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The Sonata LX '06 has a Mode, Volume Up, Volume Down & Volume Mute controls ONLY. Currently, there is no way to "scan" or seek stations or CD Tracks. This means that the driver is forced to take his/her eyes off the road, turn and move forward in order to change Radio Frequecies and CD Tracks, which in my opinion is a great distraction.
The whole point of Radio/CD controls in the steering wheel is to PREVENT such distractions from occuring IN THE FIRST PLACE! My girlfriend's Ford Focus SE5 has all the required Radio/CD controls IN THE STEERING WHEEL, COMPLETELY ELIMINATING DRIVER DISTRACTION WHEN MAKING RADIO/CD ADJUSTMENTS.
Please note that the Azera has the same lame controls as does the lower priced Sonata. Why both the Sonata and higher priced Azera are missing controls that a much lesser car has is beyond my understanding. :confuse:
Hopefully, this matter will be addressed in the 2007 Sonata and Azera.
Other than missing Radio/CD control buttons, I've been very happy with my '06 Sonata LX purchased on Oct. 15, 2005.
HOWEVER, I didn't get a service survey after having my oil changed at the 1,000 mile mark. I sure wish they had. :mad:
Once service is completed, someone from the shop walks thru the customer lounge to the billing desk, calling your name. If you happen to be in the bathroom, showroom, or simply outside having a smoke, your out of luck. NO PAGING of completed service work is done at my dealership. I ended up at the dealership for several hours waiting for the oil change to be completed. It wasn't until the Service Writer saw me later that day that I was informed that the oil change had been completed.
After entering the car once the oil change was completed, I found the driver's seat add been adjusted to "Sleep Mode" with the back almost completely parallel to the floor, with the seat moved all the way back as far as possible.
It wasn't until the next day, when my girlfriend spotted the huge mess left on my leather seats. Spots, all over the bottom and backrest of the drivers seat!! Paper towel and bit of spit couldn't remove what had been deposited on the drivers seat! I immediately went to the local auto parts store to purchase a bottle of leather cleaner. After several applications of leather cleaner and elbow grease, I was FINALLY able to remove ALL traces of stain that had been deposited.
I would appear from my experience that Hyundai USA send out only one Service Satisfaction Survey. Rest assured, had I received a second one, I would have complained bitterly. I would hope that Hyundai makes it a practice to send surveys each and every time that service work is done.
You can bet your bottom dollar that when I return for the 3,000 mile oil change, due within the next 500 miles, I will be bringing my last experience to the Service Writers attention, and insist that the car be return EXACTLY as it was when tendered for service! No "Sleep Mode" and no leather stains. :mad:
Yes, it not warranty work. The auto door locks are standard equipment. They need to be activated/prepped to the speed of the buyer's choice. Don't other items need to be activated/prepped prior to delivery to the buyer and are included in the delivered price?
Did you consider that maybe you got ripped off by your dealer to activate this STANDARD feature?
I doubt the manufacturer would step on the dealer's toes about this. It's not a factory problem, but rather shady action on the part of some third party vendors (dealers).
Now there will be thousands of accidents because everyone will reach 12 inches for the main dials.I hope they put food trays on the console,so I don't have to reach for my burgers and I hope they have built in cell phones so I don't have to fiddle around trying to find mine.Of course these were never distractions. Oh and for all the folks who can't figure where the hec they are going ,don't forget the soon to be out GPS units(but of course these won't cause distractions while driving),and I hope they are on the steering wheel also.Soon all you will need is a steering wheel with 4 wheels and two seats.
If he is not a moron (from the way you describe this dealer: he is a moron to let this kind of things go on!); he probably would have given you a free something: another oil change/free maintenance something...
All had the dual knob adjustment, except the Sonata.
Even the Tucson. And all were more comfortable, at least
to me, than the Sonata. Even the Elantra, and the Tucson
The power seat did not allow the front of the seat to
be tilted up as much as the dual knob setup on the
other cars either.
So now have fun and a great New Year to everyone! Even if you do have to turn the dial to find your station....lol
What's a little 'ole carmaker to do besides give people a Long-Haul Warranty so that everything is covered for a bazillion years and miles.
Kia and Hyundai both are doing such a great job I can't think of squat to complain about. The more I look at the slop being made out there by everyone else the more I love Kia and Hyundai. Toyota's looking worse and worse to me as time rolls along. The new Yaris sedan looks too Toyota-ish and non-intelligent to me. Looks goofy. Toyota just doesn't get it yet they sell trillions of cars. What might that tell us? Their cars are so dull looking and they have the same problems other carmakers have with their new cars.
Slap me a 2006 Hyundai Sonata GL with a 5-speed tranny and AM/FM/CD MP3 player standard. Have you looked at all the standard safety equipment these rigs have built in? Airbags in every corner including side curtain bags and side airbags, Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control System and Anti-Lock Braking System, etc. It's loaded with standard safety equipment.
Oh, about the CD changer. The one standard in the GL will be fine if I get a Sonata GL. I don't mind changing CD's as I go along. Not a problem. I thought from reading above that it didn't even have the capability of playing standard CD's-that they had to be MP3's. No, what it has standard will be fine with me.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Take ABS brakes for example. If I'm not mistaken, ABS brakes were introduced about 20 years ago. Were they introduced on brand new "basic transportation" vehicles? No! On top of the line, luxury vehicles! Why? Because the technology that lead to ABS brakes was very expensive to develop. Each feature added to a vehicle, makes that vehicle just that more expensive, leaving fewer choices for those that may not have the economic means to purchase such a vehicle. If I recall correctly, back in 1969, a brand new Cadillac sold for about $13,000 which in today's market would be considered peanuts. However, back in 1969 not everybody and his brother were driving Cadillacs.
If I were to buy a brand new car today for say $3,500 dollars, should I expect the car to have ABS, Tilt, full carpeting, sun roof, cruse control? NO! On the other hand, if I were to spend $50,000, I would expect all the options listed above and more.
I can guarantee you that you'll never see a response from anyone associated with Hyundai. If you do get a response, I doubt it would be worth the pixels used to display the response.
No corporation in their right mind would even consider giving estimates of when a particular feature will become available, or a list of new features.
I've been involved in the mechanical design industry for many years where licensed software runs between $3500 to $20,000 or more PER SEAT. No one in that industry comments, discusses or otherwise mentions either features or a time frame.
If you're REALLY waiting for an answer, you might as well purchase your vehicle of choice immediately.
While I wasn't happy having to pay the activation fee, it wasn't a dealer rip off.
However, those of you getting ready to purchase a Sonata or other vehicle should be aware of this fact and negotiate the cost involved prior to making a firm commitment to the dealer for making a purchase.
I specifically checked with Hyundai USA's Service Technology Web Site before and after being told that I was responsible for the charge. Had I seen something other than what I've reported to you, I definitely would have raised a real ruckus about the charge.
While I couldn't quite follow all the logic the salesman stated about why Hyundai ships vehicles with the automatic door locks disabled, it would appear that originally, the Sonatas were shipped with locks activated and either customers or dealers were experiencing a lot of lock outs. It was therefore decided by Hyundai USA NOT to enable automatic door locks at the Alabama factory.
As I stated earlier, this particular matter should be brought to the attention of the customer at the time of delivery and the adjustment be made prior to leaving the lot to avoid a return visit to the dealer once the customer realizes that the automatic door locks aren't working.
The '06 Sonata Sales brochure states that the vehicle comes equipped with automatic door locks and would lead the customer to believe that no adjustment or activation is required.
My girlfriend's Ford Focus comes with automatic locks that don't required any intervention, whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I suggested to her to contact her dealer to see if the automatic door locks could be activated at a speed greater than the current 2 mph. The Ford dealer indicated that changing activation speed is not available, unlike the Sonata.
Since there is a charge to the customer, I would strongly suggest that the customer give great consideration as to what speed the lock become activated. I have no doubt the dealer will charge for each and every change of activation speed the customer requests.
I live in an area where neighborhood streets have posted speed limits of 20 and 25 MPH. I selected a KPH value that has the equivalent of 19 MPH, thereby activating the locks prior to meeting maximum posted speeds within the neighborhood. While I don't recall all the specific KPH values that can be set, it is quite broad, allowing the customer to pick very slow to quite peppy speeds before the locks engage. Having driven the Ford Focus on numerous occasions, I would HIGHLY SUGGEST NOT setting the engagement speed to its lowest value. You'll find yourself having to manually release the locks at even the slightest movement. Try dropping people off at the restaurant door several times and you'll quickly realize activating locks at too slow a speed will be a real PITA.
I'd much rather be lacking the channel seek feature on the steering wheel than the many standard features the Sonata offers over the competitors~such as traction control, electronic stability, shiftronic transmission, 4 wheel ABS-Discs, Side Airbags, Auto lighting, etc.
There is one thing I must gripe about though~NO OIL PRESSURE GUAGE~ I just hate idiot lights!!!
I'm extremely happy with my purchase and would recommend this vehicle to anyone who asks about it.
As I stated earlier, I would hope that the next version of the Sonata had a more complete audio control system located in the steering wheel.
While having a oil pressure gauge would make instrumentation more complete, I'm not so sure how many people would know what values to expect both inside and outside normal oil pressure ranges. I know that I myself wouldn't know without reading the owners manual.
seat. I pointed it out to the salesman, and he took the
car himself, brought it back in half an hour, seats
perfect, and said he had the prep guy scotchguard the seats
at no charge for the inconvenience.
When I go for my first oil change, I'll mention the strange outside temperature readings I've been getting on the HVAC display. Most of the time, it's only 10 to 15 degrees higher than actual. Yesterday, however, it was around 35 degrees here in western Mass., yet the display initially read 129, then climbed to 139.
Two of my minor peeves:
The placement of the steering wheel volume up and down buttons. I think it would be more logical for them to straddle the raised button, much like the resume and set buttons for cruise control straddle the cancel button. Also, the rearview mirror should display the actual inside cabin temperature; it's not enough just to display the selected temperature on the HVAC panel.
I've had the car for six weeks now (1450 mi.). The best fuel economy I've gotten is 20 mpg, which included the 120 mile round-trip to the dealership. The last two tankfulls have been 16 and 17 mpg, respectively, mostly just around town. I certainly hope this improves as the engine loosens up. I'll be taking a trip to Buffalo, NY, in two weeks, and I'll be expecting a minimum in the mid-20s.
Otherwise, I'm more than happy with this car.
Good that you didn't get ripped off by paying for a standard feature to function.
Your mpg will improve by 10% or more when the outside temperatures moderate. Look for marked improvement in the spring. Then, come next Oct. or November your mph will again drop.
I'm sure the Sonata activation is a simple procedure as well, one in which it takes the service tech a couple of minutes at most - and, really should be done for "gratis" as it's simply good dealership PR.
You're correct. I looked up the procedure through the hmaservice site. It's an eleven step process including,1) plug in the Hi-Scan Pro 2) turn on the Hi-Scan Pro.....10) disconnect the Hi-scan and 11) test drive the vehicle to confirm the auto lock setting. The steps in between are similar to changing the settings on a home programmable thermostat.
I'd be surprised if it takes 10 minutes including accelerating up to the "activate lock speed." Also, it should be done as part of the dealer preparation prior to delivery to the buyer.
German video. Interesting, but could not understand. Someone please translate!!!
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
It is kinda like treadware ratings of tires which are only useful in comparing tires of the same manufacturer.
You should not place importance on the numbers if you are cross-shopping tire brands or different classes of vehicles.
* Activate ESC: $50
* Activate Auto Climate Control: $100
* Activate Remote Locking: $50
* Activate Automatic Headlights: $50
* Deactivate Seatbelt Warning Chime: $100 (Gov't may not like that, however)
Again - for the money - its a no-brainer.
How the heck could I "ask" when I didn't even know the option was available? It is not mentioned on the website or the brochure I have.
Now that that's settled, I just wanted to say that I am thoroughly enjoying my Steel Gray Sonata LX w/ the power moonroof and 6cd changer. The only real complaints that I have is the gas mileage (and yes I've read from multiple people that this will come UP) and the fear that buying those 17-inch low profile tires will bankrupt me - okay, not really but I'm sure they will be pricey.
BTW, I highly suggest putting official hyundai mudguards and a custom spoiler on your Sonata. IMHO I felt that Hyundai's spoiler was kind of "ugly" - please don't anyone castrate me! I said IMHO! When I get the chrome stripping applied around the grille, I'll try and post some photos of everything so that you all can see how these simple alterations makes your already beautiful car even more pleasing to the eye. Until then, those of you with your 06 Sonata, enjoy the ride - and those of you still deciding... take one for a test drive. You seriously won't be disappointed.
docjosh
P.S. -- Something else I will probably be investing in is a cargo net for the trunk. For around $28 (shipping included on ebay from the same seller I bought my mudguards from) I can keep my stuff from sliding around in that beast of a trunk!
http://hyundai.autowebaccessories.com/index.php
I was very pleased with the service. I don't want the rear spoiler but might get the sunroof deflector.
As you stated... the official hyundai spoiler IS a little small. Here is a link to the seller on ebay where I bought mine. You can at least see what it looks like on a car. They automatically paint it to match your car as well - just give them the Hyundai color code for your car. Enjoy!
trimking1's ebay store
Good luck!
docjosh
P.S. -- I didn't check to see if they have any in stock. If not, email the seller directly and tell him that you are looking for a painted "Custom 06 Sonata Spoiler." I'm sure he'll help you.
By the way, if you want to equip your Sonata, there are plenty of sites around and with prices usually cheaper then provided above.
Some of them:
Your Hyundai Parts.com - official Hyundai US dealer with some of the cheaper prices around;
Dreamka4U - Korean distributor with good prices and some interesting accessories;
KSPEC Performance - another Korean custom accessories seller;
EvoFusion USA - US distributor for Korean Sonata body kits.
Cheers,
Netscorer.
Hate to tell you this but not every salesperson knows everything about the cars they are selling.
You should have seen the salesman try to explain to me how a 6 cylinder engine worked using only 4 spark plug wires :confuse:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
W-R-O-N-G, I don't know how you came to that conclusion; but I can tell you what happened to me 2 months ago: I picked a "salesperson" who appeared older and knew his way around; and to test him, I first asked how long he has been doing this: Answer: since the dealership opened 2 years ago... then I asked what kind of timing gear does the 2006 Sonata has: Belt or Chain.
Answer: Timing Belt.
If he didn't know this major change for the 2006 Sonata... I doubt if he knew much of anything else!
You know I wish most dealers had a Wal-Mart type set up: Lower Prices/No haggling and if someone needed help there is always someone there to ask!
It would be a Win/Win situation and, it frees those people to peddle something else.
the two salespeople I talked to. Questions I asked:
Horsepower, aw over 200. What does the GLS V6 have
that the GLS 4 doesn't. Answer: nothing. Uh huh.
Except dual exhausts, 5 speed, solar glass.
The salesmen did nothing for me, except get the
keys so I could test drive the cars.
By the way I found the link to their sales and numbers broken down by individual vehicle models.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-04-200- 6/0004242629&EDATE=
<img src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/dix13/HyundaiSales-Dec2005.jpg