This was the end of my Prius...

You guys just can't let me go, can you? Anyway, yeah, sure, I will post what my calculated MPG in the Sonata turns out to be, but I must warn you all that I'm not really worried about it. Don't take me wrong but don't want to go through this psychic MPG obsession with my new car. Since it appears that its much larger tank will be enough for not only my hwy trips but also my city driving between trips, my tank MPGs in the Sonata will be more likely a combination of about 60-75% Hwy to 40-25% city driving, so my expectations for tank MPG is going to be a combination of both, most likely aroung 26-29 MPG according to my math and considering EPA. Anyway, the Prius was of course more efficient, no question there, but its smaller tank forced me to fill up after each trip before I drove it for city driving, therefore, in most cases I had hwy MPG recorded separately from city MPG in the Prius, which were bellow EPA since October regardless. Whatever...

Wolf, the Sonata with factory specials (2.5K) plus incentives for trading a Toyota (1K) plus dealer discount (2.5K) was offered to me for 19.5K, quite a bargain for what the car really is and features. Remember that EPA classifies the Sonata as a large family sedan, not midsized, which I agree. I can see why priusmiselus is going crazy trying to decide between the current value of a 2010 vs. the improved 2011. Good luck with that . I made them pay 18.5K for my Prius, which was also not that bad considering 20K miles, previous body work, and off course the recalls. The maximum offer I got privately for my Prius was 18.5K but most often around 17-17.5K. I also got the first 3 oil changes free plus the insurance in the Sonata ended up being almost 100 bucks cheaper for some reason. Hyundai is just going very bold these days... my dealer offered me 1K discount even the new 2011, which has a high demand... pretty amazing.

 

Could be.

My experience with Hyundais is that the they have had the best bang for the buck for the past several years. They are actually a company to be proud of if they oversees their growth appropriately and don't blow it. I remember my 98 Elantra, my fisrt car in the US. Unlike many think, by that time, as early as late 90's they had already figured out the reliability and engine issues. My Elantra was incredibly reliable, but it still had some problems with interior quality and fuel efficiency was horrible. The civic or corolla would get several extra MPGs at that time. Then I trade it to a much more efficient 02 Civic but sort of regretted it because the 98 Elantra was more quiet, comfortable, and funnier to drive. Then my friend got a 04 Elantra, great car, with much improved interior quality, many standard features for its price (value), and better but not quite good fuel efficiency yet. Then, this friend trade his beloved Elantra for a 07 Sonata and I noticed that they Hyundai have then figure out the fuel eficiency problem and the interior was starting to trend toward luxury and very good quality. Once again the good value was there. Now the 2011 Sonata shows that they not only figured out ancient engine issues, reliability, value, quality, interiors, but also exteriors as the new Sonata is a combination of a BMW 5 series (back) and a Lexus (front), with a body profile of a Mercedes. Simply gorgeous. The interior is looking more and more beautiful, solid, and elegant. Next thing they are improving now is resale value. A article posted on the Wikipedia page of Sonata claims that the Sonata already carry better resale value than the Accord, which was the former class leader I think.

Way to go Hyundai...

 

Assuming I will drive around or more than 100K in the car, your math seems right.

To me, that extra fuel cost is actually a very small cost for confort, quality, leather seats, wood grain interior accents, heated front seats, dual automatic climate control, sunroof, Infinity audio system , auto-dimming rearview mirror with homelink and compass, leather wrapped steering wheel, alarm system, power driver seat with lumbar support, automatic headlights, iPod/USB jacks, 5-star crashing ratings, 17†alloy wheels, fog lights, 15 mile in the odometer, brand new with no body work... all of which my Prius did not have!

Not to mention the cheaper insurance ($97 less for 6 months) and cheaper oil change (first 3 changes are free and from that will pay $40 for change every 7,5K as opposed to $85 per change every 10K in the Prius).

Quite frankly, even if the Sonata was going to cost me 10-15K extra on fuel for its lifetime, I would still pick it over the Prius with no hesitation. The Prius doesn't even scratch the surface for the value, comfort, and pleasure my Sonata is providing me...

BTW, Wolf, my wife hated the Prius more than I did and that was since the beginning. Remember that I used to like my Prius in the first couple of weeks when everything was perfect? Well, she didn't. She supported my decision to buy it but she always hated how it looks and the driver’s visibility. Blind spots were always her concern. She also hated the cramped cabin because of the center console and she pointed out several times that reaching anything in the passenger seat was impossible with drinks in the cup holders. She also felt she was far to close to the road in front of her and she wondered how I could stand driving a car like that in the hwy for 6 hours 2-3 times a week. You guys are lucky she is not an active member on priuschat...

 

Thanks for your post and concerns. I actually drove the 2011 Sonata. There is a disconnect between what the media was advertising regarding launching dates and the real release date to the market. Most Hyundai dealerships have the 2011 already in their lots available, though they are selling literally off the trucks.

I absolutely agree that the new Sonata is improved, mainly the exterior and the engine. I reset the MPG gauge when test driving it in the hwy and it gave me 41 MPG driving a short and flat stretch around 50-55 MPH. Very impressive for a brand new engine. You don't really need to pay a high premium for hybrid technology for decent hwy MPG with some of the new engines car companies like Hyundai is producing these days.

I found the interior in the 2010 more appealing, believe or not, but that is just me. In terms of features, my limited with bluetooth and iPod integration has everything the new 2011 limited one has; so I can't think of anything extra in the new one, would you like to explain what extra gadgets the 2011 has compared to the 20100 limited?

Cars all become boring with time and 6 months even seem a lot of time honestly. But I found that, as long as you have a pleasant and comfortable ride every time you drive it, I never had problems keeping a car for at least 100K or 4-5 years, except the Prius, which I could not stand.

So, back to your main concern, the only reason I did not get the 2011 was indeed that I could not afford it given my circumstances. Trading my 8-month old Prius could potentially result in a significant financial loss, so I had to go for the best deal as possible and all the specials and incentives in the 2010 made it possible.

I mean, honestly, 20K for the 2010 limited or 25K for the 2011 limited Sonata are all great deals, but in my case, the 5K difference was my savior from a very bad situation with the Prius.

However, if I was in the market for a brand new car and not worrying so much about an immediate financial burden, I would not hesitate on getting the 2011 at all!

 

Sure, agree and will do. So far, very solid, no rattles or quality concerns, but still in the first tank... definitively way too early to draw any conclusions...

 

I'm planing to stay away for a while... the chat has become a hostile environment for me yet again... but will eventually come back to let people know how I'm enjoying my Sonata, accuracy of MPG gauge, MPG stuff, etc...

I just posted my trip data for the Prius here...

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...eed-temperature-weight-mpg-5.html#post1070480

Ciao

 

Some will never feel what the eyes cannot see...

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...eed-temperature-weight-mpg-5.html#post1070711

Hyundai, my saviour, THANK YOU!!!!

 

Tom, using your own terms, I whined so freaking much about a lot of problems I ran through during my short Prius experience. You can follow my history here by looking back all my posts in the past, but summarizing:

First, super happy of the car in the summer but only for a couple of weeks with city driving only > First disappointment was the OCI dilemma. Why change the oil every 5K if the synthetic change should be 10K? Toyota was fooling us with their delay in solving the problem just like they did with the brakes. The oil change in the Prius was $85 bucks for me! (Thankfully Toyota fixed that > rattles/creaks. My Prius did rattle a lot even in the hwy and dealers ignored my request to fix it > my trips started and my back pain started too. I spent more than $100 with lumbar support things but none worked because the deep down seat in the prius was always sort of “eating†the support (my Dr did suggest me to change the seat, I was not joking > then winter came and my MPG started to drop a lot (that's the part you participated). One may argue the MPG was still good, fine, but all the problems and my nightmares with the car was just adding up > then the plunge in resale value because of the Toyota recall fiasco.

All that plus my concerns about the poor interior quality. I always told PC members that the Prius III felt like a 10K car with a 15K hybrid system and it is true in my opinion.

I mean, you and others have no idea how much more pleasure and satisfaction I’m having with my Sonata now... there is just no FE in the world that pays fort that.

Most of you are happy with your Prius, good for you, but I was not. It is that simple.

Cheers and I hope you all don't hate me too much...