2012 Hyundai Sonata

rj930

I'm debating to buy a GLS or SE. Somewhere I read that among the people who bought Sonata, more than 50% bought GLS, more than 30% bought limited, and only about less than 10% bought SE. Why is SE not as popular as GLS or Limited? Any commonds from anyone?

Kirstie_H

Since this is a pretty general question, and we don't yet have a general discussion for 2012 Sonata questions/answers, I changed the title of this one.

targettuning

Since we just bought a 2012 SE I guess I will comment on my reasons. I preferred the slight bump in hp (200 verses 198) small and probably unnoticeable, the dual exhausts, the leather trimmed seats, steering wheel, the paddle shifter which I have not yet used and the somewhat sport tuned suspension. In order to get those things one must buy the SE. The Limited had SOME things I liked i.e. heated seats but I did not want others that came with the Limited package plus the higher cost. Overall, now that I think about it the GLS with its prefered equipment package which adds alloy wheels (another thing I wanted) and other items I liked would have been the best bet. One big negative for the SE is, in my opinion, are the low profile (series 45) tires that are not only relatively expensive to replace but have such a low sidewall they can cause allloy wheel damage dropping into a pothole. I guess the bottom line is that there are things that are desireable on each model and things that are not, you must take the "bad" with the good when choosing. I believe that if I had to do it again I would buy a GLS with preferred equipment package. Oh, and another thing comparing the SE/Limited verses the GLS I actually like the body colored grille on the GLS compared to the smoked chrome one on the Limited and SE.

rick2456

With the exception of the body colored grill, I concur. If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone with the GLS. Though I do like the seats and the dual exhaust of the SE.

nj2pa2nc

since we wanted manual transmission we had had to get the GLS-wish it had more standard equipment such as power seats, sunroof, etc.

chalirebrown

I bought the SE almost two years ago and it definitely has a stiffer ride due to the sport suspension but I liked the dual exhausts and paddle shifters,etcetc so this was good for me. The GLS is really nice and for those that like leather, this would be a great choice-I think that comes wiht the heated seats also-so its a personal choice of course just like buying any car is. Good luck

nelson1

I am late replying, but maybe you will see this. I bought the Ltd., and my brother bought the GLS. My Ltd. is the noiseist car that I have ever owned, due to the low profile tires. My brother's GLS is a much quieter car, due to the higher tires, it has. I am going to get away from Hyundai altogether, because of that.

dave868

I agree Nelson1. I have a ltd. and the ashtray is almost full. I can't stay with Hyundai because of that. I have no choice but to go back to Nissan.

sivicman

It's too bad the new Sonata's has been plagued with several problems, cause it is a beautiful car. My wife has a 2012 SE and so far no problems. Here is J.D. Power ratings.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/quality-ratings-by-category/midsize-car/

bluep

it was my first day out with my car in the snow,it wasbad no tacktion what so ever if i would have know this i would not have gottin this car ,the tires are no good in the snow.

backy

Why do you say "plagued by problems"? There's only 2 cars on that list that have higher overall scores than the 2011 Sonata, the Accord and Legacy. And the Accord has been out in its present design since fall of 2007, so it's had plenty of time to work the bugs out. Note that cars like the Altima and Fusion and Camry, which have reputations for high quality and reliability and are fairly old designs (based on 2011 models), have the same overall score as the Sonata, which was a new design for 2011 with all-new powertrains.

crankeee

Agree with your comments on overall quality. Accord and Camry are great cars for the money (value) and hard to knock after years off good reviews.
Sonata is a newer offering from as company working hard to establish a reputation for good quality cars at value prices. We felt comfortable with the resulting equation of good initial quality (per reviews), good looks , and value for the price, that is MPG,warranty, Assurance program, increasing resale values and a company eager to sell cars in the US and making the right moves to make that happen. Lots of good choices right now.

sivicman

When I say "plagued by problems", I'm talking about all the quality issues owners of 2011/2012 Sonata's are experiencing. If you read other Hyundai forums you will read a lot of problems like one of the biggest is the pull issue that Hyundai can't seem to figure out. That's just one example, there are several others. The biggest problem I see is the car is in great demand because of it's styling and they are running the line at maximum speed to get the cars out and the quality is suffering. Hyundai should import some from Korea to help out the Alabama plant. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend $27K only to be used as a guinea pig until Hyundai gets their bugs worked out.

nj2pa2nc

we own a '11 6MT sonata, bought new 7/10. We do not have any problems with it-no pull what-so-ever, etc. It now has almost 26,000 miles. Great car.

ryster

I have a 2011 GLS auto, purchased 5/10, now with 23,000 miles. Build quality is less than ideal. Upper dash rattles severely to the point I have foam blocks wedged between the dash and the base of the windshield. Dealer says the entire dash needs to come out to try and solve the problem.

There was a rattle from the rear parcel shelf area somewhere. Wedged more foam between the right rear c-pillar and the rear window. That lessened the rattle significantly.

The doors don't latch closed in weather below 10 degrees...have to soak the latches in lithium grease when the weather gets cold. Once they have the grease on them they latch a little easier.

The driver's door now rattles when going over bumps. There is a rattle in one of the passenger doors, but only when going through curves or corners that sweep to the right.

There is a loud metallic clunk/clang from the underside on cold mornings when going over bumps. Noise goes away after 20 minutes of driving.

The car takes 30-35 minutes (approx. 15 miles of driving) to indicate normal operating temperature on the temperature gauge when the outside temp is below 30 degrees.

The center console is poorly assembled and requires liberal applications of silicone spray in all seams a few times a year. Otherwise it creaks constantly, especially when slowing down or accelerating (when there is a shift in momentum.)

The bolts holding the front seats to the floor have to be tightened at least twice a year as they tend to loosen up. Very odd considering I rarely ever carry passengers.

The door panels pop in cold weather, and vibrate with low bass notes despite the fact I have the bass set at -2.

The rheostat that controls the brightness of the dash lights when the headlights are set on auto is poorly designed. The dash lights dim, or get brighter, randomly while driving regardless if set on auto or if I have manually turned the headlights on.

Sometimes the windshield wipers do not park correctly after using the washer fluid. They will park 2-3 inches above the normal resting position. I have to turn the wipers on again and do a complete sweep, then turn them off and they will rest in the correct position.

The headlights no longer come on at night when I press the unlock button on the remote. If I want the headlights to come on while approaching the car at night, I now have to unlock all doors by pressing unlock twice, then lock the car right away, then hit unlock again. This wasn't the case when the car was new.

The car has been mechanically reliable, however the build quality is less than stellar. This is my first Hyundai. I would possibly consider another, but it would have to be a Genesis sedan or possibly the new 2013 Azera...something higher up in the Hyundai product line. If Hyundai released an AWD V6 Genesis sedan tomorrow I would seriously consider purchasing one sooner rather than later.

LASHAWN

If you can wait another year and a half, than ou will be able to get that Genesis AWD. It's coming.

ems1

I have owned my 2012 Sonata for nearly 5 months and can't wait to get rid of it. It pulls to the right like many other Sonatas and the dealer can't seem to fix it after many attempts.
The paint quality is poor. It has a few areas where the paint has shading issues from being applied improperly.

There is way too much road noise. It appears that they skimped on insulation to save money and weight.

Yes, they are selling well but the quality control has fallen in favor of production.

Spend a few extra dollars and get something with a proven track record.

crankeee

ems: We have had our 2012 sonata GLS for 1 month and less than 1000 miles. No pulling noticed in town or on highway. I also thought the pulling issue was only on a few early 2011 and they pulled to the left upon hard acceleration. We have a black car and the dark colors are the easiest colors to screw up but ours looks great. Our car is perfect so far, but it is really a collection of expendable parts installed on a platform, so we expect some minor problems with any new car - esp. a new design in the first year.
The key will be Hyundai's response to any potential problems. Quick, honest recalls and TSB's will fix customer complaints early and avoid the bad press of other brands with bad engines, designs problems, unannounced recalls and cheap TSB fixes to known problems.
We are willing to give them a chance to back up their great warranty and Hyundai Assurance trade in guarantee progams should their cars experience design or manufacturing clitchs down the road.

hjc1

You can't judge the quality of any car by reading blogs or forums. Go check other manufacturers such as Honda etc. and it would be an eye opener.
If anyone has a problem they complain about it however if you have no problems its unlikely that you would write about it.
Hyundai has sold over 250,000 of these cars so your going to have some problems and so do other cars such as Honda or Toyota. My Sonata has 21,000 mile and I have had no problems. People having problems are mostly caused by a poor dealer...........

crankeee

Concur with your comments on dealer caused problems. Many peole also chose non-dealer service for various reasons. Newer hi-tech cars demand knowledgeable service IMO. These boards are sometimes valuable resources, however we have noticed professional bashers on some boards. Everything conceivable is wrong with only their car - nothing works - strange.

rick2456

One could argue that if Honda, Toyota, and Nissan make such good cars, why is their warranty so lacking? I bought my sonta 2012 se and my Kia Borrego (09) precisely for this reason. In checking other forums, I see just as many, if not more negative posts on the competitors cars.

backy

I like the long Hyundai warranty also--my 2004 Elantra is eight years old and it still has two years of factory powertrain warranty left. I suppose though that Honda, Toyota, and Nisssan owners (I am leasing a Nissan also) could say something like, "the best warranty is the one you don't have to use".

lmatiste

Let me start by saying, other than my one serious unresolved issue, I love my 2012 Sonata 2.0T. Great exceleration and even better gas mileage in a great looking and comfortable car. I have a 1-1/2 hr commute driven at 70-80 mph and I get 32 mph. The low-profile tires and torquey front wheel drive make it lousy for winter driving in Youngstown, Ohio - but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. I have had the car 4 months and it has 8,000+ miles.
My issue for which the dealership has found no solution is the strong odor of gasoline/exhaust in the cockpit and outside the car once parked and prior to restarting. First the dealership replaced the gas cap after testing found a loss of pressure in the fuel tank. After that didn't work, they replaced the high pressure fuel pump after finding it was cracked. (Note: the replacement fuel pump was also found to be cracked in the box, supposedly the result of damage during shipping due to poor packaging.) The air filtration filter was also replaced and it smelled of gas as well. Once, the service manager kept my car for two days and drove it home and claimed he could not duplicate the issue; yet the service writer could smell it inside my car during a recent oil change. The car stinks up my entire garage once parked after driving. I am embarrassed to have a passenger because of the smell and I am concerned for my own health from inhaling the fumes. The service department has thrown up their hands and Hyundai has been no help to them with an answer. I am considering invoking the lemon-law. The crazy thing is I would just want a replacement Sonata. For what it is worth, I have had Blue-Tooth issues as well, but that has been the least of my concerns. If anyone has a possible solution - please write. Thank you. :lemon:

ems1

I don't know anything about the lemon law in your state. I recently went through the lemon law process with my 2012 Sonata in Pennsylvania. I was pretty much forced into it due to an incompetent dealer service department and do-nothing Hyundai Customer Service. I got a cash settlement instead of a buyback or new car. I took the cash and trade in value of the Sonata for a new car from another manufacturer. I'm very happy with the new car and relieved to be rid of the Sonata that was making my life miserable. It cost me a few hundred to get a new car but it was well worth it.

All manufacturers turn out lemons on occasion but when it happens to you it can be an extremely stressful experience. Good luck.

LASHAWN

Due to the fact that they had to remove your back seats to replace the fuel pump, they did tell you that you may still smell fuel inside the vehicle. If it hasn't cleared by now than they need to recheck it to make sure their is not another leak somewhere.

hjc1

You have to take these forums with a grain of salt..... These forums are a medium to complain about cars........ Go to any other forum and you would think nobody knows how to build a quality automobile.
My Sonota is 1 year old and has about 20,000 trouble free miles and get GREAT gas mileage. I don't think you can find a better value with a fantastic warranty.......... Even Consumer Report check rates this car

Kirstie_H

Yes, I wish I had a dollar - heck, I'd even take a nickel - for every time I saw a post from a member vowing that they will NEVER buy X brand again. I bet there's one for every make/model.

Most of our maintenance & repair discussions have quite a few dissatisfied owners posting in them. The higher the volume of sales, the more active the M&R discussions are, in general (there ARE exceptions, of course). So, if Hyundai complaints have picked up, my first thought is that it's because there are more owners than there were previously.

Each vehicle seems to have its own issues - for example, you'll see a lot of complaints about the transmission for one of the BMW sedans. There's one that's experiencing "pull to the right" issues too. Accord/Civic owners have complained about premature brake wear. I could go on & on. The smart shopper will just do a LOT of reading using different resources about different makes/models, and decide what seems the best overall risk for themselves.

crankeee

hic: We have posted on the Buick Lacrosse forum that one of the frequent complainers listed 20 or more "serious" complaints with TWO of his GM brands. Total bashing that had to leave him little time to drive either car.
The collection of parts on a car are manufactured for minimum cost not maximum life. The parts are then assembled by semi-skilled labor in the US or Mexico or another exchange rate friendly country. It is truly amazing that we receive such high quality dependable vehicles - but we generally do. We bought a 2010 Buick Lacrosse that cost 11% more than our 1998 Pontiac Bonneville. we bought a 2012 Sonata GLS that cost 19% more than our 1990 Honda Accord EX. About 1% per year more for much more in features, safety, fuel economy, driveability, and overall value for each example.

fushigi

I have a friend whose '00 Sentra also had a gas smell in the cabin. I've emailed him to find out what the fix was. If nothing else you can suggest it to the service manager.

fushigi

Agreed. I figure it this way: Never say never. If I wind up with a poorly designed/manufactured product (cars, electronics, whatever) I won't ban future purchases from them. But I will put them at the bottom of the list. They'll have to do something extra special to garner my business but I won't rule them out.

Of course, there are companies I refuse to do business with, but that has to do with the way they treat me and/or their policies more than their products.

crankeee

We had two cars that had that smell. Last one was a Nissan(1990 model) that had a flat run from the filler to the tank due to low profile model with a hatchback so no trunk to isolate the smell. Any over filling after the gas pump shut off would result in back flow and smell of gas.
Another model (GM) had a problem with the return (overflow) line actually deteriorating and allowing the smell of gas to enter the car thru the trunk. the car was older and the failure was attributed to age not design. The connection to the gas cap receiver to the receiver tube tot he tank and the overfill bypass can also contribute. Hard to diagnose and easy to fix.
good luck. Crankee

rick2456

The inhalation of gas fumes is a serious health risk (both hydrocarbons and carcinogens), not to mention gas fumes are extremely flamable (more so than gas itself). I am assuming you don't continue to pump gas after the pumps cuts off automatically? Overfilling can cause the symptoms you noted. But probably not to the extreme that you noted. For sure, make hyundai honor their warranty by whatever means (lemon law, etc) you can.

ryster

There is a canister/filter associated with the fuel filler neck. If the fuel tank is frequently topped-off or overfilled, that canister/filter gets saturated with fuel and will produce a strong fuel odor in the vehicle. Might want to look at that.

On the 2.4L Sonatas, there is a known issue related to a hose in the engine compartment that goes bad and results in a very strong fuel smell in the cabin. Not sure if the 2.0T uses the same/similar setup.

sivicman

Hyundai has a TSB out on the gas fumes inside the vehicle. It appears the PVC hose collapeses and causes it. The dealer will replace the hose and PVC valve as part of the TSB.

sivicman

Like I said in my previous post, we haven't had any problems with our car (knock on wood) but then again it only has 4K miles on it too. Only time will tell if it will hold up as well as the Honda's we've owned. I thought forums were to say good or bad about a vehicle and help each other try and resolve issues and express good things about a certain vehicle. It seems that you don't dare say anything bad about a certain brand or you get flamed. I have a right to my opinion just like anyone else.

fushigi

My friend with the Sentra said he thinks it was from a cracked head gasket but wasn't sure. I'd follow sivicman's thinking and pursue the TSB.

piezon

Dave,
I'm VERY close to buying the 2012 Sonata Limited but there are so may posts that contain "problems" that I'm hesitant. However, I recently purchased 4 brand new LG appliances for my kitchen in spite of some of the negative reviews and, to my surprise, we haven't experienced any of them. we absolutely love them and i'm hoping the same will be true with the Sonata. Would you mind giving me your honest feedback on your Ltd. and let me know how many miles are on it & how long you've owned it?/ Would appreciate it. Thnx

targettuning

We own a 2012 Sonata SE and while I don't have a lot of miles on it I researched the model in general A LOT before buying it. This in spite of owning two Santa Fe's (2002-2003) that were trouble free and a daughter owning a 2003 Elantra again trouble free + our sons 2000 Elantra that he sold at 193,000 miles still running fine. I guess I was mostly concerned about the "left pull" issue some 2011 models exibited. I fully believe Hyundai found and corrected the problem for 2012 (mine tracks straight) and retrofitted the updated parts to fix the 2011's affected. There aren't too many issues for the 2012's except the usual..."I don't get the advertised fuel economy and I am pissed"...the tires wore out at only XXXX miles (usually within an acceptable range for the quality of OEM tires) , and the various creaks, rattles, minor component failure and the occasional major component failure that could and does occur with any brand, Honda and Toyota included. Oh, I recently received a notice to have our Blue-Link telemetrics be updated/reflashed otherwise it runs fine and gets, I believe, great fuel economy. So, I say go ahead and pull the trigger, I am sure a disgruntled somebody here will be glad to tell you otherwise.

sonatasins

Hi,
I bought a new Sonata 2.4L 2012, four months back with navigation package. I paid 32000$s just for Car. About a month back some how some water went into the engine thru air filter. No body knows how (not even the technicians). Anyways, Engine engine ceased. Hyundai dealer ask me to claim it with my insurance. I did, they replaced the engine with new engine. Now my Car is fine and working.

Now I want to know three things:
>> How can I check that the engine they fit, was surely new?
>> And what will be the cost of this car, for resale and trade in.
>> I don't want to keep this car, what are my options and which one is the best.

Any help will be great

Thanks,

wnyhyundai

My TPMS light came on for approximately 10 minutes/went off for approximately an hour four times today on a trip from Rochester, NY to Hagerstown, MD. My past TPMS lights would illuminate only during extremely cold weather events and would only go off when the air pressure was adjusted. Any thoughts as to what may be causing this?

Also, as an aside, I seem to be occasionally having a a slightly rough idle while at stop lights...fluctuations between 500 - 750 and it sounds as if something else is running in the background of the engine...MOST times at stop lights however, the engine is super smooth and the RPM gauge sits quietly at 750...

Lastly, I have noticed that the driver side fabric seems to "puckering" after sitting in the seat...I had fabric problems with my 2009 and this appears to be similar, although not as bad...it's almost like the fabric wasn't stretched enough? Is anyone else experiencing this type of fabric issue?

Other than these minor issues, the car is a pleasure to drive. I am getting about 36 miles to the gallon (I drive highway almost exclusively) with an engine that isn't fully broken in yet (only at 1600 miles)...I am very impressed with that.

Thank you in advance for any advice anyone has. I have been a faithful reader (albeit, not poster that much) for MANY years and have learned so much from the numerous discussions.

sonatasins

There is no one on this site can reply this message.

Kirstie_H

We have been experiencing some technical issues. Please be patient.

zornundo

Just traded in my 2009 GLS for a 2012 GLS. I've only driven it for a day, but it is good so far. My wife drives a 2011 Limited and she is happy as can be. Almost 13k miles on the Limited and no problems. I drove my 2009 to 123k miles and the only problem was a spring or something on the little dash cover. It wouldn't spring open anymore. A minor annoyance. I look forward to driving my 2012 for a good three to four years and 120-150k miles.

delmore08824

I purchased a 2012 Sonata SE w/ nav in December 2011. 4 days later check engine light came on. It has been coming on every 3-4 days ever since. Been to dealer 7 times. They replaced most of the emissions system. Light still coming on. Hyundai engineers looked at vehicle. They can't seem to find out cause. Anyone have any suggestions? I am in process of getting a refund through the NJ Lemon Law.

dc_driver

Spent the better part of a couple of afternoons driving cars from Ford, Mazda, Toyota, and Hyundai. I have to say that Hyundai really won me over. I was a very happy Mazda 3 owner and was expecting to get another Mazda (3, or 6) but after driving the Sonata and Genesis models, I was sold on Hyundai. I ended up getting the Hyundai Sonata (I really liked the Genesis Coupe) in the SE trim with the 2.0 turbo. I also test drove the GLS and a Limited 2.0 tubo, but after driving a Mazda 3 for 6 years, really wanted something that had better handling, tighter steering, and a firmer ride. The SE seems to give all of that. The Limited's steering felt way too numb and loose to me.

Hyundai really has a winner here.

delmore08824

Update: Hyundai finally repaired my vehicle. The problem was some piece of cotton in a line blocking air flow. Sounds insane but they showed me this piece of what looks like a cigarette butt. They removed it and now the car runs fine with no check engine light every 3 days.

backy

Hmm... I'm wondering if a cigarette butt could have been sucked into the air intake? The way some people toss them carelessly out the window on the highway, I could see that being possible.

Reminds me of many years ago when my dad tossed a butt out the window. It got sucked back into the car through the open rear window, landed on my sister's lap, and started burning her. Needless to say, it was the LAST time my dad ever tossed a butt out the window!

delmore08824

In my case, I think it happened in the factory. I wasn't an actual cigarette butt. It was a piece of cotton that looked like a butt. Glad they found it and fixed it. I had already started proceedings with the Lemon Law.
When I was a kid the same thing happened to my dad's car. The butt burned a hole in the back seat.
Thanks for replying.

mrbizness1

this has happenend to both my Nissans several times. The evap air lines can get clogged by moth nests and set off the codes.

matherson

I purchased a 11 SE in June 2011. Drove it for 10,000 miles. Really, really liked it. Bought the SE for reasons others have mentioned. Slightly more HP, sportier suspension, upgraded leather trimmed seats. 18" wheels.
I traded it in January 2012 for a 12 Limited (no navi, no turbo) because I had already blown out two wheels on potholes. In a mild winter no less. I knew it was going to be a constant issue for me in New England. Got 90% of what I paid new on the trade and got the new Limited at a very competitive $24,500.
12 Limited has been great. Though for some reason my MPG has been lower (about 26 on average vs. about 28 on SE) Doesn't make sense, but it is similar driving.
I also notice the drop in HP. Mostly around town, probably about 15-20% highway and I drive conservatively. The SE was real nice and have a better tuned engine and better MPG. If I didn't live in a bad pothole area I would have kept the SE.

No real problems on either car with a combined 16,000 miles in 11 months.

sedan15

I am driving 2012 Hyundai I40 sedan, which I believe is identical to 2012 Sonata.
Please watch the LCD radio screen in the center of the dashboard. It is not visible in normal bright daytime.