I’m not the kind of guy who always goes out to get the latest and greatest gadget. I’m not concerned about keeping up with the Joneses. I knew before I bought my 2023 Hyundai Sonata last year that it was going to be getting a facelift and equipped with updated features for 2024. And I was fine with that. I didn’t regret my purchase. However, the more I see the refreshed Sonata, it becomes clearer that it has more than just the gimmick of newness. It also has useful upgrades. If I happen to get one as a rental car during an out-of-town trip, I will not be disappointed.
Welcome to the Future
The current Sonata arrived for the 2020 model year, so it’s been in need of a cosmetic update – especially at the front. That droopy catfish mouth has always been my biggest gripe about my car. For 2024, Hyundai tightened things up, giving the Sonata a more defined and futuristic nose with an angular grille, hidden headlights, and a “Seamless Horizon Lamp,” aka LED light bar.
At the rear, the clamp-shaped combination of the LED taillights and the light bar that joins them was replaced with a revised setup that forms a dramatic illuminated “H.”
Even the 2024 Sonata is not perfect, though. On one hand, those changes make the Sonata more attractive – and more aerodynamic, according to Hyundai. On the other hand, they also make it less distinctive, particularly up front, where it seems Hyundai was a little too inspired by the visual simplicity of the Lucid Air.
The Good Shift
Aside from its lack of wireless Apple CarPlay, I have no issues with the features in my Sonata. In addition to that (and wireless Android Auto), the 2024 model comes with some significant cosmetic and functional changes.
It tosses out the ’23 Sonata’s steering wheel, which has an awkward and unattractive bottom spoke bar, for a simple, tasteful three-spoke unit with paddle shifters that enable “manual” gear changes – an ability my car seems to lack completely.
More importantly, the newest version of the Sonata relocates the shifter controls for the eight-speed automatic. In my car, they’re an elevated cluster of buttons to the left of the cup holders. Yes, they’re important, but they’re also oddly placed. By integrating those functions into a column-mounted stalk with a twist-cap for drive, neutral, and reverse and a button for park, the ’24 Sonata puts those vital controls in an easily accessible and intuitive place that would otherwise go to waste.
New and Improved?
I’ll reserve judgement on the panoramic curved display that contains the available 12.3-inch digital gauge display and optional 12.3-inch navigation touchscreen. Yes, it has a clean, simple look, but it’s also a bit plain. I like the separation of the two screens in my Sonata and how Hyundai put some thought and flair into the design of the housing for the nav screen. My main concern about that massive strip of screen is that since both displays are on the same plane, the infotainment touchscreen will be slightly out of reach and require leaning forward to engage certain functions, just as I had to in the 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 that we recently tested (review coming soon). If we get our hands on a new Sonata press vehicle, I’ll be sure to tell you if it has the same issue – and if it makes me want to trade in my ’23 model.
Do you have the updated 2024 Hyundai Sonata? If so, please let us know what you think of it in the comments below.
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