We aim to drive 20,000 miles in our long-term test cars within their year of residence. Some cars get plenty of road time and have no problem making this mark. They are chosen for road trips and vacations.
Our Hyundai Sonata will be about 400 miles short of our goal when it leaves us in a day or two.
It's always sad to see a car leave the fleet. I wonder why we couldn't quite make the 20,000-mile mark on this car. It was a nice car. It's comfortable. It has an automatic transmission. It gets good gas mileage. Sometimes, it just doesn't happen. Any ideas?
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 19,600 miles
smegley says:
05:52 PM, 06/ 7/11
Take a day off and run to Solvang and back and you'll be around 20k. Plus you can lunch on some baked torsk.
bimmerjay says:
08:36 PM, 06/ 7/11
It's kinda just... boring. It doesn't offer the utility or road-trip factors like your trucks/SUVs/minivans or luxury cars and it isn't a great runabout for a congested urban setting. And it's a ho-hum 4-cylinder with an automatic so it's not exactly a thrill ride either. It's pretty much just smack in the middle of vanillaville.
itbeatswalkin says:
08:43 PM, 06/ 7/11
Let me borrow it. I'll have no problem making 20K happen for you.
finn4723 says:
08:57 PM, 06/ 7/11
One word: Optima.
saturn95 says:
09:30 PM, 06/ 7/11
Why not just take it on a road trip for a day? That'll get it up to 20,000 miles.
jaeger1 says:
03:17 AM, 06/ 8/11
So... you drove it 98% of its intended mileage... and your asking ... what happened to that other 2%? I'm glad my parents weren't so easily disappointed.
ed341 says:
04:11 AM, 06/ 8/11
I can tell you why. IL has 2 minivans, Sonota, Cruze, Regal, Outlander...If you want a boring uneventful, economical ride there are plenty of choices.
throwback says:
05:08 AM, 06/ 8/11
Donna, you folks are enthusiasts. When you have more engaging options, why would you choose to drive a Sonata?
LASHAWN says:
05:43 AM, 06/ 8/11
You guys can make up 400 miles in a day. Just go out and don't come back til you do. Problem solved.
bodyblue says:
07:02 AM, 06/ 8/11
"I'm glad my parents weren't so easily disappointed."
ROFLMAO
britanniarulz says:
07:32 AM, 06/ 8/11
"So... you drove it 98% of its intended mileage... and your asking ... what happened to that other 2%? I'm glad my parents weren't so easily disappointed."
@jaeger1 - Brilliant!!
Though, your comment is only 98% there - I am not disappointed!!
stovt001 says:
08:01 AM, 06/ 8/11
But many LT cars blow well past the 20,000 mile mark. 20,000 is more like a C-average rather than 100%.
If you do the Solvang run, be sure to stop at Paula's Pancake House.
stovt001 says:
08:02 AM, 06/ 8/11
But many LT cars blow well past the 20,000 mile mark. 20,000 is more like a C-average rather than 100%.
If you do the Solvang run, be sure to stop at Paula's Pancake House.
addicted2sp33d says:
09:01 AM, 06/ 8/11
Just as Hyundai intended, the Sonata is the Camry of your fleet: a very competent vehicle in all regards but nothing terribly exciting, and nothing to elicit "I want/need to drive that" statements from the editors (who clearly have enthusiast tendencies).
Maybe Hyundai needs to take that R-Spec idea from the Genesis 5.0 and extend it to the Sonata.
ed124c says:
09:56 AM, 06/ 8/11
The Sonata is a beautiful car. I would leave it out of the garage just so others could enjoy seeing it as they drive by my house.
How about a reader's vote to see which long term car,, that has departed in the last six months, was the best? Or something like that.
dderosa says:
12:33 PM, 06/ 8/11
@ed124c: Good idea. I'll make that our next poll. -- Donna
miamifan1 says:
04:58 PM, 07/ 7/11
@dderosa can you make a list of all recent LT cars's mileages @ end of test?
this ought to be interesting...