I have a rental car - 2014 Hyundai Sonata

[DaTT]

My Mustang is in the shop for body repairs due to being rear ended a few weeks ago.

First off, I can't seem to find a comfortable position in the drivers seat. The steering wheel is too far away or something. I can't quite pinpoint it, but it's odd. Also, the window sill is a TERRIBLE arm rest. It is far too narrow and gets very uncomfortable almost immediately, so I am forced to use the door arm rest, which is also too low and too far away.

The power seems decent, it has Eco mode (not exactly sure what it does, but it was the first thing I turned off). The steering has different settings which is pretty neat. Normal mode is pretty loose, while sport mode tightens it up a noticeable amount so it doesn't feel like a big boat from the 80's.

Have not driven it enough to decide if I like it or not, however, the comfort as a driver has me leaning towards NOT.

 

[Herr Kutz]

Does the steering wheel not have a telescoping adjustment?

 

[DaTT]

Does the steering wheel not have a telescoping adjustment?

I thought of this as soon as I hit POST. I don't think so but will be inspected tomorrow.

 

[merlion]

It does telescope. Our Sonata is primarily my wife's vehicle, and she is quite short, so she has it adjusted all the way in. I do drive it every once in a while, and don't have any major complaints with the car.

In fact, this is our second Sonata, as we just turned in a 2012 SE at the conclusion of a three year lease. This time around we went with the GLS as my wife prefers the softer ride with the 16-inch wheels versus the 18's on the SE.

 

[DaTT]

No telescopic steering on this model.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I drive a ton of rentals and quite like the Sonata's. Pretty decent car for the money if you ask me...


Brian

 

[merlion]

No telescopic steering on this model.

And it's a 2014? According to the brochure and the list of features for the Sonata on the Hyundai website, all versions of the car have tilt and telescoping steering wheels.

Website:
https://www.hyundaiusa.com/sonata/features.aspx

Brochure (cut and paste):
• Tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel with audio,
Bluetooth® & cruise controls

 

[LTC8K6]

Fleet versions of cars are often stripped down.

 

[DaTT]

And it's a 2014? According to the brochure and the list of features for the Sonata on the Hyundai website, all versions of the car have tilt and telescoping steering wheels.

Website:
https://www.hyundaiusa.com/sonata/features.aspx

Brochure (cut and paste):
• Tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel with audio,
Bluetooth® & cruise controls

I looked everywhere for it, can't find. The tilt I found, but no telescopic.

 

[Meghan54]

I looked everywhere for it, can't find. The tilt I found, but no telescopic.

The release for the tilt is also the release for the telescope, you just have to tug on the wheel. Might be a bit stiff considering it's probably not been used much.


https://www.hyundaiusa.com/MyHyunda...ls/QRG/2014/2014_Sonata_QRG_FINAL_8_26_13.pdf

 

[DaTT]

The release for the tilt is also the release for the telescope, you just have to tug on the wheel. Might be a bit stiff considering it's probably not been used much.


https://www.hyundaiusa.com/MyHyunda...ls/QRG/2014/2014_Sonata_QRG_FINAL_8_26_13.pdf

My bad. I was looking for a button. I assumed it was electronic telescoping.

 

[heymrdj]

The release for the tilt is also the release for the telescope, you just have to tug on the wheel. Might be a bit stiff considering it's probably not been used much.


https://www.hyundaiusa.com/MyHyunda...ls/QRG/2014/2014_Sonata_QRG_FINAL_8_26_13.pdf

I almost missed the telescoping on my Fiesta because it was so damn stiff. Salesman was like "I swear your SE has telescope and tilt standard" and i'm like "it won't budge". He got in and he-manned it and sure enough it worked fine. Just took alot of work.

 

[996GT2]

My bad. I was looking for a button. I assumed it was electronic telescoping.

Electric telescoping at this price seems a little far-fetched

 

[DaTT]

Electric telescoping at this price seems a little far-fetched

This would be the first time I have seen a manual telescopic steering wheel. Had no idea they existed.

 

[dawp]

every car that I've driven, including my 2004 toyota, that had a telescoping steering wheel was manual.

 

[rh71]

We have a '13 Sonata but I drive with my left hand (at the 6 or 7 o'clock position when cruising) so the armrest issue doesn't bother me but it is different for every single model out there. Some cars' seats are so low that you wouldn't be able to rest your elbow up there anyway.

The '14s have the steering mode selector as new. We don't have it and I wish it did. My wife likes the loose steering as is but coming from my BMW it really is like driving a boat. We can have them program it at the dealer, but again... my wife's car. It's so loose yet sensitive that staying straight on a highway takes attention - and it's not an alignment issue.

Eco-mode is useless. It basically changes it to a 3-cyl car for highway cruising but in testing roundtrip on an identical road that I did, I actually got 1mpg less. Another thing I noticed is that unless you're strictly measuring highway, any city/city-mix driving significantly lowers the mpg beyond what they state. I think they said 24-ish but we're only getting 18 mix. Overall still a great car for $21k.

 

[thomsbrain]

I can sympathize with the ergonomic issues that come with some asian cars. My wife's Sentra was obviously designed for midgets. I'm only 5'10" but with the seat in the right position the wheel is way too far away, the armrests are 4 inches too low, and I can hardly see out the windshield because my eyes are about level with the top of it. Oh and the sunshade hits me in the face. Of course there's no height adjuster on the seat because why would a midget want anything else than full high? Complete disaster.

 

[Topweasel]

We have a '13 Sonata but I drive with my left hand (at the 6 or 7 o'clock position when cruising) so the armrest issue doesn't bother me but it is different for every single model out there. Some cars' seats are so low that you wouldn't be able to rest your elbow up there anyway.

The '14s have the steering mode selector as new. We don't have it and I wish it did. My wife likes the loose steering as is but coming from my BMW it really is like driving a boat. We can have them program it at the dealer, but again... my wife's car. It's so loose yet sensitive that staying straight on a highway takes attention - and it's not an alignment issue.

Eco-mode is useless. It basically changes it to a 3-cyl car for highway cruising but in testing roundtrip on an identical road that I did, I actually got 1mpg less. Another thing I noticed is that unless you're strictly measuring highway, any city/city-mix driving significantly lowers the mpg beyond what they state. I think they said 24-ish but we're only getting 18 mix. Overall still a great car for $21k.

Eco mode is usually useless. Most people want a car to accelerate at a given rate at a given time. So for city or heavy city mixed most of the time people will just be more likely to just apply more throttle at a given point. Now if they just maintained the same throttle that they would have if it wasn't in eco mode then they would see savings.

Though it gets me thinking. It would be nice to see Ford advance their Ecoboost line to to the point where a user could deactivate the Turbo. Then it would really be Ecoboost. With it off it would be more like a regular 4 banger for the 1.6 and 2.0 and wouldn't use the excess fuel that it does under normal acceleration which is part of the reason people have such wide range of results with it.

 

[Midwayman]

Another thing I noticed is that unless you're strictly measuring highway, any city/city-mix driving significantly lowers the mpg beyond what they state. I think they said 24-ish but we're only getting 18 mix. Overall still a great car for $21k.

18 mixed? That's terrible for such a gutless car. I did better in mixed driving in my corvette.

 

[Topweasel]

18 mixed? That's terrible for such a gutless car. I did better in mixed driving in my corvette.

Oh god I missed that reading it earlier. I am not a huge MPG FTW type person, but you have to be a bit more balanced than that. I mean none of the engine options on that should make getting a 3300 pound car get anything less than 20 MPG city.

 

[uOpt]

I liked the Sonata well enough on commuting, but I really objected how it behaved on the interstate. The steering is too nervous. It didn't have that "like on rails" feel that other cars have. Highway driving was more work, so to speak. The sound system was also inadequate to consider buying one.