Been shopping for a new car and am very impressed with many articles I have read on the improved Hyundai line. JD Powers article says only porche and lexus has better initital quality. Have seen many user comments on the web where folks are complaining about the Toyota Camry's decline in quality.

Anyone support my tendency to consider the Hyundai Sonata. Many, many standard features that are optional from other manufacturers..... and all for a much smaller selling price. I did check Consumer Reports reliability charts and see the last couple of years have excellent user surveys in contrast to the Hyundai record of a few years ago.

Keep in mind that they, and the Kias have really really low resale value. The Kia deserves it, but the Hyundais are supposed to be pretty darn good these days, unlike the original Excells back in the late 80s/early 90s. But in the automotive world, that is many generations ago.

The versions designed and built in Korea were pretty lousy. The current Sonata was designed and built here (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, LLC). It has gotten good reviews.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

I don't own any cars these days but I do rent a lot of them in various places. I get a wide assortment from econ-boxes to premium. I like the Hyundai Sonata the best. The last two cars I had were an Audi A8 and a Lexus. . When I buy another car it will probably be a Sonata.

There was a big model revamp in 2006 . They are now big cars. I think that a used 2006 could be an outstanding value. There is another basic choice you have to make. The small engine variants get great gas milage and run fine. The big engine gives outstanding performance to the point where the US models are speed limited via firmware.

Let us know what you pick and how you like it.

any hacks for the firmware?

When I checked Consumer Reports, I was surprised to see the price of the Sonatas doesn't seem to be that much less than the Camrys or Hondas. However, if the initial purchase price for a Sonata, that's comparably equipped to a Camry or Honda, is less, then that might more than offset a lower resale value. It'll probably also depend a lot on how long you keep your cars. I happen to keep mine until they're somewhere around 12 to 14 years old. I'd think by then the resale value would begin to level out anyway. (There are some exceptions, but I'm talking the vanilla sedan, not one of the high end luxury cars.)

Most cars bottom out in the 1500-2000 range for a decent non-Honda used car with high miles and presentable. The 3 Tempos I have sold all went for between 1500-2000 and were about 12-14 years old, and 100K-130K.

and a pseudo-reliable running pickup is almost never less than a grand, no matter how ugly it looks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2007 12:49PM by Racer X.

" any hacks?'
I have heard that the models sold in Korea do not have the restriction.

Quote
AlphaDog
It'll probably also depend a lot on how long you keep your cars. I happen to keep mine until they're somewhere around 12 to 14 years old. I'd think by then the resale value would begin to level out anyway.

After 14 years, most cars have a resale value of roughly zero. I think my 13 y.o. Corolla garnered about $1k in trade on the Elantra.

We've been reasonably pleased with the Hyundai. It's noticeably less refined than our Toyota, but also about 30% cheaper. (Maybe 50% after adding all the options that are standard on the Hyundai).

The unknowns are whether it will last for 10+ years and what the long term maintenance costs will be around then.

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

After 14 years, most cars have a resale value of roughly zero. I think my 13 y.o. Corolla garnered about $1k in trade on the Elantra.

Resale and trade-in aren't the same, especially when talking private resale. Some people opt to trade in do save the hassle of a private sale, but usually at a noticeable drop in price.

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And hope is a lousy defense.

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street price on my Sable was about 6200-6500 when I got it. They offered my father-in-law 4 grand as a trade-in. He offered it to me for trade-in value. I almost fell running for my check-book.

they got to be as good as the Volga 31105

Resale on the Sonata, can't say for sure...but for the Santa Fe and Tucson lines- they depreciate just like a Toyota or Honda. We mistakenly sold our Santa Fe to get a Honda Pilot 3 years ago. Now that we want to go back, we're going to take a huge hit on the Pilot, which has NOT held it's value. There's barely a used Santa Fe to buy in our region and prices...well a RAV4 or Subaru of similar vintage is way cheaper!

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2007 02:41PM by Markintosh.

Quote
RAMd®d
After 14 years, most cars have a resale value of roughly zero. I think my 13 y.o. Corolla garnered about $1k in trade on the Elantra.

Resale and trade-in aren't the same, especially when talking private resale. Some people opt to trade in do save the hassle of a private sale, but usually at a noticeable drop in price.

True. I could have gotten about 2 or 3 hundred more via private sale (based on Edmunds), but I valued the cost of my time higher.

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

I have a 2005 XG350 and the wife has a 2003 Santa Fe. She had an Elantra wagon and I had a 2000 Sonata. I am a little bias, eh!

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Staunton, Virginia

I currently have a 2005 Hyundai Elantra GT hatchback.
Before that, a 2001 Santa Fe and before that, a 2001 Elantra station wagon. Both of those were traded for no other reason than that I'm fickle. :c)
Waitin4CJ has a 2001 Elantra sedan, as does our oldest son.
I guess you could say we're biased, too!

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Central VA

The fact that you are a repeat buyer says volumes.