News and Views

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New Car

December 2nd, 2011 · 6 Comments

Gisele got a new car to replace her 2003 Honda Accord.

After more than 2 weeks of researching and test driving, we decided on a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. We got all the cool options, including navigation. It is only a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder, but turbocharged and delivers 274 HP, more than most V6 engines. It is very peppy, but gives over 34 MPG highway.

She originally planned to get another Honda Accord, but they have fallen in the ratings. The Sonata beats the Accord, Altima and Camry in most reviews and in owner satisfaction. My brother Don agrees, as he has owned a Sonata for a few years and is very happy with it.

One of the cool features is a smart phone app that will let you remotely lock, unlock, flash headlights and sound the horn (to find it in a parking lot), and (coming soon) remote start. The remote start is not available yet, but rumors are that it should be out in January.

You can also locate the car on a map, and if you lend it to your teenager it will report back if they exceed a set speed or go outside a set range. Of course, we don’t have any teenagers, but still a cool feature.

Sonata
Here it is in all its red beauty.

Tags: Family Updates

6 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Mom // Dec 2, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    I knew she was looking for one. Derek is probably happy, because hers will pass down to him, right?

  • 2 Richard // Dec 3, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    Sweet!

    Just out of curiosity, how many miles on the Accord in 9 years?

  • 3 Donna // Dec 4, 2011 at 9:28 am

    Did she get red, as shown in the photo? Beautiful! Maybe if you’re very nice to her, she’ll let you drive it once or twice.

  • 4 Don // Dec 4, 2011 at 11:56 am

    Yay! Yes we have had a Sonata since 2004 and we love it.

    I’ve heard they’ve gotten better every year. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

  • 5 Daryl // Dec 4, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    Richard, the Accord has 72500 miles on it. Seems like a lot for her just driving to church on Sunday, but she actually keeps pretty busy. We also took it to LA and San Francisco more than once.

    Donna, yes it is the same Red — Shimmering Ruby, or something like that.

    So far no buyer’s remorse.

    We were at first disappointed that it didn’t have a CD changer like the Accord — only one CD at a time. Then I realized that I could copy ALL her music onto a single 8 GB flash drive and the entertainment system displays and plays it all seamlessly. It’s as good as having the hard drive on my Acura, and probably more durable.

  • 6 Daryl // Dec 5, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    It’s crazy here — counting Devon’s car parked in the back yard, when Derek is here we have 6 cars at our house, 5 full time. I think we have to start selling some, starting with the Saturn Derek has been driving, as he moves up to the Accord.