I work for a major car rental company as a shuttle driver, my job is to drive different vehicles back and forth between different rental locations. In my case, I put on anywhere from 200-400 miles per day. I personally have driven this wonderful automobile many times. Judging from the number of Sonatas I see at the companies headquarters, they seem to be leaning towards making the Hyundai Sonata their flagship vehicle, if it‘s not already.

In real world terms, as far as miles go, I’ve probably logged as many miles as some owners, possibly even more. Because of this fact, I feel I can give a concise and unbiased opinion on this car. I have also driven this car on practically every road condition imaginable.

It really does takes a lot to impress me where cars are concerned, I own and drive one of the finest sport sedans on the road, the Nissan Maxima. To be sure about it, the Sonata gives any mid size sedan a run for the money, including the Maxima. This car is a real performer, a speed demon if there ever was one.

The first time you sit in the Sonata, you cant help but be impressed by the detail Hyundai has given to this car. From the stylish looking dashboard, to the gated gear shift lever. Personally I’m not a big fan of the gated shifts, I like the old style ones better.

I give the Sonata thumbs up for the large AC control knobs, very easy to read and understand. Standard, is a leather wrapped steering wheel, a very nice touch for any car. I don‘t like to admit it, but my 2002 Maxima GXE did not come with a leather wrapped steering wheel, that was only available on the higher end SE and GLE models. Each Hyundai model I’ve driven, from the base line model, to the leather seat trimmed models, all spell out CLASS.

The car rental company I work for, does not order the 4 cylinder engines, just the 6 cylinder. I cant blame them for going exclusively with the larger engines. Personally I don’t have much use for 4 cylinder engines in general, they run noisy and don’t get as good as gas mileage as you might think. Hence, what is the advantage over 6 cylinders? Other than the obvious lower cost of the vehicle. The cars I find get the worst mileage, are ones that are under horse powered, and thus make the engine stress out to the max. I mean it sort of defeats the whole purpose of having a 4 in the first place.

I think GM have the right idea in some of their cars, with their cross breed engines. They run on 4 whilst the engine is coasting, then switch over to 6 when more power is needed. This technology is used in the Impala, the Malibu, and some Minivans. I’ve yet to find anything that beats GM for gas mileage on these vehicles. It’s truly amazing.

So what else impressed me so much about the Sonata? Well other than what I have already mentioned. The Sonata is just an all around amazing performer. There is enough acceleration to give the car a real sporty feel, the 234 horses will give you a definite speed rush. The ride is smooth and controlled, due to a super suspension system. I routinely go over some pretty bad roads while shuttling, you know that old road work that never seems to end, yeah you know it. Now, will you get as good of a ride as a Lincoln Town Car? I’d have to say no, but they are totally different cars.

The seats in the Sonata are very comfortable, and they go back far enough so you can stretch out your legs. The seat controls being manual for the lower end models, and power for the upper tier cars. The seat trim is a plush type cloth, leather in the higher end models. The sound system is top notch, the CD player handles MP3 music as well as standard CD’s. The sound is finely balanced with excellent bass performance.

Another feature I like, is the sun visor extenders. I can not believe how many auto makers leave out this important extra. It’s really mind boggling to me. If you don’t think that it’s that important, try driving along a highway with the sun hitting the side of your face, even after you have positioned the visor over the side door, you say to yourself “if it was just a little longer…”
A couple of other cool features I like, well actually more an issue of where some buttons are placed. The on/off button for the cruise is positioned on the right back side of steering wheel. It just feels so natural when you use it, it’s less distracting. On the left side of the steering wheel, also on the backside of the wheel, is a mute button. This being a good feature if you are talking in the car and want to silence the radio or CD player. The higher end models also come with automatic climate control.

The Sonata comes with numerous safety features. Front and side air bags. Side air bags for the driver and passenger, for both front and rear seats. Electronic stability control. Active head restraints. Seatbelt pretensioners, you may ask “what are seat belt pretensioners?” Seatbelt pretensioners work by using a small charge in the actual seat belt tension mechanism, to pull the belt in closer to the occupant in the event of a serious crash. And of course standard Anti-Lock Brakes.

On gas mileage, I have found the following. Using the trip computer, I was getting somewhere around 28 MPG highway, and about 21 city.

Where this car shines, is it’s warranty coverage. Hyundai believes in their vehicles, and are willing to put their money where their mouths are. The total coverage is too extensive to get into, but the basic coverage is as follows. 10 years or 100,000 miles on the power train, 5 years or 60,000 miles bumper to bumper. You cant go wrong with that great of a warranty. I mean they basically handle most maintenance on your car for the first 5-10 years! To me this is impressive! Why don’t the big three offer this kind of support on their vehicles? To be sure about it, they seem to be getting the drift, they need to play catch up or be left behind. But they still have a long way to go to play catch up to Hyundai.

I have to give Hyundai credit for making huge strides in the development of their vehicles. They have come a long way from the days of the old Pony. I remember how they used the selling point of including Michelin tires as standard equipment. They are definitely on the right track with the Sonata. All companies get off to a rough start, remember the old Honda Civic? Alias “the rust bucket..”. Need I say more. Yes even Toyota had a rough start.

Well I can go on and on, but if you really want to make an educated decision, go test drive one yourself. Better yet rent one for weekend. After all, when you are thinking about spending 16 thousand plus on a car, you want to be 100% certain it’s the right one for you. The weekend or 2 day rental thing, gives you a real world assessment. I can bet once you get behind the wheel and zoom down the highway, you will be very surprised at what you encounter. Also, do not just settle for taking it for a city drive, go out on the highway and open it up. Give it some juice, put the pedal to the metal. And don’t forget to Buckle up!