Please help clear up some questions I have with a new 2007 SE V6 Hyundai Sonata (Premium Package) that was bought a week ago (Feb 10th 2007) and only had 5 miles on the odometer at the time of purchase.

1) The driver’s cloth power seat has a big opening in the cloth on the left side that I can put my whole hand in and pull out the wires that go to the power seat. I am told by the salesperson at the dealership that this is the design of the Sonata even though we could not find any other Hyundai cloth power seat that had this opening. Is it normal for the Sonata cloth power seats to have a six inch separation in it’s cloth that you can tear out the foam and wires?

2) The car had a gallon of gas in the tank when I drove it off the sales lot. I drove two blocks away and put 14 gallons of gas in the tank (the most the gas tank would take). I was pulling away from the gas station and this awful noise was coming from the back of the new Sonata. I would lightly step on the brakes and you could heard loud crushing noises and then sloshing noises. I drove the car for another 25 miles and it was clear the crushing noises were the back brakes and sloshing noise was the full tank of gas moving back and forth/ back and forth/ back and forth. I could also hear all the plastic pieces of the dashboard and doors shifting back and forth in the front interior cabin while driving. The salesperson told me again that all these noises were normal, but I don’t remember hearing these noises while test driving three other Sonatas (of course the other test cars didn’t have a full tank of gas). Is it normal for this car to be SO noisy? When the gas level got down below half full most of the noises were what I was use to in my old car, but after filling up the gas tank again the loud noise level came back.

3) How many gallons are still in the gas tank when the gas gauge needle is on “E”? The car has been on “E” twice, but 14 gallons of gas has been the most the car will take at this level.

4) The second day driving the car it became apparent the front end alignment was not right. The car drifts to the left 70 percent of the time and about 20 percent of time will change and start pulling to the right for no clear reason. Only 10 percent of the time I am driving straight ahead without needing to correct the steering wheel. I am consistently correcting the steering wheel so the car doesn’t drift from side to side. I never had to do this with my other cars, so is this something unique with the Sonata that I have to get use to?

5) On the third day I had to use the rear defroster for the first time and discovered that the top 6 defroster lines didn’t work. The service man at the dealership asked me if I had cut the lines because the defroster lines were commonly damaged by owners trying to wash their car’s back inside window. I was never near the car’s back inside window so I didn’t damage the defroster lines, BUT is it possible to damage this car’s defroster lines by washing the window? For future reference, how do you wash the inside back window?

6) Would someone know how to turn the headlights on WITHOUT turning the ignition key (or needing to run the engine)? I never check this while test driving the Hyundai, but discovered it a few days later that I could not turn my headlights on unless the ignition key was turned to “On”. All my prior car’s head lights could be turned on without involving the ignition. I talked to 25 other people who own non Hyundai cars and all these people said their car’s headlights can be turned on without the ignition key. Maybe I am missing something because it doesn’t make sense why a car manufacturer would design a car

 

Absolutely not. Take it back and DEMAND that they give you another. Dont know about the gas sloshing as I own a SantaFe with the a 2.7 V6 and that thing is so smooth that if it was not for the tach, I would not know if it was runing at stop lights. The brakes are smooth as a baby's behind.

Here is a trick I learned long time ago when a new product has failed prematurely anddidn't get satisfaction. Get a bunch of friends to go along or wait when there are a lot of perspective buyers and raise hell for sellimg such a product. Call out the failures and ask if this is how they treat other customers.Then demand satisfaction, repair or another car. Dont know what state you are in but in WA. there is a law that major contracts can be voided by the purchaser without cause for 72 hrs.. Sounds like you are beyond that. So try the scene in front of an audience. Got a friend who can play a local reporter? Bring him/her along and a camera and tell them you are doing a documentary on that dealership. There is always the Headquarters for Hyundai. Their sales has dropped this year and they probably dont wan bad publicity.

The hell raising trick worked for me many years ago when a $120. tire got a nail in it at 300 miles, on the tire not mph,and they said it was not part of a road hazard coverage. Got another new tire mounted free.

Good luck and let us know how it went.

 

>>>Absolutely not. Take it back and DEMAND that they give you another<<<

I did that on the second business day and because thissale happened in Colorado, the dealership told me they didn't have to take thecar back. The state of Colorado doesn't protect their consumers in a car sale. Hyundai Motor America Customer service just shows me the "talking hand" symbol. Turns outper the members on the Edmunds Carspace/Cardirect forum that a lot of these noises I hear in my new Sonata are common complaint. The gas tank is the number one complaint and the noises in the rear and front are on the top of the list too. Sorry, but this car sucks andif I get out of this alive, I will never buy another Hyundai product.

 

seems as if all sonatas slosh gas . I have called hyundai consumer affairs they even changed the fuel tank and it still sloshes .

 

I've heard the tanks lack baffles. Here's an opportunity for some one to make after-market tanks with baffles to replace the stock, or come up with a retro fit. I may just get ahold of one of those tanks and see if there's an wasy fix.

I siuposse some of their models lack listre. Fortunately, the Santa Fe, so far, is running perfect. The motor, V6 in any model, as it is used in more than one model, should not run better in one car and the same motor crap out in another. Dont know what V6 you have, the 2.7 has been around for years and should be refined by now. It was just this year that the variable cam advance was used on them, but other than that, it is basically the same.

 

Sorry about the spelling. Using my wife's computer and she needs it for her sales and kicks me off in the middle of my responses. I try to get a few messages out too quickly in between her sales and dont catch the mistakes until I post them, in haste.

 

well,
I would take the car to another dealer and another dealer and another dealer until they give you what you need as far as the warranty goes