My very first impression of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0T was that it is a man’s car. My theory is that Hyundai wanted to design a car for men who like driving a tough car, but who are now hauling kids around.
And if that was Hyundai’s plan, I’d say they did an excellent job.
All week, the guys I work with, as well as my guy friends I have seen this week, have approached me after seeing the car: “Hey, is that the new 2015 Hyundai Sonata? That thing is sharp!”
They already knew more than I did about the Sonata, which tells me: Men are attracted to this car.
That is the official concensus of the modern dads I know after seeing this car.
As I drove it around this week, with my son in the back seat, I have to admit: I felt like I was pretty big stuff.
The sharp angles of the rear view mirrors, the “ninja throwing star” wheels, the extremely low ground effects on the front… all very nice to look at and to drive.
Here’s a “2 minute walk around” of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata that I made, by the way:
Now that I’ve established the demographics that this is a man’s car, which doubles as a very effecient family car, I want to point out what my wife and son thought of it.
My 4 year-old son’s favorite features include the panoramic sunroof and the fold down back seat. Each day as I’ve dropped him off at school, I let him crawl through to the trunk, where I lifted him out.
It’s a fairly large opening, since the entire seat folds down.
My wife’s favorite features included the heated/cooled seats in the back, the over all comfort level of the interior, and the user-friendliness of anchors for the car seat.
Another feature that I definitely appreciated was that I was alerted one morning when one of the tires was low on air.
So I stopped at the gas station and filled up the low tire (like a boss), being able to see on the screen that I had put enough, in real time.
Those are my thoughts. I’m curious to know what other guys who have driven it have to say. I really don’t think I’m wrong in my synopsis, though.
Like I said, it’s a car for men who like driving a tough car, but who are now hauling kids around; a perfect marriage of sporty and practical.
I hope you have enjoyed my family friendly review of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata, which is manufactured in Alabama.
Come back again soon!
As shown: $34,460.00.
MPG: averages 26.
Catch up on the entire series of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!
For the rest of this week, go ahead and expect to see several upcoming exciting stories about events that took place last week, while our family was fortunate to review the 2014 Lexus RX 450h from a family friendly perspective…
But first, I would like to highlight the features of this vehicle that stood out the most to our family of three.
In my “2 Minute Walk Around” video above, I mentioned that driving the Lexus RX 450 is like when Super Mario hops in the cloud and drives it. With this vehicle being hybrid, you can’t really hear the engine, providing for an extremely quiet ride and idle.
As you can expect from a Lexus luxury vehicle, the cabin itself is like a really classy lounge. My wife always loves it when we review a vehicle with heated and cooled seats.
This was the first time I actually used them myself. Obviously, as you can see from these photos, things got a bit frosty; so I definitely took advantage of the “bun warmers” feature.
I know this may sound like a peculiar feature to highlight, but I really loved the gear shifter. Granted, this was an automatic transmission. But ergonomically, the shifter handle is in the perfect place and I really liked how the handle was a bit longer than most; it somehow made it glide more naturally than most vehicles I have driven.
Like every Lexus SUV I have ever reviewed, all I have to do is just press the button on the “fifth door” and it closes by itself. That’s always fun.
As for my 4 year-old son Jack, it was very obvious what he liked most about the Lexus RX 450h; the DVD screens on the back of the front screens, with Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound (15 speakers.)
It was like Jack’s own private theatre in the back seat.
One of his aunts just happened to send him a Christmas present which included a Berenstain Bears DVD.
After I saw how special he felt back there, I decided to cash in some points at Best Buy and let him pick out another DVD.
He chose Disney’s Dinosaur, which is perfectly appropriate and relevant for him at this age.
There’s my quick overview. If you have $60,190 to spend on a new luxury SUV, I can’t imagine how the 2014 Lexus RX 450h would be a wrong choice for your family. I didn’t even mention that fact it averages 29 miles per gallon!
So stay tuned for upcoming posts this week involving the 2014 Lexus RX 450h; including going to see Marvel Universe Live, Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shop, and a Nerf birthday party where they shipped in snow for the kids to play in!
Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!
Well, this weekend you were quite excited when Mommy and I learned that Abbi’s birthday actually had a costume theme.
While I tried to convince you just to wear your Ninja Turtle hoodie and be Donatello, you insisted on wearing your costume from Madison.
The logistical problem with that is that we had already boxed it up in our storage unit, as our new house should be ready by the end of next month.
Mommy was up for the challenge so we loaded up in the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe we have been driving this week, as we await the news of whether or not my own car will be totaled thanks the albino deer that hit me on the way home the night before Thanksgiving.
Something really cool about every Hyundai I have reviewed is that basically the entire ceiling is a moon roof. You love that! You love being able to see so much of what’s going on.
Mommy’s favorite feature of the Santa Fe is the heated seats, especially this time of year.
My favorite thing about it is the size. Now more than ever, I like a good strong SUV that help protect me in the event I get hit by another albino deer. Hyundais are just nice vehicles anyway, as I’ve been quick to mention in my other reviews of them.
Speaking of safety, I also really appreciate the Blind Spot Detection System, which alerts me anytime another vehicle or object is getting dangerously close to me. (After having recently been hit by a deer, this is something I’m quite sensitive to this days!)
And not to mention, the back-up camera saves me a lot of worries too. (See below the relevant song that happened to come up on XM radio this week while we were driving the Santa Fe.)
Well, thanks to Mommy’s supreme packing skills, she was able to pull up the door of our storage unit, then immediately open up the box with your super hero costume! You then curiously asked about your monster trucks- she found that box too.
Before Abbi’s birthday party, we decided we should stop by our new house which is still under construction and see the latest updates.
Afterwards, as part of our tradition, we stopped by the model home so you could say hi to the in-house real estate agent. You had hidden a piece of foam (which you refer to as your “pizza parlor”) in the bushes and decided to crawl under the Christmas tree as a gift… because that’s normal for 4 year-old boys, I assume. (See top picture, again.)
When we arrived to Abbi’s party, we were greeted by hens, which we fed some dried worms to.
Once we walked inside the house, I was glad we had found your costume beforehand, because I realized your Ninja Turtle hoodie wasn’t quite enough for this costume-themed party.
You kept your eye mask on the entire drive and at least the first 30 minutes of the party.
And of course, your friend Madison (who gave you the costume) was so happy to see you wearing it. (Pictured below.)
You were lucky: you basically got to have an all-you-can-eat sweets buffet while we were there.
So we decided having dinner at Whole Foods would be a good way to offset that, but first we stopped to see some Christmas lights along the way.
Needless to say, we had a really fun week in the Santa Fe. And you especially had fun, being a super hero the whole time!
Love,
Daddy
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Standard Features:
5 year/60,000 mile New Vehicle Warranty
10 year/100,000 mile Powertrain Warranty
7 year/Unlimited mile and Perforation Warranty
5 year/Unlimited mile Roadside Assistance
Advanced Safety Technology:
Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) with Traction Control
ABS with Electronic Brake Force Distribution & Brake Assist
So last weekend I broke my Grandma out of the nursing home without anyone knowing it, then I pushed her in her wheelchair a mile down the road while she wore a “seatbelt” we made from a rolled up blanket…
Wait, actually, that’s probably not the best way to start this story. Let me try again.
The last time my Grandma had seen her younger brother Bob was back in the summer of 1987, back when I was six years old, when we took a family vacation road trip to Buffalo, New York where my Grandma and my mom are from.
That was 27 years ago…
But then randomly this year, my great-Uncle Bob decided that he wanted to visit my Grandma (his sister) by train with his girlfriend (he’s never been in a plane and he’s only left the state of New York once).
So I decided it would definitely be worth the 2 and a half hour drive from Nashville where we live, to my hometown in Alabama; taking my own family (my wife Jill and my son Jack) to witness this great reunion- 27 years in the making!
And to make things even more fun, we were able to review the 2014 Lexus GX 460 in the process. Which, for the record, was my personal favorite out of all the many Lexus vehicles I have reviewed within the past year.
The way it drove reminded me of the Toyota Tacoma, my favorite Toyota vehicle, which I reviewed on my 33rd birthday back in April.
My wife Jill appreciated was how spacious the 2014 Lexus GX 460 is. We had to transport some of our son’s toys to my parents’ house; as we are in the process of building a new house (as I recently wrote about when I reviewed the 2014 Lexus GS 450h) and needed a place to store some things.
Meanwhile, my son Jack loved the stadium seating in the back because he could see everything that I could from the driver’s seat. Also, it has a 3rdrow seat from can fold up from the very back.
He convinced us to let him sit in the very back for the entire round trip! Not to mention, to and from school a few days as well.
I was surprised at how easy it was to hear Jack and Jill all the way back there. (I’m sure many educated people at Lexus have labored countless hours over making sure the sound carries that well!)
The visibility from the driver’s seat also greatly impressed me as well. I can’t remember the last time I drove a vehicle with better visibility than the 2014 Lexus GX 460.
So we arrived at my Grandma’s nursing home and along with my dad’s help, were able to lift my Grandma from her wheelchair to the car.
In the process, I also “re-met” my great-Uncle Bob while there, who of course didn’t recognize me as a grown adult. As we talked, I learned from him that it was nearly 100 years ago, in 1923, that his own parents moved to New York from Michoacán, in southern Mexico; though he nor my Grandma ever really spoke Spanish.
The whole family met as a whole back at my sister’s house, just a mile away from the nursing home.
First, we celebrated by brother-in-law (who apparently happens to look a lot like me) turning 30 years old.
Then we headed outside to the “jumpy castle” as Jack and his cousin Calla burned off extra energy they mysteriously gained from not having to take a nap that day.
And of course, we checked out the storm shelter, which has sort of become the routine when we visit.
Next we had a plant-based (vegan) lunch, prepared by my sister…
Followed by an instantly made-up game of “bean bag bumper cars”…
That’s about the time we got a call from the nursing home. Turns out, none of us even thought to actually sign my grandma out. And coincidentally, no one working there noticed us wheeling her out the front door!
The workers were so glad to hear that we had Grandma with us instead of, I guess, her somehow escaping (?) on her own.
However, by that time she was ready to get back to her home. The thing was, she was afraid to be lifted back up into a vehicle for the 0.925 miles back.
We did what every all-American family would have done in the same situation:
My sister and her husband rolled up a large blanket, then I MacGyvered it into a home-made seatbelt. And now this particular photo collage begins to make more sense…
After all, despite it only being about a mile away, the journey was all hills.
Fortunately, my daily routine of mountain biking during my lunch break had conditioned my body to be able to get my Grandma to her destination in less than 15 minutes. She even got to catch a glimpse of the County Fair a few blocks away.
Before we left the next morning, we made sure to snap a few pictures of our family.
Since my brother-in-law/look-alike turned 30 recently, and until Jack turns 4 next month, it means that we are living in a time when my wife and I are both 33, my sister and her husband are both 30, and their daughter Calla and our son Jack are both 3.
So we figured we should take an official picture of this cool “3-30-33” moment.
And that just goes to show that anytime my family gets together, it’s never “normal.”
But it is fun.
If you were entertained by this story, then be on the look-out what happened after we drove back to Nashville to see a Dierks Bentley concert that my wife won tickets for!
Car Review Stats:
2014 Lexus 9700A GX 460 5-DR SUV
4.6 liter V8, 301 horsepower
17 mpg average, 15 city, 20 highway
as shown: $55,505.00
See all 4 posts on the 2014 Lexus 9700A GX 460 5-DR SUV:
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Over the weekend I made it “Facebook and Twitter official” that our family bought a new house two weeks ago. To be specific, we’re building a new house in the “bedroom community” of Spring Hill, TN. (Our new home is currently a concrete slab.)
I know this sounds strange, but other than going to our lot on the day we “bought” it (meaning we put down the honest money), that was the only time we saw it. We didn’t even check out the surrounding neighborhoods on that day.
Granted, we had well researched the neighborhood online, making sure it was in the “right county for schools,” which is Williamson if you live in the Nashville area.
Plus, our real estate agent Dave Stanley also verified it was a good neighborhood, too; as did another real estate agent in my office, along with about 4 or 5 other co-workers who live in Spring Hill.
(The picture directly below, looking out the car window, is a shot of our new home.)
So our family decided, now that we’ve signed all the proper paperwork and got all the financial approval and all that fun stuff… that we should officially check out the neighborhood.
Plus, we were able to pick out the color of our house (sort of a sea blue), carpet, and granite countertops. You helped the in-house agent enter the info into the computer.
To keep you entertained, I played “Easter Egg Hunt” with him using balloons in the model home; which is the same floor plan as we will have. We also played “Balloon Basketball” using a shelf on the wall.
Afterwards, our family did a “neighborhood drive-by”, checking out the elementary school and new rec center which you can see from our street.
It’s also convenient that the church we will be attending is right around the corner too.
We were also able to meet our next door neighbor; a really nice lady from Detroit who has a 5 year-old granddaughter who happens to live in the neighborhood too.
I should say right off that I very much appreciated that it averages 31 miles per gallon. (The “h” in its name stands for “hybrid.”) Considering all the driving we did to, around, and from our new home, I never had to think about fueling up.
After having driven the 2014 Lexus GS 450h for an entire week now, it’s still not down to half a tank yet.
Your favorite part about the car was that the windows have sun shades that pull down. I think it made you feel like you’re in your own private limo. You also liked the Sirius XM station, Margaritaville, (Ch. 24).
On the way to school this morning, you begged me, “Turn it to Jimmy Buffet, Daddy!”
(Speaking of the radio, you can control it (along with the air) from a special console that folds down from in between the back seats.)
Needless to say, Mommy thoroughly enjoyed getting to test-drive the car. You and me had as much fun while she did, as we apparently pretended to be pirates, I think…
I also enjoyed one particular safety feature it has where it beeps anytime it senses another vehicle as you’re backing up. That’s really cool- came in handy a time or two.
As always, people’s heads turned the entire week as we drove this Lexus around. It happens every time we review a Lexus.
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