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2013 and Earlier - Hyundai Sonata Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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    cableguy06cableguy06 Member Posts: 299
    Sal, I disagree. If house06 is buying a LIMITED, then $20,500 is a great price!

    House06, I paid $20,770 for mine and it has the $170 Pearl White Paint option so your price is an excellent one. At that price, the hold-back and advertsing dollars are already removed so there's no more room for them to budge unless they are willing to take a financial hit to meet a volume objective where they get a retro bonus back from Hyundai.
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    There is confusion here. Which limited is he buying? The standard is the base unit without the sun roof and radio upgrade. The limited with ultimate package includes the sun roof and the radio upgrade.

    If House06 is getting the ultimate package, then indeed $20,500 is a good price. Who is the dealer?

    And I repeat, I doubt if this price will hold once you sit down in the cubicle of hell.
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    house06house06 Member Posts: 4
    We ended up buying the Sonata Limited Standard with XM (Khaki color) for $20,500. The tax, registration, and doc fees were all as expected. We declined all the extras and they really didn't push them or give us any problems at all!

    The only surprise was a $139 anti-theft fee for etching unique ID's (not the VIN#) onto all 4 windows. Since I wasn't expecting it, they dropped it down to $105 (so they could make a $5 profit on it). We were very happy with the service up to that point so we just didn't haggle about it.

    Maybe I could have gotten a better price if I waited or visited other dealerships, but I was content with paying $500 below invoice ($1500 if you include the rebate).

    Our dealership was Poway Hyundai and they were great!
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    Congratulation. At least you bought the car.

    The "surprise" etching fee was done without you knowing about it. That is a dealer scam. It costs the dealer about $20 to etch.

    This would have been a deal killer for me. I would have challenged the dealer to remove the $105 fee or cancel. I guess that's because I'm an old ornery man and I've been burned too many times.

    Now, hopefully your new car won't experience the mechanical problems that have been listed in this forum.

    Once again, good luck.

    Sal Liggieri
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    xj220xj220 Member Posts: 78
    Yes, I agree the etching fee may have been a scam; especially if it wasn't advertised in the window sticker that they were charging a fee for it. But I also realized that if I want a particular car, I'm not going to let something as small as a $105 fee get in the way of my happiness.

    To look on the bright side, you did get something for that $105 add on. And it accounts for only 0.005 of the total purchase price. I could think far worse scenerios the dealer could have scammed you.

    Oh, and congratulations on your purchase!
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    xj220

    What a sad state of affairs. We as car buyers have to be grateful that these thieving car dealers only ripped us off for $105, it could have been worse.

    That is the same accepting mentality in America that allows all the stealing and corruption such as Enron, Global Crossing, World Com, crooked politicians and on and on.

    And our response...It's all okay...it could have been worse.

    Ugly, Ugly, Ugly!
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    trunvestrtrunvestr Member Posts: 32
    Cableguy, your purchase for $20,770 included the $1,500 Ultimate option package. However, House06 Limited purchase did NOT include this option so though his deal is nice it's not as sweet as yours.
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    cableguy06cableguy06 Member Posts: 299
    Thanks trunvestr...I am understanding that now. Thought he was also getting the Ultimate pac with that. In the end, as long as he's happy, we should all be happy for him.

    House06...welcome to the club!
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    If house06 is reading the forum, how can he be happy over paying $1500. Do we learn any lesson? No, we don't buy cars everyday, 5-10 years from now, this will all be forgotten.

    I continue to repeat the dealers manifesto: Buyer, you don't buy a car, I sell you a car and always at my price.

    You can't beat the gambling casino in the long run and you can't beat the car dealer in the short run. It's always a lose, lose situation.

    We have all been suckered.

    Sal Liggieri
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    xj220xj220 Member Posts: 78
    Well, look at it this way. If he didn't want to get the car for $20,500 then he wouldn't have bought it for that much. I wouldn't call it being "suckered". I would call it not wanting to spend any more time trying to figure out how to save the very last penny, and actually buying the vehicle so that one can drive and enjoy it.

    I know we try to divulge as much info as we can in this forum, so that others can get the best possible deal. But there are just so many factors to take into account that not everyone will get the same deal as the one who got the very best deal. You have to think about how long the car's been in the lot, how much it's already been driven, the options, colors, accessories, the time of the month, month of the year, availability, demand, manufacturer incentives, etc, etc... I paid almost $1,000 more for my car because I wanted black interior and I didn't want the car with almost 400 miles already tacked on and was sitting in the lot for a couple months. Do I feel "suckered"? Not the least bit.

    In house's situation: (A) rebates are $500 less then they were a month ago for the LTDs, (B) he got the brand new XM model which naturally costs more than the standard LTD of a month ago and (C) he must've gotten the steering wheel controls where you can actually change stations/tracks (and if so, I'm jealous!).
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    I don't consider $1500 the very last penny. Even using CarsDirect, he would have gotten a better deal at under $20000. You sound like a spokesman for the car dealers. That is exactly how the dealers want you to feel so that when you are ready to buy, you are ready to be plucked.

    It's the mentality thing. Why is it okay for a dealer to scam you, stick his hand in your pocket, steal your money, then sing God Bless America.

    I'll never understand.
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    trunvestrtrunvestr Member Posts: 32
    I agree with you . Ultimately if the buyer is happy that's what matters. In addition, yes the rebate was reduced from $1,500 to $1,000 and the XM radio drove the cost up another $300+. Some color combos are hard to find so you either buy a color you don't want or you pay the asking price. Hopefully we're sharing our buying experience to help one another. To me it's not a competition to get a better deal than someone else. A price that is too high for me is not too high for the next guy who doesn't care about getting the best deal. Let's leave it at that. We want the car at a particular price. The dealer wants to sell us this car at a higher price. We'll agree at some point in the negotiations are the car will stay on the lot. Based on sales figures from the Hyundai website it seems like total Hyundai sales were down nearly 14% and Sonata sales were down nearly 41% in November 2006 over November 2005. You'd think they'd stop playing hardball. We all have to do what's comfortable for us. I hope to find my Limited at a favorable price :)
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    gezhaogezhao Member Posts: 1
    Got my 2005 sonata two years ago, perfect experiences of my own, I recommended the 2007 model to my friend, at the same dealer, GLS, white, 4 cyl. nothing more than the base model. 16750 OTD after $1000 rebate +$500 loyalty customer rebate. in Houston. thanks to all the messages in the board.
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    yankee23yankee23 Member Posts: 16
    I'm about to buy a 2007 Sonata but spent some time going through the great discussion on this site. I'm looking at the limited with the ultimate package but insisted to the dealer that I want a car produced later in the model year to be assured several of the problems discussed here were fixed. Since the only local dealer doesn't have what I want he's been searching the listings of others and having difficulty finding the color I want (steel grey) with the interior I want (black leather) as well as the later production date. Is there any way to tell other than the three buttons on the column that I'm getting what I want.
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    cableguy06cableguy06 Member Posts: 299
    I think, but may be mistaken, that in order to get the steel gray with black leather, you have to buy the Platinum package. To be sure on build date, you need to look at the manufacturing date inside the drivers door.
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    The same color combination I have been looking for.

    I called customer service of Hyundai and they said this car was in production. But in my search on the East Coast the Steel Gray was available but only with the Gray Interior.

    No dealer I contacted had the black interior on any Sonata other than the Platinum series but that only comes in silver.

    Ideally, if one could wait, all the problems should be resolved in the 2008 models which will also have the foldable side view mirrors.

    If the dealer has the car you want, he can tell you the build date from the invoice. If you see the car, the build date is on a label at the bottom of the door post on the driver's side.
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    yankee23yankee23 Member Posts: 16
    What's the difference (features and price) between the platinum package and the ultimate package? I guess I'm willing to accept the silver exterior to get the black interior.
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    xj220xj220 Member Posts: 78
    I've got the platinum package. It will cost about $500-$1000 on top of a ultimate package, depending on availability. The price difference will surely go down once the black leather interior are available in the LX models, since that is the main incentive to get one.

    I'd suggest holding out until the 2008s -- that is, if you can. Here is a pic of what it might look like. A definate improvement, IMO. I haven't heard anything about an exterior update, though.
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    yankee23yankee23 Member Posts: 16
    I don't have the luxury of waiting. I need a third car immediately. The dealer hasn't been all that helpful, the closest he's gotten is a black on black, but the updated buttons for track control on the CDs aren't there. He also stated that he looked through the full inventory available from Hyundai and can't find a limited steel grey with black interior anywhere.
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    yankee23yankee23 Member Posts: 16
    How did you contact Hyundai customer service? The dealer says he can't find a platinum with a later build date (he states that any car with an invoice date after Dec 9th has all the latest upgrades including the CD track changer buttons on the steering wheel.)My options seem pretty limited and I need to make a decision soon. If I could get a steel grey with Black leather I'd be willing to buy up to the platinum level.
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    I sent customer service an email and I also called their California headquarters. They were responsive but I got two different results. One said the steel gray/black was available, the other said not available.

    And if you call every dealer in your area you probably won't find it. You can also check Fitzmall, they have an extensive inventory of Hyundai's, but I don't think you will find the colors there either.

    The platinum only comes in silver/black I believe and it is in short supply.

    If you want the steel gray, you will have to accept the gray interior which in my opinion is not too attractive and it gets and shows the dirt too easily.

    I set out to buy the Sonata in 2006 but I had plenty of dealer hassles. I tried for the 2007, then all the mechanical problems showed up. Now, I'm thinking of waiting for the 2008-I can wait.
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    yankee23yankee23 Member Posts: 16
    Well, I woudn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. My dealer just got in a Black Limited with the Ultimate package and black leather. I spoke to Fitzmall who assured me it didn't exist. (They told me black leather was only in the platinum and only with silver paint). I'm picking it up on Tuesday. Thanks to many of you who helped me with the search and provided great info.
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    I'm thinking that Hyundai is a schlock manufacturer. They print a brochure stating Steel Gray Sonata comes with a gray or black interior-but there is no such car available.

    Yankee 23, you had to settle for a color other than the steel gray you wanted. Which leads me to believe that the Sonata is not selling to well so that their production has been curtailed. Why else wouldn't they have the color you wanted.

    Odd that you can't get a straight answer from anyone involved with selling Hyundai's. My experience with dealers was that they can get the car but you have to put down a deposit. Screw them-the deposit effectively takes you out of the loop. And if this color combination is not available at any dealer, where would they get the car?

    Buyer beware, you have to be informed or they will gobble you up.

    Now you have to go through the baptism. Based on the forum, some of the members paid $20500-$20700 which includes the rebate for this car. Apparently you bought the car so post your cost so that we can compare prices.
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    hotrod54hotrod54 Member Posts: 82
    why are all your posts such sour grapes? sheeesh!!! :cry:
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    jack47jack47 Member Posts: 312
    I have a request in for a black /black limited w/o the ultimate package.

    I'm in no hurry...but would be interested in what you paid for yours.
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    The sweetest grape of them all, is the sour grape.

    Because we are dealing with one of America's great institutions...The Automobile Dealer. An institution based on the principles of trust, respect, concern for the consumer, honest negotiations, and fair deals.

    All in keeping with the great American traditions as founded by our forefathers. Ah yes, they must be chuckling at what we have accomplished: Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, Worldcom and on and on in perpetuity, and the most noble of them all...the American Car Dealer.

    Yes, we certainly have a lot to be proud of.
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    hotrod54hotrod54 Member Posts: 82
    ah yes...but you left out lawyers and insurance salesmen. However, due to sites like this, we now have a serious leg up on the auto industry; and you can always walk out if you feel the deal is hinky. I was completely prepared and comfortable when I bought my '07 Limited; no punches were pulled and the deal took less than 2 hours, start to finish. :)
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    Hopefully, maybe dealing with dealers is getting better. It appears you had a pleasant experience...good, no scams, no added charges, no document fee(?).

    It would help the forum if you took the time to discuss the deal you made, we can all learn from this.

    Sal Liggieri
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    eagle2aeagle2a Member Posts: 97
    Sligg: My experience with dealerships has been, of late, limited. I had not purchased, until June of this year,a new vehicle in 14 years. I must say that most of my dealings with auto dealers over the years has been an acceptable one. However, having said that, I did not deal with the local Hyundai dealership because I did not get the competitive price I wanted, and I was somewhat reticent due to the personnel that I had met their.

    So I drove to a smaller towns about 60 miles away to buy my 2006 Hyundai. He was a new dealer for Hyundai. His principal sales were for GMC trucks and Cadillac cars. He had lost the Oldsmobile portion of his dealership when General Motors terminated this brand. So he needed a lower-cost automobile to sell.

    But I must say, as many others have said on this form, it is up to the individual doing the purchasing to follow the old maxim, "Buyer beware!" I had my price established before I ever drove to this outlying town. I bargain by telephone and e-mail with the sales manager. I told them that I did not care what kind of fees they added on the final bill as long as the price we agreed to was the total price that I would write a check for.

    I do agree with you though that the buying public should not feel like they're going to have to enter a "mud wrestling contest" every time they go to purchase a new vehicle. The cars today cost a lot of money, and you don't feel like you should have to give any of your hard earned money away just because some slick salesman or sales manager deems that you should do so. Unfortunately that seems to be the name of the game far too often.

    Sites like Edmunds and this form, make this type of an adventure more palatable. :D
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    stlbuyer_29stlbuyer_29 Member Posts: 3
    I thought I was going to be able to deal for a 2007 Sonata Limited Edition (with Ultimate Package), but I got a big shock today. I have a 05 Mustang GT with low miles and it has every factory installed option on it. The dealer quoted me 22,995 and I thought that was an ok price. The car I wanted had tint which added a few hundred, which came out to about 23,200. No problem. So, I owe around the same amount on my Mustang. They "appraised" it and said they would only give me 20,000 for it. I can't have overlap or I'd end up in the same situation I started with. So, the dealer made several (I'd have to say, it was pretty weak) attempts to get me to sign:

    1. Can we just roll over the difference between what you owe on the Mustang and what you will pay for the Sonata? My answer: absolutely not.

    2. Would you consider 84 months? My answer: no way.

    3. How about a used 2006 with 10,000 miles on it? My answer: nope, I only want the car I test drove.

    4. Ok sir, here are your keys to the Mustang back, that was the best we could do.

    I didn't see the manager during the deal. I didn't get the famed salesman switch. And in the end, I didn't get the deal, and I was in mild disbelief as I was walking toward the exit. Anyways. What do you all think about what happened? Was I being too unrealistic with my demands? Should I consider another dealer? Any help would be appreciated.
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    hotrod54hotrod54 Member Posts: 82
    my 03 sonata lx broke down out of town; not unexpected (trans. had been rumbling in 3rd gear). I had been planning on a new one this fall, so with 332,360 miles on it, I decided to drive it to failure. I had done plenty of research and carried with me my financial info. and printouts of internet pricing from several dealers. Hyundai Roadside Assistance provided a tow to the nearest dealer. They lent me a loaner overnight, next day when they confirmed trans internal failure, I went to sales dept. and said to the sslesman assigned to help me "okay, here's the deal" and controlled it from there. I told him what I wanted vehicle wise, price wise and finance wise, showed him the pricing I had already researched, picked out a car that I knew they wanted to move (production date June, in dealers inventory since July and they gave me everything I asked for. $20,500 includes $55 doc fee, $10 temp tag, sales tax and registration (which I took care of myself when I got home. :D
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    sliggsligg Member Posts: 109
    Now that is what I would call an intelligent deal with an accommodating dealer. What state did you buy the car and what state did you register the car? What model did you buy?
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    yankee23yankee23 Member Posts: 16
    I'm sure I didn't get as good a deal as I've seen with many of the others on the site, but I got the best deal I could with the two dealers I had to choose from (Even though they were very nice to deal with, I wasn't keen on flying to Maryland and driving back a better deal from Fitzmall) The sticker on the car was $25,345, invoice of $23,827. I was given two choices $1200 under invoice, or $200 under invoice and low financing. It was an easy choice of the financing (%2.9 for 60 months). You could probably swing a much better deal, but I needed another car immediately and with nothing on his lot and such a hard time finding ANYTHING with black leather (it was brought in from over 200 miles away)I took the deal. From a copy of the invoice I have it looks like there is currently $742 of holdback (shown as **HB742) and a code of **FA248. I'm not sure what that is, I'm sure someone else on the site knows. I tried to get the sales manager to waive the advertising fee as some suggested, but he was adamant that he would not go any lower. If you hold out a few more weeks a lot more of the late model 2007s are arriving (look for the three buttons on the left of the steering wheel instead of one mute button). Good luck, I hope you get a deal you're happy with.
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    cableguy06cableguy06 Member Posts: 299
    The FA248 is the floor advertising fee. There is always hold-back and advertising money on every invoice.
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    xj220xj220 Member Posts: 78
    I didn't realize just how good Fitz's deals are until I've heard from others in this forum. They sometimes don't have the very best deal you can get, but their prices are extremely competitive and their sales rep are absolutely forbidden to bargain with the advertised price, so there's no haggle. You either accept the price or move on. Plus, they have a good range of models and colors. I guess living in Maryland has its perks.
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    hotrod54hotrod54 Member Posts: 82
    bought the car in York, Pa., I live in Northern Va. Drive for a living (prime contractor for a division of UPS, sub for a broker...all long distance driving). Bought standard Limited..don't like sunroofs. :)
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    trunvestrtrunvestr Member Posts: 32
    I've been checking the Fitzmall deals for the Limited Sonata and the prices look reasonable but I had a concern. The concern is that the car's package says nothing about an XM radio. I called Fitz and the sales rep said that because this Limited has the 08 option package that it means it has XM. I don't think so. It could be an earlier Sonata Limited before the XM versions. Since the XM version of the car cost about $350 more then the older version it stands to reason if the Fitz was selling the latest version the description would stater that. I wouldn't want to be the one driving there to find out otherwise. Hopefully the $1,500 Hyundai rebate will return in January. Judging from the Sales figures for Nov 06 versus Nov 05 Sonata sales are down about 40%. You'd think the sales folks would be more reasonable.
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    stlbuyer_29stlbuyer_29 Member Posts: 3
    If Sonata sales are down, I do not understand how I wasn't dealt with better during my attempt this weekend. They weren't willing to budge AT ALL and gave me my keys back within 20 minutes of the negotiation. Is this unusual? Or are they playing games with me?
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    dncbdncb Member Posts: 70
    I paid 22,750 including about 12% tax, title transfer with ultimate package and dealer tinting (I'm in Arizona). That was, however after leaving twice and trading down the 17" alloys for 16". I've bent alloys before when paired with low profile (short sidewall) tires on my old Eagle Talon, and don't like the harsh ride anyway of low pro's. I fugured the dealer could sell the 17" to somebody as dealer value added option. He did, however put on a set of lousey Michelins with a treadware of only 400. I didn't complain.
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    hotrod54hotrod54 Member Posts: 82
    treadwear of 400 is excellent for a high performance tire...go to tirerack.com to understand tire ratings etc....I used to be in the tire buisness. ;)
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    craigbrookscraigbrooks Member Posts: 420
    1. Where do live? Rear wheel drive cars in the snow belt...not this time of year.

    2. What does your Mustang book for? What are others in your area selling for?

    3. Were you upside down when you bought the Mustang? If so, you have to get to an equity position before you trade or you are just building a snowman.

    4. Try another dealer if that is an option.

    5. The dealer may not have enough room to absorb the difference in what you owe and what the car is actually worth to them. They base their appraisals on what they can buy the car for at an auction or such.

    You are lucky they gave you back your keys. The local Hyundai dealer here would have put you in the car and called you back in two weeks. They would then tell you they can't do the deal unless you go to 84 months or come up with some money down.
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    stlbuyer_29stlbuyer_29 Member Posts: 3
    Hey craig, thanks for the response. I was upside down in the Mustang (only about 1000) and I thought they'd be willing to make a deal. I tried another dealer alright, I just bought a 2003 Infiniti G35 today (it was originally my #1 option), and they went just about even trade with me. They ended up giving me 500 less than what my car was worth (almost 3000 more than the Hyundai dealer was willing to give). I got a great deal with the Infiniti dealer. And, I already went through the "take it home, your financing is fine" only to find out "oops your financing didn't go through and you have to go 84 months" after driving the car for 2 weeks. I had a check in my hand, willing to sign it if they made a deal with me. That is why I was so surprised that the Hyundai dealer reacted so quickly. No matter, I don't have to worry about it anymore, an Infiniti beats a Hyundai every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
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    sty1sty1 Member Posts: 22
    hi guys, I am presently in the market for a new car. A friend of mine introduced me to the Sonata and, after reading it from this forum, is even more impressed than ever.

    BTW I am looking into getting a 2007 Sonata Limited with Ultimate Package.

    Now my questions are :

    1) I m not really good at haggling - I've read from the posts that some guys have bought it between $22000 and $23500 OTD - but this being the bay area, I'd only settle below the $23500 OTD price. HOWEVER, I am porlly going with the DOWN-PAYMENT option for now and not cash so will the OTD price of $23500 still be feasible?

    2) how does the Sonata Limited solar glass work? I was hoping for tinted glass windows on the passenger side and rear passenger windows but I was told that they have a solar glass that would "function" as a tinted window? I thinking "Transition lenses" for auto windows here - is that a correct analogy?

    3) this last part is more of curiosity than a necessity - they say the "later 2007 models" will come out with a station/track selector on the steering wheel. I assume any Sonata Limited's that are manufactured on or after Dec 2006 will start sporting this feature?

    Thanks for your time in the reply.
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    craigbrookscraigbrooks Member Posts: 420
    Enjoy your new ride! My Uncle Dick, a Mustang nut, had an Infinity, I was impressed with it.
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    nyer10nyer10 Member Posts: 21
    Hey all,

    Wanted to thank many of the posters around the Sonata board and Hyundai boards in general. I originally started out looking for a Civic but discovered the Sonata through here and am very happy I did as I paid less money for more car.
    With all the input here, I made a great deal at the end of December for a GLS 4-cylinder automatic w/premium package.

    Price: $16,600
    Tax: Around $1430 or so
    Doc fee $45
    DMV $130
    Total out the door price: $18,237

    It was a completely smooth, no-haggle deal brokered via the Internet and there were no surprises when I entered the dealership. The bad news is, the dealership -- Hyundai of Manhattan -- has now switched to Nissan from what I understand, but if you know anyone looking for a Nissan, be sure to send them over there. They were great.
    Thanks again. Hopefully I won't see you too often in the problems and solutions thread ...

    I love the car. It's smooth and quiet and has great pick-up, even as a four-cylinder.
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    flc2006flc2006 Member Posts: 81
    I paid 22k out the door for mine it is a 2006 GLS V6, that is a pretty good price what you have stated that is pretty cheap in bay area terms for 2007 model that is a good deal, people think you should buy it invoice but the problem in invoice is only about 500-1000 difference in the bay area you got to get the colors that they offer you, i would buy it that is more than fair price.
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    yulayula Member Posts: 2
    I am looking to purchase Sonata limited w/o moonroof. The OTD price is 22,000 including additional charges as well as 7.75% tax. Is that a good deal or more room to go?
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    dncbdncb Member Posts: 70
    Compare price of moonroof to 08 package, sunroof, Infinity stereo. I'm thinking you're getting a good skinny deal there.
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    hotrod54hotrod54 Member Posts: 82
    what are the additional charges and does the cr have xm radio?
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    yulayula Member Posts: 2
    I meant the additional charges are registration and doc fees. The sticker MSRP was about $23,650 for the Sonata Limited Standard with XM (Pearl white color).
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