I traded in my 2008 Hyundai Sonata GLS this past Saturday for a 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE. Placed a deposit on a Harbor Gray Metallic one a couple weeks ago. Was told that it wasn't going to arrive to the dealership until around Labor Day or the week before it but it came in early. Got the Sunroof and Navigation package which hopefully should pay dividends (the navigation that is). Very sweet ride and it seems like it will be that fun-to-drive daily driver that I've been looking at getting for quite some time. As far as cars, this is it for me. 2011 Mustang and a 2011 Sonata...property taxes are going to be killer on me next year but I know if I want to play, I gotta pay. For a DD I wanted a car in which I can be comfortable on long driving stretches (something the old Sonata didn't do) plus have a little spunk on the highway (again something the old Sonata didn't have). This car seems to be as swift as the 06 Mustang when I had it. It can definitely get up to highway speeds in a hurry, something the old Sonata couldn't do with relative ease. The only mod I've done thus far was remove the SONATA letters off the rear to give it a more clean look. The car goes back to the dealer tomorrow to get the driver side exhaust adjusted and will get tinted Labor Day weekend. I'm thinking 15% - 20% all around. I want it dark but not too dark since this is the car I will be driving predominately. What do you think? Here are some pics.

Hyundai hit a home-run with that car. Gorgeous, especially the rear. Congrats!

I love the way the door handles ride the body line of the car. Even though it is a daily, I bet a little bit of tint on those tail lights would be killer.

Nice pick up, and great DD. Hyundai is killing it with cars like this and the Genesis. Pics of the mentioned Mustang?



Flickr Photostream Facebook Twitter

Love it, very nice car. I wouldnt mind having one.










~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ

I thought about one of those for either the wife or I also, the lease deal is extremely appealing.




Brian

Thanks for the comments. I've had the car only for 5 days but I'm enjoying the hell out of this car. This is a very fun to drive car and I can't remember having a daily driver that has been this fun to drive. The '08 Sonata I had was so pedestrian that typically I always found myself looking forward to the weekend so that I can take the Mustang out so that I could rip it up and down the road, but I don't have that urge when I'm in this car. If it wasn't a daily driver, this is a car I can see myself driving a lot more than the Mustang if all things were equal. Speed wise, I would say it's comparable to my 06 v6 Mustang when I had it, except a lot smoother with the 6 auto-manual. It can get up to highway speeds pretty fast with plenty of passing power. The one minor set back about the car is that radio does not maintain radio settings (i.e. random disc, random artist folder, music tag info off/on, etc.) for CDs or flash drive inputs. Once the car is turned off, whatever setting was inputted are erased. My car has the Navigation unit so I'm not sure if this is just limited to the models that has the Dimension navigation sound system or if it's across the board. It just seems to affect the CD/iPod/USB flash drive part of the radio.

I'm going to get the car tinted next Friday. I'm thinking 15% all the way around...which should be dark but not too dark since it's a car I will be driving on a regular basis. A friend is talking about getting me some LED OEM taillights from Shark Racing of KAI as a Christmas present so if that happens I might get those tinted before putting them on. I do think tint on the tails would look good, I'm just not sure if I should tint the entire housing or just red areas.

98z24ragtop wrote:Nice pick up, and great DD. Hyundai is killing it with cars like this and the Genesis. Pics of the mentioned Mustang?

Pics of the Mustang can be found here. The only thing I've done to the Mustang thus far was get 5% tint done all the way around. I'm debating whether or not to get the tails tinted and if I want to go the all black/blackout/murdered out route. I'm leaning on the side of no since it's done so much.

98z24ragtop wrote:Nice pick up, and great DD. Hyundai is killing it with cars like this and the Genesis. Pics of the mentioned Mustang?

Yes, please!



"Remember do what you like because you have to drive it."--Me

These are used as taxis in Korea. Must say very comfy ride, especially when your drunk and need a ride back to post.

Nice pick up. My folks have the 07 Sonata with the V6, and im shocked you didnt like the performance of it. I know my folks car moves pretty nicely for a damn Sonata lol. But they do like this one too, and are thinking of trading it in. But good job. I do love the lines of this car, and the removal of the SONATA on the back brings a nice clean look to the car. Keep it up!!

Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:Nice pick up. My folks have the 07 Sonata with the V6, and im shocked you didnt like the performance of it. I know my folks car moves pretty nicely for a damn Sonata lol. But they do like this one too, and are thinking of trading it in. But good job. I do love the lines of this car, and the removal of the SONATA on the back brings a nice clean look to the car. Keep it up!!

Well my '08 Sonata was a 4 banger/4 speed auto, which was the reason why I didn't like the performance so much. For as much as the car weighed, it just didn't seem like it had enough power which was fine city driving as the speed limit in most areas I live is 40 mph or less but when going at interstate speeds and it takes a bit for it to get to speed, sometimes I felt like a sitting duck. The Shiftronic was nothing more than a novelty act as it never really lets one have solid control of the car when engaged in that mode. I guess the same thing can be said of the Shiftronic/paddle shifters in the '11 but I really haven't fiddled around with it much. I think I tried it a few times and the only thing I've learned/observed is that from a complete stop you can't start in a gear higher than 2nd and in order to get 6th gear in manual mode you have to be going over 60 mph I think. Otherwise it won't shift up from 5th, although in normal mode it shifts to 6th gear around 45 mph I believe. Still it's a car with plenty of power for what I want it to do and very swift for a daily driver. As for your parents getting a '11 Sonata, I would advise them to wait a little bit if they are serious about trading theirs in. I recently saw on the news that the NHTSA is doing an investigation into claims posted by some about steering issues with the '11 Sonata. I haven't had a problem with my steering thus far (knock on wood) but had I known I probably would have waited until the NHTSA completes their investigation which was started almost a week after I got my car. I'm not sure where the first complaint originated but I know a lot of people on the Hyundai forum I'm a member of had been making waves about getting the NHTSA to look into this for a little bit. I don't think it's a widespread issue, but could be potentially bad for Hyundai if the NHTSA decides a recall is needed. Below is the NHTSA's reason into their investigation:

Quote:

NHTSA Action Number : PE10035.........NHTSA Recall Campaign Number : N/A
Make / Models:......................................................Model/Build Years:
HYUNDAI / SONATA................................................2011
Manufacturer : HYUNDAI-KIA AMERICA TECHNICAL CENTER INC
Component:
STEERING:COLUMN
Date Investigation Opened: August 27, 2010
Date Investigation Closed: Open

Summary:
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is aware of EWR field reports on certain model year 2011 Hyundai Sonata vehicles that allege either a separation of the intermediate steering shaft assembly upper universal joint resulting in a complete loss of steering capability and/or a cross-threaded pinch bolt that caused stripped out threads and loosening, but not complete separation, of the upper universal joint connection. The subject vehicles cited in the EWR field reports were manufactured during the same month and had fewer than 600 miles of service at the time of the alleged incidents. A Preliminary Evaluation has been opened to assess the alleged defect in the subject vehicles.