Jury's Still Out
Acquired this car with 4000 miles. Consumer Reports rates the 2011 Sonata very poorly with it being at the bottom of the reliability ratings for that year. Now at 71K, I haven't had too many problems. Recalls were constant to begin with. Replaced a cracked evaporative canister and close valve at 22K miles. The steering coupler has been replaced once at 24K, and as I understand it, will eventually need to be done again. It's just a small star-shaped, rubber sphere that installs inside the steering column and wears out every so often. Poor design and engineering. If this happens to you, call the dealer FIRST and find out if they'll perform the labor under warranty. The part is inexpensive. Also, the brakes on this car leave much to be desired. It feels like you're trying to stop a school bus instead of a car. They're very spongy and feel like they don't want to stop the car quickly. I had them inspected a couple times and they're in perfect working order so I assume it's in the ABS design and engineering. Had both tail lights (on different occasions) ripped off by automatic car washes. For some reason the large, rotating bristles on the machines are able to get between the lamp assembly and the fender and get stuck, pulling on the assembly and breaking all its plastic fastener points. New assemblies run $225 but you can do the work yourself. I take extremely good care of the car and believe it's the ONLY reason I haven't had more problems.
Verified Owner
