Used Sonata availability

propwash49

I've been looking for a last generation Sonata. Unlike most people, I prefer the styling of the pre-2011 versions to the newer ones. I also prefer the smoothness of the V-6 over the 4, and since I don't drive that much, the mileage penalty is not that important to me.

What I have noticed is that there are about 5-10 times more 2011 and 2012 models listed on the various web sites than there are of the older versions. It doesn't matter if I check out specific dealer sites or the regional ones that cover lots of dealers. There are always many more '11s and '12s than there are '09s and '10s. This brings up the question why? Have they really sold that many more of the new versions than they did of the older models? Or is it that the the owners like the older models better and don't want to part with them? I would think that the market should be fairly heavy with '09s and '10s just coming off three year leases, but the newer models seem to be much more prevalent out there in the market.

Anybody have any comments? Thanks.

backy

Re coming off leases... the 2011 Sonata debuted in January 2010, or a little over 3 years ago. So there aren't any 2009 and 2010 Sonatas coming off 3 year leases anymore. But maybe quite a few 2011 Sonatas coming off 3 year leases, plus 2011s and 2012s being sold out of rental fleets. The 2009-10 models would have been dumped from the fleets some time ago.

Another reason you may find few 2009-10 Sonatas is, yes, they were very nice cars, with a redone interior for 2009 that IMO was the best in the mid-sized class at that time. And with the long warranty, owners might be trying to use up at least the b-to-b warranty before trading/selling.

Plus you are looking for a V6--much more rare than the I4s.

sonomablue

We are finding the same thing. Not as many cars out there as we would have expected. And for the cars out there, the 2011-2012 cars are much closer to Edmunds price, whereas the 2006-2010 (the previous body style) are MUCH HIGHER than Edmunds price. We wonder if the "Cash for Clunkers" took at lot of much older cars off the market, and people bought into the 2006-2010 years, and are now hanging on to them. We are not looking for v6, we are looking for 4 cyl, but even at 4 cyl, there just isn't much out there. (We currently own a 2006 Sonata [our son] and a 2007 Sonata [my wife]. We love Sonatas that much, that we are looking for another one. Our daughter (soon to graduate from college needs a car. We are looking for either (a) 2006-2009 for our daughter, or a 2010-2011 for my wife (and then we will give our 2007 to our daughter).