New Wheels!!

After 9 years of loving my Sonata, I’ve traded the Sonata in for a SUV. I looked at current Sonata models, but the only one with similar features as my 9 year old Sonata is the Sonata Hybrid Limited.

I’m not a fan of anything hybrid or electric. Mostly because we mostly drive in rural areas which may not have charging stations. Plus, I have concerns with battery life, replacement battery costs and ability to recycle old batteries.

The trunk in the 2024 / 2025 Sonata was quite a bit smaller than my old car.

Needless to say, the 2024 / 2025 Sonata was not going to fit meet my needs.

I also wanted a vehicle where we could add a hitch for transporting our bikes.

When I decide on what car to purchase, I focus most of my time on warranty and safety features. Warranty because I want to keep the car for 9 to 10 years. Kia and Hyundai have the best warranty for new car (1st owners).

5 year unlimited miles roadside assistance
3 year or 36,000 miles complimentary maintenance at any Hyundai dealership*
5 year or 60,000 miles new vehicle warranty*
10 year or 100,000 miles powertrain*

Here’s the catch — all of the warranties have an asterisk * behind them stating “limited warranties, see dealer for details”. What this means it’s not bumper to bumper but different for each part :-). Talk about a way to make it confusing for customers. Upon purchase, you receive a detailed warranty manual, or you can search the Hyundai website.

The yellow highlight has a very important clarification. The 1st owner (original owner) has a 10 yr / 100,000 mile Powertrain warranty. While 2 owner and beyond the Powertrain drops to 5 yr. / 60,000 miles. I’m the first owner so I get the better warranty. I’m wondering how many 2nd owners think they have 10 yr / 100,000 miles but don’t.

Hyundai likes to boast “America’s Best Warranty”. In actuality, Kia has the same warranty. What most folks probably don’t realize is the Hyundai purchase Kia in 1998. Kia operates “independently” but Hyundai is the parent company. I feel like independently is a broad statement since they have the same warranty and share many interior features.

By this time you are probably wondering what kind of vehicle did I purchase.

A beautiful Blue Hyundai Tucson. It’s a small SUV similar size to the RAV4, CRV, Sportage, etc.

The SUV is really tall and as you can tell from the picture.

In case you’re interested, I’ve taken a variety of pictures to show the car off 🙂

The console has a sleek modern look. It’s like using a tablet. For me easy to use but I can see the table type of console being stressful and hard vs. buttons and knobs.