

Cons: After 48,000 miles, still haven't found any.

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The Bottom Line: 
A far finer and more dependable car than I expected to be able to buy for the price.

Author's Review
Just over 4 weeks ago my wife and I bought a new 2004 Hyundai Sonata GLS V6. We now have a little over 1200 miles on the car and have spent enough time in it to feel confident in our opinions of it. This is our first experience with a Hyundai, in fact our first experience with a Korean car. I looked at, priced, and compared, several cars that were more or less competitive with the Sonata, including Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Saturns, Fords, Nissons, Toyotas, and Kias (I don’t know for sure, but would swear that the Kia and the Hyundai are the same cars under the skin. I didn’t consider the Kia primarily because the I was more impressed with the professionalism and low-key manner at the Hyundai dealership, and the Hyundai might be just a bit better quality.)

My impressions of the Sonata, that convinced me to buy it: This is a beautifully designed and built car. Although the aesthetic styling is fairly conservative, even perhaps ordinary, I tend to look beyond that so long as a car isn’t downright unpleasant to look at (as many are today.) The Sonata finish is excellent, the body parts fit beautifully, and there are too many little things in the car that speak quality and thoughtful design to even try to list them. To my taste, the car is the “right” size: Large enough for five adults to ride in comfort, but small enough to get decent mileage, and to be easy to park. The relatively small V6 engine will never be accused of being over-powered, yet it is healthy enough for safe freeway merging, and for the mountain driving I frequently do. The four-speed automatic transmission is probably as good as any, and the “Shiftronic” feature (that allows you to either go fully automatic, or shift when YOU want) makes it better than many. The car is quiet, rides nicely, and gives the impression that you are actually in control. And that last was lacking in some of the cars I considered.

The Sonata is available in three trim levels. The standard Sonata is available with either a 2.4 L 4 (with the automatic or a 5-speed stick) or the 2.7 L V6 with automatic (both engines are dual OH cam, and 4 valves per cylinder). Standard equipment includes power, 4-wheel disc brakes; 4-wheel independent suspension;15-inch wheels; Michelin tires; power rack and pinion steering; fog lights; air conditioning; front, and front-side air bags; power windows, door locks and mirrors; tilt steering wheel; AM/FM/CD; cruise control; fold-down rear seats; keyless entry; theft alarm; rear window defrost.

The GLS trim level (which I bought) has all that plus the 2.7 L V8 with automatic as standard; 16-inch alloy wheels; multi-adjustable driver seat with adjustable lumbar support; heated mirrors; AM/FM/CD/Cassette; front console box/armrest; reclining front seats; rear seat armrest/box/cupholders; “woodgrain” interior trim (of no real value); upgraded cloth upholstery; fancier floor mats; a little bit of extra outside trim; illuminated vanity mirrors; map lights; 12V outlets in the front and in the trunk.

The LX model sports all of that plus it adds Leather upholstery; automatic climate control; and a power adjustable driver’s seat.

This is the first new car I ever bought (foreign and domestic) that didn’t have at least a few quality problems that required a return to the dealer with a fixit list. If Hyundai did not warrantee the car so well I would be concerned about all the electrical stuff that is bound to go bad sooner or later. The trunk release, gas cap door, radio antenna, windows, and door locks, are all electric. None of this stuff is super exotic, but on an eighteen-thousand dollar car? Nice stuff when a car is new, but what about when it isn’t? Well, the trunk and the doors can also be opened by key, and if the gas door electrics go south, all you need do is open the trunk and pull a manual handle to open it. And then there are the warranties: 10-year/100,000 mile drivetrain; 5-year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper; 5-year/no mileage limit roadside assistance. That last didn’t impress me too much as I have Auto Club towing, but these guys will tow you to the nearest Hyundai dealer no matter where you break down. That’s impressive. Also, my dealer gives 5 years of free oil/filter changes. I don’t know if that’s standard Hyundai or just my dealer, but I figure that’s worth three or four hundred dollars.

My V6 Sonata is rated at 19 MPG city and 27 MPG highway. I checked on my second and third tanks of gas, and got 20.4 MPG in 560 miles of 90% LA-area stop-and-go driving. Not at all bad for a car not yet even broken in. I expect it to get better than that after a few more thousand miles.

The sticker price for my car was $19,339 including freight and handling. Without a great deal of haggling, I paid $18,165, and was given a not large, but fair trade-in on my old car. Had I paid cash or brought my own financing, I’d also have gotten a $1,000 rebate. But I did the math, and it was cheaper to not take the rebate and let Hyundai finance it at zero percent interest. So that’s what I did.

Hyundai contacted me at home since I made the purchase, asking for my impressions of the dealership and of the car. These guys are quite obviously going for customer satisfaction.

Nothing so far has disappointed me about this car. If anything, I like it better now than when we first took delivery. Not something I could say for my last car - a Pontiac Grand Am.

The Sonata just has to be one of the best buys out there for a high-quality, reasonably-sized family car. I do not hesitate to recommend it.

UPDATE --- GAS MILEAGE:

We now have 2500+ miles on the Sonata, and just returned from a 900 mile trip. About 50 miles of the 900 was stop and go driving, but the remainder was on interstates, usually at about 70 miles per hour; weather cool and a little damp. For the 900 miles we got 28.1 miles per gallon. I'm not at all unhappy about the mileage numbers. The car is rated by the EPA (or whoever does this) at 19 city and 27 highway. So far our car is beating those numbers by a little better than 1 MPG at each end of the spectrum.

And, by the way, I've still not found a thing on this car to complain about. Including the seats. On the trip, we did two six-hour stints with no stops other than quick restroom pauses. And we found the seating very comfortable.

I'm still very pleased with the Sonata.

UPDATE --- AFTER 10,000 MILES

After owning the Sonata for eight months, and logging 10,000 miles on the odometer, it's perhaps time to see if I still agree with my early impressions.


I do. I do. There still has not been one single thing that's gone wrong with the car. The only reason the dealer has seen it was to change the oil. I've owned a lot of cars and have never had such a trouble-free experience. The mileage is still between 20 to 21 mpg city. (Essentially all the mileage since my last comments have been city driving.) We still enjoy the car, and are very happy that we chose the Sonata. In fact I now plan to retire my old Chev Suburban in about a year --- and replace it with a Hyundai Santa Fe. My brother-in-law bought one a couple of months ago, has already taken it on a 3,000+ mile trip, and is just as pleased with his Santa Fe as I am with the Sonata.

UPDATE --- AFTER 35,000 MILES

Haven't changed my mind a bit. Except for not having that new-car smell inside, it's exactly the same car we drove out of the showroom. Not one repair or replacement. The tires still look good for another 20,000 miles. The interior looks new. The finish is still perfect in spite of the car sitting out 24 hours a day for two winters and summers. It has started on the first try every time, and still gets the same good mileage.

I hope the redesigned Sonata introduced last years is as good a car. It looks nice, but I have to think Hyundai is going the wrong direction pushing bigger engines. The little V6 in my Sonata is plenty strong enough even in tough mountain driving.

UPDATE: August/'07 after 48,000 miles

With 48,000 (mostly stop & go commuting) miles under the Sonata's belt, I have to admit that I've not changed my opinion of the car. It still has the original tires, and they still have a safe tread margin. The battery had to be replaced at about 40,000 miles. Not too bad, but I've seen better. The one thing the Koreans may be less than perfect at is headlamp bulbs. I've replaced 3 so far. (But I cannot complain too much. The dealer popped new bulbs in quickly, pleasantly, and free.....)