Can a $36,525 Hyundai possibly be a good deal?

Possibly, but I'm honest enough to admit that it seems unlikely. For a Hyundai-badged vehicle to approach $40,000, and still be a good deal, it would have to offer a stellar combination of performance, comfort, luxury, refinement and feature content. And it would have to do these things better than the established players while costing less.

Well, if those are the requirements, I guess the $36,525 Hyundai Veracruz is a good deal.

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We all know Chinese cars are coming, and while no U.S.-sold brands are anxious for extra competition, some are more vulnerable than others. After looking at Automotive News' coverage on the future of Hyundai and Kia it's clear both brands want to be well beyond the "great car for the money" phase before the Chinese arrive. Personally I think they've already gotten there, as I don't see the need to qualify a Hyunday/Kia purchase with a "not bad for the money" or "at least the warranty means you're covered" remark.

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Word on the street (and on certain Web sites) insists there's a Hyundai pickup truck in the making. Technically anything is possible, but we have it on good authority that Hyundai has backed off any plans to produce an open-bed vehicle. The costs are simply too high and the margins too low. Neither a midsize nor fullsize body-on-frame model washes out in the accounting department, at least in the short- to mid-term.

"What about the "BH" platform?"you say. Two words -- Honda Ridgeline. Even the Big H is struggling to move those off dealer lots. Can you imagine little H wanting to jump into that market? Neither can I. Hyundai will want their first truck to be a real truck, and they'll certainly keep studying the market. But if you're planning a summer of 2009 home improvement project you won't be doing it with a Hyundai truck. Got another project scheduled for 2015? Maybe Hyundai will be able to help out.

   About the only negative thing I could think of after driving this car was its name. It makes me think of the guy who does the voices of Moe and Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons (love the show, but I don't want to think of those voices when poeple ask about my car). Otherwise there's little to fault regarding Hyundai's Azera. We just put one into our long-term fleet, so expect to see an introduction soon. Our car is Venetian (dark) Blue with a beige interior, so I liked the color before I even sat down. The seats are wide and plush, and covered in supple leather. Actually, all of the interior materials are at, if not above, the standards set by the sub-$30,000 sedan category. The 3.8-liter, 263-horsepower V6 is refined, but it will still smoke the front tires when you want (and sometimes when you don't, if you aren't careful). The electroluminescent gauge cluster (updated for 2007) provides a premium ambiance, as does the soft, amber lighting in the footwells (think Saturn Aura). After putting 100 miles on the car I realized that only buyers stuck on Hondas and/or Toyotas (which are a lot of buyers, BTW) won't give this car a chance. Too bad for them.

I've been driving our long-term 2006 Hyundai Sonata for a few days now, and I must say it really is a fine automobile. If you're not stuck on having "Honda" or "Toyota" on you car somewhere, this is a fully worthy family sedan candidate. (If you are stuck on having those other badges, buy one of these and get your local Honda or Toyota dealer to sell you an emblem and some adhesive). However, I must say I'm disappointed in the AM radio reception. It's very intermittent -- meaning sometimes it's totally clean and sometimes I can't hear anything but static. This conditions exists regardless of location or weather, so I'm sure it's not a "distance-from-station" or "atmospheric conditions" issue. I'd consider this a larger knock against the Hyundai except that lame AM reception is rather pervasive across the majority of cars I test. It seems to me that for every car I drive with really good AM reception I drive at least three or four with weak coverage and fidelity. I'm enough of a home theatre geek to know that, in general, home receivers are woefully inadequate in terms of AM (and even FM) reception quality, but it appears the problem has spread to car audio as well. That's surprising in a world that appears more techno-savvy than ever. Oh well, it only helps speed the adoption of satellite and high-definition radio (not to mention iPods).

I took our long-term Hyundai Sonata home last night and was again reminded of how close this car is getting to the class leaders (Accord, Altima and Camry). It's really down to fine gradients as opposed to any blatant deficiencies. For instance, I'm a real stickler for steering feel, and Honda still pretty much owns this, (though the Camry and Altima are as close as they've ever been). Now comes the new Sonata, which is a also within a tire tread of the Accord. I would argue that most drivers (i.e. -- normal people) probably wouldn't even notice a difference between the Honda and Hyundai, something I wouldn't have believed possible for the Korean carmaker just a few years ago. Same for the interior design and quality, as well as the engine's power and refinement. It's no Toyota, but it's still among the top five in the segment (and this is a segment with 20-plus competitors). Some staffers have complained about stereo control placement and weak seat heaters, but when these are your top nits to pick on a sedan, particularly a sedan that consistently undercuts the competition's price, those aren't deal breakers. If you read our latest family sedan comparison test you'll see that, when similarly equipped, the Camry and Accord beat the Sonata. However, when similarly equipped, those cars cost considerably more than the Hyundai, yet they aren't considerably better (less than 10 percent better if you go strictly by final rankings). And when you compare them with a price limit, as we did in our previous family sedan comparison test, the Hyundai wins. Regardless, this is a worthy offering at a very worthy price. Nice work Hyundai.

The last 24 hours proved an interesting point for me -- you don't have to bend metal or bust glass to wreck a car. Last night I drove a 2005 test car home with 13,000 miles on the odometer. And by the time I got home I was convinced it should be euthanized and turned into a parts car. Let me clarify that I really liked this model and my feelings were not a reflection of the car's design but a reflection of this car's condition. For starters, before I even got into it I saw that the floor was covered with leaves and other debris, and most of the interior surfaces were grimy (or worse). Then I started it up and immediately noticed the "150 MILES PAST SERVICE" light glaring at me, along with the low fuel light. I put the car in gear and started driving it (and planning my requisite fuel stop) but before I got half a mile I noticed the steering felt terrible. I typically love the steering in these models and had never felt steering this screwed up, let alone in a relatively low mileage example. I made my fuel stop and drove the 47 miles to my house, but just before I got there I stopped at another gas station to check the tire pressure. This car calls for 32 psi when cold, but the tires were all between 24 and 26 psi after a one hour/47-mile drive (I would guess the pressures were around 20 psi when cold). The good news is that fixing the tire pressure did wonders for the steering/handling. The bad news is that in the process of airing up the tires I noticed that every wheel had massive scarring and curb rash. A clear sign of "parking by Braille" methodology. So even with a full tank of fuel and the proper tire pressure I basically felt like this car was used up...at 13,000 miles

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Our next comparison test should prove popular, as it will pit two of the best selling cars in America against two promising upstarts. We gathered a 2006 version of the Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata and put them up against the all-new 2007 Toyota Camry for a good ol' fashioned family sedan throw-down. With the Hyundai winning our last family sedan shootout against the Camry and Accord, and the Fusion showing well during our recent full test, this one is too close to call before every scoresheet is tallied. Expect the results to be published soon.

 

2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. It's 7 inches longer and has a third-row seat. But the front end has a bit of B9Tribeca in it -- tall fenders and big grille. This is a case where less is more, and it looks good (through it appears to have no front bumper, which is a dramatic change from the days when SUVs where supposed to look "rugged").