Good afternoon members, i am interested in buying a second hand Hyundai Sonata ef. there are couple of questions i would like to ask and would appreciate your replies to my questions as it will help me a lot.

1. is it true the 2.0 is under powered?
2. besides the engine, what else is the difference between the 2.0 and 2.4?
3. to choose between 2.0 and 2.4 which would be a better pick?
4. how regular is the service interval? and is the spare parts expensive?
5. which workshop is recommended to send this car to? (i live in kl)
6. i heard the FC is very bad is it true? is there anyway to overcome it?
7. is there alot of body roll during cornering?

Thank you, sorry if the questions are not specific enough or if it sounds silly , cause i dont know what to ask, as i have no knowledge about this car and i would like to buy this car.

This post has been edited by veeknaysh: Jul 23 2015, 11:38 AM


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you mean this model?


do you know the engine used in this model?
for kimchi cars...i think the great improvement is from theta engine family onwards..

i owned a k5..so far love it and powerwise is decent

1. 2.0 is decent for D segment cars...but again..not sure which engine used in this model
2. road tax price and fuel comsuption of cos!
3. depends on your driving needs/style i assume..
4. service interval depends on the engine oil u use. 5k, 7k, 10k. there is not cheap spare parts for all imports car...
5. since there is no warranty..u can visit workshop outside...eg autosaver...
6. not sure about this engine
7. never drive this model b4


what is ur budget? go for sonata Sixth generation (YF)

first of all...why u want to buy this car?

Thank you for the feedback, as for the engine i checked it out online, what i read was both the 2.0 and 2.4 are Mitsubishi engine's, Yf out of budget, my budget is within 20k i want to get it cash


This post has been edited by veeknaysh: Jul 23 2015, 12:10 PM

my budget is 20k as im intending to get the car cash, the price of this car is relatively low to the spec. thats why i decided to get this car plus i had more confidence know that it is running on a mitsu engine.

if 20k cash..i'll try to avoid old korean car. if possible look for jap car. even tho the engine came from mitsu, the suspension..electrical stuff might be hard to find.

This Sonota ef looks very similar to my previous Optima 2005 model. Hyundai and Kia once shared Sonata/Optima model with minor cosmetic changes.

To answer your question based on my Kia Optima:
>1. is it true the 2.0 is under powered?
Slightly underpowered not seriously. Still a very decent drive but take care when overtaking.

>2. besides the engine, what else is the difference between the 2.0 and 2.4?
No comment

>3. to choose between 2.0 and 2.4 which would be a better pick?
2.4 means higher road tax and higher FC but if within your budget go for 2.4 for more power.

>4. how regular is the service interval? and is the spare parts expensive?
I serviced every 10K km using semi-syn oil. Maintenance for an old Sonata can be high (budget about RM4K a year). On the other hand spare parts are readily available.

>5. which workshop is recommended to send this car to? (i live in kl)
Any ordinary workshop can repair the old model Sonata/Optima. No need to look for specialist workshop.

>6. i heard the FC is very bad is it true? is there anyway to overcome it?
For my 2.0 Optima FC was very reasonable. Only slightly more than Jap cars of the same cc.

>7. is there alot of body roll during cornering?
This is a car for comfort, not cornering fast.


The Sonata ef would be about 10 years old so paying rm20k for it is too high. You should be looking at rm10K to rm15k max.

This post has been edited by KennyKB: Jul 23 2015, 09:56 PM

I sat in one before, very bad acceleration and feels really heavy, hence I would expect bad fc as well.

I have the 2.4 L version, 2004, bought second hand. I don't use it very often, so less that I refuel once every two months
My FC records: absolute worst is 5.997 km/L and absolute best is 12.565 km/L (all inter-city highway driving). I've tracked FC over 4400 km driving, with absolute average currently standing at 9.983 km/L
Power: my car is quite old - over 265k km so i'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that but definitely when i floor the pedal (so to speak), i feel like it should be more responsive and quicker to accelerate. Basically, disappointing acceleration.
I am thinking of selling and buying a Kancil, since I don't use it much.
Ok, maybe not a kancil, but something smaller.

found 1 for 9k oni, dis car value dropped so much

http://www.carlist.my/used-cars/2355971/20...c-reg-2003.html

should get sonata nf, at least, slightly above 20k.

This post has been edited by Alan: Jul 24 2015, 10:26 AM

That's about the value for a 12 year old Sonata. The mileage looks honest, a rarity among dealers.