Thinking about getting 2009 Hyundai sonata? im thinking about get a 2009 Hyundai sonata gls financed through my bank. On the website its 48 k miles on but on the car fax its has a mileage inconsistency. The car has had 2 owners also. First owner had it for 4 years and the second for 3 and a half. what do you guys think?
on 07/11/2012 it had 38,050 miles and then thats when the inconsistency is reported
Then on 11/29/2012 it says it has 13,783 miles And today its has 47,847
Instead of 47,847 k could it posiibly have 85,897 (38,050+47,847) miles on it. How many miles do you think it really has on it? Or should i just move on to another dealer? Thanks in advance
As it says, it could be a clerical error, with 13,783 should be 43783.
What are they asking? Unless it’s a very good deal, I’d walk away.
Inspect the actual car first.
Your own hands on inspection is more valuable that anything. Take it to YOUR machanic and offer to pay them for their time . Accompany them under the car to see and hear everything they do.
THEN . . go on your instinct.
Does this seem o.k. to you now ? Then buy it.
It really should feel right after inspection. . .ie; ‘‘yes, I would like that car.’’
CarFax is a subscription service only ( a shop needs to ‘‘belong’’ to their system , they do NO data mining ).
Knowing that , you know that they can only have on their report those few times that a shop actually TOLD them something. Most shops do not tell CarFax anything and those that belong may not tell them everything.
with an $500 trade in and with taxes and dealer fees and all that total is $8,944. im getting it financed thru my bank. We looked under the hood everything looks good and clean tires look really good. when we drove it it drove very smooth. It seems like a really good car the mileage inconsistency just made me second guess about the car.
@shakhyjah We still recommend a qualified mechanic check out the car. It costs around $90-$100 to do that, but it might uncover things not apparent by a casual inspection.
Did you check the transmission dipstick for example, and the color and cleanliness of the fluid?
Either way you look at it, this is a low mileage car. Just check it out and see what you think. I would point out the reports inconsistency to the dealer and use it for negotiation leverage.
yes checked transmission fluid, checked oil, checked coolant it looked good. i think im going to get the car but i am going to take your advice and get the car checked
with an $500 trade in and with taxes and dealer fees and all that total is $8,944.
Absolutely not. I would not take out a loan for any Hyundai not made in this decade. They were starting to turn it around by 2009 but their reliability was still sub-par. I would not want to put myself in a position where I increased the odds of still owing money on a car that needs very expensive repairs.
Doesn’t the price seem a little on the high side?
I agree with @shadowfax . . . it’s a little old to be recommended
If it were a 2014, for example, it’d be a different story
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really like the idea of financing such a comparatively old car. Can’t imagine you’d get a very good rate
From what I hear, it makes sense to finance a new car, not so much a used car
But I just have second-hand knowledge, because I’ve never financed a car in my life 
I really should not post this but this might be an occasion where low interest on an inexpensive new vehicle makes more sense. I shall whisper the name Mitsubushi Mirage.
I think I agree with Volvo. Why risk it on a used car with no warranty? If the tires look really good at that mileage, they have been replaced. If they have been replaced, you can’t tell if the tires are wearing normally or if there is an alignment or frame problem.
I can’t speak to the price or financing, but one caution is that when the mileage has an inconsistency, one cause might be that the engine computer has been replaced. B/c of the multitude of software and hardware compatibility requirements with engine computer replacement, I’d recommend to avoid purchasing a car if it had that problem. I concur w/the advice pretty much always given here to have any used car inspected by your own mechanic before writing any checks. Suggest to ask your mechanic as part of that inspection if it appears the engine computer has been replaced.
Every time someone asks about a used car purchase I sense the buyers’ remorse.
In this case the car has somewhat of a tarnished history since nobody would ever know what the mileage is.
The bigger problem is the loan, unless it is from a credit union with reasonable rates, the used car loans from other places almost always make it not worth buying a used car. Might as well buy a new car, low interest rate and payments closed to the used one and at least have peace of mind and no repair costs for a few years.
The loan was from a bank which should be a reasonable rate but not the lowest. A credit union would have a lower rate.
Consumer Reports says the 2009 Hyundai GLS is in general a better than average used car.
Edmunds states that this car with 48,000 miles in clean condition, auto trans, and no options is worth about $8200. There is a $1700 premium for the low mileage.
If this car was registered in your state by both owners, then you could contact your DMV and ask them what the mileage on the car was when it was sold. The DMV will have a record of the mileage when the car was transferred between the first two owners and when sold the second time. All they need is the VIN, and that is on the CarFax. Call the DMV Tuesday and see if they have the data. There also might be a feature on line at the DMV site that lets you check the mileage when the car was transferred. You could try that tonight and see if it exists.
I would think the OP would have made a decision by now.
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I didn’t look at the date. It showed up at the top of the queue and I thought it was fairly new.
This new website definitely has some characteristics, which I consider to be weaknesses
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