When Life Hands You Lemons ... Make Good Lemonade

We had a very annoying accident last week. Hit and run driver took out the right rear quarter panel of my beloved Sonata. I won't have it back until sometime after July 4th. I actually miss my car.

Right now, I am driving a 2013 Toyota Camry that looks just the one in the picture. (I guess I should say that my insurance company is treating me very nicely.) It is a very nice car that reminds me a lot of what expensive American cars used to feel like. The ride is very quiet. The feel is solid. However, the suspension is mushy and while the acceleration leaves a bit to be desired, it is really quiet acceptable for a large sedan. It's just not nearly as good as my Hyundai with the same size engine and fuel economy ratings.

The six way power seats are better than my Hyundai's. They are solid and very comfortable. However, the touch screen LCD sound system, while full of features, does not work nearly as well as the less expensive and less complicated system on my Hyundai. It apparently does not recognize voice dialing from my cell phone. In my Hyundai, all I have to do is hit the button and tell it who I want to call. It does the rest. The Toyota actually makes you dial the number either on the phone or on the touch screen. The controls for the sound system are very busy and complicated. And, it does not have satellite radio, a standard feature on all Sonatas.

The Camry is a solid feeling, predictable, perfectly acceptable sedan. But, my Sonata feels and looks younger and sportier. The Camry's performance is perfectly adequate for what it is. The Sonata is fun to drive. Not a sports car exactly but certainly no slouch on the freeway. The Camry feels heavy. The Sonata feels light. The controls on the Camry are if anything over-engineered. The controls on the Sonata are well thought out and intuitive. Bottom line, glad to have the Camry right now but also glad I don't have to keep it.

July 5, 2012 - I will give the Camry back to the dealership today and pick up my repaired Sonata. I had a chance to take it on a road trip yesterday and found it to be perfectly acceptable as a road car, quiet, comfortable and convenient in almost all respects. The fuel economy is about 10% less on the road than my Sonata, the Camry averaging a little under 30 mpg. while my Sonata almost always averages 32-33 mpg. on the road. I did notice that acceleration improved a bit after the car had limbered up a bit. But take note, the torque curve (or now the computer settings) on the Camry require that you really put your foot down to get crisp performance where the Sonata is crisper in the mid throttle range. Bottom line, the Sonata would probably be about ten to twenty percent quicker than the Camry but because of the throttle/computer settings, the Sonata FEELS a lot quicker. Bottom line, the Camry I had was a good car. Solid, comfortable, heavy/expensive feeling and very quiet. But, sexy it ain't either inside or out. And, the Sonata is.