Hi new here,
I bought a 09 Sonata GLS in July, really nice other than dash noise, what has been described as crackle in the forum
Briefly, my sonata is makes crackling noise going over small bumps, more pronounced in colder temp. Very annoying!!!! I have taken it in to the dealer 4 times, problem still persist. According to the dealer, Hyundai regional office knows of my problem, and there is no fix for it at this time. I just bought the vehicle and I am suppose to live with it????? Has anybody had their problem resolved by the dealer???
Thanks in advance.

Oh yes, I have this problem. I think it's the plastic in the vents on either side of the dash. My hope is that the dealer will replace them with new ones. If I had a dollar for every rattle I've got in this POS Hyundai, I'd buy a better car. I used half a tube of Krytox in it with no long-term benefit. Sorry bro!

I think I solved the rattle problem. One of the earlier post mentioned inserting a dowel in the plastic piece out side the windshield. I wedged a a thin guitar pick to both left and right side and it seemed to do the trick. I will take it in to the dealer and have them fix it.

First off, you get **** at something as small as a rattle problem... You obviously didn't drive any other car. The limited V6 goes for like $20,000, imagine where in the world you would get a v6 performance and leather for that price. I think the rattle is a small price to pay. I have the same rattle as you do but only when I go over some major bumps. And also its not the vent its the outside on the left and right side of the windshield rubber. My friend just bought a brand new ex-l accord v6 for like 30 grand and he's getting rattles himself. Just my two cents.

I've driven a Ford Focus and Toyota Camry and neither had the rattles like this thing does, on top of a jerky transmission and rock hard ride. The reason you can get leather and other features at this price is because Hyundai has cut corners in quality, IMO.

Do you honestly think in this economy hyundai is the only one cutting corners?... Honda, Toyota, Nissan just about everyone's build quality went down.. Problem is those manufactures cars cost thousands of more than the sonata. And idk when you bought the camry and the focus, if you bought those in the old times then yes the build quality was much better back then compare to now. Honda's new cars rattles and has many brake problems, the toyota's with their camry's has really bad tranny issues and has a lot of other quirks such as putting in rubber oil line hose so it busts instead of putting metal ones, Nissan's CVT breaks down in like 50,000 miles or less, out of all the car issues I'll gladly deal with the rattles than a mechanical failure anyday.

You know I am sorry that you feel this way about your Hyundai, but most of us are quite proud to own a Sonata, and I can't ever think of a time I

thought of my Sonata as a POS. What I did find is 80% of the rattles settle down over time or just go away. New noises can appear though. We

have been talking about the "Snap, Krackle, Pop" for Years with some great Threads in the archives. Sure some Hyundai Dashboards put on a virtual Sonata.

I like my Sonata, sure it's not perfect but what car is? To give you an example, my previous car, a 04 Honda CR-V, which you would think would be reliable had numerous problems from the beginning. Sensor issues, AC compressor went out, a thunk they could never fix, so the few rattles that I do have on this car (they go away after a few minutes driving it) don't bother me that much.

No, I don't think Hyundai's been cutting corners in the Sonata, at least in the traditional way of doing it. I've found the car extremely well put together, with quality components and very good workmanship. And it better be, if Hyundai wants to challenge Toyota and Honda for the top spot in the family car game.
However, my 3-month old Sonata Limited does have those annoying rattles and its suspension does not sound and feel very refined either at dealing with bad roads. Do I think that's due to corner cutting? No, but I do think it has to do more with Hyundai not being quite there yet. The rattles might have to do with a body structure not as rigid as it should be; the easily upset suspension might have to do with a less than stellar setup. And both issues might have to do with inadequate R&D, with more urge to rush a crowd-pleaser to the market than to spend the time, resources and money to create a solid independently developed platform good for years to come.
I don't know about the Genesis or the 2011 Sonata, but I really hope Hyundai learned something from those mistakes

i am a new hyundai buyer and just got my 09 sonata SE last month. Yes i have the rattle in the dash but it is not an issue. Suspension IMO is so smooth its like the ride on air setups. I like feeling the road and my sonata is almost too smooth for me. Hyundai is anythign but a POS and in this recession in the US, the hyundai brand is the only brand to have shown fiscal profitability, unlike toyota and honda which have lost nearly 30% of their market share.
I do agree that hyundai went cheap on some features like; external air temp, weak stereo, and the lumbar support is weak. I drove the accord, camry, fusion, and other sedans in comaprable size and price and NOTHING compared to the Sonata. I think you should give the car more of a chance to impress you. bte, this is coming from someone who has had two limited edition maximas and a camry, so i have driven my fair share of sedans

I agree that the suspension setup and shock damping on the SE is pretty much spot on. It lets you feel the road but at the same time isn't jarring like some other sport suspensions. I didn't test drive the Limited or GLS so I can't comment on what they are like.

I agree with you. I have been getting that rattle going over bumps in the Denver cold weather. There is nothing one can do about it. This coupled with the lousy shifting and the suspension makes it a purchase that I truly regret. If not for the massive depreciation, I would have gotten rid of the car already. However, that is my opinion and I used to love Hyundai a lot. BTW, I just got my wife a Toyota RAV4 and it has none of these problems, smokes the Sonata......granted it has got less features for the same money, but I would take a quality car over extra amenities.

Oh never mind all that dandaroy, how is Denver? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Yes, I'm the one that traced the source of the cracking sound to the plastic piece around the outside of the windsheild. It took some persistence to find it. I continue to use the small dowel because of how effective it is. I have not bothered to take it back to Hyundai because they will not be able to correct a problem that results from how the car was designed and put together from the factory.

The crackling sound inside the car from the dash does not, in my opinion, come from the vents. Instead I believe it is coming from the interface between the dash components around the vents. If you turn on the heat on a cold day you'll hear it as the parts expand and rub. It's how Hyundai is able to offer a feature packed car at low cost. Either by accepting lower tolerance on clearance between parts, allowing interfaces between parts to rub without something to act as expansion joint, or using multiple parts for the dash instead of a single piece construction they can trim dollars.

Some of the dash creaks may subside over time as the offending parts rub smooth.

People after spending a chunk of their income will find ways to justify why the shortcomings are OK and no big deal. Fine. But the bottom line is that Hyundai still has more road to travel before they can sit as equals along side some of the other majors.

I bought a 93 Hyundai Scoupe new when I was in college. Anybody else on here have a NEW Hyundai from back then? I can personally attest that they have come very far, very quickly. They're close. But they're not there yet.

I bought my 09 GLS for just over $15100 after tax and tags. It was a fine value purchase and fairly priced taking all things into consideration. But a 20K car? Definitely not.

You are right. Hyundai is a good purchase when you consider the price savings. They are definitely cutting corners to keep the price down. I paid over $25k for mine and it is simply not worth the price. Oh well, one learns from their mistakes. This will be my last Hyundai for sure.

Denver is great man! Only the cold weather and the rough roads (they put a lot of asphalt here and the road noise is high; also they have grooved pavements) is making the Sonata sing a Sonata. Oh well, I am over the car now. That is why you see me bitching less on the forum (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Here's some food for thought; on Edmunds the average consumer review rating for the 2009 Sonata is 9.0 (263 reviews), 2009 Honda Accord is 8.1 (238 reviews), there's a lot of unhappy Honda owners if you read some of them, finally Toyota Camry is 8.6 (144 reviews). The expert reviews are 7.5, 8.0, 8.0 respectively.

I believe a previous poster noted that the build quality for Honda and Toyota has gone down and this limited amount of reviews more or less confirms it. But can it be that Honda and Toyota buyers expect more out of their vehicles based on it's reputation and the price they paid for it, hence the low reviews? Whereas are Sonata buyers having paid less for (what I consider) a comparable car more inclined to put up with problems, hence the higher reviews?

All I know is that it's a crapshoot nowadays when it comes to buying a car without too many inherent problems.

Bingo. I think you nailed it. Two different market segments with different expectations and different viewpoints. If I stay at the Motel 6 and find it clean, safe, fairly priced, and well maintained...I can give it a 10/10 based on my experience. If I stay at the Hilton Americas in Houston and find my room to not be clean and a slow to respond staff, I may rate my experience 8/10.

Does this mean the Motel 6 is better than the Hilton Americas?

Thank you for this very astute observation.

Yes, I've heard and read that SE's suspension setup is arguably the best among all Sonatas. Unfortunately, and unlike what's usually observed in most top-of-the-line models across the industry, Sonata 2.4L Limited suspension's compromise is pretty disappointing; it doesn't achieve neither smoothness nor great handling. It works better as a highway cruiser (it looks like the car does a much better job at "flying" over road imperfections at highway speeds), but it's terrible at dealing with less than perfect roads around town; you can hear and feel the whole thing shaking and making tons of unpleasant noises over every pothole, small or big. If I had known that, I'd probably had gotten the SE instead.

Yup that's a good point. The Toyota and Honda fit and finish have gone down, no doubt about that. But they do not have lousy shifting and horrendous suspension like the Sonata. Driving this car on a rough bumpy road brings out the worst in this car. I think most folks tend to score this car high because they get a great deal on a 4 -cyl full size car, and I am not denying that fact. Ratings are very deceiving.

P.S. I stayed in a Motel 6 once and I do not think I am going back. The bathroom smelled like pee and there were c*m stains on the bedsheet! Yikes!

This post has been edited by dandaroy: Nov 22 2009, 09:52 PM