I just bought a 2007 Sonata and I love the car - it's great. However, I'm looking for some advice on how to decrease the noise from outside wind from being heard as loud inside the car's cabin. I wear a hearing aid in both ears and for those of you who know nothing about wearing hearing aids - yes, they allow me to hear better, BUT - I get more than twice the background noise of everything. It's just the way it is. For example - the music is playing, I can hear it, but the wind noise from the outside of the car is prevelant. This is the case with any car - not a Sonata issue.

This car is much quieter than the Honda Accord I had before this car - make no mistake about that. But I'm wondering what I can do to help make the wind noise decrease. I do have a sunroof on my car. Would it help at all if I put on one of those sunroof wind reflectors as well as wind reflectors on top of both the front and back doors? I'm not sure if some wind noise gets into the car even when the sunroof and the door windows arecompletely closed all the way. Thanks in advance - any advice or information would be great!

Jerry J.
Itasca, IL

 

No, not likely. I have a 93 Maxima that we installed an air flow deflector on the sunroof to reduce the noise and wind inside the car while driving with the sunroof open. It did serve that purpose, but we noticed slightly more wind noise in the car when the roof was closed. I understand your problem, my father-in-law also uses hearing aids in both ears and background noises drive him nuts.

 

I see. So, you noticed more wind noise from the air flow deflector when the sunroof was closed? That's bizarre. I never used mine on the Accord and probably won't use it much on the Sonata. Almost makes me want to trade the car in for one without a sunroof, but that's probably more a pain in the a$$ in itself. The Sonata's without sunroofs are very hard to find in the Chicago area, for some reason.

Alright, well thanks for your input. I guess it wouldn't hurt to put one on and see how it responds. I would think the ones above the doors would help a little bit. I'll look more into it.

 

The one I installed on the Maxima glued on and wasn't very expensive, so yes, you might try it. My 2008 Sonata is far quieter, so I've never thought much about this. My Sonata's sunroof has a second interior insulated sliding panel that I close to reduce the outside noise that the Maxima didn't have.

 

Does my 2007 Sonata have the second interior insulated panel as well? I guess I can take a look at it. I'm kind of beating a dead horse here - it really isn't the end of the world or the biggest deal. Frankly, those sunroof wind deflectors aren't exactly the most nicest-looking things to add to the roof of the car. I highly doubt that any wind noise gets into the car when the sunroof is closed. All wind noise I'm hearing is coming from the sides of the car, and even that isn't the worst it could be.

Bottom line - I love the car. I drove a 1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille for 8 years and by the time it had gotten to 155,000 miles, I had already been putting too much money into it. Therefore, I'm done with American cars for a while. I'm only 35 years old (compared to most Caddy drivers) but that's the type of ride that I love. Big sedan that floats like a boat over railroad tracks, etc. Sadly, even today's modern big huge sedans do not ride like those anymore. They just don't make shocks and suspensions like that anymore on any big cars. Cadillac ruined all of their cars. A Caddy should NEVER look like a sports car and I think they all look like crap now.

I got the 2002 Honda Accord after the Caddy and I've absolutely hated driving a car ever since. Not a fair comparison, but that Accord was the loudest, noisiest, bumpy, worst shocks/suspension ever. Just horrible, I hated that car. Nothing wrong with a Honda engine, obviously. But as far as the ride, etc. - never again. My 2007 Sonata - I have to be honest - it isn't 100% the ride my Caddy was, but it's real, realclose. That's saying something, for me anyways.

 

Mine is a 2008 Limited. You didn't say which trim level you have and I don't know if there is a difference in the sunroofs for different trim levels. Simply look up at the sunroof and back towards the dome light. On mine you see a plastic grip just in front of the dome light that if you pull forward slides the interior panel into place.

I agree. My wife and I test drove Accords, Camrys, Altimas and Fusions. None totally compared to the Sonata. The Camry came the closest, but a comparably equiped V6 car was priced $8K more in our market. My aforementioned father-in-law purchased a 2008 Buick Lucerne CXS for many of the same reasons (he was a Towncar person for 20 years), but it surprized him that my Sonata has the same ride and similar interior room for almost half what he paid for the Lucerne. Of course, when he stomps on the Northstar V8, there is a noticable difference in acceleration, and he wanted memory electric adjustable front seats which Hyundai doesn't offer.

 

Thanks much for your input. I'll check tomorrow and look at my sunroof. I have the 2007 SE V6.

Ah ... the Lincoln Towncar. That one (anything pre-2000 or so) and the same era Sedan DeVille's - they had the suspension that was second to absolute none. Honestly, my first choice would be to have gotten a 1997 through 1999 Sedan DeVille, but with today's gas prices along with the fact that I did not want to again be faced with replacing eight fuel injectors someday - those were my reasons for not getting a used Sedan Deville again.

The Buick Lucerne is a beautiful car. But you brought up a good point. If our Sonata's ride the same - what's the point of paying all that extra money? I plan on keeping this Sonata for as long as it will last, which I hope is a long time. It's so nice to sink down a little into my driver's seat again, although the Sedan Deville - that thing was a plush la-z-boy. But even though it isn't being marketed as one, I think the Sonata is a luxury car - absolutely. I actually wanted cloth seats and not leather. The leather in the Caddy was nice, but kind of a pain in the a$$, too. You really need to treat it and take care of it, otherwise the sun beating down on it, etc. - it just ends up cracking and coming apart if not taken good care of. That stupid Honda Accord - those seats were like slabs of concrete. Never again will I own a smaller, compact car like that. I don't care what the gas prices are - you have to enjoy driving what you drive.