What I expected
I have had my 2017 Ioniq Blue for about 10 months now and I've put about 21,000 miles on it. It has performed as I had expected. The ride is pretty comfortable, I have a 80-mile round-trip commute for work five days a week, mostly on the highway, and I find it drives pretty nice on the open road. The seats are decent, not the most comfortable I've been in but not horrible. A little on the firm side but way better than my previous car, an '09 Honda Fit. The seating position is decent, you can see a bit of the hood which helps give you a little bit of spatial perspective while driving. I find the visibility out the front and sides is good. The split rear window takes a little getting used to, but I found I got used to it very quickly. I find the armrest on the door and the center armrest are both positioned well and it is pretty easy to get comfortable as far as your arm placement goes. There is no "oh-sh!t" handle on the driver side, which is one of my only complaints as I sometimes like to hold on to that and let my left arm hang while I am driving. Not a big deal though, after driving the car for a few months I didn't really miss it too often. I don't really think about it much anymore.
The transmission feels a lot like a manual transmission. I came from a manual transmission car and I notice a fair amount of similarities between how I shifted gears and how this transmission does that job. This one definitely shifts more smoothly from gear to gear than I used to. All the comments in the reviews about hesitation off the line are true, there is a discernible delay when you step on the gas from a standing stop. Unless you really need to get moving for some reasons in those situations, I haven't found it to be a problem at all - just a characteristic of the transmission that you get accustomed to. Putting the car in sport mode in those situations greatly reduces this issue I have found, so for people who want to launch from a dead stop that may be something they can try. For me though this hasn't been a real issue I've had to worry about since I do about 80% of my driving on the highway.
The layout of the radio and climate controls, steering wheel, etc. is perfect. Very logical and easy to use - there's almost no learning curve in this area. I drove several Hyundais (Sonata, Elantra, Elantra Sport, Elantra GT) before I settled on the Ioniq. In every case, I found the interiors to be excellent in just about every respect. I find the exterior styling to be conservative but good-looking; I feel they will age very well. Modern-day Hyundais remind me a lot of what Honda was producing in the late 90s - good looking, comfortable, reliable, very easy to use cars that you knew would last you a long time (I owned a 97 Accord and a 99 Civic).
I have been getting anywhere from 50-60 MPG, depending on weather and driving style. Usually I am in the 53-58 range, with better numbers in the warmer months and a drop-off when the weather is colder. Overall I have been very pleased with my experience with this car.
Recommended
Verified Owner
