Just barely average car.
My first and last Hyundai.
78,000 miles on the car.
At only 30,000 miles one fan belt pulley had to be replaced - under warranty.
At about 35,000 miles rear brake assemblies on both sides had to be completely replaced - calipers, pads, rotors - under warranty. However this repair left me stranded out of town for a day in Michigan (I live in Cleveland, Ohio) because one of the rear wheels suddenly seized with no advanced warning.
Glad it happened just before I got on a freeway.
At 65,000 miles both complete rear brake assemblies had to be replaced again - same as at 40,000 miles. This time work was not under warranty - about $500.
I understand there is a class action lawsuit in the State of New York because of similar excessive rear brake failures on this model of Sonata.
At only 70,000 miles the air conditioning compressor had to be replaced - not under warranty - about $700.
I live in Cleveland, Ohio so the air conditioner does not even work very often!
At only 77,000 miles the check engine light came on. Fuel pump casing leaking. Entire fuel pump assembly had to be replaced - not under warranty - $1,000.
This fuel pump replacement was just two days ago and we have not driven the car since.
I hope that the check engine light remains off and that something else will not shortly turn on the check engine light again!
A couple years ago my wife pulled down the passenger side sun visor and lifted the mirror to open it. The mirror immediately broke from the very inadequate assembly. I jerry rigged fixing it and it still works fine but my wife opens it very slowly - pretty much as she did even before it broke.
At about every 35,000 miles - at every few oil changes - the dealer keeps trying to get me to replace the transmission fluid. I assume this is to keep up the warranty.
For some reason they claim that just driving the car in Cleveland, Ohio immediately classifies our driving as "severe use" that requires replacing the transmission fluid often.
They talked me into it the first time but I have refused ever since.
In reality we use this car almost solely for trips of hundreds of miles of freeway driving at a time.
I would say that of the 78,000 miles, about 70,000 were on freeways at hundreds of miles at a time. The transmission has hardly shifted!
I am 68 years old and have owned many cars and driven them many miles. I do not recall ever being told I must replace the transmission fluid - much less about every 35,000 miles.
I have never had a transmission failure!
Otherwise the dealer where I purchased the car has done a great job in performing all the repairs - except for the extremely helpful Hyundai dealer in the Detroit area.
That dealer replaced the rear brake assemblies the first time and did a great and timely job that got me back on the road ASAP - especially considering that I was from out of town and did not purchase the car from him!
Also - regarding this out-of-town incident - the Hyundai emergency call system worked perfectly!
I am very torn because otherwise we really like our 4 cylinder 2010 Sonata Limited! It is a great driving car - especially on the freeway.
It runs very smoothly and quietly and gets great gas mileage.
The engine could be a bit more powerful but is certainly adequate.
The leather seats are extremely comfortable and supporting - especially over hundreds of miles of driving at a time
The in-dash navigation system has always worked perfectly and has actually gotten us out a few jams - such as instantly safely guiding us around out-of-town surprise freeway ramp closures.
XM radio works great.
The body and paint job are still perfect.
However I still think that I am going to trade it in because I think I am picking up a trend of a series of expensive maintenance issues developing.
As I mentioned, I am 68 yrs. old and have owned many cars.
I have not had to have most of these repairs ever done on any of my other cars - until I owned this one Hyundai.
The cars are beautiful, fairly inexpensive compared to other brands, and run great.
The problem is the component parts must be made very inadequately and wear out before average time and are expensive to replace.
That's why I will shortly trade this car in.
Its a shame because this beautiful car has only 78,000 miles on it and, despite all the expensive repairs, we still really like it!
Verified Owner
