Overview & Reviews

The 2013 Hyundai Sonata receives a minor shuffling of features among trim levels. Most notably, the base GLS model's manual transmission is no longer available, as a six-speed automatic is now standard throughout the lineup.

• Stylish and comfortable cabin
• Lengthy warranty.
• Lots of standard and optional features for the money
• Top fuel economy
• Strong acceleration

• Distinctive styling affects rear headroom
• Rough ride in SE trim.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 76.00

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  Terrible gas mileage - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By herbthau - August 23 - 2:14 am

  This is our third Hyundai Sonata. It gets just terrible gas mileage. The two previous Sonatas got much better mileage. Went back to dealer and got this answer from the technician. There were no codes showing a problem and 19.9 city and 27 highway is acceptable. Called Hyundai and got nowhere. This is not acceptable. This is my last Sonata. Herb

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  2013 Sonata cruising - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By mark waters - November 16 - 9:43 am

  Well, I bought the car about 3 weeks ago and i find it attractive and quite sporty for a 4 cylinder. The ride is smooth, absorbs bumps pretty well but the road noise is a little loud. The interior of the car was mint, well taken care of. All the controls are where you would expect them to be. The screen for this model entertainment system could have been bigger and come with back up assist, but alas no...The blue lights are nice and overall the car has been fun to drive without much fuss. The only thing I did notice was the power steering seems a bit sticky when you turn the wheel, very touchy. I am very satisfied with my purchase and thank Edmunds for the help...

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  POOR GAS MILEAGE - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sam - August 30 - 9:11 pm

  Bought a used Hyundai Sonata Limited, 63,000 miles, nice car, I bought if for the gas mileage.. Wrong there it gets 26 miles to the gallon city or hwy dont matter 26 best I get.. Real disappointed.. We be selling it this spring.... Wont never buy another one..

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  Steering Problems! Think before you buy. - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By acrossley - March 5 - 3:43 pm

  Overall, this car is not worth buying. Plagued with rattles and wind noise right off the lot, and more importantly, the steering. The Sonatas steering is entirely too sensitive and requires constant correction on the highway. Dont let the dealer tell you its because it has electric power steering, this is not why something is wrong with the steering. Go drive another car with electric power steering and you will find it to be worlds more comfortable to control than the Sonata. My arm is literally tired from keeping it in a straight line. If you go on a test drive, try staying in the middle of your lane; it is impossible. This steering problem is a safety issue.

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  skip the GPS Navigation system-buy a portable - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By Rick - January 18 - 10:31 am

  Navigation system doesnt work. If you were where the indicator says you are you would be swimming in the ocean. took it to a dealer and they wanted $5k to replace it...i wish he was joking. He wasnt. I took it to another dealer and they charged me $400 to update the maps. It worked for about 3 months. Now I am swimming again. You can go to mapnsoft.com and do it yourself for $169.....its cheaper to buy a hand held portable GPS system.

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  Beware! - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By cjohnsen - January 1 - 1:35 pm

  I bought my 13 sonata based off the great reviews people have been leaving. It has a great design and a good price compared to competitors. However, after 3 months of ownership less then 3500 miles my car has broken down 3 times now. The first time I went to go start my car and it wouldnt start. For 3 hours myself and others tried restarting the car but it never started. Finally a tow truck came and towed to dealer. Dealer told me that night they couldnt duplicate the problem. So basically oh well take your car home, its fine now. Im sure he car magically fixed itself, right? Wrong! Died again 2 days later. After being there 2 weeks it comes home. Now a week later my ac isnt working!

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  New owner impressions - to be updated later - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By wrigh003 - November 25 - 1:21 pm

  Just bought my ’13 Sonata SE on 12/31/12, and so far I’m in love. The gas mileage calculator is ticking up steadily as I get past the initial leadfoot (it’s plenty fast, even without the turbo…) test drive miles, so I’m curious to see where it levels out. I hear that it takes up to several thousand miles worth of driving before the mileage really gets where it’s supposed to be, I will likely update this in a few months with that knowledge, as well as doing manual calculations when I go to the gas pump. I commute back and forth a total of 80 miles a day, 99% in highway traffic; even with the SE suspension and the low profile 18” tires, the ride is pleasantly firm rather than harsh- even over expansion joints and through construction zones along the interstate. It’s likely that a GLS or Limited would ride softer, with the slightly different suspension and taller-sidewall tires, so if cloudlike ride quality is a concern, consider that. For my money, I prefer the SE. Radio display could maybe be a little better. I’m still not 101% used to how it’s all laid out, though, so my opinion here may change. Blue backlighting is nice, auto-adjusting to ambient light conditions as the automatic headlights go on and off I could take or leave, I think. I will be digging into the manual to see if that is a setting I can adjust. That said, my phone paired to the stereo in about 10 seconds and calls through the mic/speakers in the car are easy to hear and easy to be heard, which is a good thing. Stereo on my particular SE sounds good and although it doesn’t seem to really crank (I think I have the 104 watt base stereo), that’s OK, the car is quiet enough at highway speed that it doesn’t have to. Need to read the directions and get all my stuff figured out and set up there, find some XM stations I like, etc. I’ll wait a while before I tear into the radio like I tend to do in most of my vehicles- but again, it’s 100% serviceable as is, and with plenty of connectivity (Bluetooth, aux input jack, etc) besides. My particular vehicle also has the BluLink connection – to be honest, beyond “Hyundai-brand OnStar,” I don’t even really know what this is or how I’d use it- another thing to look in the manual for. Nice touch if you’re looking for it and/or had something like it on a previous vehicle. The driver’s seat is comfortable and easy to adjust, and the cloth material on the center section of the seat has kept me in place well, no sliding around like a full leather seat can sometimes cause. Heated seats are a nice thing – never would have picked that as an option living in AL like I do, but my wife loves them and during our brief winter I’m sure I’ll love them too. Used them this morning. Also worth noting is that Hyundai is smart- lots of people with Sonatas are going to have a kid or two (three in my case) in back, at least occasionally. The back side of the driver and passenger seats (at least in the SE) appear to be leather/leatherette – that way you can wipe off the marks from dirty shoes, etc., if any happen to get put there. Cloth might have been cheaper to install, but that one little touch will cause the car to look nicer, longer. Same story on the armrest areas on the doors and the armrest on the console – all appear to be covered in material that will wear well, which is a good sign in my book. While I’m on the interior, I’ll note here that I’m 6’2” and generally automatically move any seat, in any car, all the way to the back. My new Sonata is the first car I can ever remember not needing to do that in. Front legroom is excellent, and even more to the point, so is REAR legroom, even when I have the seat where I’ll need it. If things go according to plan, by the time I get rid of this car, those little boys won’t be little any more, so this was important to me. As a lifelong manual transmission prefer-er, my left foot keeps looking for something to do, but I am enjoying the paddle shifters just as well as manually rowing the gears- and I’ll admit that it’ll be nice to be able to let the car do the shifting whenever I happen to get stuck in the occasional traffic jam. One of my reasons for preferring a manual transmission is the simplicity argument- it’s one less thing to break years down the road. Here’s hoping I never have to use it, but the long powertrain warranty Hyundai offers was one of the reasons I was able to get my own head around buying an automatic- the paddle shift ability is just a bonus for me. The trunk is utterly cavernous. I don’t golf and don’t really know anyone who does, so I won’t use the usual “holds _ golf bags!” metric, but those three boys I mentioned earlier like to eat. Groceries for our family are sometimes a two-cart affair coming out of the store. The old Montero Sport we had before had plenty of space for anything we wanted to put in it, but I’d be amazed if this car had any less- comparing the space below the back of the rear seats in the Mitsu vs. the trunk in the Sonata, just from looking at it, I’d say the Sonata probably actually has more space. I won’t be throwing any sheets of plywood in here (I have an old pickup for that…), but I don’t think I’ll ever wish for a bigger trunk for anything one could reasonably expect to transport by car. These are my initial impressions on a car I’ve had only a couple days, but I shopped casually for a long time (18 months?) while squeezing the last utility out of our old SUV, and I drove the Sonata back to back with an Accord and a Camry. The Hyundai was every inch the car as both of those, and better in most cases. Hyundai is for real. If you’re like me and remember with amused horror the Excel and other terrible mid-90s Hyundai’s, do yourself and your wallet a favor and drive a new one. I think you’ll come away pleasantly surprised. Leveraging last-day-of-year and having Edmunds.com TMV looked up on my phone, I was able to confidently negotiate a great price for a great car that should serve my family for years.

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  great value and great mpg - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By young46 - March 28 - 5:44 am

  i am getting about 500 miles from a full tank of gas(18gal) and averaging 28-29mpg. i commute in NYC and always caught in heavy traffic. if i am on the highway without traffic i am getting 35 to 40 mpg. i dont understand some ppl here getting 23 at best. i already put 35,000 and so far so good.

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  2013 Sonata Bluetooth System - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By lcolby - February 11 - 12:21 am

  do not purchase this vehicle if you want a good working bluetooth system. Upon our third complaint I receive a letter from Hyundai saying, "it is considered normal operation for the incoming call volume to be quieter than the audio level setting and to adjust the volume on certain calls". That nice, except you cannot hear the incoming call. two other comments off their letter: We are sometimes unable to produce an automobile with the features and materials that will satisfy or appeal to all of our customers. If you prefer, you are more than welcome to contact the Highway Safety Association and report the concern to the Consumer Protection Agency.

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  Gas Mileage not adding up - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By dynamat - December 5 - 7:13 am

  My main reason to buy a Hyundai Sonata was because I had the 2001 model that never gave me any real issues so to go to the latest model was a no brainier. However I am not that impressed with the engine technology. Considering that my 2001 sonata got around 24 mpg with a six cylinder engine. I thought that the 24c-35h that was on the sticker would be the way to go. I live in Fort Myers and sometimes have to drive to Ft Laud. I figured this would be a perfect test to check the gas mileage. I filled my car with premium gas and set the cruise control to 70 mph. Oh and also turned on the ECO control. Started the 110 mile test at 25.3 mph but finished at 23.9mpg. I lost mileage. That is not good.