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Comments
To me, the only thing that would steer me to the SE is the paddle shifters. Why are they not available on the Limited? Foolish I say. I just do not like the Santa Fe's leather & cloth seats (they're downright uncomfortable compared to the all-cloth, strangely), and fear that the Sonata will be similarly uncomfortable. Maybe the Turbo Limited will offer both full leather and paddles...
I'm looking for paddle shifter, 16 or 17" wheels, push button start, heated leather seats, and GPS, and no sun roof. As usual, I won't be able to get exactly what I want.
From the looks of the spy photos I've seen, the next Grandeur/Azera is definitely going to be larger, significantly larger than the YF Sonata. I wouldn't even be surprised if Europe doesn't even get it or if they do it won't be a Grandeur but rather an i-something and possibly will be smaller than the Grandeur/Azera the rest of the world gets.
I did sit in a Genesis 4.6 Tech and that was one nice cabin, Very, very comfortable seats and the instrument panel was pleasingly designed. I could see myself in one if I hadn't just bought my Outlander GT (and the wife won't let me by RWD).
The big disappointment was the Elantra. My wife has an 01 and wants to replace it in a couple of years. Sitting in the current one she felt it was practically the same as her old one. At a glance I had to agree. The exterior has been made over but the interior is strikingly similar. Just evolved some and less than one would hope with a decade between them. They also had the battery disconnected so we couldn't pop the trunk open. :mad:
Equus looks awesome, as it should. But I'm thinking if they bring it over Hyundai will be very sedan-heavy with Accent (if you count it), Elantra, Sonata, Azera, Genesis, and Equus.
The one thing I did notice was that several people commented on the headroom. I'm 5'9.5" and don't have a lot of hair on top and my hair, when I sat straight up, brushed the ceiling in the back seat. I saw a guy(while I was in the back seat) try to get in the drivers seat and bumped his head and gave up. He looked to be about 6'3". However, I think there was a short women in the driver's seat just before him and probably had the seat adjusted way up. All those things have to be taken into consideration and most of the time it is just a matter of getting used to something because it's a little different.
I know what you mean about the Elantra interior. I'm sure the new remake(I think '11 model) will address that and it will be much more modern and nice like the new Tuscon's interior hopefully. Personally, I don't like the exterior now either....kind of reminds me of a fish or soemthing.
I won't buy a rear wheel drive car anymore unless I can get it in all-wheel drive like a Legacy or something. I have a two-wheel drive pickup and don't drive it much in the winter for that reason. I know people will say "Oh with traction control and all the other stuff it doesn't matter anymore". I say thats BS however that strictly my opinion.
The only other non-lux midsize sedan's interior I like as well as the Sonata's was the Legacy and Passat but both are 3-4k more comparably equipped. I really would like to like the Fulan but it just isn't on par for me.
Besides the new Sonata, the only other time I can remember a midsize car being so dramatically changed for the better from one model year to the next was when the Malibu changed to it's current form. Didn't it win car of the year or something like that?
I am also a little bit weary about getting a turbo, although I love the idea of boosting the HP of course. Don't most turbo engines need synthetic oil and/or premium gasoline? and what about reliability - surely pushing the engine so hard all the time can't be good?
The bottom line is I can't think of many cars for $22,500 that have the balance of comfort, sporty handling, luxury, and standard features as the Sonata SE. As far as the paddle shifters - yes - I am young and don't like using a clutch, I find it to be a distraction more than anything. The best is the clutch-less manual system but those are only found on high end luxury vehicles unfortunately, so paddle shifters are the next best thing. And 200 HP certainly isn't weak, the Sonata has 3 HP and 47 lb. torque over a Honda Civic Si, and is only about 200 lbs. heavier and $400 more. Of course there are about 1000 features over the Civic that the Sonata gives you, and it looks better too. That decision is a no brainer for me.
05-06 Sonata was a big jump in quality, safety, and styling.
Oh that's right, not on the list ..
what do you mean by same? current Elantra very different than 2001 model. exterior is different, interior is different, and it became much bigger interior volume wise. ride is definitely better than the previous model. it's a complete redesign. i don't really like them, but it's not a bad value.
2001 elantra interior
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/multimedia/photo_gallery/8261067/0802_02_a+2009- _hyundai_elantra_touring+interior_view.jpg
-current gen elantra interior
it's not the best in its class, but it's definitely not the worst. and it doesn't look same at all.
Big difference! The new one is even in full color.
Don't know which Fitzmall in MD website you checked but the one I just checked had almost two pages of '11s and the GLS were running about $500 under MSRP and the Limiteds were running about $1000 under MSRP. I checked their Florida location and they were about $1200 under MSRP for GLS and almost 2K under on LTDs.
The outside was freshened to make the rear swoopy and had some other modifications but again there's nothing dramatic. As someone noted, it looks kind of like a fish now. Different but still not dramatic and to be honest not a look she nor I find all that attractive.
Oh, I will agree it's definitely not the worst in class either. She sat in the new Focus, for instance, and really did not like it at all. The switch gear was cheap and the head rest was canted too far forward. She's short and drive with the seatback nearly vertical and found it not comfortable at all.
Her favorites were the Cruze and the Lancer in that order.
But none of this relates directly to the Sonata so if you want to continue this let's move to an Elantra thread.
According to the Sams Club site price should be $250 below invoice for all Hyundai models...so I'm going in to see if they'll give it to me for that.
Planning on settling deal on Saturday. I will post my final outcome then.
I take it you didn't talk to the Hyundai rep about the Equus. She told me it should be here by years end.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
When Lexus, Acura and Infiniti were born I don't remember them being sold out of Toyota, Honda and Nissan dealerships. Seems strange. Almost as if they trying to do too much too fast.
Equus will fight against 50K luxury cars. Hyundai won't even sell 300 equus a year. it's just for the show. i'm all for it because all it does is to improve the brand image.
They are going to have some work to do to convince rich people to trade in their Mercades for a new Hyundai, no matter how much better it may or may not be. I think they are mainly planning to take some market share away from cars like the Infinity M56 or 5-Series, but they better bring their A game to that one.
They'll sell that many the first month.
The rear wheel drive Genesis is also not slated against the front-wheel
drive Maxima, LaCrosse or Avalon, the Azera is. At the auto show Hyundai was passing out cut sheets of the Azera with a comparo chart against the Avalon and LaCrosse. I'll go with who they think they're competitors are.
IMO they will have to develop a separate showroom concept or dealer network to really compete against Lexus, Acura etc. The level of service at a typical Hyundai dealer just won't cut it for luxury buyers. That's probably why when I go Hyundai dealers to see the new 2011 Sonata, all I see are tons of Genesis sitting out front. They look nice but I think they would sell a lot better from their own showroom.
I have sat in the Equus, they are offering a lot for the money.
I think they are mainly planning to take some market share away from cars like the Infinity M56 or 5-Series
My guess is that they will be targeting people moving up from the more mainstream sedans to a more upscale one. They won't get many MB owners but they will grab a multitude of Chevy, Ford, Honda, Toyota etc owners looking to move up.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
But it may also be just a halo car, although who knows if that actually works?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Also, it was nice to hear that they are shooting for the same mpg numbers as the DI 2.4 and regular gas. If they can pull all that off at a decent price it would be sweet.
I wish someone from the press would have asked if the Turbo would be offered across the line or just in the higher trims or did I miss something?
About 4:30 into the Q&A
"once you drive the Sonata turbo, you'll really believe the V6 engines are going to go the way of the dinosaur in mid size sedans"
Jumped out at me. We'll see what's up soon enough I suppose.
i think hyundai will always price sonata slightly lower than camry and accord when comparably equipped as long as they are chasing them.
remember genesis sedan sells about 800-1100 a month. Equus is way more expensive and it goes directly against 5/E series buyers.
but if somehow hyundai can price equus below 50k that would be a different story.
For me, I'm going to keep my santa fe 1 more year and make my move with turbo with wine interior. can't wait!
Wish I could get a deal like that!