Input from Hyundai owners?

Hello,
We are looking at buying a Hyundai Sonata, but don't have any experience with Hyundai or know anyone who has one. (We are comparing to the Camry and the Accord and trying to save some $$$)

How's the reliability? Is there a catch with the extended warranty? Is it a comfortable ride? (My husband will use it mainly for commuting.)

I appreciate any input that anyone can give us! Thanks!

former hyundai owner here.

the new sonata (06+) is supposed to be a great car, and so far the short-term reliability reports are coming back positive. earlier hyundais were not as good. i had a 2002 elantra, and while i loved the design through and through (really fantastic car, if not for the reliability issues i had-- comfortable, roomy, thoughtful touches, felt like a step above what it was), it had too many problems and i was scared to keep it beyond the warranty period. i made sure i got rid of it before the warranty ran out.

as for hyundai warranties, they sound great on paper. the catch is that the dealers *hate* dealing with warranty repairs, because hyundai corporate is very strict about how warranty repairs are dealt with. for example, they don't reimburse the dealers the same amount the dealers would charge a customer out-of-warranty, so the dealers try to avoid warranty work in favor of being able to push the costs on to the customer. and, whenever a dealer performs a repair under warranty, a regional warranty rep investigates the paperwork and if they deem that the repair shouldn't have been done under warranty, they won't pay the dealer for that job and the dealer is out that money. i had to fight to get some things fixed that the dealer tried to push as "normal wear and tear", or the dealer would try to tell me that some problems were just "normal for that car". yeah right. ALSO, hyundai is very strict about maintenance. if you lapse on having the scheduled maintenance done on your car, hyundai will deny you warranty repairs if they can make any connection to the repair and the lapsed maintenance. for example, if the engine blows up and you missed an oil change, you're SOL... they'll say it was your fault the engine failed. i was a moderator on a hyundai forum, and i heard stories like this all the time.

so, upshot is they are pretty good cars now, supposedly, but be sure to budget money up front to have all future scheduled maintenance done *by the book*.

also, the 10/100 powertrain warranty does NOT transfer beyond the first owner, so if you buy a used sonata, you will not get this. you will still get the 5/60 B2B warranty however.

lastly, you will save money up front by buying a hyundai, but down the road you will lose value faster than a honda or a toyota. so in a few years if you go to trade the car in, you will not get nearly what you would for an accord or camry. i also learned this the hard way with my elantra. i got a fantastic deal on it... i thought i swindled the dealer it was such a great deal. then when i traded the car after four years, it was worth much less than other cars in its class. i could have driven a more expensive car (honda, toyota, mazda) for the same amount of time, and in the end, spent less overall per year of ownership than i did for the elantra.

:twocents:

EDIT: i don't want to come across as scaring you from hyundai... most of my problems were minor ones, not really major like the engine not starting. small things like electrical accessories not working, strange noises, clunks, etc.

My first car was a 1991 Hyundai Excel. I adored that car, and we nicknamed it the Engergizer Bunny. It kept going and going and going. And that was "back in the day" when Hyundais were considered "disposable" cars. I would not hesitate to buy another Hyundai.

As far as resale value, well, we drive our cars to death. Literally. Resale value means NOTHING to us.

I still own my Hyundai Sonata LX 2002. I simply love my car. I decided to go with this car and save some money compared to the Accord we were looking at. Even after buying the extended warranty($1200 for 100K bumper to bumper) the car was still cheaper nad had more features then the Accord.
I have had very minor issues, everything covered under the regular warranty. The only thing that my extended waranty covered a few months ago was the replacement of the water pump for the widshield wiper. They also had to repare the driver's door window mechanism. Earlier on I had an engine light issue, someting was done with the computer indicator for that light, nothing major.
I am extremely happy with my car, no issues, excellent ride, excellent price and lots of room, comfort. I was able to get the best sonata with leather and everything for a lot less than an accord limited edition that in my opinion lacked a lot to be desired.
They are really safe cars too.
Maintenance is not so frequent but expensive if done at the dealership, but I think this is for most cars anyway, so you might be spending maybe just a couple of hundred more on maintenance.
My battery lasted 5 years and 80 K miles, the guy at At Autozone said that that battery was a 48 month battery(really good one) but mine lasted even longer than that. I replaced the tires at 60K miles, and I just reaplced my brake pads at 100K miles, they lasted that long.
My car has now 103K and going strong. I see no major issues with it down the road, but if I do, I feel I already got from the vehicle what I needed. Interior is great, and it looks as new except for the cheerios here and there.
Hope that helps, ultimately you need to see what is important to you, if you are trading your car in in a couple of years, maybe you want to go with a car that preserves the value better.
I would not stop choosing Hyundai for that though, I will look at the features that are important to you and then compare realiability and pricing.
We got a Toyota Highlander 2003 for my husband because he wanted a very realiable, good brand car and we ended up paying so much just for the brand, 0 features and the car still had at least 3 recalls on different things we had to take it to the dealership for, and the last one being the engine light also. Just and FYI.

Here's a web site that's been collecting reliability data for the last few years on various vehicles http://www.truedelta.com/

We loved our 02 Accent. We had it for 4 yrs and sold it to my brother last year. It's a 2-dr so it was okay around town but with 2 kids almost impossible to go anywhere out of town.

Great reliability, to this day it has never broken down. The only thing we had to get fixed was part of the hinge on the sunroof, we broke it but they fixed it under warranty no questions asked.

We love our Toyota Sienna, but wouldn't hesitate to put Hyundai at the top of our list if we were looking for another vehicle :thumbsup:

I have an 03 Santa Fe (built on a Sonata platform, I believe), and I love it! I've had only 2 very minor mechanical issues with it (one repair cost me $40, the second one was $110). The only complaint that I had was that Hyundai recommends getting the timing belt replaced at 65K miles, which is on the low side. That cost me about $800, but I've had to repair a car after the belt breaks (not a pretty site), so I just went ahead and replaced it. I drive this car a lot - it's our primary family car for weekend errands and trips, and I use it daily for commuting - and it has held up beautifully.

I actually haven't had to deal with Hyundai warrenty issues - because nothing in that category has broken down.

I had an '03 Elantra and never had a problem with it in the 4 years we had it. We were really happy with it, just traded it for a van once #2 came along.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Sister has a 2006 Hyundai Tiburon. No probs so far.

i have an '02 elantra. i love the way the car drives. handles really nice, similar to the passat i had before i left my first husband. a little bumpy, but it's a small car.. we take my car everywhere, since i have 2 carseats, and dh doesnt like to drive. i have almost 77,000 miles, bought it used, and have had no major repairs. the thermostat went, under warranty, but had no issues getting it fixed.
we are thinking about what kind of car we want next, as i will need a bigger vehicle before #3 comes along. i would consider a hyundai again.

I almost bought a Sonata a few months ago. The biggest reasons why I didn't were:

1. Impossible to install a convertible Britax car seat in the center b/c of the way the belts are set up.
2. Gas mileage was only so so
3. Resale value is very poor

According to my research the 4 cylinder models have much better realibility than the V6s. So I'd go for one of those.

Also Enterprise Rental Car has a ton of Sonatas so rent one for a few days to see if you really want it.

Should have added that as I'm sure you know, the Sonata has very very high safety ratings!

I think there is still a $3,000 cash incentive going on right now for a new one.