Rental car review - 2023 Hyundai Sonata SEL

[pezzy84]

Latest rental car was a 2023 Hyundai Sonata SEL. Picked up at DLH airport (Duluth, Minnesota) for a quick 4 day family trip, this is a very small regional airport so the pickings are very slim so I was offered either a Ram truck or the Sonata - yup I'll take the Sonata.

2023 Hyundai Sonata SEL - 2.5L w/8 speed auto.

Pros:

- Very agreeable and good all around - this is about the most beige 1997 Toyota Camry the Koreans have ever made.
- Excellent fuel economy.
- Decent performance.
- Good driving assist systems.

Cons:

- Interior is a lot of hard plastics and rough surfaces.
- Some obvious/odd cost cutting. First car I have driven in awhile where just regular bass in a song at normal volume levels vibrates the rear view mirror.
- Dull, dull dull.

Drive stats:

- 220 miles driven
- 6 hours 1 minute driven
- Avg speed ~36.6 MPH
- Avg MPG - 34.8 MPG

Overall:

If given the choice between an Altima and Sonata - give me the Altima all day long, the Altima at least tries to provide some driving enjoyment. The Sonata was not a bad car by any stretch but it was as boring as watching paint dry. Outside of the pros and cons above it really didn't do anything noteworthy good or bad to make me take any kind of notice of really anything it did beyond the task of moving me from destination A to B.

 

[addyguy]

Weird to see a white interior, I like that.

 

[pezzy84]

Weird to see a white interior, I like that.

Oh yeah it looked good - you could already see the staining though (they are cloth). I bet these light interior colors look like absolute trash on the used market in 4-6 years. They always look great on the showroom but unless you are fanatically clean they will still look dingy after a 3-4 year lease period.

 

[Soft Cars]

Steering wheel is upside down in the picture correct?

 

[CKN]

Steering wheel is upside down in the picture correct?

Assuming electric steering-yes it will tell you to turn it straight before preceding. My wife's Santa Fe did.
You can have a steering wheel end up in that position when the steering is electric.

 

[reemoeMO]

Steering wheel is upside down in the picture correct?

Yes, if you zoom in, you can see the word 'Airbag' upside down, as are the radio and cruise control buttons.

 

[JoelB]

Your negatives are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. Especially when you consider most consumers don't even perceive a car being boring or exciting.

 

[pezzy84]

Your negatives are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. Especially when you consider most consumers don't even perceive a car being boring or exciting.

This is true and hence the reason this, Camry and Altima are so popular. Non-car folks just want a Maytag to get them from A to B. That just isn't me.

 

[wemay]

I really couldn't agree more. And it's the reasons i love mine. Thanks for the review.

Easy to drive and learn infotainment/safety features.
Comfortable.
Good MPG.
Quiet, well sorted interior.
Looks great (subjective).
Decent dynamics if boring.
Great ergonomics.
@4500 miles/5 months

 

[Dave Hess]

Nice car.

I hate the light interior cause there’s too much glare on a sunny day.

 

[Nick1994]

I loved my 2015. I recently sat in one of these at a CarMax and this generation is super cramped. Low visibility and a little claustrophobic.

 

[gfh77665]

For just 220 miles the mpg's don't matter much, so I would have chose the RAM unless its rates were much higher.