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PHEV - no inventory!

2K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  loumango 
#1 ·
When I was considering my purchase back in July, 2016, I tracked the inventory in Cars.com using the 200 miles radius and no maximum price as the parameters. The number of Sonata PHEVs available for purchase ranged from 62 to 83. Out of curiosity, I looked again today. There's one! One in a two-hundred mile radius that includes most of the Bay Area.

What the **** is going on? Have they abandoned this car?
 
#4 ·
It is interesting as Hyundai kept a very steady flow of Sonata PHEVs throughout 2016. About every month they hit 250 or more, according to Inside EVs - Electric Vehicle News, Reviews, and Reports.

I know at least one person on this web site stated that they had purchased a 2017 PHEV. According to him content of the 2017 is identical to the 2016. It is funny as I figured Hyundai would revamp the 2017 to have two updates that the 2017 Kia Optima PHEV is suppose to have (autonomous braking and backseat pass through). It is interesting as there don't seem to be any 2017 Kia Optima PHEVs in stock either.

I hope that Hyundai isn't doing what Honda did with its Accord PHEV. It stuck with it for only one year and then abandoned it. The Sonata PHEV has triple the EV range compared to the Accord PHEV. In any case, I plan to hold onto my Sonata PHEV for 10 years. By then there should be some really impressive EV and PHEV offerings.
 
#6 ·
Add to this that PHEV were only allocated to dealers in states that had a state rebate available. Dealers in states that didn't offer a state tax credit had to special order. I'm not sure if they were able to do dealer trades but I don't see why they wouldn't be able to.

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#8 ·
It is interesting as Hyundai will be phasing in the three version of the Ioniq throughout this year. I was reading that the EV and HEV will both be available in all 50 states. For the PHEV, they would be using the same distribution system as the Sonata PHEV in that it will be only available in a few states. As I understand the Ioniq PHEV will be the last of three to be distributed.
 
#7 ·
It could be that both the Ionic and Sonata PHEVs are built on the same assembly line. If that's the case, it's understandable there's a delay in replenishment. It's a hopeful sign there's a 2017 model but they won't be able to maintain the 250-300 per month sales momentum with such little inventory.

There are two minor content differences in the 16s and 17s I noticed. Hyundai deleted the steering wheel heater on the 17s but added the dynamic bending headlights to the Limited trim.

I, like loumango, plan to hold on to mine at least ten years. I certainly hope they continue with the Sonata PHEV. It would be an odd footnote in automotive history ten years from now if they didn't.
 
#10 ·
Good catch seeing that they did make the one revision between the 2016 and the 2017 PHEV. That is a good sign as the fact that they made a change would indicate they plan to continue production. I am encouraged that there is now a minivan (Pacific) PHEV with a 30 mile EV range. Hopefully Toyota will also expand its range of PHEVs offered from just the Prius (Prius Prime) to maybe the Camry and Avalon as well.
 
#13 ·
I found that if you use the Hyundai USA web site, you can search for inventory by zip code. You are not able to give a wide area for the search. It will search out about 25 miles. I did the search from my zip code (94565). No Sonata PHEVs showed up in inventory; however, a total of 11 are shown as on their way to dealers. My search showed following as in transit:

Antioch: 2
Concord: 2
Dublin: 7

My search represented just a portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. If you used different zip codes, you would be able to see additional units in transit. I noticed that December Sonata PHEV sales spiked higher than usual. That makes sense as the wait for the federal rebate would then be a matter of a few months, rather than a year if the purchase occurred in January.
 
#16 ·
I had my car serviced at my dealer this week. They have no inventory of PHEVs in stock, but they did have the 2017 brochure available. The 2017 and 2016 PHEVs limited are identical except that the 2017 does not have the heated steering wheel but does have "Automatic High Beam Assist."

I am surprised that they did not upgrade the 2017 to have the Automatic Braking feature.

This week was my third service in the one year I have had my PHEV. My mileage was up to over 10,000. This time they rotated and balanced my tire. I was surprised as it seemed to make an improvement in the ride.
 
#17 ·
I checked Cars.com today and there is now one Sonata PHEV in stock in the entire San Francisco Bay Area (one just arrived in Petuluma).

InsideEVs has released the US sales figures for January. As could be anticipated (based on no inventory at least in California) a total of only 190 Sonata PHEVs were sold for month of March. A total of 40 Kia Optima PHEVs were sold for January.
 
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