Hyundai Sonata

[LapisLazuli6]

I dropped my car today and needed a rental to go about my day.

It was either this, an Aveo, a Sentra, or an Impala. It's a 4cyl GLS sedan in white, 13k miles.

I've driven 14 miles so far. It rides nicely and quietly. The steering isn't too bad, but OMG I almost scraped the door handles on the ground in one corner...

The controls are nice, the cloth on the seats and the doors don't match. The tilt steering wheel lever, interior door handles, steering wheel radio volume controls, and PW/PL controls feel cheap to me. The dash is a mix of blue VW-like lighting and white-on-black which I don't like (all one color, please!). Also, the steering wheel doesn't telescope. Positives include comfortable seats, quietness, a roomy rear seat and trunk, and good visibility.

The buttons on the radio are all sticky already, which is weird unless someone actually dumped soda into the dashboard. The brakes rotors also feel warped. This is a product of abuse, more than likely.

Thoughts?

[speedtown]

it's funny to get in a rental car and go through all the thoughts and check outs we go through when trying to buy a new car. I just drove a seabring and boy did I scrutinize the thing. It just makes it that much better when you get back in your own car. The 6 is definitely much better than your run of the mill rental.

[LapisLazuli6]

I rent cars all the time, sometimes just to drive something different (I get a good discount too, which helps). Anything from luxury to SUV to middle-of-the-road. I got the Sonata because it was cheap but still roomy and only for one day vs. a weekend rental.

The funny thing is, I started liking the 6 alot because I used to have a PT Cruiser with frequent problems. I would have to rent a car at least 1-2 times a month to have it worked on. Most of the time, I got a Mazda6 as a rental. I liked it enough that I traded my PT on a 6 in 2006.

And yes, being in this car with its sleepy personality will make me like my 6 even more. As I was taking the back road to work today, I couldn't help think ahead to tomorrow how it's going to be on that same road.

[Spazdog]

QUOTE (LapisLazuli6 @ Jul 8 2009, 09:01 AM)

...
The steering isn't too bad, but OMG I almost scraped the door handles on the ground in one corner...[/b]

It was funny getting out of that new rental Park Avenue and back into my old Acura. The steering wheel actually felt connected to something and the car would literally dart around corners. Driving that toad made my car feel like the slot car from hell or something.

QUOTE (LapisLazuli6 @ Jul 8 2009, 09:01 AM)

The buttons on the radio are all sticky already, which is weird unless someone actually dumped soda into the dashboard.[/b]

Oh, I don't want to know. Hopefully it's just from the previous renter thinking it's 1985 (or being a big Jules from Pulp Fiction fan) and it's just Jheri Curl.

[LapisLazuli6]

QUOTE (Spazdog @ Jul 8 2009, 10:04 PM)

Oh, I don't want to know. Hopefully it's just from the previous renter thinking it's 1985 (or being a big Jules from Pulp Fiction fan) and it's just Jheri Curl.[/b]

The car also smelled like cigarette smoke. Ugh!

I called the rental place and told them about the buttons sticking and the smell, and they said they would give me a partial refund. So that's one good thing.

[LapisLazuli6]

They gave it to me for $38 vs. $56 so I guess that's not too bad...

[hyperlite]

If theres one more thing that I can add to make the sonata look like a decent car, I've got a friend whose dad drives a sonata and it has over 150K miles on it and it's still running strong. They needed a new tranny at 100K though...