CWHs Sonata project

I enjoy bringing cars like this back to a productive life.  Two tips for smokers cars:

I liberally spray the Tuff Stuff to the headliner and then rub it in/rub it off with a microfiber towel.  There can be a lot of smoke and dark color that comes off the ceiling.  

I also liberally spray the cabin filter with either Tuff Stuff or something like Odo-ban.  Get the filter actually wet.  Then when you run the HVAC, the scent and product will get pushed into the vent-ways.  The blower air will dry the filter.  Re-apply any time or days later and run it again. 

Don't forget to clean the front seat belts.  Pull them out like where they would be when your seated.  Then in that portion that would be on your lap and across your chest, give them a good scrubbing.  

In reply to OHSCrifle :

I haven't looked too closely at it yet but the majority of it is just surface rust in areas where the primer was showing.  The rubber along that edge is pliable enough to peel back and hopefully attack it chemically. At least I hope so anyway.  This thing lived less than a half mile from the gulf.  When you roll into the town you can see a haze of sea spray in the air.  So being sun bleached and assaulted with sea spray was the root cause.  It's nowhere near as bad as dealing with cars from the rust belt like I'm used too.  I bet a good scrubbing with clr would get rid of the majority.  It looks worse because the white paint is now stained orange.  

But I may have to have the windshield replaced and if that happens then I'll address the situation the right way. 

In reply to John Welsh :

The seat belts got a lot of attention.  Soaked,  scrubbed and extracted several times.  They're still a little stiff and they'll get some more attention in the future.  

They were nasty!

Took it on its inaugural 275 mile highway trip last weekend since it was a much nicer place to be inside.  I paid close attention to how the car drove. 

Problems are; 

1. The car has the most obnoxious amount of road noise of any car I've had that didn't have a stripped interior.

2. It's unstable in a cross wind and very sensitive to changes in road camber. 

3. There is a clunk up front on harsh impacts at low speed. 

4. The brakes are not as effective as they should be.  

5. There is a large amount of wind noise from either the drivers side mirrors or the A pillar that is super annoying. 

I think new tires and an alignment will address one and two. But I may as well go ahead and do shocks and struts a well as I'm sure that would improve the ride over the 120K stock units. 

I'll need to go over the brakes and do a fluid flush. Maybe throw some good aggressive pads on it to increase bite. 

In reply to Nick Comstock :

#5. Isn't the driver's mirror missing all that makes it white which is also all that makes it aerodynamic?

JY or aftermarket mirrors are probably inexpensive.  Get a pair since the passenger is busted too. Seek out either white or black. Either will match fine. 

Rock Auto lists black mirrors, even heated, for $25 each (before shipping which is $9 for me.)    Car-part lists some used ones for $30. 

2 for $66, shipped on Amazon

We bought a 2006 Sonata new (replacing a very good 2002 Sonata) and it was very good for what we asked of it. I was doing a lot of driving from home near DC to working in and around New England. I just wanted something quiet and comfortable to eat up the miles. Didn't give us any issues but when I gave up the long hauls and just had the Sonata for commuter duty it bored me to tears. Replaced it with a 2010 6 speed Mazda3 hatch even though the forthcoming next-gen Sonata looked good. I'm surprised, for as popular the 06-10 Sonatas were, they disappeared from the roads pretty quickly. Or maybe they're just so anonymous generic car enough that I don't notice them.

FWIW I liked the 02 Sonata better. Nicer outside, nicer dash. The 4-speed auto hooked to the 4-cylinder manually 'shifted' quicker than the 5-speed auto with the V6 in the 06 (the wife wanted the V6 because it came with dual exhaust tips, I didn't care either way). We put 150K miles on that 02 in four years or so mostly reliably (biggest issues were self-inflicted). Can't remember how many miles were on the 06 when it went away.