Overview & Reviews

The Hyundai Sonata is a comfortable and likable midsize sedan that proves Hyundai can build cars that are not just easy on the pocketbook, but easy to live with as well. Like most vehicles in the midsize sedan class, the Sonata offers front-wheel drive, numerous safety features and a choice of trim levels that include sporty and plush variants. Setting the Sonata apart, however, is Hyundai's lower pricing and outstanding warranty coverage.

For the most part, the Sonata has kept getting better. The current model, in particular, is the most competitive to date. In addition to the strong value proposition, this Hyundai adds a few things previously not seen in this conservative nameplate -- namely, daring styling and sporty driving dynamics. Newer pre-owned Sonatas are also a solid choice, but models prior to 2006 remain a risky used-car proposition.

Current Hyundai Sonata
Although it's classified as a full-size family sedan by the EPA, the Hyundai Sonata still competes in the midsize segment. It's available in GLS, SE and Limited trim levels. Even the base car comes well equipped, while the SE features sporty suspension tuning and the Limited pampers its passengers with more luxurious features.

The standard engine on every Sonata trim level is a 2.4-liter direct-injected inline four-cylinder rated at 190 horsepower and 179 pound-feet of torque, while the dual-exhaust SE with the same engine makes 192 hp and 181 lb-ft. A 2.0-liter turbocharged engine generating 274 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque is available on SE and Limited models. All Sonatas come with a six-speed automatic as standard.

Whether serving family car or commuter car duty, the Hyundai Sonata is a nice place to be thanks to its spacious cabin, comfortable seating, solid build quality and quiet highway ride. In reviews we've found that the Sonata provides spirited acceleration as well as responsive handling, with a slightly firm but still comfortable ride. Fuel mileage is also impressive, with 30 mpg being a realistic number for conservative drivers in mixed conditions. Our only notable gripes concern the relative lack of rear seat headroom for adults and a somewhat rough ride for the SE model. Overall the Sonata is rather impressive and deserves serious consideration from those shopping for a family sedan.

Used Hyundai Sonata Models
The current Hyundai Sonata represents the fifth generation in the car's lineage, and was introduced in the 2011 model year. That following year, the Sonata picked up the Blue Link telematics service and a higher-resolution navigation system display. A manual transmission was available for the Sonata GLS for these first two years, but was discontinued after that.

These Sonatas produced prior to 2014 differ in a number of minor ways. Styling was ever so slightly different, while they lack standard driver-selectable steering effort and the availability of certain features like xenon headlights and a blind-spot monitoring system. Also, the 2.4-liter engine made 198 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque (200 hp and 186 lb-ft for the SE) versus the current car's somewhat lower ratings.

The previous, fourth-generation Hyundai Sonata was produced from 2006-'10 and is really the only other version worth considering as a used Sonata. Initially, three trim levels were offered: GL, GLS and LX. The sophomore year saw a shuffling of the trim levels to the current format. Most notably, the sporty SE version debuted, wearing 17-inch alloy wheels and foglights.

Originally, the 2.4-liter four-cylinder produced 162 hp and was standard on the GL and GLS trims. A five-speed manual was standard (GL only for 2006) and a four-speed automatic was optional with this engine. Optional on the GLS and standard on the LX, SE and Limited was a 235-hp version of the 3.3-liter V6, matched to a five-speed automatic transmission. For 2008, the four-cylinder became standard on all trim levels and the V6 became optional. That year also saw a few more standard features added to the SE and Limited trims.

The biggest changes occurred in 2009 when engine outputs were increased (175 hp for the inline-4 and 249 hp for the V6) and the interior was spiffed up with a new dash and higher-quality materials. There were also two notable additions to the features lists -- a standard auxiliary audio jack and an optional touchscreen navigation system.

Prior to that, the cabin had respectable build and materials quality along with a precise feel to the controls. But it wasn't nearly as top-notch and had odd placement of the audio and climate controls -- the former was placed too high and the latter too low. Beyond that, the spacious cabin remained unchanged, and although the exterior had a few nips here and tucks there, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Sonatas of this generation.

At the time, we found that the fourth-generation Hyundai Sonata prioritized ride comfort over precise handling. It smothered bumps well and delivered a luscious highway ride, but with its significant body roll and vague steering, it wasn't particularly fun to drive.

Power from the efficient four-cylinder engine was competitive, and although the V6 wasn't quite as potent as those in rival sedans, it still got the job done while returning good fuel economy. Inside, soft, high-quality plastics were plentiful, and the overall design was eye-pleasing.

Pre-2006 Sonatas remain a risky used-car proposition even though depreciation means they can be found at a bargain-basement price. Only in recent years have we seen the kind of build quality and structural integrity that might portend long-term durability.

Nevertheless, the previous (third) generation Hyundai Sonata was originally introduced for 1999 with a vastly improved appearance, far better engines and significant improvements made in noise and ride quality versus its lamentable predecessors. The base car featured a 138-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder and the GLS had a 159-hp 2.5-liter V6. These numbers may be different from what you'll find elsewhere, since Hyundai misstated its horsepower ratings prior to 2002, giving the Sonata 11 more horses than it actually had. As such, you'd be best to stick with Sonatas from 2002 or later, which were characterized by even nicer styling, a better interior and a legitimately more potent V6.

The second-generation Sonata was introduced for 1995 and offered improved fit and finish compared to its predecessor, but that's not saying much. It now had dual airbags, but no more power under the hood. For instance, the V6 only produced 5 more horses than the four-cylinder. For 1997, the Sonata was restyled dramatically, but not necessarily for the better. All in all, we'd avoid this car.

The same goes for the original Hyundai Sonata, first launched in 1989 to give Hyundai a player in the midsize family sedan game. Aggressively priced but sloppily built and saddled with weak, unrefined powertrains, the boxy first-generation Sonata did little to change the public's perception of Hyundai cars as cheap in more ways than price.

User Reviews:

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  At Least it Was Under Warranty - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Marie Beck - March 20 - 11:00 am

  When I drove my car home the fist time, I had to turn around and take it back because the brakes were bad. Did not test drive on the Interstate - wont make that mistake again. Since then, I have had the car towed twice for different problems. One was the sensor for the gas pedal, and today for the check engine light and skipping. Only 5K miles left on my Warranty and I will have a Toyota or a Nissan before I hit that mark. I definitely got a Lemon. Each time, the Service Manager knew exactly what the problem was, because he had seen it SO many times on this make and Model.

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  Not Good - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jones - March 9 - 11:03 am

  I bought the Sonata back in August of 2006 brand new and since then it has had many problems. Both sun visors have had to be fixed, alarm had to be fixed, it needs new tires, an oxygen sensor is starting to go bad, and the trim is starting to come off. The dealership doesnt want to work with you and everything you call about they say is not under warranty. In order to test the car to see which oxygen sensor is going bad they are going to charge me. I have never had this many problems with a car or a dealership. You would think that in this economy a company would want to keep customers but apparently not. I would not recommend this car to anybody and i will never buy another one.

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  Beware of Warranty! - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Paul - February 23 - 12:49 pm

  Owned 07 Sonata for 2 years - 24500 miles on it. My recent experiences suggest that there are issues with the Hyundai Quality and Warranty claims. I had to change my both rear brake pads, and also change one rotor, resurfaced other after just 24000 miles! Surprisingly front brakes that should take 70% of braking torque were perfectly fine. Dealership said that the pads and rotors are not covered under warranty and charged $350. I have never heard rotor or even pads needing replacement in 2 years - shows poor quality of parts. Hyundai Consumer affairs would not cover even when Dealer agreed that this was not normal wear and tear. Had to change Alternator just 2 months back! Dont count warranty!

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  Squeaks & Groans! - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By burt - February 21 - 10:02 am

  This car is built very cheaply. The interior plastic surfaces squeak, and the front suspension has a really annoying squeak/rattle. The interior lights dont come on when you remove the ignition key. The switches on the door (lock/unlock, windows, etc.) are not illuminated. The ignition key ring taps against the dash board when driving. The Infinity sound systems subwoofer is mounted in the cardboard deck behind the rear seats and creates an annoying distortion even at low volume.

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  Not a happy customer - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By sherleej - February 6 - 9:03 am

  Well, it has been in the shop A BUNCH. They cant find the problem w/ the air bag light showing no one in the seat although they replaced the seat w/ a recall. They now say well we changed it we wont do nothing. Car has had one problem after another & now is out of warranty a lot of stuff is starting to go wrong. I am thinking of selling my car & will not consider a Hyundai to purchase. I feel the company has not tried to fix my car & that it is not reliable.

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  car is a lemon - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By paulkay - January 10 - 10:48 am

  My x sonata was a lemon garbage car! Engine knock, replaced all the struts, both sun visors, oxygen sensor, electronic stab control module went, head gasket. Car was a piece of junk, was afraid to take it on a trip. I kept it for 10 months and bought an American car. No more foreign! No Wonder they give you a 10 year 100,000 warranty you will use it every month!

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  Rattle and Roll - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By Shoddy Sonata - November 29 - 4:56 pm

  Car has been driven 3200 miles and developed many creaks and groans in the front windshield area when driving across bumps and road imperfections. Ignition key design is such that key ring slaps constantly against dash board when driving, very annoying!

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  Ok car, thats about it. - 2017 Hyundai Sonata
  By Rental car critic - October 9 - 3:50 am

  I rented a 2017 GLS model with the 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine. We took it to Columbus Ohio from TN, so I had some time to get aquainted with it. The car only had 3 miles on it when we started off. It got pretty darn good gas mileage. I averaged 35.1 Mpg for the whole trip, that included city, highway, and idling for a while. However it seems the gas mileage came at the cost of power. Which happens, but the lack of power from the engine was very agravating while trying to merge in city traffic. The lack of ANY grunt at city speeds got old quick. Highway was ok. The seats are ok for short trips, but seemed uncomfortable to me for long trips. I mean, you have to get out and stretch on long trips, thats a given. But the seats were just plain uncomfortable after about 45min-1 hour of driving. The instruments and dash were pretty nice and oriented well. AC was great. Radio/bluetooth were great. Lights and steering were good. Glad it has a blindspot mirror installed. The windshield was a little short for me and im 62. I had the seat adjusted as low as possible, still had to lean it back a bit. It would be a great highway car if it were just more comfortable. For stop and go and city merging, it needs more grunt. Overall id say it would be a good choice for getting you to work and dropping the kid off at school. But not for trips unless you pack icy-hot and ibuprophen.

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  Cheap Parts! - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Shirlene - September 15 - 8:47 pm

  We bought the car because we loved the styling and we liked the fuel economy. And while I still like both, I have been faced with costly services ever since! Most annoying is that my drivers side power window keeps malfunctioning. I soon will have replaced it twice in 1 year and 1 month! Also, I had always been pleased with the "ride" of this car locally. However, when my daughter moved to a location 7 hours away and I started driving that distance, I found it almost unbearable. Im not alone, everyone who has ridden with me at that distance is in pain. We cannot ride without pillows to prevent numbness! And that is true for people ranging in age from 35 to 70. Cute, not great!

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  waste money for a 35k miles 2000 sedan - 2000 Hyundai Sonata
  By josua - September 2 - 10:43 am

  I bought this car from a first owner, then I lost the 100k miles warranty. Rear wheel bearing, left front shaft, oxygen sensor, mass air flow sensor, tps sensor, front disc breakes worn out at 45k miles too much money to spend for a 70k miles car. Speed transmision sensor dealer said $500 plus 105 diagnostic fee. Crazy waste money. I drove this car by 20k miles and I have been spended at least 1500 dollars in parts and labor. So the fabricants are supposed to put some recalls for this car. The people who knows about cars doesnt recomend me Hyundai or kia any more. I dont understand how a company advertise 100k miles warranty for this car.