Must Read Hyundai Sonata Review - My First Hyundai and I love it

Introduction

I previously owned a Jaguar XJR and it was a great car to drive, but the 370 HP V8 supercharged engine really used a lot of gas. When the gas price started to reach $3/gallon, we know that we had to find a new car that uses a lot less gas. I never cared much about Hyundai before, until one day I saw a 2006 shiny black Hyundai Sonata on a freeway with 20 inch wheels, dual exhaust and it was very pretty.

Safety Feature & Warranty

I did some research on the car and the 2006 Hyundai Sonata has the highest rating in value and safety on Edmunds.com and MSN Auto. All 2006 Hyundai Sonata comes with 6 air bags and electronic stability control (ESC) as a standard safety feature even in the lower end model and it comes with 30,000 miles bumper-to-bumper warranty and 100,000 miles power train warranty.

I went to Autotrader and I found one with leather interior and a V6 3.3L engine. I called the dealership and made an appointment to test drive the car.

First Impression

Let me describe you my first impression of the 2006 Hyundai Sonata when I saw it at the dealership parking lot. The 2006 Hyundai Sonata style has been improved a lot compared to the older model. The car is beautiful and even today; I received a lot of complements on the car. The dual exhaust comes as a standard feature in the V6 model.

Interior

I love the interior of the 2006 Hyundai Sonata; I was surprised because the interior of the Sonata is very spacious. The back seat space is very large and spacious even for a tall person. Even some of my friends who ride the car with me told me that the interior is very spacious. It feels very good the moment to enter the Sonata and it is very easy to get in and out.

For me when I buy a car, the car must have a leather seats because I love leather seats. The 2006 Hyundai LX Limited Edition comes with heated leather seats which are a great feature for the winter time, a powered driver seat, standard non-powered passenger seat, the front and back seats are very comfortable. I think the quality of the leather is pretty good compared the leather that comes with the Jaguar XJR, since we are talking about comparing $90,000 Jaguar XJR to a $16,995 Hyundai Sonata.

The only weird feature that comes with Hyundai Sonata that made me say “Huh?” was the automatic on/off passenger side air bag system. If there no body sitting on the passenger side, the air bag system will be turned off, but when there is a passenger sitting on it, it will automatically turn itself on again. I guess, Hyundai people try to help us to save some money if we ever get into accident when we are alone; we only have to replace the driver air bag. This feature is a little bit annoying because when I place my computer bag on the passenger seat, the seat belt light will come up to remind me to buckle up the seat belt on my computer bag.

Climate Control

The Hyundai Sonata LX Limited comes with automatic climate control; I really love this feature because that’s the feature that most luxury cars come with. The climate control doesn't come with the Sonata 4-Cylinder basic model. The climate control only comes with the V6 limited version.

Features

Another feature that I love the most about the Hyundai is, the automatic door lock at 20 MPH, the doors will lock themselves when you drive the car at 20 MPH. It is a great feature, because we have a daughter, so we don’t have to worry if we forget to lock the doors.

I also love the automatic headlight sensor system, when it gets dark; the headlights turn themselves on, and the adjustable wiper control is amazing because I can adjust the speed and frequency of the windshield wiper.

I was very amazed with the trunk size, the trunk space is huge. The only thing I didn't like about it is the plastic interior, but the steering wheel is leather wrapped and there are some wood trims in the Limited model that makes the interior looks pretty.

Engine & Gas Mileage

The engine of Hyundai Sonata is very quiet when it is idle! There are times when I thought the car was off and I tried to restart it.

The 235 horse power 3.3 V6 engine is very smooth and quite powerful. I had the chance to drive the 4-cylinder model of the Sonata and I really didn't like it because the 4-cylinder Sonata engine is very weak. If you want to buy the 2006 Hyundai Sonata, I REALLY recommend the V6 3.3L engine model and I really mean it, unless you really are tight in cash. The 4-cylinder model acceleration is terrible, but the V6 acceleration is awesome.

The gas mileage for the V6 Sonata is 20 to 30 MPG, but if you like to drive it fast, the gas mileage will go down to 17 MPG. I tested one day to drive and accelerate very slowly and I got 26 MPG, but it wasn't so much fun.

Handling

The 17 inch stock alloy wheels and low profile all-season tires are included in the 2007 Hyundai Sonata LX Limited version, and they make the car looks beautiful. Let me tell you about this before you pick the 17 inch wheels and tires.

The 17 inch wheels and tired make the Hyundai Sonata ride a little bit hard, because that’s the nature of wheels, the bigger the wheels the sportier and rougher the ride becomes.

Surprisingly, the 16 inch wheels and tires that come with the basic 4-Cylinder model makes the Hyundai ride a lot more comfortable. Now I am thinking about downgrading the wheels and tires to 16 inch, because it makes the ride very smooth and soft. I know, it won’t look as pretty as the 17 inch wheels and tires, but I use this car to commute a lot, so I want a smooth ride. I may replace the 17 inch stock tires with something more comfortable.

So if you want a sporty ride, you get the 17 inch wheels and tires, but if you want a softer and gentler ride, skip the 17 inch wheels and stick with the 16 inch wheels. The guy who put 20 inch wheels and tires on his Hyundai probably has sore bottom because of the rough ride.

The Hyundai handles pretty well on corner, although I can't really compare it to the Jaguar XJR handling. You can't go too fast with the 2006 Hyundai Sonata because there is still too much body roll if you go too fast. I could race a Porsche 911 with the Jaguar XJR, and I don't think, I can race a Porsche anymore with the Sonata. The Jaguar XJR can handle curvy road very well at 80 to 100 MPH and the Sonata can't do that, you will feel the body roll when you hit 75 MPH with the Sonata. I may replace the stock springs with Eibach springs.

Entertainment

The 2006 Hyundai Sonata comes with a single CD/MP3 player and the sound system that comes with the Hyundai Sonata LX Limited is amazing. It is not a Harman Kardon like the one in the Jaguar, but it is a very good sound system! I love it! Now I can listen to hundred of songs on my MP3 CD. To make the MP3 CD is very easy, use your computer to burn all the songs you want on a CD, finalize the CD as a data CD and your MP3 CD is ready to be played on Hyundai MP3 Player.

The 4-Cylinder Hyundai Sonata doesn’t come with an MP3 player, but it does come with an XM satellite radio. I wish the LX Limited version has the XM radio as well as the MP3 player. It was a hard choice to make, but I love my MP3 more than XM satellite radio.

Hyundai Service Department

Let me tell you about Hyundai dealership service. So far, they have been very helpful and very nice to me, since they have an excellent service manager in our area.

I had to visit Hyundai service department because the passenger seat was missing a bolt, so I wanted to prove whether Hyundai really honored their 30,000 bumper to bumper warranties. I was very happy that they paid for the labor and parts to fix the problem.

Every time I feel there is something funny with the car, I just take the advantage of the warranty by taking it to the dealer and so far they haven't charged me anything. They also let me borrow a loaner car for 2 days for free! The 2006 Hyundai Sonata has a lot of sensors, and they are very sensitive. If the sensor gets wet when you wash your car with high pressure washer, the sensor light occasionally will come on, and when the car is dry, the light will turn itself off.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the 2006 Hyundai Sonata is a great economical car with great features and the Hyundai dealer really honors their warranty, so as long as your car is under the warranty, you can drive it with peace of mind because I won’t have a repair bills for a while since if something is broken Hyundai will fix it for free as long as it is not a factory defect and the damage is not intentionally done to the car.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope my review is VERY HELPFUL in order to help you to make a better decision before you buy the car since buying a car because itis a big financial decision of your life.