Named mine "pearl"

She is my dream car. Not only does she look beautiful, but runs like a charm! Went to the Hyundai dealer to check out the Elantra Wagon, but when I sat in the Sonata GLS the male concept of referring to a car as a "she" became very clear to me. To me a car has always been an "it", and I sure as heck never named any of my cars before. But Pearl is different! I call her Pearl since her color is "white pearl." (Some people say pearl white, but in the dealer's book it is listed as white pearl.)

I didn't want to even sit in the Sonata because it was way out of my price range running around $17,000. But after I sat in one in the showroom I really liked it. So I asked the owner if they had any dealer or program cars available (usually a slightly used car with very low mileage) and he had 2. The one he brought out is the one I went home with. It had 10,400 miles and he was selling it to me for $14,400. It is fully loaded with cruise, a/c, power sun/moonroof, front/side airbags, power windows, locks, outside mirror defroster (heated), 6 speaker CD/cassette player, retractable antenna, 2 power plugs (cigarette lighter type), 4-wheel power assisted brakes, 3 rear shoulder/lap belts, height adjustable front shoulder straps, tether anchors (for car seats),rear door locks (so children cannot open the door from in the vehicle), V6 engine, 5mph bumpers, fold down rear seats (60/40 split), adjustable headrest (up/down & tilt forward/back), and a center console that folds down in the rear seat that has storage and cupholders for the rear passengers. (Also a great way to keep 2 kids divided!)

It does not have ABS or the optional traction control, but I could care less. The warranty in itself is enough to satisfy! It comes with 5yr/60,000 bumper-to-bumper and 10yr/100,000 powertrain warranty. We extended the warranty through Hyundai (not an outside warranty, but through Hyundai itself) so the whole car is covered bumper-to-bumper for 10yr/100,000 miles with $0 deductible. I'm not sure what the cost SHOULD have been, but we only paid $990 for the extension. There was some confusion about the price when we were shopping on a Saturday, so the owner committed to the extension not costing over $1000, and he upheld his word! (I think it was around $1500 for the contract!)


I'm not sure how good the service is going to be since I've only had it for 1 month now I haven't had any services performed. But by the way I've been treated so far I see that things are run very well and in an organized matter.

The only negative thing I can really say about it is that it does not have a warning chime if you leave your lights on. It will chime only if your keys are still in the ignition, but once they're out, you better hope you remember to turn your lights off, or you'll be sorry!

On the contrary, one fabulous feature is that if your keys are in the ignition and the car is off, once you open your door to get out, the doors WILL NOT LOCK!!! That is something I never had before (like many of the features). You can also unlock and lock all the doors by turning the key in the outside handle.

The best way to decide if it is the car for you is to go and take it for a test drive. It's hard to tell when it's running because it's SO quiet. The ride is SO smooth it could make trouble for some. I've found myself going quite fast at times without realizing, so now I'm really trying to use the cruise more often...don't want a speeding ticket!