Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Small Car recommendations...

Neither is R&T, really.

I think the new Hyundai Sonata is beautiful. Car magazines love it. Bravo Hyundai - they set their goals high and are achieving them.

Hyundai also rates consitantly well in terms of initial quality and ongoing repair/maintenance.

Its like buying and 'almost Honda' at a considerably lower price.

Really, despite all the press as of late on recalls, the quality of vehicles in general now is head and shoulders above what it was 20 years ago. The difference between the top quality manufacturer and the also rans is miniscule.

On comparing US Hyundai with Hyundai Canada, I have to say I'm a little pissed....as usual, they are charging MORE for the Sonata here, TWICE as much for delivery $720 US vs $1595 CD !!!!, barely more than HALF the power train warranty 100,000 miles vs 100,000 kmters, and NO sport model on top of that.

Oh-killee, doh-killee! I finally got around to test driving the '11 Sonata....

I went to a Hyundai dealer down Mississauga way, and found the same salesman I had previously talked to a couple of weeks back about the new Sonata. I told him I was interested in a test drive and also wanted their appraiser to have a look at my 01 Z71 Silverado as well. The Sonata was the mid level model, with quite a lot of standard equip't as well as the moonroof and mag wheels. The car is quite roomy, both in interior space, as well as a deceptively large trunk...I say deceptive, because it is one of those cars with an extended back window and a small trunk lid which belies the actual depth of the trunk. The interior seemed nicely styled and laid out, this car had the cloth interior, not the leather of the top model(Ltd). On getting in the car, I noticed it had a fairly low roofline...I'm used to sitting fairly upright in my Silverado, but I would consider myself to be of average height at 5'11" and I had to lower the seat some, all electrical seat adjustments btw.

So, I start it up, and pull out cautiously out of the dealer's lot and onto the main road. I'm being extra cautious since I've not driven a car for several years, only pick-up trucks. The ride and handling was very nice on this car, the steering felt nice and taut, with no slop in it. The brakes were far "touchier" than I'm used to in any vehicle I've ever owned, so I had to keep that in mind as I drove through traffic to go for a blast on the highway. I turned the radio off so I could listen to the engine, a 2.4L 4 banger, but with a fairly decent output of 198hp. There wasn't too much room on the highway, but I gave her some shtick where I could. The engine was quite responsive for a small mill, albeit I think it could have been somewhat smoother. This may be due in part to the fact that the last half dozen cars I have owned have had everthing from large V8's and V6's to flat 6 turbos. This is the first four banger I've driven since the early 90's, a Mercury Capri.

Overall, the car rode well, is well appointed with standard equip't, economical, reasonably powered for a small engine, handled nicely and looked fresh with a unique design compared with it's competition. My only complaint would be that taller drivers over 6 ft say, *may have some headroom problems.

The salesman was very friendly at this dealer, absolutely NO pressure whatsoever...I went there because my neighbour had bought his Sante Fe from them a couple of years back and gave him a deal 'thousands' below what two other Hyundai dealers had offered. The trade in value of my truck was quoted at close to $6k, taxes included, which wasn't unreasonable from my own research on wholesale prices for 01 Z71's. It needs some repairs, and let the dealer know what I knew it needed...the dreaded Silverado ABS sensors, and new window motors. All in all, a fair offer I thought, and he said there was a couple of grand to work with on the Sonata as well. I thanked him, and let him know I was going to check out a couple of other cars bfore I made a decision....

So! on my way home, there are other Hyndai dealers so I figured I'd stop in to one of them, now that I had some impressions of the car, the amount to 'work' with, and my trade in value. I pull into the "other" dealer, and no sooner had I walked over to one of their cars...a slick talking college bwaah comes strolling out of the dealership, something the other dealer never did, either time I went there. I tell him i'm interested in the new Sonata, and would like to know what my trade in was worth. He asks me what I thought it was worth to which I told him, I had looked up the wholesale value of the truck online and had that information in my pocket, and had also received a quote from another dealer. First, he said my info must be for the "retail" price of my Silverado(it isn't) and also wanted to know how much the other dealer had offered for it. I declined to say anything until they had given me THEIR trade-in quote....

"Well", he says " if your lookin' for 3..4..5 thousand on your truck...it ain't gonna happen".

I politely smiled at him then and said, "Well, thanks for your time, but I've been offered $6K for it, so I'll not waste any more time here".

"Oh?" he says, "well let me get the appraiser to have a look at it."

..."No thanks, thanks for your time"....and I left. I knew I couldn't trust the guy.

Obviously if I buy this car, I'll go back to the first dealer!

I love it when slick salesmen eat crow.

I love it when sick crows eat salesmen...

What are we crowing about?

Ask Alan, the wise one.

Who? I mean...HOO?