Is The 2024 Hyundai Sonata Worth Your Attention?

Last month, I had the chance to drive and explore the 2024 Hyundai Sonata, a mid-size sedan that has been heavily updated for the 2024 model year. The 8th generation of the Hyundai Sonata has been competing quite well with the bestsellers like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord.

However, in the recent few years, Hyundai has improved the quality of their cars and packaging, remarkably! And a lot of buyers who would prefer a Japanese model 10 years ago, are picking up the Sonata these days.

The premium interior, improved reliability, better looks, everything counts as a favor to the 2024 Hyundai Sonata. Plus, Hyundai has added AWD to the 2024 Sonata for the first time ever, and in total, this sounds like a package to lure over!

So without further ado, let's jump straight into the review.

How Is The 2024 Hyundai Sonata's Sedan Design?

As I mentioned earlier, the 2024 Hyundai Sonata has received a major update with the 2024 facelift, and the first change you'll notice is in the exterior.

In recent times, Hyundai seems to have upgraded its design language to a more boxy shape, instead of the earlier one that focused on being curvy and rounded. Hence, we have a long hood as before, but thanks to the straight shape, it feels more elongated and elegant in a way!

The headlamps are completely different and housed in the front bumper's lower portion. I like the LED bar that goes across the hood, kinda looks better than the earlier catfish-type design in my opinion.

When you come to the side, almost everything feels similar to the previous generation. I mean, in most major facelifts the side profile remains quite the same as the chassis doesn't see any upgrade at all. The front profile and the rear are the ones to be played with only!

At the back, the whole tail-lamp setup has been reorganized with more rectangular housings just the way we saw in front. You also have a red LED stripe going across the rear profile, and overall the whole setup makes it look quite futuristic and timeless.

The best part is that, even if you're choosing a base spec model, the SEL which comes at an MSRP of $27,500, you get a full LED headlamp and tail lamp setup, which not only looks cool but also increases the visibility of yours and of other people on the road.

Interior Of The 2024 Hyundai Sonata

The exterior is not only the place where the Sonata has been upgraded to a tee, but the interior sees significant changes as well. The steering wheel has a simple design instead of the flashy ones that we see in most other cars today.

By the way, there's a cool column shifter with the 2024 Sonata this time! Yes, you heard me right, and it does give you a bit of Mercedes-Benz vibes.

The dashboard has been changed almost entirely from the pre-facelift model, and you'll hardly recognize it as a Sonata from the inside. The layout is way simpler than before, and you have one big display that houses the touchscreen infotainment display and the instrument cluster.

If you have read my reviews about the BMW 3 Series & the M340i earlier, you'll remember how the German automaker has also started following a similar type of dashboard layout. However, in contrast, what I love about the 2024 Sonata's interior is the availability of physical buttons to control the air conditioning and music system.

The reason why I said so is that it is quite distracting with touchscreen controls when you adjust the car's temperature or music system while driving. It's dangerous in some aspects and most manufacturers should keep the essential controls as physical buttons.

Other than the dashboard, you have a very spacious and comfortable interior inside the 2024 Hyundai Sonata. The seats are very comfortable, and it's got a roomy rear cabin as well.

What About The Driving Experience?

Even with front-wheel drive, you still have a vehicle that handles very, very well. On the SEL trim level, you can now opt for all-wheel drive if you so desire. So that's good to know for those who may be seeking all-wheel drive. And you'll also find comfortable ride quality. When we say the ride quality is comfortable, it may not be Cadillac butter smooth, but at the same time, it's still extremely comfortable. And when you need to get around a slower-moving vehicle, We didn't really get on the pedal all that hard to do that. It wasn't a big deal at all.

You may pick up a little bit of wind noise and wonder if it's that bad. We'll have winds gusting to about 15 to 20 mph, so there's a little bit of an increase. One thing we did want to say is that you'll probably like the screen that we paired with our smartphone, an iPhone, so we’re using Apple CarPlay here. This is probably one of the easiest systems to pair because you have verbal instructions that are given to you on the screen that basically walks you through the process. It's very easy to deal with—probably the easiest wireless pairing of my smartphone to any vehicle.

So that's nice to know that it's there. The technology here is easy to deal with, it looks nice, and it looks modern, but that doesn't mean it's complicated.

Is The 2024 Hyundai Sonata SEL Worth Every Penny?

Overall, we think it is a very well-rounded vehicle, especially for the price point of the vehicle. It seems to be doing really well. But we would suggest, from our experience, that you don't have to go with the SEL trim level.