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Man, I can't wait for T-H-C to come back up again so I can find out the status of my brake rotor claim. The Hyundai Consumer Advocate, Paul911, got back from vacation on the 6th but he can't retrieve his communications until the site comes back up. Jeesh, what gives with that webmaster?
I just bought my 2001 sonata GLS. wow it's a really nice car. Smooth driving, good acceleration, nice handling, and quiet inside. Most of all very good PRICE!!
Actually, I went to a dealer shop to buy a Elantra GT(5-door hatch back) but after I did test drive, I felt sonata is much better car. And amazingly, sonata is even cheaper! For the sticker price, sonata is $2500 more expensive, but there are alot of cash back and rebate in sonata so I could buy $4000 less than sticker price. My car is sonata GLS v6 with mud guard and floor mat and side door protect(?) and the car price is $14300 (sticker price was $18560). I live in chicago, and jacobs twin is very nice. you don't need to waste your time, they just tell you the price. If you like it you get it, if not just don't buy it. In fact, I had a bad experience in Rogers Hyundai dealer shop but jacobs was so nice.
My first car is 98 Honda accord EX (not v6) but I feel sonata GLS is better car. And it's $8000 cheaper. man this car is amazing.
Mic
I did it on my '95 base Sonata in about 30 minutes including the wiring. The stereo in that car has no CD, only cassette, so I don't mind the 'lack of intelligence'. :>)
You might also consider using only touchless washes. Good Luck with your GLS.
Here is how the service technician treated the car.
For the oil change:
First, the technician raced the car to the lift with such a speed and lack of care that resulted in a big whacking sound as the car hit the ramp and caused the car to bob up and down as it become rested on the ramp making me fear of possible front wheel misalignment or something worse. Then he removed the oil filter before the drain plug causing the oil to splatter all over the place. And even as the dirty oil was still oozing out he put the oil filter and the drain plug back on in a flash. He put a new oil and to my amazement, shut the hood without even checking the dipstick. When I got home and checked the oil level, it was well below the minimum level.
Now about my tire rotation:
I didn't get one. The technician said the tires are in a good shape that there is no need to rotate the tire. I showed him the service manual which recommends rotating the tires every 7,000 miles (actually 10,000km in metric). To which he replied, "wheel rotation is done when the front tires show more wear than the rear tires on a front wheel drive vehicle such as yours. Why bother doing it, when the front tires are as good as the rear tires? The manual just states formalities." But isn't the point of wheel rotation is to evenly wear out all 4 tires to maintain traction evenly on all 4 tires? Do a tire rotation when the front tires are more worned out than the rear tires?
I am truly disappointed with technicians for their lack of sincerity concerning customers' cars and their lack of professionalism.
ALSO, you take good care of your car and the same jerk does more damage in a few seconds than yu have done in 6 months !
From experience I can tell you I have avoided front wheel drive cars for as long as I could. They have a tendancy to 'cup' the rear tires if not rotated at suggested intervals. When a tire 'cups' it actually starts to have low spots in certain areas and in time, this cupping is sooo bad it will make the tires sound like you are going over rail road ties instead of a smooth road.
Not saying that what I do is the BEST thing, BUT I rotate my tires at every oil change. I do it all myself. Until I find someone that can drain oil with more care than I do, or can clean all the under carriage parts after an oil change than I do, OR someone that can make sure no oil is spilled anywhere or wiped up if it does happen... until then, I will continue to do it myself.
One more thing about cupping, once your tires get this disease as I call it, there is no way to undo it other than finding a place that 'trues' tires. A place here in town does it for 25 bucks a tire!!! What a rip.
Again, you cant rotate them too often.
Because of a cupping situation I had many years ago, I avoided the FWD cars... only way to avoid this reality is to rotate. I have a 01 Elantra and a 00 Sonata.... so far the tires are great!
Too bad Mr GoodShaft works in your area too
Tony
any ideas help me guys!!
Until as week when I was driving down the highway as I was getting of the ramp the engine just shut off. Being about 55 miles away from home I had it towed to Firestore, long story short...the engine is junk (exact dealers words). Apparently the pistons or rod must have gone bad. Had I known it was a Mitsu engine in there, I would have not bouth it. Lesson to be learned....check Edmunds before you buy. I'll keep everyone posted later on the result. in the mean time the temp is 102 here in Rhode Island.
Until as week when I was driving down the highway as I was getting of the ramp the engine just shut off. Being about 55 miles away from home I had it towed to Firestore, long story short...the engine is junk (exact dealers words). Apparently the pistons or rod must have gone bad. Had I known it was a Mitsu engine in there, I would have not bouth it. Lesson to be learned....check Edmunds before you buy. I'll keep everyone posted later on the result. in the mean time the temp is 102 here in Rhode Island.
Until as week when I was driving down the highway as I was getting of the ramp the engine just shut off. Being about 55 miles away from home I had it towed to Firestore, long story short...the engine is junk (exact dealers words). Apparently the pistons or rod must have gone bad. Had I known it was a Mitsu engine in there, I would have not bought it. Lesson to be learned....check Edmunds before you buy. I'll keep everyone posted later on the result. in the mean time the temp is 102 here in Rhode Island.
Did you have a good idea of the previous service history? Without it, used cars are a real crap-shoot.
Please let us know the details of the repair.
anyway thanks again i thinking of getting the 2002 if i get the 5 speed fully fully loaded -but i heard its going to a shiftronic system --i only wish thet release a 5 spd.This market is like open . if sonata comes with 17" tires , a branded systems, 5 spd -i will bag one for sure.Atleast if the Tib looks good has the above i will get one.Its been 14 great months and i will hate giving this car up when in another couple of months i change for a new manual shift car.
Go here:
http://www.globeandmail.com/globemegawheels/20010809/hyundai.html
My dealer doesn't have any yet but expects shipments to arrive in the next two weeks.
2 weeks ago airbag light came on. Then, the day before I took it in, the sunroof jammed. If you press the retract button, it retracts fine but when you close it, it then also tilts up when it shouldn't. So it can't be reliably closed. The tilt button would not work at all. When I took it in, they said they fixed the airbag light problem, and to come back when they got a replacement switch for the sunroof in.
2nd visit: Went in to get the sunroof switch. Waited an hour, then was told the switch didn't fix my sunroof problem. The mechanics don't know how to fix it till they call a special "hotline" and find out. They will call me to come back (again) when they do. Also, there's a possiblity they may have to replace the entire sunroof. Then, when I picked up my car, there was sticky black tar all over the inside of the doors. They were very sorry and cleaned it off.
Today: The airbag light came on again.
I have to say I had misgivings about Hyundai but was persuaded to buy it for the great value, the warranty, and the excellent financing. I got a few raised eyebrows from friends and at work (the usual honda/toyota crowd) but was determined to show everyone that I got a quality car. Now I'm having misgivings not only about the car, but that the service department knows what it's doing. If they can't fix a light, diagnose a sunroof problem, and keep my car clean, how do I know they can replace the sunroof correctly and be sure it doesn't leak, screw up the other electricals, etc. I am losing confidence quickly here.
Inexperienced service departments are unfortunatly everywhere and obviously aren't limited to Hyundai. The dealership I bought my Sonata from had serious issues even though they had several "Factory Trained" certificates up on the wall. I had 3 dealers to choose from here in Columbus, OH so I just went to another one which is by far the best I've ever been to.
One of my first experiences with the horrible service was when my driver's side mirror started sticking. Now, I'm a certified electronics engineer and I think I can tell if it is the switch or the mirror mechanism itself that's bad. The tech looked at it, operated it briefly and said "I'll get a switch on order right away". I said fine and left and never went back. Got the mirror replaced at the other service dept and it now works beautifully.
Are there any other dealers you can go to in LA? You are absolutely not limited to the one you bought the car from for warranty work. I would get a second opinion from another Hyundai dealership if possible.
Good luck!
Also, remember the 'at least three clicks' rule on the gas cap or the 'Check Engine' light will activate and/or hard starting episodes can ensue.
Good Luck with a great car.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/roadtest/02sonata.htm
We were riding shuttle in a 2000 Sonata. As we hit the highway, I began hearing a noise from my door/window (passenger side front door) that sounded like either the door or widow was not quite shut all the way. When I asked, the drive told me that some of the 2000 Sonatas have weak power window motors and need to be replaced under warranty.
Just wanted to let you know, in case you experience this same problem. Make 'em fix it for free.
I had my power window motor fall apart about 10 days ago. When it did, the drivers door window fell out of site into the door. We were about 700 miles from home and on tour at Duke University in NC.
While most folks were enjoying the sites, I had to pull over in the shade and remove the door panel, and other stuff to get to the cables that sprung and got tangled in the mechanisms. The window would not budge one bit.
After about 45 minutes of unraveling things I was able to free the window and raise it by hand and shim it in place with some cardboard for the long ride home.
Took it in and Vic, (best Hyundai mechanic in Florida) made it all like new with a new motor.
This is the FIRST time my 00 base sonata has been in 18 months or 13k miles.
Works like new now.
If you hear a noise from the windows when operating them, you may want to bring it in NOW before some happens like it did me.
IF I had opened the window several hours earlier It would have been a mess as we were driving thru the tropical storm in Florida.
Tony
However, they're a long way from San Pedro where I live, so another choice is Cormier Hyundai in Carson, where I've only had one experience, but it was quick, insightful, and free. My girlfriend's Hyundai Tiburon had the dread "check engine" light come on, and, since we hadn't bothered to read the manual, we thought it intoned major trouble. The first dealer we went to kept the car over night, did who knows what, and returned the car "fixed" with no explanation. Two days later, the light was back on, it was late in the day, and we didn't want the hassle of another overnight delay. We stopped at Cormier because it was close, and even though the service department was closing down, the manager took the time to listen to us and he quickly, correctly diagnosed the problem. He walked over to the car, checked the gas cap, and told us it wasn't put on properly. He took it off, replaced it correctly, and told us the light would go off in a day or two. It did. Now we put the cap on properly. Since he could have blown us off at the end of the day and kept the car overnight, I have to credit him and the dealership for giving us an instant solution and getting us back on the road. How they do on day-to-day service is a question I can't answer (yet).
Good luck.
I'd check the warranty detail just to see.
Just traded in a 2001 Elantra, Package 2 with Automatic, 10,500 milles on a new 2001 Sonata, Pearl white with Automatic, California emmissions, carpets and mud guards.
MSRP was 16,476
I gave them 3600.00 and my Elantra "Out the door".
I think I did well.
Does anyone know more about this?
Thanks
The rust warranty is an "anti-perforation" warranty, which means any rusted spot has to actually make a hole to be covered.
How is it Hyundai's fault that your car has been exposed to acid rain?
Paint finish from any manufacturer can be damaged by acid rain and doesn't necessarily denote a manufacturing defect.
Now if the damage was there when you purchased the car, or if you can provide some kind of proof that it happened on the dealers premises you may be able to get the *dealer* to pay for finish repair.
Good luck!
Overall Hyundai has done a fairly reasonable job of putting together all the different looks they swiped from other cars.
It looks hard to change. I do all my own oil and filter changes but since I just purchased this it looks like the filter is in a tough area.
Any help out there?
Thanks!
http://www.geocities.com/sonatafan/index.htm
He was the first to put up very useful pics on his various Sonata installations.
Because I rotate my tires at each oil change I remove the front right tire.
There is an access panel which comes out with 4 bolts
This gives you a clear shot of the filter.
Also take some newspaper or tinfoil and place on suspension parts so oil doesnt get all over them. You may have to do it once without bothering to keep it clean so you can tell which areas need protection.
I think SonataFan has a picture procedure of this oil change process. Check here http://www.geocities.com/sonatafan/
Good luck
Tony
One more question, though: how do they work?
The new Sonata also bears a striking resemblance to the Jag family almost as if it were an unclaimed sibling. ; )