Our long search is over! We took delivery of an '07 Sonata last night after looking for two months to find the right one.

Don't laugh - well OK, go ahead a chuckle - we wanted a 2.4L / 5 speed manual tranny, no XM radio, no option package, not black or dark blue. I found it on Saturday, was the first person to test drive it (it had 4 miles on the odometer). The dealer gave us a good deal and we mulled it over on Sunday. On Monday evening we were signing the papers.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Four years ago I started a contract job that was to last two years but it involves driving 186 miles per day (over three hours per day in the car). Add weekend stuff and you can see why I drive 1,000 miles per week, over 90% at freeway speeds. I bought my first Hyundai on Memorial Day 2003, a chianti red base model Elantra (2.0L, 5 speed manual, A/C, power windows & locks, radio). The two year gig has now lasted four years with more than a year to go before it is done - you see where this is going?

After three years and ten month (188,500 miles) and facing another 60k miles, I decided to get a new car. The Elantra had severed me well: 35mpg average lifetime fuel economy, two timing belts, two wheel bearings, one battery, two fuel pressure dampers, one clutch position switch, two sets of Bosch 2 plugs - less than $800 total cost over 188k miles. Add to that four sets of tires ($1,200) and the cost of maintenance, less gas/oil/filters, came out to a penny per mile!

As for oil/filters, I changed the oil and filter every 4200 miles or so - typical cost was $8.00 per oil change (I do it myself), plus Red Line MT-90 tranny oil and air filters for a total cost of around $440. I used 5,390 gallons of fuel. Lest you say "You didn't list brakes and clutch!" - I have never replaced the brakes or clutch, and the original brake shoes still have 30% remaining. My Hyundai mechanic thinks the clutch has more than half remaining.

Now you can see why I wanted another 4 cylinder 5 speed manual. Had the Elantra been an automatic, I would have been taking it in for A/T service every seven months; for my driving situation, an automatic is not cost effective for freeway driving.

So it made sense to consider purchasing another Elantra, but...
...a year ago my wife and I drove an '06 Sonata for 10 days while on vacation - V6 automatic, load to the gills. We really enjoyed the Sonata, even if it was over-the-top. When we started thinking about replacing the Elantra I was naturally drawn to the Sonata as well as the newly designed Elantra.

I read four different Elantra and Sonata forums for three months and decided either car would work for me as long as it was a 4 cylinder/manual transmission and had air conditioning.

I made a couple test drives of the new Elantra, both manual and automatic, and while I liked the improvements in the power train and steering, I didn't like the down-grading of the interior and the elimination of A/C from the base model. While A/C is available for $950 on a base model, it is almost impossible to find; you are almost forced to get the option package for $1,700 bringing the average MSRP sticker (in my area) to $15,700.

With rebates of $1,500 ($1000 + $500 loyalty) the Elantra purchase price is $14,200 plus taxes and fees (most area dealers add around $399 to every new car deal). $14,200 is $4,200 more than what I paid (new) for my '03 Elantra (got a deal on that one, too).

I started looking at the '07 Sonata and found I liked the base model just fine. I test drove both the 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder automatic but when I started crunching numbers for the 6 cylinder, like the cost of oil filters (!) and A/T service, I knew I needed the 4 cylinder manual.

The search was on. For two months I looked for a 2.4L manual within a four state area. No luck. I did find several on the West coast and a couple along the Gulf coast - I considered flying out and driving back but my wife said "No way!"

Anyway, the annual Denver Auto Show was running last week and we decided to check it out on Friday. We talked with Hyundai reps and found out that Hyundai's production of 4 cylinder manual transmission Sonatas is under 2% of all Sonatas made. No wonder they are hard to find! The rep gave us a $500 Auto Show Bonus Coupon, good on any new Sonata until April 18, and wished us luck in our quest.

Saturday morning I visited all of the Colorado Hyundai dealer Web sites; lo and behold, on the Arapahoe Hyundai site was a newly entered '07 Sonata 2.4L, manual tranny, without XM (woo-hoo!), no add-on stuff, in Pearl White (hmm, a $200 premium, but very nice) with an MSRP sticker of $18,045.

Needless to say, we were down at the dealership that afternoon for a test drive. I really liked the 2.4L manual as it gets-up-and-goes compared to a manual '07 Elantra. EPA highway rating is 34mpg which is higher than my '03 Elantra rating of 33mpg, it uses a much less expensive oil filter (vs the 6 cylinder), and I can do most servicing myself.

June, our sales person, was really great and being the end of the month (when dealers try to make their numbers) plus the Auto Show Coupon, she gave us a really attractive price: $12,545 (plus taxes and fees). It was a no-brainer for me but my wife basically said "We aren't making an impulse purchase." IMPULSE? I've been researching this for almost three months! THIS IS A DEAL.

She needed to "sleep on it."

Saturday night she stayed up late, long after I went to bed, and did her own on-line research. Sunday morning she said "You know, that is a really good deal, but I'm not sure 'cause I don't like white. See if you can get it in gray or khaki." I told her that the color didn't matter as long as it wasn't dark (the sun gets really hot at a mile high altitude).

She wasn't ready to commit to a white car.

Monday she tried to find the car in gray or khaki...no luck anywhere from Chicago to Phoenix. Then, late in the morning, the mail arrived and there was our income tax refund check...just the sign she needed. "It could be a sign, and your mom says color doesn't matter...I think we should get it." (thanks mom!). I made a call to June, she got the paperwork rolling and a few hours later we became the proud owners of a new Sonata, equipped as I wanted, at a price that was LESS than a comparably equipped Elantra.

The beginning of a beautiful new friendship.

Regards,
GEWB

man.. this is long.

congratulations on your new NATA~~
:57:

Good, logical thinking, good car, good wife.

So what color Sonata you have?

BTW, what did you end up doing with the Elantra?

And BTW, what's involved in A/T service that you mentioned couple times?

And please CHANGE your PROFILE on the left...

Hello Mamamia -

You posted:


You got that right...GREAT wife for more than 31 years! :wub:


Ended up with the Pearl White exterior / light gray interior.


Tried to trade in but I refused the insulting offer...we will sell it ourselves. A fellow at work is interested in buying it at a reasonable price.


A/T servicing on most Hyundai's is required every 30,000 miles - typically a flush and replacement of the A/T fluid (most use SP-III fluid). Check out the numerous threads in the forums regarding A/T servicing.


Ooooww - THANKS, I almost forgot about that! :beer:

Regards,
GEWB

long story... but a good one! :57:

:00000732: and enjoy!

This post has been edited by ironman: Apr 3 2007, 01:16 PM

Whew...your long post is over! Congrats! :460:

Congratulations!

I didn't have as much time luxury, but wanted the same thing. Did a lot of reasearch in a short time. Almost impossible to find but like you I did. Not quite as a good of a price as you but real good either way.

If heat is a concern, SERIOUSLY consider getting some performance window tint (not just shaded) some have metal flakes others have ceramic. Be aware that you will lose most AM reception with the HP tint but FM is fine.

It makes a HUGE difference in driver comfort as well as being able to leave A/C off or at least on low. It reduces glare nicely inside also. I always add a 5% (limo) tint to the front window down to at least the AS1 line. It takes a day or two to get used to but you find it blocks the sun great so you rarely need the sun visor but can still see through.

A lighter shade does not draw unwanted attention from the officers. Here is a link to some tints and their performance. http://www.tintcenter.com/ I'd stick with a 35% or a little lighter if concerned.

Yup, I'll add a tint soon...have it on my wife's '04 Elantra and had it on my '03 Elantra as well as other cars going back many years. Makes a difference one can feel in the car.

As I go through a windshield about every 10 months, I get replacements that have some degree of "shading" at the top then I add a 4" strip inside (max legal in Colorado).

Thanks for the link! Nice and informative site. :liebe011:

Regards,
GEWB

From a frequent driver (though not as much as you) I can definitely go with that windshield rate. My best (worst?) was 3 days. Consider at least the 3M headlight film as it keeps the sandblasting off the lights so they work well the whole time. If they get trashed, $65 bucks they peel off and replace perfectly clear again. The paint film is nice also but a lot more $$ and a little difficult to install. Can be found cheaper on e-bay also. http://www.autoclearguard.com/kit_search.a...95&submodel=798

Wow, wait a minute... Are you in the habit of DRIVING CLOSE BEHIND SEMI-TRUCKS?

Or living in a neighborhood where there are RIOTS on a regular basis?




:w00t: :w00t: :w00t:






This post has been edited by mamamia: Apr 3 2007, 04:20 PM

Gravel roads would be my bet.

In my case it was NY Adirondacks in winter time. Nothing can be done about vehicles going other way on a two lane road, many logging trucks etc.

Now I'm at about 1 every 2-3 years if I survive the sandblasting. Daily AM commute put you 1/2 mile behind trucks and everybody else swerving inbetween. Truck drops rock 1/2 mile up, 4 cars keep it bouncing, 5th kicks it. The Sand you can hear LOUDLY and this is from trucks with tarped loads. Wind gets under it at 60 mph and it doesn't take much.

Never mind the ENDLESS road construction, CRAPPY blacktop patch they use.

I bought manual sonata about a month ago.
They said that 07 sonata manuals have already been out of production.
You are right. They produced only about 2% of manual shift out of whole production.

So You have in essence a Collectors Sonata! :thumbsup:

Ouch - 3 days! My worst was one week.

Thanks for the link and suggestion about the headlamp kit - time to spend more money!

Regards,
GEWB

I-25 in Colorado and Wyoming. Lots of trucks! Poor road conditions for many miles (road surface breaking up - nice size chunks of concrete). Lots of gravel in the winter for many, many miles.

Not only trashes the exterior but also wears tires fast and beats up kidneys.

Regards,
GEWB