2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport on 2040-cars

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Edmunds ranks the best used cars for 2013

When people ask us what car we would recommend for them, it's usually not easy to answer. To make a useful recommendation we must consider which of the numerous vehicle segments fits their needs best, and then choose one of the many vehicles offered in each segment. For some people, new cars don't meet their expectations of value, because they lose so much of it the moment they are purchased and driven off the dealer lot. For them, there's always the used-car market, where great deals can be found, but cars' histories of reliability and maintenance records - and perhaps that Certified Pre-Owned warranty - become ever-important factors playing into purchase choice.
To help out, Edmunds has done us the favor of assembling a list of the best used vehicles money can buy, covering model years 2006-2011, according to what it considers the most important criteria when shopping for used autos: reliability, safety, value and availability. That means unreliable, unsafe, super-expensive or limited-edition models don't appear on the list, but instead cars from each segment that are more likely to satisfy the general population.
There are some real goodies on the list, including but not limited to vehicles such as the capable Honda Fit, the cultish Honda Accord coupe (which can be had with a 240-horsepower V6 and a six-speed manual transmission some years), and the powerful Chevrolet Corvette. While Edmunds' choice of the Volvo C70 for best used convertible baffled us at first (not that it's a bad car), it redeemed itself by stating that the Mazda MX-5 still is an unofficial top choice if you don't require more than two seats.

2018 Hyundai Sonata Sport Quick Spin Review | Returning to the revolution

The 2018 Hyundai Sonata represents a course correction of the sort that just wasn't needed with the previous-generation model. Besides a few added features here and there, that car really didn't change much during the course of its lifetime, and frankly, it didn't need to. When something works, don't screw it up. It arrived at a time when Honda and Toyota were pretty much phoning it in, and boasted a revolutionary design that quite literally changed the way midsize family sedans look to this day. Toyota designer Ian Cartabiano told me that Sonata was one of the few cars over the years that made his fellow designers wake up a bit and realize the game was changing. Then, after staging a revolution, Hyundai played it safe. The Sonata introduced three years ago was conservative to the point of anonymity outside, while not really moving the needle on the vehicle dynamics front. If there was one, clear area where that revolutionary Sonata fell short -- and indeed virtually every Hyundai -- it was in the sophistication and poise it demonstrated out on the road. Well, after the cool reception to the model redesign, Hyundai got a wake up call of its own. This 2018 Hyundai Sonata gets a rather significant facelift, adopting the curvy trapezoidal grille found on more recently introduced models, and ditching its conservative anonymity for a more organic overall appearance certainly in keeping with its "Fluidic Sculpture" predecessor. The rear was also redone with more tapered, dare I say "aggressive" taillights and the license plate relocated to the bumper. Is the end result a great-looking car? Shoulder shrug, but it's sure better than before. Compare the 2018 Hyundai Sonata to its rivals using the Autoblog Compare Cars tool. 2018 Hyundai Sonata Sport View 5 Photos However, I knew the 2018 Sonata looked different. I was quite frankly not expecting it to drive different, because when you review cars long enough, you start to know what a particular brand's cars feel like behind the wheel. There'll be subtle changes over the years, but the language remains the same. Well, the Sonata has been hitting the Rosetta Stone. The change is immediately apparent. The on-center steering feel is crisp, the turn-in more immediate and effort is consistent. It just feels "right" now whereas before turning the Sonata was one of numb indifference.

2019 Hyundai Santa Fe production version shown in first photos

Hyundai is continuing to trickle out information about the redesigned 2019 Santa Fe crossover, this time releasing exterior and interior images that give us a good sense of the production version. It'll get its world premiere later this month before making its official bow in Geneva in March. Hyundai had previously released a darkened teaser photograph that showed the profile of the three-row crossover, its largest passenger car, then last week a pair of official renderings that showed a hulking, muscular SUV. The new exterior image shows the Santa Fe from virtually the same angle, and it reveals a few differences from the most recent renderings. For starters, the greenhouse is more generous, not as narrow as in the rendering. The massive wheels have been brought down to a less aggressive size, and the production version isn't quite so bulging down the flanks. But it keeps the Cascading grille, the upright fascia, twin headlights and the prominent crease along the profile just below the windows. The fourth-generation SUV also grows in size, with a length of 187.8 inches, width of 74.4 inches and a longer wheelbase, giving it a wide, athletic stance. Inside, Hyundai says there's more room for passengers, with enhanced visibility and a horizontal layout, with a center touchscreen atop a relatively uncluttered console. The Santa Fe will come equipped with Hyundai's new rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, which helps warn of approaching vehicles when the driver reverses out of areas with poor visibility and apply the brakes automatically when an oncoming vehicle is detected. It also gets safety exit assist technology, which Hyundai says temporarily locks the doors when it detects vehicles approaching from behind — presumably meaning in those situations where you're about to open your door in a parking space as a car pulls into the spot next to you.Related Video: