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Comments
for auto. incl. freight. His price may be reasonable depending on which tranny in question. $300 under MSRP doesn't sound like all that much but there are currently no posted rebates/offers listed for Hyundai so I dunno. His offer may be fine. Good Luck!
Decon---bearing in mind that anyone can get a bad car from any manufacturer, know that Hyundai is here to stay. The new cars are WAY better than before. Skeptics like to point to the Chrysler style warranty during it's turnaround and say that Hyundai has to do this. Well, maybe so. But then again, it costs them little if the cars are that good---and so far they are.
The Sonata is currently the best buy in a mid-size sedan anywhere and for a lot of different reasons. The '99 had it's first year bugs but they were few. The voluntary recall by Hyundai nipped the stalling problem in the bud in '00. These cars seem to be extremely reliable. Go to the sedan topics of it's competitors and read some of the horror stories. Design flaws, warped rotors, cracked engine mounts, electrical fires...then read the posts from this topic, even back to the archives. Compare for yourself.
On an update, my Sonata manual gearbox is now quite smooth after having the synchronizers replaced under warranty.
In this case, the offer is $100 over the TMV of Edmunds. Not a bad deal,right?
Seems ok, the old one was fine too until it stopped shifting, still undecided about the trade.
By the way my car makes the same noise from the a/c compressor, my Elantra did also.
Keep what ya got, forget the so called deal. Take your wife or sweety or both out with the money you will not waste on a depreciatiing item.
Of course this is just one way of looking at what to do.
So far, I have no problem and the dealer called me back to inquire about my satisfaction and the new offer of a free first oil change if I fill the customer satisfaction form ( mailed in by Hyundai ). So far so good.
I am a bit surprised by the fuel consumption
( 17mpg) but the break-in is not over and it is rather cold up here lately.
The only rattle I got was from the 25 cents coins lined up in the small change container.....
Interested in the new Bosh platinum +4 plugs but I will ask my dealer if they are OK with the warranty ( in writing, of course ).
Question ? are I LS US Sonata owners provided with Michelin tires ?
Will be back soon
Compare that to my '00 Lincoln LS8 Sport, which I bought 12/99. She now has about 28,000 miles on her. For twice the sticker price she has spent over a month in the shop. Repeated problems with heated seats, air bag lights, a couple recalls, transmission TSBs, ash tray wouldn't open, warped brake rotors, etc. Great driving car but hasn't met my reliability needs and I'm sick of always driving their loaner and not my own car. I've put almost 3,000 miles on their loaners. She was just in shop again for 5 days.
If you live in the hills of Kentucky, I'd strongly recommend the V-6 (and the 5-speed manual if you can get one). Pkg 13 gets you ABS with traction control, which has definitely come in handy this long midwest winter.
Something I've found annoying about my Sonata is that when the trunk lid is wet (after a little rain), the water runs down the corners into the trunk when you open it. I've placed an old hand towel on each side in the trunk to catch the run-off to avoid any premature rust.
Overall, I'm really happy with the performance and feel of the car for the cost. I like the power of the 6cyl, and the quiet ride. Long-term durability will have to wait for the years to come. I buy a car to keep until it's death, so I wasn't worried about resale, and I really liked the warranty. The long-term performance of my '00 Sonata will determine whether I buy another Hyundai again, but right now I recommend them to friends who can't afford a good Toyota/Honda, or who just want more features for the money. My Sonata is my "poor man's cadillac".
The dealer offered me 18,300 after all the rebates,etc. Do U think it is a decent pricing ?
Thanx,
Does the price include any discount financing? Or is the rebate in lieu of financing? If you have a choice, choose carefully. Often you can save far more over 36 or 48 months of cheap financing than the rebate amount. If your price includes cheap financing, I think you're getting a good deal. I paid $18,400 in May '00 for my loaded '00 GLS w/Pkg 13. And that was for the cheaper manual tranny. But I chose 0.9% 48 month financing over the $1,000 rebate. Only paying $352 in total interest payments over life of loan. Saved a couple thousand dollars of interest.
Is the dealer offering to give you that price on something in his current inventory you want? Or is he saying he'll do it for some car he currently doesn't have? I'm always leery about dealer price quote if they are talking about a car they don't already have on their lot. They tend to find ways to try to charge you more by the time they get it (e.g., there is a general price increase). Bloomberg News reported recently that Kia was raising prices on four of its vehicles, some by as much as 4.6%.
By the way I am very happy with my car to date. Have 3,000 miles and no problem. Seems like great value for the money.
Heck, if it weren't for 30 mph wind gusts, I might have joined them.
How do they give us this much car for the money? Seriously, about the only thing I might add is some sound dampening to the trunk lid. It really doesn't need it but the car would look more finished.
Put up 3,500 miles in little less than two months w/o any problems
Actually, I did have a couple of problems. Those people who drive w/o actually paying attention (There are so many of them!) bumped me couple of times already. Obviously I was furious but the bumper held up very well. The second incident was pretty forceful & broke the plate frame & created a big scratch but the bumper looks solid.
Hopefully this will be the end of my accidents. Anyway, I noticed a small compartment just below the Cruise Control & Light Dimmer today. Am I the last person to know about this? Just wondering. See ya.
-jus
GLS '00: Today when I opened my trunk I noticed it sagging alot, since I keep a large tote tub in it with car care stuff (wax, oil, washer fluid, anti-freeze, etc.). I re-arranged some of it and took out the heavier items after I lifted up the floor cover and noticed that it was extremely thin and flimsy, considering how large the spare tire pit is. I guess I'll be making a reinforcement out of plywood, once the weather is warmer.
Another thing, I ran my finger along the moonroof seal while in one of those automatic car washes (the Laser 4000) and noticed that it was a little wet along the backside, which I'm guessing is because of the strong pressure from the washers. I'll check it the next time I'm driving in the rain just make sure the gasket doesn't need replacing.
Also, stay away from the "new car scent" spray air fresheners. The stupid thing left speckle stains (actually melted) on the black plastic near the shifter. I was being careful to spray only a little over the seat, but I guess what fell was enough to do damage. I don't see how they can sell an air freshener and then tell you not to spray it on carpet, plastic, vinyl, etc.
just like to ask about car negotiating. I'm in the market for a new car and went to my nearby dealer here in Arizona and the dealer refused to negotiate advertising cost that they say is non negotiable because its come from the manufacture (was written in Dealer cost invoice). based on Edmund's recommendations $200 or 1% of MRSP is fair , my dealer wanted $650, for base car with no frills. due to this small item no deal was made. I just felt that they were not sincere. so what's the scoop?
I, for one, am glad that Edmunds and other similar sites state their position on this. Many dealers enter into regional deals promoting the cars they sell. Many of these costs are dictated by the manufacturers. It is not unreasonable for dealer to expect to recoup SOME of this cost but it is absolutely unreasonable to expect ALL of it. And sometimes, he has to let it all go. As an example, here are my particulars:
2000 GLS w/pkg 13 and mats, guards, net and deflector
Dealers Invoice (listed and shown at sale) $19352
Invoice $18819 (from various Internet sources)
Differential $533 (Adv. fee)
But----
Price pd. $18685 of $21247 MSRP
because---
the vehicle had 268 miles on it due to in-state transfer and was still on lot at end of holdback period.
I say look around for a more flexible dealership. You can buy the car you want anywhere. You only need the convenience of locality for service.
Glad to hear your baby is still purring. Ours has 13500 since July. We generally avg. 20K a year because of my wifes' commute and the fact that hers is the long trip car when we travel. Except for a buzzing vibration in the rear passenger door on broken roads I have nothing to crank about. I will bring it to the dealers attention soon with our next oil change service.
Have you noticed how easy it is to clean these cars? I take it through the touchless with some regularity and immediately afterwards wipe everything down with lots of soft rags. The surfaces are very smooth and well contoured and there is little of that 'extra' cleaning effort required. I don't know about the other colors and their formulations but the Silver is quite smooth and polished and so far, no scratches except for my wifes' bumper adventure. I will tend to that when the weather warms.
Everyone reports the GLS to have a sporty character with the 5-speed. I know the auto gives a 'luxury' feel for thousands less than anywhere else.
Cheers.
My one small great thing about the Sonata is the floor mats. They are huge, fit well, easy to take out, are well made, and look great. Really protect the carpet. There is little to vacuum underneath due to their great size and fit. Really shame the ones in my '96 Impala SS or '00 Lincoln LS8.
To reactivate forums, should we discuss octane??? I'd rather not!
http://www.autonews.com/html/main/index.html
I think the combination of the Santa Fe, which pulls Sonata-like #'s and the XG300, along with plain old increasing sales generally throughout the line may put Hyundai America up to 350K units. Hyundai alone has surpassed many competitors and the Hyundai/KIA alliance looks to spell big trouble for the others.
Robert Cosmai of Hyundai America says "Downturn, What Downturn?"
I hope we feel this good about things a few years down the road. That will be the true test.
Both my wife and I had this problem after servicing at the dealer here in Fresno. It did not show up right away, we had put on a few thousand miles each before I noticed a puddle under her 2000 in the garage. My '99 was wet with oil in that location as well.
Also, my turn indicator broke. They fixed it promptly, but I wonder if other folks had this problem as well.
Just wanted to ask a couple of questiones about the 01' Sonata GLS which I just bought.
1.Is there a car cover Sonata lovers like to use?
2. Is there a Dash-mat available for this model?
3. What would you all say about proper car caring/pampering like which waxes,, dusters.
4. I'm interested in film tinting the rear windows, Arizona is quite hot and the windows are just too clear. any pointers?
I bought a beautiful ebony black vehicle basic no pkg 13, but do not understand why only a beige interior was available. someone needs to teach Hyundai color coordination! Also perhaps Hyundai should reconsider their emblem (To much like the competitors) and I would of like to see something like a jaguar hood ornament on such a sporty looking vehicle.
Thanks to all your wonderful discussions , it help me a great deal in choosing this car.
Here's to another great year hopefully (with less miles due to plane trips instead of car trips)!
BTW, I haven't been on recently due to foot surgery, which is why I haven't been posting.
The surgery went well and the docs expect a full recovery.
Don't know about the car cover or Dash-Mat as I don't use them. As to the wax, I would recommend something hard as some owners report the Black paint will show scratches more easily. Your paint must already be fully cured so I wouldn't lose any time on this. Get a good coat of any hard wax like Turtle, Meguiars, etc. on there first. Then for touch-up I like the Meguiars products. If your paint feels at all gritty, give it the Clay Magic treatment, then seal it good. It's hard to go wrong with a California Duster.
The tinting sounds wise considering your location but I have no experience.
As to the color issue---I prefer this beige interior in the Black and the White Pearl. The reason the Beige in the Sonata is tinged with olive I believe is linked to the original color choices. Two greens were available and the dash lighting itself reflects this bias. Now, only one Green remains and we are stuck with this greenish-white lighting. They tried to strike a compromise. Koreans do need to learn a thing or two about color but no one has anything to teach them about bending metal. Just look at the '02 Sonata and marvel.
Oh, and Sammy---don't be shy...tell us about your deal.
Dashcovers-- Your Arizona locale explains the need for one. I used to know someone over there who said that the sun bakes the heck out of the dash if you don't have a cover on it.
Window tinting-- I hope to have my entire Sonata done sometime this Spring. I'd recommend having it professionally done, using the highest quality (highest heat rejection) because I've seen so many cars on the road that have the cheap purplish faded junk, that only makes the car look cheap and old. I've also seen alot of cars with lots o' bubbles in the tint job. Check out autowindowtintings.com for some tips.
Car waxes, etc.-- I haven't tried Meguier's yet, but I like the way the Mother's brand gives a deep wet look to it. I just bought some Prolong Paint Sealant, but that'll have to wait until the weather gets warmer. Has anyone tried to re-apply some gloss paint to the alloy wheels? I waited too long on cleaning them and had to use the special spray, which cleans them up nice, but it removed the shiny lacquer that they had.
I received my order of window visors from HDKautosport, and was surprised that they arrived with so many surface scratches and nicks. They didn't have that stick-on plastic film that you see to protect against scratches, but only plastic baggies around them. One of the bags actually had a small group of holes in it. I've already contacted HDK and they've agreed to replace them.
If I let up off the gas at just over 20 mph and then let the car roll to below 20 mph and then accelerate. It feels like the car is shifting down almost like a stick shift would do if you were down shifting. This creates quite jerk in the car. I traded in a Dodge Intrepid with 110,000 miles and it shifted like a champ. Maybe it's just me and what I am used too, but it seems weird to me.
I have also noticed that if you are out on the highway cruising at a normal 40-60 mph and shift to "N" the car seems to roll smoothly and what I like to call "free wheeling". Then when you put it back into Drive it feels like the engine is slowing you down, kind of like you were downshifting in a manual trans.
Has anyone else noticed this???
Also, It seems that I am getting wind noise through the drivers side window. It is very subtle, but I can hear it.
Any suggestions.
See yak.
Hawk
You are experiencing the Braking effect of a tranny that does auto downshift under certain conditions. I find coasting at low range speeds, no matter the terrain (even downhill) will induce some engine/tranny braking. You will get used to it. The high speed coast in N and then the swithback into D induces the same behavior as the last recorded throttle input was nil=coast. I predict you will grow to like it as it has a way of keeping the powertrain in the most efficient mode for acceleration. Even though this engine lacks the low range torque profile of the previous Mitsu six, it has a way of surprising you at how quickly it can move the GLS from a stop.
As to the wind noise---if it is not a faulty seal somewhere then it is normal. I believe you are running up against the 'boy, this is a quiet car' phenomenon. Any sound out of the ordinary is magnified and seems quite out of place. The loudest these cars seem to get under normal road conditions is on concrete surfaces.
If you don't mind, could you give us the particulars on your
deal...rebate?...discount?...etc.
Good Luck!
The worst part is that with the brace I am now wearing my left foot doesn't fit under the dash so I cannot drive my beautiful 1 year old GLS for 2 more weeks! The horror!
I bought some online car insurance that was advertised here at Edmunds, it WAS called e-coverage. Their web site doesnt work anymore, their lines are constant busy, Edmunds doesnt list their ads no more!!!
Can ya believe it?????????
I have had no luck getting any answers as to wherher I am or am not insured now! I was only trying to add my teenager to the policy today and found this all out. Good thing my son is taking it rather well.
The ONLY reason I swutched to the e-coverage company was to help him get a better rate for his own insurance, and now this!
Any ideas?
Tony
How much of a check-up did you give these guys? I
mean, I know you weren't born yesterday. With all the warnings about E-commerce, I'm sure you made some calls and did some research.
How long ago? Where are/were they headquartered? And what prompted you to check it out just now? I assume you must have received some kind of paperwork.
I have thinking I have been insured for about 4-5 months now and saved about 150 per 6 months with a bit more coverage. The savings for us was not the interest in the policy, however the cost of adding my son was most reasonable of anywhere.
Hindsight is coming into focus!!!
IF they are in business anymore or not, I am through with this e-commerce crap.
I saw some web site matches when doing a search that indicated e-coverage was just talked about a few days ago, sooo maybe I am wrong, I doubt it, BUT NEVER AGAIN!
What concerne me now is DO or DO I NOT have coverage.
BTW, I called them on and off for about 3 weeks. They had a cool online chat too with an agent if you needed assistance with configuring your policy. I got all the usual insurance paperwork , wallet cards etc..... IF it was a scam, they sure went all all to make it look good.
As my daddy always says 'Education costs money' He seems to always be right.
I learned, and I hope some of you have too.
Tony
He also suggests that we change the oil every 3,000 miles. The manual calls for 7,500. I have chosen 5,000. Any thoughts on how many miles between changes (mostly in town driving)?
MP
Anyways, I got an oil testing kit where you draw about 6-8 oz of hot oil out and send it to a lab with a questionier stating the type of car, model and year and driving habits and outside temps etc. At the time it cost about 15 bucks.
I got a big detailed printout back from them which was essentially a BLOOD TEST of the car.
I sent the oil in with the 7500 miles on it and they said it had enough capacity with its detergents and anti-acids to be run another 3k miles if I so desired. They said the oil contained an unusual amount of silica and gave me tips to find where it may be coming from. The air filter latch on the bottom was not seated properly and allowing unfiltered air to enter, this is where the silica was entering from.
I did the ol test one more time as they sent a coupon and it confirmed again that the oil can go the limit plus more. Silica was down to the normal level too.
Soooo, since then, I change oil regularly by following the owners manual for normal driving conditions.
I am sure changing the oil more frequently will not hurt a thing.
Tony
Not to make you worry but, I had the same hard shift from new but at 18,000 miles the tranny stopped shifting, Hyundai put a new transmission in the car, 1500 miles later, car seems ok. If I did not like the car, I would have got rid of it after the new tranny was put in. I decided if it went again, I will get rid of it.It still rides like new.
I think we all should start bombarding the hell out of that insurance company with phone calls and if a site is still working, we should start e-mailing.
Tony, contact the BBB (BBB.com I think) and see if there are any complaints logged for this e-insurance. If not, start one.
One thing that pisses me off is shotty buisiness practices.
Egghead.com tried to screw me over once by sending me an inferior webcam than the one I ordered. It was a huge ordeal calling and arranging sending it back and getting my full refund, shipping costs and everything. I do have 20 dollars credit sitting in my account they gave me for my troubles. They can keep it.
Well sorry for the vent.
Buy the way, the Sonata is running great still. No problems, 8900 miles. I still havent put in that headlight buzzer, I think Im too big to contourt into a good position to install it. Ill have to try again today if I can remember the wiring.
I was sitting at a restraunt with my wife and another couple Friday nite and the server comes up to us and asks if we have a blue Sonata. I said yes and guess what she said...
I will get that thing installed.
Here is what happened.
E-coverage is (WAS) just a middle man or an agent for Security Insurance Co of Hartford.
I do have coverage and the Dept of Insurance and Attorney General helped weed through this.
We do have coverage as contracted for, its just that e-coverage doesnt exist no more.
We are in the process of getting new wallet cards and being brought up to date with fone numbers and contacts etc.
Thanks to all for the ideas!
TOny
115,00$ and 2 demerit points later, I started again and got home quietly while Zeppelin was fading out.
Damn Sonata..
Jean