As I sat behind the wheel of my multi-colored '91 Ford Tempo, admiring the cars and trucks flying by at break-neck speeds, I waited for my wife or the tow truck to come pick me up (whichever came first). There was a heavy weight in my stomach since this was not the first time that I had to have her get the kids ready and come pick me up from the side of the highway. She was NOT going to be happy. Following the tow truck back, we discussed buying a new car. I dismissed the idea, shuddering at the thought of a car-note. I opted for replacing the Tempo with another $500 beater. It came in the form of an '97 Mercury Tracer. The Tracer was one of the few unfortunate vehicles built with a "Zetec" 1.8L Mazda engine. I have never had an interference engine before and when that one blew up after two months, I replaced it with a '00 Escort 2.0L engine. That one blew up a year later (the coolant froze over). I bought my newest car to date, a 2001 Hyundai Elantra. $500 with A/C and cruise and it got 38 mpg. That one wound up in the junkyard due to a blown engine. The '96 Cougar that followed ran ok, but there were too many hurdles that I had to overcome on a day-to-day basis. The driver's door wouldn't open, the ignition switch was shot so the engine wouldn't shut off unless I pulled the ignition module. It was just too much of a hassle, especially in the dead of winter. My wife convinced me that I should buy a new car since having a job is such a rareity these days and nothing gets you fired like having a car break down all the time. I sat down and pondered what type of car I should buy.
I originally had my heart set on a Ford Fusion. The Fusions that Hertz had purchased were all SEL models with leather seats, aluminum 17" wheels, Bluetooth, Sirius, and mood lighting. At the time I was shopping for a car, Hertz had given back most of the Fusions and didn't order new ones (all SE models) until late 2011. Finding a Fusion was proving to be problematic. I rented a 2010 Fusion SEL with 41K miles. It was almost ready to be auctioned off. It ran straight and true. I averaged 36 miles per gallon on a car that was larger than my wife's '04 Corolla, which only got 33 mpg if your lucky. We were looking for a larger car than the Corolla, but not an SUV, and it needed to have decent fuel economy. I wanted Sirius/XM and a USB port for my IPod. The Fusion SEL fit the bill. Unfortunately, this particular Fusion SEL, the last one in the fleet (in my mind, at least) could not be sold to a private party due to some repairs it had received. It went to the auction, never to be seen again.
Downhearted, I went to the sales manager at Hertz and asked what my options were. He printed out a list of cars available. Camrys, Corollas, Yaris, Sentras, Versas, Altimas, Mazda 3, 5, and 6, filled the page. The only thing even CLOSE to a Fusion from Ohio to Nebraska was a V6 Milan. The V6s get really BAD fuel economy and it was out of the question. The last V6 Fusion I rented got 20 mpg average. I thought about a Mazda 6, Camry, or Altima, but none of them had Sirius or a USB port. There was a Dodge Avenger, but I was a little hesitant about getting a Dodge. I had never driven one before and had not done any research on them. There was a couple Camry and Altima Hybrids. I didn't want a Hybrid since I do a lot of highway driving and my trunkspace is at a premium. Getting a Hybrid would be a disservice. The last option was a Mitsubishi Galant. I shuddered at the thought of driving one of those junkboxes around everyday. We bought about 100 from Avis/Budget in '09 and I had the misfortune of working on them. Just the sound of the engine turning over reminded me of my Cub Cadet ride-on lawnmower. Sitting in one made me feel I was driving a '91 Galant, not a 2009 model car. I thought about just getting one anyways, since ALL the cars were so damned CHEAP! It was hard not to jump on a two year old, 45K mile Camry Hybrid for $13000.
Just then, I remembered that Hertz had bought a shipment of Hyundai Sonatas in 2011 from Avis/Budget. They were the 2011 models with about 8K - 18K miles on them. I inspected one and found it had all the requirements I was looking for. It was supposed to get really good fuel economy and it was about the size of a Camry. I rented one to see what it was like. The rental car had 22K miles on it, but handled very well. I was impressed with the pickup of the 2.4L four-cylinder. The six speed transmission shifted seamlessly under light and hard acceleration, but it seemed confused when I would go from light to hard acceleration (starting from a stoplight under light acceleration and having to pass a car to get into the McDonald's driveway). I liked that it had steel wheels and hubcaps. I've never been a fan of aluminum wheels, or large diameter wheels. With steel, you can hammer it back. With aluminum wheels, once they are bent, that's it. You just bought a $100 aluminum wheel. I'm STILL not sure if the rental Sonatas are GLS, SE or just plain Sonatas, but they sure are not Limited models. My rental was just the base model (whatever it is).
Power windows, locks, security system, XM, CD player, Bluetooth, MP3, traction control, and ABS are all standard. The Limited models come with a keyfob instead of a key, navigation, leather, chrome interior and exterior doorhandles, 16 and 17" aluminum wheels, and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The Hybrid Sonata has slightly different front and rear bodywork as well as some extra chrome rocker molding. The few Hybrid cars with steel wheels have different hubcaps. The Sonata comes in a 2.4L 4-cylinder, a 2.0L turbocharger four-cylinder and a 2.4L hybrid 4-cylinder.
Anyways, during the rental, we loaded the car with the two kids, the double stroller, diaper bag, wife's purse, and groceries and found that everyone and everything fit well. I averaged 38 mpg throughout the whole weekend. The interior was well thought out and easy to use. I found that the windowsills were a little higher up than I'm used to. The bottom of the seat also put pressure on my hamstrings, but the amount of legroom in the front is AMAZING! I could stretch my legs all the way to the firewall and only touch my toes to it. The cloth seats are nice in case of spills. They resist moisture compared to other cloth seats.
The exterior of the Sonata is the selling point. Compared to the 2010 "boxy" Sonata, the 2011 is amazing. A part of me thinks that Hyundai used a lot of styling cues from the Mercedes CLS 550 sedan. I was amazed by the sleek and "fluid-like" body lines. The car gives off a refined, yet slightly aggressive stance. I thought of a doorman at an exclusive nightclub. At first glance, it's just a guy in a suit, but when you get to the door, you find that they guy is built like a Frigidaire. Being a big fan of chrome, I was impressed with the chrome grille surround and windowsill/ fender spears. Overall, I was enthralled by the Sonatas appearance.
I quickly went to the Hertz sales manager and asked for any Sonatas. He managed to scrounge one up the next day. It need front tires and had 45k miles on it, but everything worked fine. We worked out a deal and I bought it for $5000 off of Blue Book price. I got a great rate with the financing and drove away with a sense of accomplishment. Car buyer 1, dealer 0. Since my purchase, I have put two used tires on the front. The original P205/65R16 Kumho Solus tires (another bummer since you can't get whitewalls off the rack) were worn smooth on the front and cupped in the back. I suspect that they hadn't been rotated since the car was bought by Avis/Budget. I have 56K on the car now, and have had only one problem. The "Check Engine" light came on intermittently, but is now solid. I thought it was something to do with the fuel cap, since it would go off after I filled up, but now it's always on. I guess I'll take it to Autozone and see what's up. It still gets 33 mpg, unless I do a lot of idling (waiting for the wife to buy something from Jewel, warming up the car, more waiting for the wife, etc), then I get about 29-30 mpg.
The two things that bug me about the car are entertainment related. I hope they offer some kind of update for these problems. First, you need a special Hyundai USB cable to sync an Ipod Nano to it. I bought one from the Hyundai dealer for $35. Secondly, when you want it to "shuffle", you have to press the "RDM" button. That's fine and dandy, it'll shuffle the songs on your playlist and everything is right with the world... until you get a call on the bluetooth, or you shut the radio off, or you shut the car off, or you attempt to sync a phone, or you accidentally press the "speak" or "call" button on the steering wheel. After any of those things, you have to hit RDM to shuffle it again, but it shuffles in a completely different order. Let's say your listening to Metallica and the next song is Devo, then you get an incoming call and have to hit the RDM button all over again. The next song will be something completely different. Small things make a big difference, sometimes.
To sum it all up, even though it was my second choice in cars, I thoroughly enjoy my Sonata. It's the most car for your buck, great fuel economy, lots of options, reliable, flashy, safe (front and side airbags, traction control, ABS, etc), and I got a GREAT deal on it.
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