washingtonpost.com's view
“Do you feel like you abandoned your people in the housing projects?” I asked the man.
He stood in the doorway of his new home in suburban New Orleans.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-two,” I said.
“That’s old enough to know better,” he said. “Nobody wants to stay in housing projects. I didn’t work my butt off to stay poor.”
That was 29 years ago, when I was a rookie reporter. It was an instructive moment, recalled during a recent drive in a 1999 Hyundai Sonata GLS sedan.
There was a time, if you couldn’t afford a car, you might’ve been able to buy a Hyundai. A Hyundai wasn’t a car. It was a cheap ride. You used it until you used it up, like a bus or subway token. And when you finished, you trashed it and got another one.
But the people who drove those Hyundai cars back in 1986, when the Korean automaker opened shop in America, wanted something better. Heck, Hyundai wanted something better. So, Hyundai began movin’ on up — and the 1999 Sonata GLS is proof.
This is no motorized version of a cold-water flat. It’s a car, a full-fledged, mid-size, front-wheel-drive family sedan, to be exact. And it runs well against everything in the mid-size segment, including the leading Toyota Camry and Honda Accord sedans.
How did Hyundai do it? The company worked its butt off. It went to school on consumer needs and wants. It studied styling, fit, finish and ergonomics, and it took all of those lessons seriously.
But mostly, Hyundai decided to compete in the U.S. market and win, with or without consideration of price. That meant scrapping an aggressive discount strategy, a risky move for a company that built its reputation on the cheap. But the 1999 Sonata should help Hyundai pull it off.
This car looks good inside and out, which is no small thing. Most folks don’t want to buy ugly. They choose clothes, jewelry, hairstyles and almost every other personal externality to enhance appearance. They choose cars and trucks the same way.
In that regard, the new Sonata is an easy choice. Put it next to a Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Mazda 626 or Chevrolet Malibu, and you’ll see what I mean. The Sonata stands out. It’s the sassy one with the wide, elliptical grille. It has classy lines that flow from the front fender and disappear into the side doors before emerging triumphantly in the rear panels.
The rear end, with its large lamps and modestly arched trunk lid, is finished nicely. And there are no egregious gaps between seams, as existed between the hoods and front grilles of earlier Sonata models.
The new Sonata’s instrument panel is a work of oval perfection with large controls and gauges. Interior fit and finish are excellent, though the wood-grain trim applied therein is discernibly and distressingly fake.
Seating is comfortable for five adults in the Sonata, which, like the test car, offers leather-faced seats as an option.
Performance? Suffice it to say that the new Sonata runs well. If it w ere bricks and mortar, it would be a well-kept, split-level suburban home — nothing fancy, but enough to show that you work for a living and are proud of your place in the world.
1999 Hyundai Sonata GLS Sedan
Complaints: The new Sonata is more tightly constructed than its predecessor. But it’s also 334 pounds lighter, which is great for fuel economy but lousy for overall feel. At 3,128 pounds, the new Sonata feels like a feather in highway crosswinds, especially in a driver-only, lightly loaded mode.
Praise: Excellent styling and build quality. Comfortable, reliable and easy to drive. And though the Sonata is no longer a cheapie, it is generally less expensive than the competition, especially considering its long list of standard equipment. That makes it a bargain.
Head-turning quotient: One of the prettiest mid-size cars available.
Engines: There are two, a standard, 2.4-liter, in-line four-cylinder, double-overhead cam job designed to produce 1 49 horsepow er at 5,500 rpm and 156 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm; and the tested 2.5-liter V-6 churning out 170 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 166 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. A five-speed manual transmission is standard with both engines. An electronically controlled, four-speed automatic is optional. Test car was automatic.
Ride, acceleration and handling: Competitive across-the-board in all three categories. Good braking. Power four-wheel-disc brakes, ventilated front, with anti-locks available on the V-6 model. Four-cylinder car gets power front disks/rear drums.
Safety: Dual-front and side air bags standard. Passenger Presence Detection System prevents passenger bags from deploying if front-passenger seat is empty.
Capacities: Trunk volume is 13.2 cubic feet. Fuel tank holds 17.2 gallons of regular unleaded.
Mileage: About 23 miles per gallon in city-highway driving. Estimated 385-mile range on usable volume of fuel.
Sound system: AM/FM stereo radio with compact disc, installed by Hyundai. Good.
Price: Base price on the tested Sonata GLS is $17,799. Dealer invoice price on that model is $15,915. Price as tested is $19,512, including $1,278 in options and a $435 destination charge.
Purse-strings note: It’s a buy.
Latest news


