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As for your swirls, try Meguiars number 7 show car wax and this may help with your swirls. It will also make your car look like the paint is sitting behind a glass covering.
Now in regards to the service manager, I just had to laugh at his comment. How does he know the mineral content of the water used to wash the cars. I find it hard to believe that a dealer uses distilled water to clean their cars being that cars just sitting on a car lot gets dirty which would require them to be cleaned often thus resulting in a huge water filtration bill. In addition to there being something called weather which changes by the minute and can result in various mineral contents being distributed over a vehicles exterior and interior. The price you got on your car was great but I would be very cautious about the service department.
I have had my Sonata since May 30, now with about 4500 mi. I did not pay much attention to early gas mileage, but over the last two tanks I have gotten about 24.5. That is with a good bit of highway driving, but also with high A/C usage. I will be driving from NJ to Ohio this weekend, so I will see what pure highway driving will do.
I too love the MP3 feature. I have no problem with artist and title showing up. These items come from the MP3 "tags" embedded within the file, and not from the directory or file names. When I rip from CD to MP3, I use Exact Audio Copy and Lame. EAC does the ripping, and also does a database lookup to get Artist, Title, Year, etc. It uses Lame to encode to MP3 and also sets the tags. Alternately, you can edit the tags manually using MP3 Tag Studio. Here is a good guide to MP3 encoding: http://mp3.radified.com/. MP3 Tag studio is here: http://www.magnusbrading.com/mp3ts/.
Most darker colored cars are like that and you will never 100% eliminate all of those little fine scratches. That is why many people don't favor the darker colors because they show almost every flaw in the paint surface under the lights. I would NOT let the dealer buff the car... that might be a huge mistake if the person doing the work doesn't know what they're doing. You could end up with more scratches and swirls than you started with. Just turn the lights out in the garage and you'll be fine!
I am a big fan of touchless car washes and in the past used them on all my cars. Actually I was rather lazy with car washings on my past two vehicles. Maybe once a month on the Windstar and evert three months or so on the Contour. Yes "wash me" was a pretty common sight on my cars. Kinda surprises me how much I've changed my thinking now owning a dark car.
When I drove home my new Black LX I knew from the start that I would have to take on the job of cleaning it. I don't trust the touchless guys on a Dark car becuase there is NO WAY they can be as careful as you would be yourself if you take the time.
I love the way my car looks when clean and plan to keep it at least 10 years. I did as much research as I could on the internet so helpfully it pays off in long term care for the finish.
I have come to the realization that micro scratches are inevitable on Black and that I'll never get them all so I'm not worried... like I said just standing there without a flashlight you cannot see them!
Thanks for all the great tips!
Isn't it crazy! I mean spending 24K and already having scratches (under certain lighting). Like you said they probably were ther from the dealer to begin with!
Guess we are just joining the club of dark car owners!
But you have to admit they look AWESOME when washed and polished!!!
Love the Deepwater Blue!!! That was my second overall choice next to Silver originally (first in looks, silver easier). But now tht I have BLACK it is my favorite! The Black and the chrome... priceless.
BTW what interior did you get?
Thanks for your tip! Well after buying NXT and Zaino I think I'll stick with what I've got and just make sure to pay extra attention to the "sensitive" areas. Thanks.
Hyundai really did an awesome job on the paint with these cars. Very smooth and shiney surface!
I got the grey leather interior w/ the metalgrain look trim
The gas tip didn't work for me. I may try the Meguires after I've played with Zaino for a while. Thanks
Hopefully I'll be around your MPG later on. Thanks for the MP3 tips I'll check them out.
Do I have to re-rip all the CD's ???
Bolt please keep us updated on the MPG. I am looking at the V6 for the gas mileage and power. My current 15.5 highway isn't that great.
It's called "selective parking"! Us anti-scratch/anti-ding Zaino freaks know where to park and like to walk alot! Just think of the health benefits of walking and all that arm action we get washing and putting more coats of Zaino on our ride. :shades: Who needs a treadmill?
Married and employed... It's just a phase I go through. My wife tolerates it as she is usually asleep or gone when I post. Plus she knows what great deals I get by doing it. The internet is great.
My other forum vices... Chargers, LG washer/dryers, RCCL cruises, synthetic oil, Prius or now the Sonata... I seem to get hung up for a while. Then I get better! Except for the Chargers (happens every year been posting since 1994).
Anyway what a great way to get information on a product, I always enjoy reading the posts with minute details because I gain a lot of knowlege through them. So i try to do the same.
As for the first DING already happened... I was up in LA and parrellel parking in a fairly tight spot. Had my wife get out to guide me in. After about a 10 point turn I was parked great. However I must have barely touched the cars (behind me) license plate screw three times becase there are three (minor) half moon cresents in my bumper. OMG was I mad at my wife! She was looking front end but not back. Oh well... I got over that one. At least my car has been branded if I need to pick it out in a parking lot!
The cresents don't bug me as you have to really look for them to see them!
Just FYI... This car is hard to judge the rear when parking. It just dissapears from all mirror views. So be careful. I think a rear backup sensor would have helped a lot. We love this feature in our Windstar.
I know two people that used to park their car out in the open area of the parking lots away from other cars in order not to the get dings. This only lead to bigger dings.. Really big dings.. Result of someone cutting across the parking lot not paying attention and hitting their cars...
I'd settle for a little door ding before a smashed front end...
Ouch!
The guy jumped out looked at his truck cursing and drove off. I would have hate for this to be someone's car that he slammed into, especially mines.
You do not have to re-rip all your CD's. You can use MP3 Tag Studio to add the information to existing MP3's.
Just finished using Nero to record 5 CDR's of my I Tunes library. Kinda wish I didn't sell my entire collection (minus the Pink Floyd) of CD's (about 150 of them) to my neighbor for $50 a few years back!! Up until now it's been AM talk radio for me... but with the capabilities of this new MP3 system I am rediscovering the joy of music on a good sound system. Maybe I can try to borrow back (and rip) my old CD collection.
Using podcasting has been neat... so much out there to download! Updates daily.
Sufice it to say i'm very happy with the sound system.
(Note: Tank #2 is the link at the top of this message)
Second full tank readings (with resets)...
Mostly city (10 mile commutes one way to work 1/2 city 1/2 highway, local trips, one longer highway trip of 70 miles wth some traffic )
Miles driven 285.7
Gallons 16.072 (Drove about 12 miles after the light came on)
MPG (actual) 17.776
MPG (trip computer) 17.6
Price $2.499 per gallon regular ($40.16 total)
So. California prices and this is a consistent lower price 76 station in San Diego county
So actually I did slightly better in reality vs. using the car's computer estimate.
Keeping my fingers crossed that after break in it'll get better MPG. Have about 900 miles so far on the car. Maybe in the near future Mobil 1 will improve it I'll be doing the synthetic switch very soon. I'll Keep you updated.
Now I get Track then Artist and Album then Song. I can use the text button (first two clicks) to get all the same info in conjunction with the right dial. Still can't get Album or Artist to show up by toggling through the text button (just blank entries). Oh well I'm happy with what I've got... thanks
One word: Wow! What a smooth car. Effortless acceleration (and I was taking it easy with the salesman in the car). Flat, surefooted cornering. Well-controlled ride, although you do feel big bumps moreso than with the 16" wheels. Powerful AC (90 F and humid, had AC on low fan and was comfortable, but sun was almost down). Smooth controls. (I don't know what the reviewers who say the HVAC controls are cheap are thinking--they were all damped.) Durable-feeling leather, if not the softest around. Very roomy back seat (with driver's seat set for my 5'10", I could stretch way out or even cross my legs back there. But I wouldn't want to ride in the middle--seat bottom is too hard and convex.) Beautiful paint (if you like reddish-brown metallic). Even, tight seams, solid thunk on the doors. Nice alloys.
There is just one major problem with the Sonata LX: it's too darn powerful, for my needs anyway. I was going 70 down the highway with a feather-touch on the accelerator, on level ground. Imagine if I floored it! I only used 1/3 throttle on the freeway on ramp and that was plenty. I can't imagine using all that power. Well, OK, I can imagine it. I can also imagine my teen-aged children using it. So, it's a great car, but the GLS 4-banger is plenty peppy for me--and my kids. I don't like leather that much anyway.
P.S. I reset the mpg meter (forgot to do it until I exited the freeway) and during the suburban driving part of my drive got just over 25 mpg, with 35-40 speeds and a few stoplights and stopsigns. And this was on a brand-new engine. So I am confident I could get over 25 mpg around town with the I4. That's as good as my much smaller Elantra automatic.
Anyway, my city MPG approaches the EPA rating with real short trips and my highway MPG exceeded EPA ratings when the car had less than 1400 miles on it.
I know your engine is larger, but the point is if I'm near EPA with shorter driving than you, you'll probably average near the EPA for your car also. Most cars don't do that.
Where I live in CT, it's quite hilly and a lot of curves in the roads. Tire life over 3 previous cars and 27 years is only about 30,000...Michelin, Goodyear, Toyo made no difference. And I do not have a heavy foot on the gas or brakes
I checked my records today regarding MPG driving back from FL. Bought gas 4 times (last one not necessary but wanted less expensive NJ v CT gas). Paid betweet $2.109 and $2.349 in April. I didn't weight the average cost per gallon, but did calculate that my area's $2.469 at today's price would have cost $121 v the $109 paid then. INobody likes high gas prices but $12 for over 1300 miles ain't that bad.
Enjoy your MP3, but don't forget to listen to El Rushbo, or check his web site.
The dealer who set up my locks was Frank Hyundai in National City, CA it is
the same place I bought the car.
I don't think they let us post phone #'s.
BTW when the back doors lock the kids can't open them without either manually switching their lock switch or using the unlock button in the front or key fob.
Hope that is of help.
Unknown on original tank (dealer filled)
Unknown at first fill-up (didn't know exact miles at start)
20.5 first tank tracked
17.8 second tank tracked
I think(hope) my gas mileage will improve over time, seems there are others getting mid-twenties on their several month old 2006 LX's.
Just racked up the first 1000 miles only 200 more of "break-in" miles. Maybe the car gets better MPG above 4000 RPM's
Also tried the auto window reverse feature today, I can get it to work no problem on my side. Had the kids try it and they couldn't get the window to reverse by holding it plus they were a bit leary. My feeling is once their arm or whatever contacted the top the window would likely reverse causing little actual damage to them. It takes a bit of force to get it to go in reverse. Nice safety feature.
Don't give up yet! Let's see if the mileage improves down the road. I'll keep you updated.
Now on to the radio. Has anyone be able to locate the external amplifier.
here's a photo of someone's aquamarine
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/428481
also... just a side note... yesterday was a bright sunny day here and when I was showing my car (deepwater blue) to people outside... it had an AWESOME sparkle metalic shine to it. When the light hits it just right... it is really something
Targettuning
I still wonder, though, outside of this board, what % of americans are buying this car as opposed to the others in its class. I guess I just as soon they not sell so the incentives will roll in.
I chose the camry cause they only had 10 GLS/LX V6 cars and 3 GL 4 cyls in tan. I wanted another color and the GLS's were far away (200 miles or so, one was white, one had extra options that I didn't want and one that I wanted was 225 miles or so away). They said I can have that one for 400 off of MSRP. I could have had the color in a GL that was 30 miles away at another dealer but at 300 below MRSP. They wouldn't budge off of that.
We drove one camry and then convinced that it was a very good car, we drove the color we wanted. Then they gave us a price. I was shocked to get 4000 off of MSRP. That was what sold us. The car was right there and at a great price. I labored over this for a long time. I say congrats to Hyundai for building a great car. I think my "fun" side said go GLS but the extra gas and cost to buy was against my frugal side (I bought a loaded EXL accord 2004 last year so this was the "second" car and I wanted a deal on it).
Long story short, good luck to all sonata owners and many great miles of driving experience. I got a great deal on very good transportation. You guys have a very fun, sharp ride. Enjoy and thanks for all the discussions and help along the way.
Seems your car with 1000 miles is doing better than mine with the same mileage... what gives? Well at least I see it is possible to get decent milage out of the LX.
Just curious...
What does your trip computer say right after you fill up and it starts getting readings?
Do you use the A/C?
What are your overall per tank MPG averages?
I'm just wondering how you are getting mid to high 20's when I'm getting high teens (20.5 and 17.8 last two tanks). What is the difference with the same car.
My original dealer offered to do an engine scan then I called the local dealer in town and they wanted me to monitor 8 tanks with a log. Hopefully the car breaks in and the MPG improves on it's own.
Congats on your Camry!
(BTW i practice most of these except the 60MPH one I mostly cruise 70-75 MPH on the Hwy but that is only a 15-20% hit when going that speed and I only use cruise on longer trips)
Avoid rapid acceleration. Slow and steady acceleration uses much less fuel.
Avoid stop-and-go traffic. Choose a route that allows you to move steadily and at the same speed; idling, accelerating and braking use up more gas then maintaining a steady speed.
When starting your ignition, don't warm up your vehicle by racing your engine. Let it idle for a moment or two, then pull away.
Use cruise control when on the highway. It helps you remain at the even speed that will minimize fuel consumption.
Slow down! Driving at slower speeds conserves fuel. Actual tests indicate that driving at 70 miles per hour uses 15-20 percent more fuel than driving at 55 miles per hour.
Keep your vehicle tuned and your tires at proper pressure. Replace air and fuel filters on schedule. Rotate ties and have your wheels aligned regularly. If your business has a fleet of vehicles, establish regular maintenance schedules for each vehicle.
If you have a manual transmission, shift up to higher gears as quickly as possible when accelerating.
Reducing air conditioning while driving at lower speeds will use up less fuel. However, studies have shown that at higher speeds (40-50 miles per hour and more), air conditioning uses less fuel than driving with windows open, which greatly increases air drag on the vehicle. Also, set your air conditioning to "recirculate" when possible. Continually cooling hot outside air will make your air conditioner work harder and use more fuel.
If your average miles-per-gallon begins to fall, have your engine checked for possible causes.
Use regular unleaded gas when possible. Some models suggest medium- or premium-grade gasoline but may function perfectly well with regular.
When buying a new or used car, consider a small lightweight car, a hybrid or a car with a 4-cylinder engine. Speaking generally, every 10 percent increase in body weight increases fuel consumption 5 percent. Don't worry -- when you buy a small car or a 4-cylinder engine, you probably won't have to give up too much power. Some 4-cylinder models have little noticeable difference in acceleration from 6-cylinder models. Within the next few years, many new and larger hybrid models will be available (including SUVs and trucks). Not only will these provide better gas mileage than regular vehicles, they'll offer attractive tax incentives to buyers.
* Keep your foot off the accelerator as much as possible. For example, when driving on level ground, use a "pulse and coast" technique to maintain speed while keeping rpms to a minimum. And...
* When your foot is on the accelerator, pretend there is a raw egg between it and your foot.
Another good one, implied by one of your points, is to anticipate stops as much as possible. For example, if you did not see a light turn green, it's likely it will turn red before you get to it. Also, if a light ahead of you is red, take your foot off the gas and coast up to the light--no extra points earned for getting to the light faster and sitting there (however, don't do that if you might block someone behind you who might need to get into the left or right turn lane.)
I keep my cars' tires inflated a few psi over the recommended setting. That helps fuel economy and handling and also tire wear. Too much though and ride can suffer.
As for startup, that is good advice in warm weather, but when it's winter in the North (below zero territory), you'll want to let the car warm up for at least 30 seconds to make sure the fluids are flowing before getting underway, if the engine is cold. Yes, it wastes some gas, but a little gas costs less than an engine rebuild.
Average mileage after 2000 miles driving at 50 mph (2 lane road) is about 26-27 miles.
On a real 4 lane highway driving at 70 mph it drops down to 23- 24.
Since we have few traffic lights here, no comparable city driving.
But guess the mileage may improve a little in another month after the first oil change.
The only complaints are
The dark paints gets dirty easily. With parking lot dings it may be difficult to match some colors such as dark cinnamon.
The wide body makes parking to the hospital entrance with tight parking spaces difficult.
The leather can be little softer and gets too hot in summer. No vents for the rear seat passenger.Little more soft cushioning may be better
Driving comfort, feel good factor better than Camry.
Since gas prices are high some of us are awaiting for the 06 elantra or Honda civic.Do not like Sonata with 4 cylinders.
We are all facing the pinch of gas prices.
So, please keep posting those MPG reports - and let us know engine, tranny, miles on car and type of driving. Thanks!
Just a comment on the Deepwater Blue - I just don't get it! When you have to look at the window sticker to decide if its blue or black its too dark. Doesn't matter anyway, I've had it with trying to keep dark cars clean, I'm going with light next time.