Hyundai has not changed the rates from January. Many incentives are available, specially for the Sonata (we are talking Loyalty, Conquest, Military and College Grad).
On the VW post, I alluded to the fact that my Sonata has not held up too well in terms of interior wear and tear. The car is about 22 months old and it has had it’s shares of squeaks and scratches. The interior materials are not horrible, but I have a huge issue with the steering wheel. The Sonata’s steering wheel composed of leather, soft-touch plastic and a “grippy” rubberized surface near the steering controls (hands-free and the trip computer buttons). This rubberized surface is very prone to scratching, which makes it a very bad material to use on a place where nearly 100% of the time, you hands, nails & rings must make contact with it. As you can imagine, mine has its fair share of scuffs and it is really unsightly. Apparently, I am not the only person experiencing this. Mine looks pretty close to the one posted on those forums. It is likely that this will be my last Hyundai for a while.
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2013 HYUNDAI AZERA SEDAN
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00136 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI GENESIS 3.8L V6
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00132 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI SANTA FE SPORT AWD
36 Month – Residual 58% of MSRP – .00119 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI ELANTRA GLS AT
36 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00081 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI ACCENT SEDAN GLS AT
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00081 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI GENESIS COUPE 2.0T AT
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00110Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI SONATA GLS AT
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00067 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI SONATA SE 2.0T
36 Month – Residual 57% of MSRP – .00109 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI SONATA LIMITED 2.0T
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00146 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI TUCSON AWD GLS
36 Month – Residual 53% of MSRP – .00053 Base Rate
2013 HYUNDAI VELOSTER COUPE AT
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00033 Base Rate
Manufacturers these days seem to do a two-pronged approach. First, they need to load their features. Second, they need to de-content to lower the price. I call this “the Hyundai effect” as people now often use Hyundai to benchmark the other makes, even the luxury makes (For example, my friend, a Lexus salesman, notices people cross-shop Lexus and Hyundai). This results in lower grade materials used throughout, especially in not so visible areas. Newer MBs, BMWs (Compare X1 and 1990’s 318ti interiors), and USDM VWs are the forefront examples of it. Even Lexus does so in a less obvious way (hidden areas).
Manufacturers can always dodge complaints like yours and hide behind “normal wears and tears.” My sympathy toward your situation. On the positive side, aren’t you glad that you lease and not purchased it? The powertrain would probably last beyond the 10 years warranty but what’s the point of it if the interior is all worn or torn.
On a side note, at autoshows, we do our fingernail test: touch here and there with our fingernails to see the effects (for those who concern about ethics, we just touch to simulate daily situation, not clawing anything). Unfortunately, Korean and American makes usually don’t do well in this test. So, I am supporting your finding.
Best wishes.
I think Hyundai will get it right though. I mean, if they actually fixed the steering wheel issue and replaced some of the cheaper materials, they would have a true winner on their hands. I can’t see that making prices jump too significantly.