Hyundai Sonata GLS. Review on Hyundai Sonata

I am presenting my review of my 2011 Hyundai Sonata GLS. It has been with me for over a year now and I am quite pleased with the car, there are a few complaints as well.

Why did I buy this car: Before switching to the Sonata I owned a second hand BMW 540i(V8, I live in US so it was cheap to buy). The car was extraordinary as you can find it on one of my blog posts. However it was old and started to burn my wallet. I researched the market – I didn’t want a Honda or a Toyota as everyone else had it, I test drove the Chevrolet Malibu and the Impala – Malibu was rubbish and impala was expensive. Then I saw the new 2011 Sonata on the road, it looked stunning, completely new looks with styling inspired by the elements(wind and water). I went to a dealer for a test drive and bought it the same day.

The GLS model I chose came with a 5 year 60, 000 mile warranty. I am not sure how it measures up in India, but in the US most manufacturers give only a 3 year 36000 mile warranty.  The fit and finish of the interior is much better than a Chevrolet Malibu and in the same league as a Honda accord. The instrument cluster is very modern, twin pod with a center LCD display to indicate – Average speed, fuel consumption, tire pressure, distance to empty and a live fuel consumption monitor. These settings could be toggled via a button on the steering wheel. The central instrument panel is very good looking and very user friendly. The LCD screen is monochrome with blue backlight and my learning curve was very easy.

Some of the other bells and whistles included: Built in blue tooth connectivity, CD, ipod connector with charging, MP3 and USB hook up, voice recognition and a built in XM Satellite radio.  The steering wheel has buttons for volume control / changing radio stations or music file, cruise control and viewing driving data as explained earlier. The Engine is a 2.4 litre V4 that develops 198hp. The power is not great, and the acceleration is sub par however for the fuel economy that the car offers, one can make some compromise on the power.

Pros:

Fuel efficiency is unbeatable for such a big car; I get 35 MPG on highways and about 25 MPG in the city.

There is a lot of room in the car, the trunk is huge and there are lots of small and medium sized storage containers around the driver seat.There is a small box on the roof to hold your sunglasses. Visibility of the car is good through the windshield however it is not great through the windows as the windows are smaller, I think Hyundai made them smaller so as to make the car look good. Seats in my car are not electric, but no complaints there. The driver seat is comfortable, better than a Toyota Camry.

Hyundai customer service has been very good so far. In all it is a lovely car.

Cons:

There is not much noise reduction as I get to hear a lot of tire squeal while driving on tarmac especially at high speeds on the highway.

The handling of the car is not great, there is some amount of roll while making turns at high speeds. The passenger seat in my car does not have a height setting which I think should have been standard on all models.

The steering could have been more accurate, but since it is a front wheel drive, there is also some amount of torque steer. The steering wheel also has some play in it which I thoroughly despise as I know how an accurate steering wheel can improve car handling.

My car had a manufacturing defect – It pulled sideways. There was a problem with its struts and it was identified that many of the cars had this problem. Hyundai called me in and they fixed this problem.

Verdict: I have driven this car on short and long trips, longest being 800 mile drive from the mid west to the east coast and the car held up very well. I was impressed with the fuel economy of the car and its comfort level. At around$24K, the Sonata GLS is good buy. The warranty adds to the value of the car as it is 2 years more than what most brands offer. The car is very beautiful, much prettier than a Honda Accord, Toyota Camry or a Subaru Legacy. The fuel economy is second to none in this class. There is a lot of storage space and the rear seats can be folded to increase the storage space. Build quality is good if not the best. There are some problems which should be considered before buying and the scale of these problems is left the driver’s discretion.