What car is this? My 2 cents worth. The question of whether to get a brand new steering rack or a used/recond unit is very much dependent on two aspects as follows;

1. How long do you intend to keep the car
2. Can you accept a reduced performance and unknown reliability

You are quite hands on to be able to change the steering rack of your vehicle yourself. I'm not sure how you can do that as you need a machine to jack the whole vehicle up. To me, only an experienced good mechanic is recommended for this job.

My experience with the replacement of the steering rack on my Ford Focus (now sold) is not a pleasant one as it mirrors your experience with the reconditioned unit. Similarly I have gone with a recond steering rack, not once but twice , and both are unreliable. The first one showed minor friction sound when the steering wheel is turned, and it only lasted for about 8 months before it malfunctioned again. The second steering rack showed even louder friction sound when the steering wheel is turned. It just feels like a defective or damaged unit. I sold the car several months later as I don't want to go through the ordeal for the 3rd time. Most if not all recond steering racks are mostly in bad shape or damaged already, and what these workshops do is they just fix them to customers cars. As a result you will get a less perfect handling or performance and some friction noises with short lifespan.

It's a safety issue as well depending on the type of vehicle. A faulty steering rack is dangerous when it fails with the Ford Focus. The steering rack can fail when you are driving the car, and when that happens you will not be able to turn the steering wheel easily as it will lock up and turn very stiff. Most young men will still be able to maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road with some effort but most ladies and seniors will not be able to turn the steering wheel and when that happens the vehicle will stop in the middle of the road.

My advice is to go for a new steering rack is you can afford it even though it is expensive. A new steering rack for the Ford Focus used to be above RM10k, outside workshop was selling at 9.8k and the price went down to 7.5k the last time I inquired. If you can't afford a new steering rack, at least look for an experienced and reputable mechanic which can fix it nicely for you. However, it's not about the mechanic but the availability of these recond or used steering racks as most of the time they are hard to come by. Usually it's the bad mechanics or workshops which have stocks of these poor condition or damaged units while the good mechanics may not have stocks. It's about timing as well.

Well, that's a reason why the resale value of the Ford is so low. The steering rack of the Ford Focus is one of the costliest part to replace. The reconditioned (used) steering rack which I installed on the Ford Focus mk3 at RM2.5k is costlier than the new steering rack of your Sonata. I didn't know new steering racks can be so cheap though. I paid close to RM3k for the second used steering rack before I sold the car away. If I could turn back time, I would have gone with a new steering rack although it costs close to RM10k back then, the cheapest quoted price I could find. Having said that, it all happened for a reason and I'm glad the events had caused an early disposal of the vehicle.

Vanli got original parts for kcars? OEM kot...

That picture is showing the shock absorber, not steering rack. Is this the part you have replaced on your car? The steering rack is different.

With the Ford Focus, there is an electronic or ECU box attached together with the steering rack as a complete piece of equipment. If the electronics inside that box are damaged, the whole steering rack would not work anymore. The picture below shows the steering rack for the Ford Focus mk3.