After much thought, shopping, comparisons, I bought a new car today. Sorry GM, you just didn't turn me on
Yes, I bought a Hyundai. Never thought I would, but my new 1007 Sonata Limited will be ready for pickup on Tuesday.
Never thought I'd buy a non GM let alone a Hyundai, but after recent problems with my Buick, they just left me feeling it would be more of the same. The Sonata has plenty of features and a good price, thousands less than for a comparable GM, Toyota, or Nissan.
It will be three to five years before I truly know if this is the best deal, but right now, it sure looks that way.
I can understand where you are coming from, and congrats on the new wheels.
I've driven both the Sonata and its more-or-less twin, the Kia Armante, and I was very impressed with both of them. The only disappointment was city gas mileage, but once I looked in the Owner's Manual and found out that the Armante weights more than a Park Avenue (3900 lbs) I understood. Of the two cars, I actually like the styling of the Sonata a bit better..
One thing I really liked about the Armante (and I think the Sonata is the same): the availability of a combo CD/tape radio. GM has eliminated this alternative from I believe nearly every vehicle in their lineup.
For now I'm going to keep my '94 Regal, which runs A+ and has the added advantage that it is paid for :)) But if I was in the market for a new car at the present time, I'd give the Sonata and the Armante a real close look.
Congratulations !!! My friend loves her sonata.and it runs troublefree despite the fact that she is a company rep who travels to customer meetings all day long in the congested city.....
Hyundai ??? Always sounded like a pos to me...but they're getting a good reputation.
Congrats. The Sonata looks better than the Altima and the Buick Lucerne you were also considering. We have a sage green '05 Kia Sedona EX minivan. Has given us zero problems so far. Wasn't Hyundai or Kia recently on the top 10 list for initial quality? Kia and Hyundai now share most powertrains.
We bought our Sedona because it was $10,000 cheaper than Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna. Plus it had a 10 year warranty and had more personality, character and wasn't as bland as the Toyota/Honda.
Yeah, that's what I thought for a long time, but looks as though they got their act together. Ten years ago, they looked as though they were made from rust, not steel. I know a few people than own and like them and I was impressed with the drive.
I took a drive through the dealer's lot a week ago and a silver blue Limited caught the eye of both me and my wife. That is the one we bought today. Considering the equipment on it, I'd have paid thousands more with a different brand.
Why today? I just spent another $200 on the Buick and the ignition miss came back today. Time to take drastic measures. I have a couple of 600 mile trips coming up and reliability is a factor.
15 years ago Hyundai was a POS - worked on some late 80's Excels, which where build with 3rd rate parts, 4th rate quality and a real bitch to work on.
Hyundai has worked hard to overcome that bad reputation. I was really leary when my daughter's mother-in-law bought a Hyundai about 4 years ago, but that vehicle has been a great car for her.
The last remaining downside of the "old days" is that resale value on Hyundais are still lame, but that too will change as they get farther away from the POS days.
Just got delivery of the Sonata Limited last night. So far I'm very happy with it after only 150 miles.
A couple of first glance comments: Seats are good and give good support. The seats in my LeSabre are a bit bigger though.
Handling is better than any Buick Olds, Pontiac I've ever owned. There is a trade off for a slightly harsher ride but much better cornering.
Smooth shifting 5 speed automatic and a "fun mode" with the Shiftronic position. You can bump up or down a gear manually with a tap of the shift knob.
Better acceleration, it seems, than the 3.8 GM, but I've not really pushed it yet.
Climate control uses lower fan speeds than my Buick. I hated they high fan that came on with the AC after it was hot. Most times I had to turn it down manually because of the noise level and blast of air.
Infinity radio is great sound. Steering wheel controls are good, but the Buick has a Seek & Scan button that is lacking here, but it does have a Mute instead.
Remote starter. Why didn't I do that years ago? This winter will be more comfy.
Trunk is huge!
The projector lamp headlights (many new cars have them now) take some getting used to on hilly or winding roads. The beam is much more concentrated and there are some very dark areas compared to regular lights. You must use the high beams much more on secondary roads.
Next week I'm heading out for a 600 mile round trip. That will be a better chance to tell how it will be overall.
Most often heard comment: "That's a Hyundai? Wow, looks great."
I think the first generation of Hyundais (like '86 to '90) got an undeserved bad rep. They were only $4800 brand new! Part of the reason why they were cheap is because Hyundai licensed the design of the 1.5 liter 4 clyinder from Mitsubishi (the Mirage/Dodge Colt engine was the same as the Excel engine). A lot of the people who buy real inexpensive cars don't have all the preventative maintenace services done. Oil changes get skipped. 10,000-12,000 miles may pass in between oil changes. dirty oil speeds up the engine wear process. Then the dumbass owners sit around scratching their heads when the engine wears out at
50K miles. "wow, that Hyundai Excel sure was a piece of crap!", they then tell their friends. I know an old man who still drives an '87 Excel he bought brand new. Runs great. Has 130K miles. He knows the value of oil changes. My neighbor used to have a Yugo. He's a mechanic and he said the little Fiat engine never gave him any problems and was a breeze to service. He had bought it brand new. He said the dealer was exasberrated. Yugo owners would have their one year old Yugos towed in with seized engines. "This car's a piece of shit!" they'd say, and they'd expect a free engine under warranty. Turns out many of them never had their oil changed, and they snickered when asked if they had it changed. "It's a $3900 car! WHy should I worry about oil changes!" No oil changes, no free engine under warranty.
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