2009 Hyundai Sonata
Last Updated:
More pictures from the press kit.
Again, this is the Korean model. So trims and equipment might vary once it ends up over here, early next year.
Last Updated:
More pictures from the press kit.
Again, this is the Korean model. So trims and equipment might vary once it ends up over here, early next year.
meh. mid-90’s at best.
cheap and vulgar looking
Enough with the friggin 2009 freaking SONATA already, Vince. Jebus.
And for that matter, how about laying off the legal disclaimers “some trim and equipment may vary”. Umm, ok. thanks.
Too much space is being devoted to this car on this site. A mild refresh of a mediocre sedan is really a non-event.
Nice front refresh…. will look better along side my 2007 Santa Fe… unified theme.
Hyundai is the new Toyota
re: “Too much space is being devoted…”
Ummmm, if you hadn’t noticed, this blogsite was developed and maintained by Vince Burlapp, not you. What he posts, how often he posts and his opinion rights belong to him, not you. So shut up and stop visiting if you come here to judge his style and method. If you don’t like a car say so but lay off my hero, Vince!
Amen.
An all-new interior doesn’t fall under “mild refresh” since implementing a new dash/IP costs serious money. The bigger picture is that Hyundai is pretty quickly addressing their deficiencies. They’re fixing interiors to be competitive; they’re retuning engines – a few more HP for the 2009 Sonata I-4 & V6, and Hyundai is claiming 300HP for the V-6 in the Tiburon successor. The only thing really left is suspensions, and that’d be fixed pretty quickly if Hyundai dropped a check with 6 or 7 zeros at the end on Lotus’ doorstep to have Lotus consult on Hyundai suspensions across the board. Add in pricing – one can pick up a 2008 Sonata GLS stick for less than $15K after finance incentives – and both Japan and Detroit would have a serious problem.
BTW, everyone who thinks Vince is too obsessed with the 2009 Sonata should be grateful he isn’t obsessed with the nose of the 2009 Murano.
I’m going to the Auto Show tomorrow and will be posting plenty of pictures of the new nose. Just for you…
Oh, Vince, just for me? You really are a great guy. I’ll have to remember to pop some Dramamine before I visit here tomorrow.
the center stack seems to be very nice. but i’m worried about the door panels and the door handles. they look somewhat cheap.
“So shut up and stop visiting if you come here to judge his style and method. If you don’t like a car say so but lay off my hero, Vince!”
Oh lighten up. We all have opinions, that’s the point of this place. This is a great site and Vince is entirely entertaining. But, c’mon… coming here lately and seeing endless updates about a new Hyundai interior is disappointing. It’s the kind of attention that we’d expect from an entirely new car, not a refresh. A significant car, not a Sonata.
The more I look at this car, I remember the 1989 Lexus LS400. If you go by the model year, that’s 20 years…two decades…of automotive advancement we’re supposed to have! Granted, Hyundai is a middle-tier car company who is trying to be like the ‘big-boys’ by copying as many good elements as possible. But I wonder how a pristine-condition Lexus (even the ’93 ES300) would fare against a 2009 Hyundai?
For some reason this car looks older to me. It seems like they went backwards.