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2013 Hyundai Sonata

29 messages,  Last post on Jun 12, 2013 at 1:07 PM

You are in the Hyundai Sonata Forum.

What is this discussion about? Hyundai Sonata, Sedan

Messages Page 2 of 3

#9 of 29 Black Friday Sonata by backy

Nov 23, 2012 (12:57 pm)

Just traded my 2007 Sonata GLS in for a 2013 GLS. Was not planning to get rid of the 2007 for 3 years or so, but I decided to surprise my wife (her car) because it seemed a great deal.
 
The old Sonata was in good shape mechanically (only 62k miles) and the interior was ok (just needed a real good cleaning). But the exterior had accumulated a lot of damage over the past year or so, all from idiots in parking lots. Latest was a huge scrape on the left rear from a hit-and-run, put a big dent in the body panel and scraped up the bumper also. The rear bumper was hit a year ago, got paid for that but never repaired it (would be about $500 just for that). Lots of dings and scratches on the front and sides also. Plus the right mirror needed replacement (run-in between my wife and a garbage bin in the garage--the bin won), three wheel covers were beat up (the curbs won that one), and the tires would need replacement in a year or so. And the car was out of warranty (bought it used). So I was looking at a chunk of change just to repair damage before I could sell the car, plus was on the hook for anything that would fail.
 
So when I saw a local dealer advertise a great lease deal on the 2013 GLS Package 2, I called my dealer of choice just a few miles away and asked if they could match that. They said, sure, come in. So I did the day before Thanksgiving. What I wanted in a perfect world was to turn over the keys to my old car and drive out with the new one for nothing out of pocket and no payments for 3 years. I knew that was aggressive, given the damage on my car, but thought I'd give it a shot.
 
Well, I didn't get what I hoped for but I did get what I thought was a good deal, and it was a pleasant experience--no pressure, sales rep and manager were easy to deal with and straight-up on everything. I wound up paying nothing up front (even 1st payment was taken care of) and 35 payments of $47.80. But the car had more equipment than I expected. It was a fully loaded GLS Package 2, with every accessory (I think) except the iPod cable (I can get that later). It has two sets of mats, carpeted and all-weather, mud guards, rear bumper protector, self-dimming mirror with Homelink, cargo net. And the Package 2 goodies such as alloys, power seat, heated seats, auto headlamps etc. And they had my first choice in color: ruby red. In addition, there was a weekend special that allowed me to get a "protection package" that takes care of any paintless dent removal, any damage to tires or wheels, glass repair, and lost keys and remotes with no deductibles and no limit, for free.
 
So my wife got a new car with a lot more features and better fuel economy than the old car, and no worries about expenses other than routine maintenance (and I got 9 free oil changes), for about $1.50 a day.
 
I can't wait until the first time she locks her keys in the car (she does that a lot) and calls me, and I use the BlueLink car-unlock feature to open the car.

#10 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [backy] by mpl82

Nov 24, 2012 (4:28 pm)

Replying to: backy (Nov 23, 2012 12:57 pm)
How much did you get for your 2007 GLS?

#11 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [mpl82] by backy

Nov 24, 2012 (10:09 pm)

Replying to: mpl82 (Nov 24, 2012 4:28 pm)
On the lease details it said $6000. Given that I estimated the repairs to the car would cost at least $2500, if I paid for the repairs, and that didn't include a full interior cleaning/detailing which it badly needs (with some stains on the carpet I've been unable to remove), I thought that was a good deal. Of course, they have a body shop so they can do the repairs at cost and make the deal work for them.

#12 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [backy] by mpl82

Nov 25, 2012 (3:48 pm)

Replying to: backy (Nov 24, 2012 10:09 pm)
and you're paying $47.50/month? That's an impossibly low lease payment for a 3 year lease of a base GLS. Assuming what you say that all you put down was your trade.

#13 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [mpl82] by backy

Nov 25, 2012 (4:24 pm)

Replying to: mpl82 (Nov 25, 2012 3:48 pm)
Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good deal too. Except it wasn't a base GLS... it was a Package 2 with every other available accessory except the iPod cable... MSRP $23,155 I think. So about as loaded as a GLS can be.
 
There's lots of incentives now on Sonatas including the $500 loyalty rebate, which I qualified for--it went to the dealer of course.
 
Also it's $47.80... but what's 30 cents a month?
 
The dealer must think they can make it work on my trade as they have their own body shop so they can do the repair work during quiet times basically at almost no cost except some paint, a new mirror, and a few wheel covers--they'd have to pay their people anyways. They can make it look like new and sell it at a nice profit, given its low miles and excellent mechanical condition. But for me, it would have cost a pretty penny to have the car repaired. And I'd have to do that pretty soon as I can't drive a trashed-out looking car, plus some of the damage would rust this winter if I didn't fix it.
 
So I think it was a win/win.

#14 of 29 End of the year purchase by blacmax

Dec 28, 2012 (11:02 pm)

Just bought a 2013 SE 2.4 with Nav. I live around BR and have been researching a car for my wife. Looked at the 2013 Accord Sport & EX, and the 2012 Camry. She liked both of those more than the Sonata from the initial test drives she had with all of them. I didn't like the interior that the Accord offered on the EX and the Sport was a little too plain, but nice looking on the outside. Her love was the Camry and the comfort of the seats. We were looking at the SE Camry and their Convenience package which also was mostly paired with Nav. In the end, she didn't like the "stale" looking Camry and the fact that one is on every corner. She wanted to try something different and this was it. We had 2006 3.3 Sonata that was just recently totaled out in Sept.2012. After looking looking at cars she knew what color she wanted and we found it and now its hers.

#15 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [mpl82] by ryster

Jan 01, 2013 (3:40 pm)

Replying to: mpl82 (Nov 25, 2012 3:48 pm)
Actually the $47.80/mo for a 36mo lease is right on with current market pricing for a Sonata GLS with the Preferred Package. Based on $6,000 down from the trade, $47.80/mo comes out to a price for the Sonata of $20,350 which is the current True Car target price for this car. Without the trade, the monthly payment would have been ~$235/mo which is also right on with current market pricing.

#16 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [ryster] by backy

Jan 01, 2013 (4:01 pm)

Replying to: ryster (Jan 01, 2013 3:40 pm)
Your numbers are off.
 
35 x $47.80 (first payment made by the dealer) = $1,673.
 
($1,673 + $6,000) / 36 = $213 per month.
 
Also don't forget this was not just the Preferred Package, but had several other options (self-dimming mirror with Homelink, two sets of mats, mud guards, rear bumper protector, cargo net).
 
But the best part about the deal for me was that my old Sonata wasn't worth anywhere close to $6,000 to me, because of the body damage. So I was happy to trade it in at that price.

#17 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [backy] by ryster

Jan 05, 2013 (6:19 am)

Replying to: backy (Jan 01, 2013 4:01 pm)
I was calculating from the bottom up, to include residual value, money factor, estimated sales tax, the $6000 trade, etc. A higher residual value could easily account for the $720 difference.
 
I probably would have put enough additional money down to just drive away payment free for 36 months. When you get a monthly payment down that low it just seems easier to pay it upfront and not have to deal with it.

#18 of 29 Re: Black Friday Sonata [ryster] by backy

Jan 05, 2013 (12:49 pm)

Replying to: ryster (Jan 05, 2013 6:19 am)
I probably would have put enough additional money down to just drive away payment free for 36 months.
 
I tried, in fact my position going in was a simple exchange of keys, nothing up front, no payments (I knew that was a big stretch given the condition of my trade, but figured what the heck, might as well try for it). But the sales manager said that Hyundai Finance would not do leases w/o a monthly payment. I was kinda surprised by that, as I've heard of leases with a single payment up front. I plan on calling Hyundai Finance in the near future and see if they'll accept payment up front now, for a little discount.
 
P.S. Residual is kinda meaningless IMO. If it's too high relative to the value of the car at the end of the lease, I'll walk away, or negotiate a lower buy-out (which I've done on leases in the past). I leased a Sentra nearly 3 years ago and at the time thought the residual was kinda high, about $11k, but the payments were only $179/39 months with nothing up front except first payment, plus they threw in a free DVD player and nav system. I figured I'd walk away at the end of the lease. But with used car values rising in the past few years, that $11k doesn't look all that bad now so I may keep the car when the lease is up in July.

Messages Page 2 of 3

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