'02 Sonata test drive

I test drove a used '02 Sonata yesterday at the local Hyundai dealership.
It had originally been sold new there and the owners had traded it in on
another new vehicle.

The Sonata had the 4 cyl engine with 40K miles. It had the vibration when
stopped in gear that other people have mentioned here. I'd like to say that
it was less noticeable than my '96 Astro and much less than either my '94
Dodge Spirit or my '94 Plymouth Acclaim, both of which have a 2.5 liter 4
cyl.

As far as the transmission went, I have no idea if it was the original or
not but it shifted smoothly and down-shifted at stops just fine.

If it had not been for the sun roof I'd probably have bought the car as the
dealer was offering it for $8995 US and was including an extended 100,000
mile bumper to bumper warranty at that price. My 6'4" body has had problems
with every sun roof I've encountered due to lack of head room.

Just my 2 cents worth...

 

Interesting.. We have the same height problems, and we find that
modern cars equipped with a factory moonroof actually have more
headroom in the front, especially with the "sunshade" opened.

We have a 2000 Sonata GLS with the moonroof, and we love it..

JM

 

That was just it. With the sunshade open my head was going into the sunroof
opening and resting on the left side of the hole. It was tolerable but not
for any period of time.

I did not try sitting in a Sonata w/o the sunroof but I did sit in an
Elantra sans sunroof and had plenty of headroom.

 

I'd recommend against the 4cyl. It has significantly more problems than
the V6. The vibration is annoying and is normal. It eats timing belts
for lunch. I have no problem encouraging purchase of the 2.5 or 2.7 V6.