Sonata reliability?
 

My mother is considering a Sonata as her next car (probably an '05).
I've been very pleased with the Excel and Elantra I've owned, but I have
no experience with the Sonata. IIRC, there have been some posts here
regarding problems with the automatic tranny. Any major issues I should
know about before giving her the green light?

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

Don't buy the four-banger. Other than that, it should be ok.

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:434614d0bc4d347659acf9d2a528d8a2@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> Don't buy the four-banger.

I agree about the fact that V6 is better, but what's wrong with 4?


--
Zotto Sonica V6 MY2002 driver
http://www.g2kweb.it/?85

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

Reliability-wise, it just eats timing belts way too frequenty. I've done
several under warranty, which means they didn't make it to the recommended
maintenance interval before crapping out. Performance-wise, I'd hate that
infernal vibration at idle.

The V6 is smooth and powerful, and I've never seen one strip a timing belt
period, let alone within the warranty interval.

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

My wife and I have a 2004 Sonata LX. We've had it a year this past
OCT. So far so good with it.

"Brian Nystrom" <brian.nystrom@att.net> wrote in message
news:7PWzd.1172910$Gx4.860760@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> My mother is considering a Sonata as her next car (probably an '05).
> I've been very pleased with the Excel and Elantra I've owned, but I have
> no experience with the Sonata. IIRC, there have been some posts here
> regarding problems with the automatic tranny. Any major issues I should
> know about before giving her the green light?

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:21:13 -0500, "hyundaitech"
<notpublic@not.public.com> wrote:

>Reliability-wise, it just eats timing belts way too frequenty. I've done
>several under warranty, which means they didn't make it to the recommended
>maintenance interval before crapping out. Performance-wise, I'd hate that
>infernal vibration at idle.
>
>The V6 is smooth and powerful, and I've never seen one strip a timing belt
>period, let alone within the warranty interval.

Any experience with Accents (mine is a 2001) prematurely stripping
timing belts?
Mine has 70,000km on it now and i'd have no qualms about changing it
if there's any doubt about it going to it's scheduled 90,000km change
point.

For a very plain website try
http://ii.net/~farmerjim/

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

I have a 1996 Accent with 186,500 miles on it. I have replaced the water
pump twice and at the same time changed the timing belt as it was convenient
to do so each time with roughly 70,000 miles on it. In either case there
was no unusual wear and tear. Some might say I changed the early but this
way I have peace of mind.

Jozef


"Jim Vatunz" <rot13.snezrewvz@vvarg.arg.nh> wrote in message
news:qgo1t0lf85d3siko619cutefu0d2m4dq1m@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:21:13 -0500, "hyundaitech"
> <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote:
>
>>Reliability-wise, it just eats timing belts way too frequenty. I've done
>>several under warranty, which means they didn't make it to the recommended
>>maintenance interval before crapping out. Performance-wise, I'd hate that
>>infernal vibration at idle.
>>
>>The V6 is smooth and powerful, and I've never seen one strip a timing belt
>>period, let alone within the warranty interval.
>
> Any experience with Accents (mine is a 2001) prematurely stripping
> timing belts?
> Mine has 70,000km on it now and i'd have no qualms about changing it
> if there's any doubt about it going to it's scheduled 90,000km change
> point.
>
> For a very plain website try
> http://ii.net/~farmerjim/

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

Not with the Accent. I have no problem recommending you follow the
maintenance interval in your book. The engines with the problems are:
2.4L in 1999-2005 Sonata and Santa Fe
2.0L in 1992-1998 Sonata
1.8L in 1992-1995 Elantra
1.6L in 1992-1995 Elantra

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

60k is recommended. While I wouldn't expect this belt necessarily to fail
prior to 70k or 90k, there's no reason to not follow the guidlines when
you consider the cost of repair if it breaks.

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 13:13:47 -0500, "hyundaitech"
<notpublic@not.public.com> wrote:

>Not with the Accent. I have no problem recommending you follow the
>maintenance interval in your book. The engines with the problems are:
>2.4L in 1999-2005 Sonata and Santa Fe
>2.0L in 1992-1998 Sonata
>1.8L in 1992-1995 Elantra
>1.6L in 1992-1995 Elantra

Good-o.
It's nice to know how things are from real world sources.

For a very plain website try
http://ii.net/~farmerjim/

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

Jim Vatunz wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 13:13:47 -0500, "hyundaitech"
> <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote:
>
> >Not with the Accent. I have no problem recommending you follow the
> >maintenance interval in your book. The engines with the problems
are:
> >2.4L in 1999-2005 Sonata and Santa Fe
> >2.0L in 1992-1998 Sonata
> >1.8L in 1992-1995 Elantra
> >1.6L in 1992-1995 Elantra
>
> Good-o.
> It's nice to know how things are from real world sources.

Nothing wrong with those models.
"Hyundaitech" just doesn't know how to change the timing belts in the
Sirius and Sirius-II engines.
> For a very plain website try
> http://ii.net/~farmerjim/

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

hyundaitech wrote:
> Don't buy the four-banger. Other than that, it should be ok.
>
Thanks, that's the kind of info I was looking for.

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

I wish I had read something like this 4 years ago. My Sonata 4cyl is now as
usefull as a paperweight, thanks to the timing belt and their warranty. The
car had 60,225 miles on it when the belt broke. Hyundai says that they will
not pay for repairs since the belt should have been inspected and/or
replaced at 60K. The car was in the shop 3 months ago for a check engine
light problem, when I was advised to do the recommended mileage
maintenance on the trans, which I did. No one bothered to mention the
timing belt to me.
I am told by the dealership that I need a whole new motor at about $6,000.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Hyundai's operations manager to see if
they will cover any of this. So as to reliability, you can draw your own
conclusions.

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

I wish I had read something like this 4 years ago. My Sonata 4cyl is now as
usefull as a paperweight, thanks to the timing belt and their warranty. The
car had 60,225 miles on it when the belt broke. Hyundai says that they will
not pay for repairs since the belt should have been inspected and/or
replaced at 60K. The car was in the shop 3 months ago for a check engine
light problem, when I was advised to do the recommended mileage
maintenance on the trans, which I did. No one bothered to mention the
timing belt to me.
I am told by the dealership that I need a whole new motor at about $6,000.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Hyundai's operations manager to see if
they will cover any of this. So as to reliability, you can draw your own
conclusions.

Re: Sonata reliability?
 

If Hyundai does not treat you fairly, file suit in small claims court
(either before or after you pay for repairs out-of-pocket). Pay extra
for a jury (if allowed in your state). Be sure to propound questions
during "discovery" and ask questions about how many others they are
aware of that had the same problem at between 60K and 65K miles. Ask
them to describe and provide information on all known related defects.
Ask them to describe how they handled all similar requests for
repair/reimbursement (both in instances where a lawsuit was filed and
where no lawsuit was filed). If they do not give detailed responsive
answers, immediately move to compel more specific answers and seek
sanctions for failure to provide proper answers. Small claims court
personnel are really good about assisting consumers in such matters.

Responding to such questions will be costly for Hyundai and will
create further potential financial exposure, greatly increasing the
chances of a settlement. Good luck!

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 21:41:40 -0500, "cheesesteak"
<oco34761@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I wish I had read something like this 4 years ago. My Sonata 4cyl is now as
>usefull as a paperweight, thanks to the timing belt and their warranty. The
>car had 60,225 miles on it when the belt broke. Hyundai says that they will
>not pay for repairs since the belt should have been inspected and/or
>replaced at 60K. The car was in the shop 3 months ago for a check engine
>light problem, when I was advised to do the recommended mileage
>maintenance on the trans, which I did. No one bothered to mention the
>timing belt to me.
>I am told by the dealership that I need a whole new motor at about $6,000.
>I'm still waiting to hear back from Hyundai's operations manager to see if
>they will cover any of this. So as to reliability, you can draw your own
>conclusions.