2006 Sonata GLS v6 Initial Quality Feedback

5 Months...Love it.

Rob

V4? I have an I4 that was made in Korea so I can't comment on the Alabama plant's quality.

Matt

Bubba,

I'll chime in although I only have 800 miles on my GLS V6. Build quality on mine was about 99%.

I had a small door gasket leak on the driver's side near the outside mirror. It made a slight whistling sound at 50+ mph. I think it was noticeable because the car is so quiet to begin with. I pinched the gasket a little and it's totally quiet now. This is an uncommon problem.

A more common problem is a rear suspension thunking noise when driving slowly over sharp bumps. Again, the car is so quiet that it makes noises easier to notice. I suspect someone will find an exact cause and cure real soon, but I can live with it regardless.

I certainly would not let those problems discourage me from buying the same car. I do envy the leather seats. Wish I had got the standard LX now, but I'm still very satisfied.

FYI, the GLS 4-cyl has been coming out of Alabama since some time in November. I got one right after Thanksgiving and am well pleased with the quality.

Barry

Not too bad.... A few problems - some of which you could call the dealers fault, but Hyundai's been no help resolving the issues. Make sure that there's more than one dealer near you before you consider buying one.

Headlights blind oncoming drivers resulting in them returning the favor. It's been to the dealer's three times. They adjust hem so they light the potholes 10 feet in front of your vehicle, or as tree lighters. I adjusted them down after the last trip, so I only get flashed occasionally.

Vehicle shakes like it has an out of balance tire. This was present on the initial test drive. Salesman said it was "flat spots on the tires from sitting on the lot". Took it to the dealer, and they balanced the tires. Didn't fix it. Next trip back they stole the tires from another car on the lot. Now it shook, and pulled to the left. Next trip back, they rotated the tires on the car to eliminate the pulling. It doesn't pull, but it still shakes a little. The first tire rotation ought to be interesting. A call to Hyundai "customer service" resulted in them telling me to go find a tire dealer - really!

Accessory power receptacle - AKA: Cigarette lighter outlet - has no power. Took it to the dealer over a month ago. They STILL don't have the part (the socket). Apparently there's still issues getting parts for the '06, as Hyundai's "customer service" didn't / couldn't help with that either.

The vehicle apparently has an automatic lock feature - start driving it, and the locks lock - like almost every other vehicle with power locks. But, due to a poor design, the owner can't turn it on and off like you could in my

2000 Caravan, my 2003 Malibu, and my 2004 Town and Country. You have the privilege of paying Mr. Dealer $85 to enable it. I knew it had it because I drove a rental with it. Too bad I didn't know I was going to have to pay to have it enabled before I filled out the paperwork.

Also, as many others have noted, City / Highway mileage comes NOWHERE close to the numbers on the window stickers.

There is no "District Manager" or anything similar. I got the "each dealer is independently owned........" broken record. I was told that if I "don't like" the service department where I bought it, I should try another dealer. I bought it in Wilmington NC, and the closest other dealers are between 60 and 80 miles. This is to get problems fixed that were there from mile 0

funny you should ask....J D Power just today asked me to fill out their initial quality questionaire. ...lots of questions about defects in various catergories....I didn't check one box. I have 8000 miles on the LX, bought for Christmas. No defects at all, from cigarette lighter to headlights-I think Bob's car is the anormally :>) ps excuse the top post if you will.

I just got the Power survey as well, but I have only 3,500 or so on my GL. I penned in 4 or 5 boxes, mainly related to the sensitive throttle (I have stick shift) and the poor HVAC, poor mileage and noise from under the rear (suspension and gas tank sloshing). Nothing major and nothing that would have stopped me from buying the car in all likelihood, all the throttle is coming really close to that. I gave the can an overall quality rating of 8.

Matt

I'd say the initial quality is less than my 84 Accord was, but that is my only Japanese car so I don't have much data for comparison. However, the Honda began to systematically self destruct starting at about 60,000 miles and 4 years of age. The last straw was when the cam and rocker arms self-destructed at 70,000 or so miles. I'm hoping the Sonata is a MUCH better quality car than the Honda was over the long haul. To me "initial" quality doesn't mean much, I want quality that lasts 200,000 miles as with my last minivan (a Plymouth Grand Voyager).

Matt

I had no problem with Mr Dealer adjusting the automatic locking mechanism for free. No fee ever mentioned. Love the car, certianly not perfect, but love the car.............Doc

I don't really agree that my car is an anomaly. I'm not having problems that are all that serious. Tire (or whatever is is) problems and a bad power outlet. From what I understand, my headlight problems are just a poor design. The real issue is a dealer service department that is incapable of fixing the problems that the car does have, and being left out to dry by Hyundai. Better to find out how problems will be addressed before purchasing the car than after. Just as important is the support you receive from the manufacturer if there is problems, as the initial quality of the vehicle.

I have an LX, but only have 600 miles on it. The initial quality has been very good with the my only complaint being noise coming from the rear suspension. The car has been amazingly quiet. I've heard various complaints about the gas mileage and I think that after the car is broken in I should be able to get pretty close to the 30 mpg highway on the sticker. Had the car out for the first time yesterday on the road (some interstate, some heavy traffic (Chicago), and some US highway with stops and slowdowns for towns, and got just under

28MPG doing 60-70 on the open portions.

I have a GLS V6 that has close to 7K on it now. I really do like the car and I have gotten past the fact I too have the suspension Clunk, however, I cannot get over the very annoying engine whine that my car developed btweeen 60-69MPH. I have been working with Hyundai on this but they have not been extremely helpful so far. They have actually been suggesting I go into artbitration to have them buy the car back. I really like the car and have told them I simply want them to replace the Intake Manifold since they have diagnosed the engine whine as being a characteristic of the manifold but not all cars have this problem so if they replace it maybe I wilkl get a new one that does not have it as a characteristic.

Bob, I searched the Web for weeks and months before buying my Sonata, and yours is the first complaint about the lights, lighter, flat spots, and locks that I have seen. And the 2nd, and the 3rd, and the 4th...

These are not common problems, in spite of your trying to flood the Internet and make them appear so.

We know that 10% of people are never satisfied with anything. It seems we have met a "10 percenter".

Another 20% of people do not know how to ask for a problem to be fixed without being hostile and confrontational. Try being reasonable with your dealer. Try asking instead of demanding. Believe it or not, it's in your dealer's best interest to fix your problems.

BTW, my gas mileage (actual, not trip computer) was 25.x and 26.1 with only

800 miles on it.

That is a lot different than the overall average for a full tank, however.

Matt

The car looks fantastic, makes my 98 Sonata look like a Yugo :) BUT, my personal opinion on ANY new car model, is to wait for their second (or third) year of production, this way they've ironed out "most" of the bugs.. I've learned from the past...just my 2 cents.

Well, it's not as simple as I'm not satisfied with it. Overall, the car is not that bad. The car vibrates badly enough that the passenger seat - if empty - rocks front to back. The dealer agrees there's a problem, but putting tires on the car doesn't fix it. As for the headlights, this

is how the dealer adjusted them on the first attempt. I'm supposed to be "satisfied" that I've waited a month and a half for them to find a replacement power outlet? If they would / could fix the problems I mentioned (keep mentioning, as you've noticed), I honestly will be happy with it.

Mine does about 25 on a nice flat highway for 40 miles each direction at 60 MPH with the cruise control on, and the air conditioner off. Sticker says it should get about 30. Those driving conditions leave little in the way of variables that the driver could affect.

I have 2.4k miles on my 2006 LX. Everything works as designed but the design is showing some weakness. The steering wheel audio controls cant change the radio station (only volume and cd/am/fm); the leather seats are uncomfortable. Gas mileage - i can get 33/34 mpg on the highway going straight 55 mph with no traffic..but my commute (11 miles in 25 minutes through a few towns) is hitting about 18 mpg. The trip computer is simplistic - no a/b trip stuff, no "instantaneous" readings.

But all the trim fits, no wind noise, little engine noise, the automatic lights come off and on as expected.

But the seats..those are gonna kill me lol

Thanks...you all have just about convinced me that I should NOT by buying a Sonata...at least this year. Maybe next year if some of these 'problems' get worked out.

Thanks again. Now back to shopping....