Used 2016 Hyundai Sonata Consumer Reviews

The car of my dreams!

The Sonata is comfortable ,fun to drive and a great value!

Highly unreliable and expensive service

Writing this review in Feb 2021 for a 2016 Hyundai sonata with 30000 mile. I have religiously done all the maintenance according to the manual with synthetic/premium oil and filter changes every 4000-5000 miles at least twice a year, engine filter changes and other recommended inspections. At 29300 miles, engine light comes on (just after the 5 year warranty expired!!), got it fixed thinking maybe it was by chance that my car came with a defective part that failed so soon. But again at 29800 miles, the engine light comes on and by this point I have spent over $2000 dollars in repairs at the Hyundai dealership/service center near me. Note that these repairs are not regular wear and tear but defective/cheap parts and poor design.... Previously owned a 2012 Nissan Altima, maintained well and sold with over 150k miles, never had any issues, no engine lights ever!. Just regular maintenance like brakes change or tire changes or new battery etc. Overall, do not buy Hyundai's, it may seem like a better offer than Nissan or Honda or Toyota but do not be fooled!! Sonata's and may be other Hyundai's too, are highly unreliable, engine makes too much noise with sluggish performance for the advertised horsepower. Very poor quality.

Good car, worrisome transmission

The 2.4L engine is a little noisy but has good power and good fuel economy (38 mpg fast as you want to go). The handling and ride are good. I like the interior and the layout of the dash. The transmission is terribly worrisome, back and forth shifts around 35 mph, just the speed you drive in town. Update 7/19/20, 33,000 miles. 1/21/22 42,000, 7/21/24 57,000 same.

Review

Had Everything, but Interior Flatlined the Deal

If you like the Camry, the Sonata needs to be at the top of your test drive list! This is an outstanding feature packed, comfortable, great daily driver. And the different configurations and add on pkgs allow you to get what you want without having to shell out $ for things you could care less about. My favorite feature on the Sport version are the seats. They have the sports fabric down the middle, w/leather side bolsters, and you still get the heated seat feature. The Sonata Sport and the Chrysler 200S are the only mid size sedans I found that offer this combo. I really tried to convince myself to get this car; it had everything on my checklist for a fantastic price. But, the interior read bland, plastic, and souless to me, I just couldn't see myself being happy driving it everyday. Ended up purchasing the 2016 Kia Optima EX w/premium pkg instead - liked the sportier exterior & interior styling much better.

Nagging Navigation

Paid extra to have the navigation package. My phones Google Maps is faster at both looking up an address and recalculating when directions change. Voice recognition has trouble understanding commands in normal road conditions, even worse with a window down or the sun roof open...disappointing for the money spent!

Riding comfy

Great car for the price! This is the first Hyundai I've ever owned and I am pleasantly surprised by how comfortable, roomy, and affordable that it is to drive. I will definitely but another Hyundai down the road.

2016 Sonata

all around nice car, only thing I would improve is the road noise, I would like to see sound barriers put in all the wheel wells. March 31, 2019, I have driven the car almost 8,000 miles since the last review, one trip was over 2400 miles alone . I still say the Sonata is an excellent car for short or long trips, we averaged almost 39 MPG with a loaded car, comfortable ride, noise was not as noticeable as I thought in the past. would definitely buy another one in the future, for the money I would recommend over any of the competitors.

Waiting for Next Engine Failure!

Purchased a New 2016 Hyundai Sonata for my daughter. So far had car in for recall due to possible engine failure. Went on 6 hour trip - engine failure occurred... Daughter spent 3 days in Pocatello, Id while car was Repaired at her own expense!!! Found out they don't replace Bad Engine - just do a work around. So now it is not IF the engine will give out again - it is more When the Engine will give OUT AGAIN. Now afraid to go on any trip longer than an hour or two away from home. These cars really are a Piece of Junk! But can't afford to purchase a Better or Different Car.

Good car, TERRIBLE corporate support !

I returned to the dealer the first thing the next morning after I discovered there was a paperwork error that overlooked applying the Hyundai BOOSTUP savings program in my purchase. BOOSTUP is a savings matching program found on the Hyundai web site. To date, I have recieved, through my dealer, my original $500 deposit, but NOT THE HYUNDAI MATCHING. AFTER 8 MONTHS ! "Things take a long time to be resolved with Hyundai" said the Sales Manager. Wow, do they ever. This was confirmed by the BOOSTUP customer service rep, who said the very same thing. The Williamsburg, VA dealer has resubmitted documents requests several times from Hyundai, as have I. Neither one of us have gotten a satisfactory conclusion to our requst to have the matching BOOSTUP processed. Stall, stall stall. Hyundai owes me $ 500. IT'S THAT SIMPLE. My overall rating is soured by the failure of Hyundai to resolve a simple problem. In short, the Sonata seems to be a good value, but don't count on Hyundai to back the dealer or the customer. This is an issue that Edmonds does not include in its review questions. The customer support by the manufacturer is overlooked. For that, I rate Hyundai one star. Update June 2017: After involving the local franchise owner directly an empowered Hyundai rep got involved. Howerver, it still took an addituonal 3 months before I recieved my BoostUp. Update December 2018 : The Sonata is an excellent vehicle. Still very happy with it's performance. Also own a Kia (a sister company) and I had to fight for 4 months to get satisfactory results with a headlight problem. Their customer relations attitude seems to be greatly lacking. I can not trust that these organizations will effectively respond to problems.