Faults:

Nothing whatsoever. The car is solid.

General Comments:

When my husband got me this car, I wasn't sure about it since I didn't hear much about Hyundai. But, what a pleasant surprise. Everything little detail is well crafted. No more cheap plastic feel of Honda and Toyota.

Tons of options come as standard here. Very roomy and comfortable with an amazing trunk space. Bluetooth is amazing.

A real head turner. I've been getting a lot of compliments. Oh, and it is does have some power, yet still the gas mileage is fabulous.

Bottom line; I just love it. I am actually writing a car review! That's how much I think this has to be the car of the year hands down.

Faults:

Not a single problem.

General Comments:

My previous car was a 2001 Maxima (which is awesome), and I really never saw myself driving a Sonata, but was intrigued by the reviews, shape and ads. I test drove the car twice on separate occasions, and was totally convinced and pulled the trigger.

The car is simply more than awesome, way better than I had expected. Now I've got my wife a similar one. The last few months we were traveling a lot, and had to rent different cars, and I could feel a huge gap in quality and performance. Super nice job by Hyundai!!!

Faults:

The computer MPG is off by about 1 mpg from hard math... but that is minor... there is a large blind spot if you turn left and look over your shoulder for the regular blind spot on the left. I've adapted by just looking in the side mirror, but then lean forward to change my angle of viewing to include the left side.

General Comments:

I bought my 2.0 turbo Sonata used... with only 620 miles on it. I went for a test drive and ended up buying the car.

THE WALK AROUND:

The first thing that struck me was the styling and chrome accents... VERY nice. The interior is large and roomy. I'm six foot and my head had plenty of clearance. As I was adjusting the seat, I noticed the seat raises quite high for those vertically challenged.

The car came loaded... GPS... SUN ROOF... BLUE TOOTH... HOMELINK... PADDLE SHIFTERS... VOICE ACTIVATION... PUSH BUTTON START with SMART KEY... AND THE MOST IMPORTANT... TURBO...

The controls are well placed and easily accessible... BUT... after getting used to the voice commands... that takes care of the phone/radio/GPS... so about 80% of the distractions are gone.

The backseat is roomy and has an arm support that folds down between the left and right sides... it's the back for the middle seat. The TRUNK is huge and vast. The back seat is a 60/40 split rear seat, and either side/or both can be lowered to accommodate long cargo. The back seat can only be lowered from the trunk, so that security issue is addressed.

THE TEST DRIVE:

The salesman drove (I was in the passenger seat) it off the lot and we went about 2 blocks to a parking lot. We pulled up to a parking space that was the first of 2 in length. He stopped the car... turned the wheel hard right... and slowly let the car roll forward... we made a turn inside of 3 parking spaces to our right... and came RIGHT BACK TO OUR ORIGINAL SPACE... WOW!! I made him do it AGAIN! I was impressed with the tight circle.

We switched places and I drove it... the electric assist power steering is different... I don't think of it as worse or better... just different, and I quickly got used to it, but the response to the wheel is CRISP. AS are the BRAKES! I would barely touch them and there was immediate BITE.

The suspension is a little stiff... but NOT as stiff as other sport models of other lines. Between the low profile tires and the stiff suspension, you have to expect to feel the bumps a little... THIS IS THE SPORTS CAR version of this model!! Expect it to act like one.

OKAY... now the highway... this is a 4 cyl car. BUT it feels like a beefy 6. It puts you back in the seat... the six speed transmission keeps you there... shifting smoothly... never feeling a lunge forward of shifting gears. It doesn't take long to get up to speed... but there is no "LAG" to speak of... this is my first turbo that I've owned... but have driven another after market... where you put your foot into it... and there was a substantial delay to getting that boost. WHAT SOLD me on THIS TURBO++++; it burns REGULAR UNLEADED+++++

The steering is quick, responsive, and light. The ride is smooth and road noise is very light. For me... I got a great deal on it being used... but it only had 620 miles (which is still brand new).

PUTTING IT THROUGH THE PACES:

So now I own it... I've had the opportunity to try this car on different road conditions with different weather conditions... wet and dry. Although I have NOT had to do emergency braking... I've tried to hard brake on wet pavement and was surprised that the AVS didn't kick in because the tires are THAT good... I tried hard acceleration on wet pavement around a corner, and the traction light barely flashed. I was cruising down the highway and hit a pocket of standing water... that SHOULD have made me hydroplane... but it didn't... the tires cut right through...

I'm VERY pleased with my purchase... and have always perform the maintenance on time. I got 350,000 miles out of my Dodge that way... let's see how far this one goes. :)