I just broke the 200,000 mile mark in my 2008 Hyundai Sonata. The most amazing part about it is that after driving all those miles, this car has never broken down or needed any repairs other than basic maintenance (oil changes, tires, spark plugs once, battery once). I've known many people who drove their car more than 200,000 miles, but usually the car needed several repairs in that time.Not only that, but I haven't exactly treated this car very well. I've been good about oil changes, but let's face it: I have treated this car pretty roughly. It's primarily been a work vehicle and has had 6 foot ladders jammed into it, been driven off road, slammed into snow banks, and the front bumper is literally held together with wire ties (as a result of my snow adventure). Not only that, but I have also loaned out my car to several of the young whippersnappers at our church for thousands of miles on end for both church and business related uses. Some of them did not drive it as gently as I do . Yet, 200,000 miles later, it still runs great and has never broken down! Either God has supernaturally blessed this vehicle, the Hyundai Sonata is a super-reliable car, or both!
In addition, back when I was traveling a lot, I slept in my car approximately 200 times (one year I actually counted, and it came out to 65), usually with the engine running. That means that for hundreds of hours the engine was running in the "Hyundai Hotel" a.k.a. "Sonata Suites" without even logging any miles on the odometer! Yet the car still runs like new!
Well, this weekend I had my first car trouble with this car. However, it can't be blamed on the car or the Koreans who built it since it was completely my fault. I was stretching my legs on a long drive and accidentally kicked the sensor on the brake pedal and broke it. This caused the speedometer to go to zero and the check engine light to come on. It also would not allow me to shift the car from drive to park or vice versa without pushing the shift lock release button with a screwdriver. I tried to put it back together, but it was too broken. I continued to drive the car like that until I could get it to a Hyundai dealer. The replacement part was only $7.58! I installed it myself, replaced the fuse (the car came with 3 spares), and my car was back to normal.
When this car finally gives up the ghost, I will probably just turn around and buy another Hyundai Sonata because this car has been great.
