2013 Hyundai Sonata 2.4L 4 cylinder

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It's a long story of which I will spare most of the details, but I am essentially being given a low mile (20ish K miles) 2013 Hyundai Sonata by my mom late this year. Her intent is to give it to me so that my now 14 year old son will have something to drive when he turns 16 in slightly more than a year. Please spare me the privilege lecture. I've already had the debate with myself several times, but with 1 kid in college and another on his way there in 4 years, it is difficult to turn down a free car.
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I'll check out the manual and make sure it has high quality oil and filters, following their recommended OCI schedule while it is under warranty, and will take it to my mechanic just to give it the quick once over. Does anyone have any experience with these cars reliability/maintenance wise? I just want to know if there are any particular issues or idiosyncrasies I should be aware of. I'll find a Hyundai forum one of these days, but I am partial to BITOG for now.

Also, I was not sure if this post would be best served in this forum or the Automotive General Topics one. Hope I got it correct. Feel free to relocate if not.

Thanks!
 
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I have had two hyundai's and two kia's , Just about any brand synthetic oil in 5w20 or 30 and hyundai filters are hard to beat. never had any issues with that combo.

I really would care less about what what other people think !! good for your son if grandma wants to give him a car.

For me i would want my child to respect such a gift and realize its true worth and value.
 
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Originally Posted By: hemitom
I have had two hyundai's and two kia's , Just about any brand synthetic oil in 5w20 or 30 and hyundai filters are hard to beat. never had any issues with that combo.

I really would care less about what what other people think !! good for your son if grandma wants to give him a car.

For me i would want my child to respect such a gift and realize its true worth and value.


Thank you for the insights on both subjects. I appreciate it. I've never owned a Korean car, but I've always liked the look of the Kia Optima and have enjoyed driving it seveal times as a rental car. The new (or soon to be released) Kia Stinger looks like it might be a cool car too.
 
They're decently reliable.

2011-2014 2.4L had engine manufacturing issues that resulted in metal shavings being left behind. Engine warranties have been extended to at least 120k miles. There's a longer oil dipstick they put in them too as part of the recall. If you look it up on Google there's a lot of info.
 
Had a 2013 Sonata that I passed on to my son. It got totalled in an ice storm, no one hurt. He ended up with a low mileage 2015 KIA Rio.
Sonata was a great car, great fuel economy.
Use OEM oil filters, and any brand 5W-20 oil. In Canada, Hyundai calls for 3,750 mile OCI.
Hyundai increased engine warranty to iirc 10 years, 160,000 kms for Canada due to engine manufacturing issues.
Regular warranty is 60,000 miles, 5 years for Canada.
 
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my sister had an accent I believe, a newer one. I advised her against it as it was a kia and it was a rental car. I was surprised. It turned out to be a good car that never gave her trouble while she owned it. It got good gas mileage too even though it didn't give her what they claimed. I believe there was a class action lawsuit on that.
 
My favorite Hyundai forum with its YF sub-forum is this:
http://www.hyundai-forums.com/yf-2011-sonata-i45

I have NF gen (2009 Sonata) w/ I4 and 5-speed auto. Getting close to 100K miles. It's quite different than 2011+ vehicles but overall has been pretty reliable. Have used Peak conventional, Castrol synblend and Mobil synthetic. Wear numbers improved a bit when I switched from 5w20 to 5w30. Have been using OEM filters for a while now. They are not very expensive if purchased in bulk. Overall, my 2.4L pre-GDI engine is pretty easy on oil.
 
My wife has a 2012 Santa Fe with the 2.4L. Great car. I have used synthetic (until last oil change where I went to a blend) and mostly OEM or WIX filters. Manual says either 5W-20 or 30. I normally use 20 weight but with the AutoZone end of year sales, I get what they have. No issues and engine very clean. Always used 5,000 mile intervals.
 
In 40k miles, my 2011 2.4L sonata has required a steering coupler (recall), starter (non warranty).

Car drives nicely but pings on anything besides 93 octane. So I feed it 93.

It also uses a bit of oil. I am currently feeding it Synpower 5w30.
 
My DD is an older Hyundai, 2010 with 2.4L
Have just over 130k on the clock.
I started out using 5w-20 (that's whats on the fill cap) but somewhere between 50-60k I switched to 5w-30 PYB and still using that.
Always 5k OCIs and always OEM filters.
At 105k I changed the plugs, coolant, brake pads, battery. And besides tires and the routine oil/filter changes, that's it. Runs and sounds like the day I bought it.
 
The 2011-2014 engines have an issue with spun rod bearings, that's what's driving the media coverage of the "manufacturing issue". Keep an eye on the oil level, some report that their engines ran completely out of oil in a relatively short distance.

That said they're a nice driving car and roomy.

I switched mine to 5w30 today as I previously had a non-DI version of this same engine and it definitely ran better on 5w30, quieter and didn't consume oil. It consumed 5w20 and was louder.
 
Check your VIN for the Recall 162 which is what has been referenced in prior posts. If the VIN is part of the recall, take it in and they will perform an acoustical test on the engine.


As for maintenance, just stick to the MM and don't ignore creaks and odd noises. Hyundai's are actually pretty reliable and will last a long while if taken care of. My advice would be to use the 5W-30 over 5W-20. That's what I use and haven't noticed any real drop in MPG in my '17 Elantra.


Many folks swear by the OEM filter as it's cheap and Hyundai won't give you any issues should there be a need for warranty work. However, if you browse hyundai-forums.com they have done tests on the OEM filter and it performs pretty poorly when stacked up against M1.

Mobil1 filter particle counts:
ISO Code (3): 15/14/12
>= 2 Micron: 479
>= 5 Micron: 177
>= 10 Micron: 49
>= 15 Micron: 19
>= 25 Micron: 4 (typical aftermarket filter rated to 20micron)
>= 50 Micron: 0
>= 100 Micron: 0

Hyundai OEM 26300 35503:
ISO Code (3): 17/17/14
>= 2 Micron: 2474
>= 5 Micron: 916
>= 10 Micron: 253
>= 15 Micron: 98
>= 25 Micron: 23
>= 50 Micron: 2
>= 100 Micron: 0

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/yf-2011-sonata-i45/130394-dissection-oem-hyundai-filter-6.html

The general consensus is to run aftermarket filters with silicone ADBVs.
 
Thank you for the insight/advice/details, everyone. I believe it has only been serviced at the dealer since new, so I should have easy access to the records and will double check that all recalls have been addressed. Even though I am usually partial to Napa Gold/Platinum, or Fram Ultra filters, it sounds like the reasonable thing to do is to go with OEM filters and a premium 5W-30 at the manual recommended OCI, at least while under warranty. I'm thinking Castrol Magnatec or PP may be good choices.
 
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