joatmon wrote:That looks like a good car for a student. A little cosmetic imperfection is fine, will make any future scrapes or dings less stressful. 08 Sonata seemed to get decent crash safety ratings.
Weird about having to open the trunk to open the gas door.
What you say about a little cosmetic imperfection is absolutely true. Honestly, I don't want a perfect car myself as long as it is no embarrassment.
The gas door emergency release is well thought out. The electric release can fail for many reasons. A little cable pull will always work.
I found a set of near new Michelin X-Ice tires for the Sonata and had them mounted today. I am amazed how quiet these winter tires are

. I also had the wheels aligned. On one wheel the caster is a little off. No problem though. They also replaced a TPM Sensor. This will be the first time my son has a car without a warning light on.
Then I replaced the air filter (no problem) and the cabin air filter. This was not as easy as I expected. It seemed I couldn't get the old filter out. The tray was caked in. After braking the tabs I resorted to prying it out with small screw drivers and a little pry bar. A $10 off a $25 bill coupon came in very handy.
I also cleaned the MAF sensor and checked the spark plugs. They were near new. And the guy who replaced them forgot to tighten the hold downs of the coils.

- Hyundai Sonata Michelin X-Ice.jpg (51.06 KiB) Viewed 1171 times

- Hyundai Sonata Michelin X-Ice (2).jpg (62.77 KiB) Viewed 1171 times

- Guess which one is old?
- Hyundai Sonata cabin air filter (2).jpg (84.99 KiB) Viewed 1171 times