need opinion of hyundaitech

no real problem. but wonder what you think about the 2007 & 2008 sonata
V6. drive a camry and thinking about selling it and getting a 2007 or
2008 sonata V6. retired but work for hertz part time and of all the cars
we have in the $20000.00 to $25000.00 price range the sonata V6 is the
most fun to drive. handles great and lots and lots of power when you
need it with pretty good gas mileage. just wondered if you think the
sonata is on par with the camry and hold up in the long term. any real
problems with the sonata or complaints from owners? my camry is a 2006
le 4cyl. great car but oh so boring. thanks DAVE

 

The only significant issue I know of is the timing chain tensioners. And
only the earliest production 2007s should have that issue. Revised
tensioners were used after 8/4/06.

As for overall longevity, I'm not convinced Hyundai is yet on par with the
best of the manufacturers. And I don't have any significant recent
experience with the newer Camrys to have a comparison point.

Also be sure to test drive the car before you buy. Wheel/tire size will
make a significant difference in ride and handling.

 

Is that Hertz's used price? Used '06 Sonatas should be going for a
LOT less than 20-25K. Maybe $14K.

My brand new '06 was bit less than 20K.

Since you work at Hertz, go ask your maintenance people what they
think of the Sonata. And let us know what you find out. It would be
very interesting to know what a rental company thinks of this car.

 

thanks hyundaitech. the 20k to 25 k is the sticker price i see on the
new cars. we get a lot of check engine lights on some of the cars but
don't think i have ever saw one come on on the sonata. love the standard
trip computer that comes on the sonata. also like the standard 6 airbags
on the 2008s and the standard stability control. seems like you get a
lot of car for the money. also noticed standard satellite radio on the
2008s. in case anyone wants to know the fastest car hertz rents that
we have a lot of is the infinity g35 , seems faster than the dodge
charger with the hemmi v8.. 5.6 seconds 0 to 60 for the g35. 6.0
seconds 0 to 60 for the charger with the hemmi according to consumer
reports. guess i am just an old man of 60 who still likes to put his
foot in it from time to time.

 

Your reasoning is about the same as mine. I was looking at another Buick,
but to get the stability control, I'd have to spends $35000 for the Lucerne
and I did not want the Northstar V-8.

At the same time I was looking a Buick, nothing much else was of serious
interest except the Avalon Limited at about the same price. If you
suggested buying Hyundai, their reputation from the late 1980's was still
fresh in my mind and I'd have laughed at the idea, even though I'd not
looked closely at one for many years. A couple of weeks later, talking to a
couple of people that had them as rentals, they were impressed with the new
Sonata.

Long story short, I looked, I liked, I bought. The car has everything that
I want at a price thousands less than the others. I'm not saying the
quality of the leather is the same as the Lucerne, but it is damned close. I
don't need the reclining rear seats that the Avalon Limited had. It does
have every feature that is important to me. I figure I have at least a
$5000 advantage, maybe more.

 

The trip computer isn't (at the very least, wasn't) standard on all trim
levels. Make a list of the features that are important to you and verify
the car has all of them.

 

How necessary is it for 2006 and early 2007 Sonata V6 cars to have the
tensioner updated? Is Hyundai policy to replace the tensioner only if
there is a clattering noise on startup? Or are all of them supposed to
be replaced? (We have a fairly early 2006 Sonata V6. No bad noises on
startup.)

 

I would say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Mine had to be done, and IIRC, it involved about 12 hours labor.

 

Don

I recently rented an almost new Camry and thought it was not onl
boring but dangerous. This 4 cylinder had a hard time getting goin
if starting out on a small hill and the suspension is very soft an
wavy. So I can understand why you are not happy with the Camry

I have a 2002 Sonata V6 and it has been a pretty good car and I a
hoping for 150K miles before the end. It now has 74,000 miles on it
There is nothing major wrong with the car that I know of but littl
things are starting to malfunction like the gas door doesn't ope
when the switch is depressed

One big issue: the brake rotors keep warping and Hyundai refuses t
fix them under warranty even though it was still covered under th
bumper-to-bumper. That was a bad decision by Hyundai America.
have now replaced the rotors and pads with high performance model
and hope that solves the problem

Next time I will buy a Honda which has yielded better performance an
reliability for me in the past. Good luck

 

You may also want to check your driving habits and pad break-in
procedure as rotors rarely actually warp. The pulsing is often a result
of uneven deposition of brake pad material onto the rotor. This can
often be corrected with a few 5-10 really hard stops to heat up the
rotor and redistribute the material. Also, try not to stop hard and
then hold the brakes for any period of time as that will cause pad
imprinting. Try to let the car roll slowly ahead after a hard stop
rather than standing on the brakes afterward.

Matt

 

Actually, a lot of aftermarket, and even some OEM rotors will warp from the
heat from semi-metallic pads. The break-in stuff is more hyperbole than
reality, as is the theory of hard braking. What really addresses this
problem best is a quality set of rotors and ceramic pads.

 

Hyundai's position is to replace the tensioners if one of them fails.

 

If you have some data, I'm all ears. However, until then, I believe
this gentleman...

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

It also matches my experience.

Matt

 

I read that as well Matt. Completely contradicts my experience.

 

I haven't measured many with a dial indicator, but I've never yet found
one warped significantly. And I've had a couple of "warped" rotors that
were "fixed" with 5-10 hard stops to redistribute the pad material. A
mechanically warped disk would not get better with additional heating
cycles.

We'll have to agree to disagree. However, I suggest that anyone who
thinks their disks are warped should take the time to check them with a
dial indicator. I'll bet most times they will find no warpage.

Matt

 

I'll add that they should also try 5-10 hard stops in quick succession
with no cooling between stops. If you are going to replace the rotors
and pads anyway, you have nothing to lose, but don't be surprised if
your "warped" rotors get a lot better all of the sudden. They will
unlikely get completely smooth for the reasons mentioned in the article
above, but I've tried this twice now and it made a huge improvement.

Matt

 

I too have "fixed" an occassional pulsing pedal this way, but it's the
exception. That's not fixing a warped rotor which has many more times
proven the case for me. Whether I tested them with a dial caliper or put
them on a lathe, they were verifiably warped. It's very common with a lot
of the cheap aftermarket rotors out there. Trying to make these rotors
better with brake cycles won't work.

It's ok to disagree - you know I'm fine with that. I would only tweak your
closing comment by suggesting what I do - when faced with pulsing, first try
to clear the problem with braking techniques as you referenced. When that
does not fix the problem, simple be aware that rotors do warp, and when
buying new don't go cheap. Going better does not cost that much more but
works much better. Good quality rotors and ceramic pads. And don't be
alarmed by warped rotors - it's more and more common as manufacturers
cheapen up the rotors they build with.

 

No, they were not "verifiably" warped if you didn't measure them.

Except that rotors don't warp in general.

Matt

 

Did you not read what I wrote?

Whatever you say.

 

A dial caliper can't easily measure run-out and a lathe doesn't measure
anything, so I basically don't believe you have ever checked a brake
rotor. A caliper could measure thickness variation, but not warpage. A
dial indicator in conjunction with a lathe could measure warpage, but
only if the rotor was installed true in the lathe and that wouldn't be
easy. The least little off-axis mounting would look like warpage when
the lathe was spun.

Easiest is to just spin the rotor on the car with a magnetic mount dial
indicator.

Matt