CLICK TO SEE THE COMPARISON TEST

1ST PLACE VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT
Despite a high sticker and thirst for premium, wins by a nose due to driving fun.

2ND PLACE HYUNDAI SONATA
Only lacking the VW's verve; our #1 pick if family comes first.


3RD PLACE TOYOTA CAMRY
Efficient, well executed, it's the sound, yet charmless choice.

4TH PLACE HONDA ACCORD
Polarizing looks inside and out can't hide a great engine and chassis combination.

5TH PLACE FORD FUSION
Surprisingly athletic chassis hampered by wheezy engine and irritating transmission.

6TH PLACE KIA OPTIMA
Though due for a refresh, Kia finishes on top of the second tier. Room and economy are fine, it just needs the same refinements the Sonata received.

7TH PLACE NISSAN ALTIMA
Steepest sticker, yet not the best ride, performance, or value. CVT and light steering create an effortless drive, yet fully loaded, it still seems lacking.


8TH PLACE CHEVROLET MALIBU
Poor finish for arguably the best looker. Shame that sexy skin hides a weight problem the underpowered Ecotec can't handle.

9TH PLACE MITSUBISHI GALANT
Looks old, feels older, and saddled with many of this comparo's worsts, including power-to-weight and EPA and observed fuel economy.

10TH PLACE DODGE AVENGER
Drum brakes, four-speed trans, cheap plastics, and poor economy make this a frightful drive. Gaps between last and first don't get any wider than this.

The secret is slowly getting out; Hyundai's are awesome.

This post has been edited by paravion: Jun 24 2008, 01:08 PM

Goof find.

"Whatever you spend on a Sonata, you're getting big refinement and quality bang for your buck."

I'll take it! :)

A fair and compelling review. I am not a Volkswagen lack of quality fan.


This post has been edited by mdale007: Jun 24 2008, 01:17 PM

A lot of these magazines always seem to toss out "practical" for "fun" and then base their ratings solely on that. When Premium gas in California is running about $4.89/gal you ought to think about that really hard when you're buying any car. So IMO, I'd put the Sonata 1st. Plus VW's reputation is not the best either.

Great new for the Sonata! Maybe resale value will now be improved :P ... and there goes having one of the "uncommon" cars on the road.

thats a pretty impressive review... i was surprised to see the Sonata place so high, and only losing to the VW.. good to see the 4-bangers get better mileage than the rest...

maybe this will bode well for our F*ING RESALE VALUE!!! lol

Hip, hip, hoo-ray !

Sonata is getting better and better.

Hope this could increase its resale value.

Way to go, Hyundai !

So, Honda and Toyota won't be printing these results for their showroom bulletin boards?????? :whistling:

Good find. That's great!

My aunt has a Passat and my uncle says that's the last VW he's ever going to buy. They had some incredibly expensive work done to the motor (over $1000, something with the water pump, I think), brake lights are acting up, doors squeak worse than my 1993 Cherokee, and wipers cost like $100 :P On top of that, my cousin got a Jetta and had to get two transmissions during the short time she had it (used 02, had it for 2 years I think)

With all the problems I had with my Dodge, amazingly the transmission never acted up. Why does Chrysler even try to build cars? In a recent Car and Driver comparo, the 4-cyl ranking (predictably) dead last in a field of 8, citing the same flaws as this article did.

Passat won the first place due to its "fun driving." It must have been fun since Motortrend had a manual tranny Passat, and all the other cars had auto trannies.

Good point! I missed that one.

I still say the Sonata should've gotten 1st. Maybe MT was afraid of all the backlash for picking Hyundai first.

Again, the Passat has bad quality, needs premium fuel, and has the lowest MPG's. Yet the "fun" negates all those noticible negatives to get 1st???

Hyundai is getting better and better with time, i knew that hyundai resale values suck but the five thousand price difference between the V6 Camry & Accord is hard to justify im keeping my baby until she dies or gasoline is no longer avaliable, i still think gasoline is gonna around another 3-5 decades.

IMO, dodge's quality has gone to h-e-double-hockey-sticks. I had the torque converter(2k to fix) go on my family's 2000 Grand caravan-When it was 5 years old/60k miles. My dad drove it to work everyday, it was not abused in the slightest bit. We just lost the A/C for the third time, now its eight years old and 103k miles, were just not going to bother to fix it. Now I have to drive it a lot now :( (My dad takes the Sonata to work now because he likes it so much more than the G.C; and like a typical teenager I get up at noon and don't realize till 2P.M. that the car is gone, so he has no sympathy.)

My moms 05' regular-length caravan has been to the shop 4 or 5 times in 3 years for minor issues. Including having the passenger window go (which she never uses). We just had the warranty end, so now I'm afraid. Her last car (94' caravan) lasted 11yrs/66k miles without any major repairs.

Dodge used to be good. My parents have been buying only dodge for 20+ years, since the mid 80's save for a 98 Taurus we had for a couple years; the trade-in value of that two year old Taurus was fantastic, not. :460:

The sonata is the first foreign car my family has ever had. And so far its one of the best.

I think the Sonata should have gotten first as well.

My mom's friend has a Passat and I warned her against buying it, suprsingly she hasn't had any problems. My friend's mom has an Avenger. She has had it for 10 months and already has had a number of recalls on it, she is looking at a new Malibu. I have driven the all of these cars except the new Malibu and my list would be this:

Sonata
Accord
Malibu
Optima
Altima
Fusion
Camry
Passat
Galant
Avenger

This post has been edited by HyundaiLvr87: Jun 25 2008, 07:58 AM