A dusty fourth generation Hyundai Sonata sedan, seen in a residential area in south Beijing. The Sonata was painted in a boring shade of gray; typical for its day.
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The interior was a bit of a mess but otherwise in a good condition, and the radio was the original unit.
The fourth generation Hyundai Sonata was made from 1998 until 2005, with a facelift in 2001. Our Beijing car is a pre-facelift example.
The 4th generation Sonata was also made in China, from 2004 until 2017 (!!!). But production in China began with the facelifted Sonata, the pre-facelift Sonata was never made here.
The car that I saw seems to be an ex-U.S. car. Note the small license plate area, too small for the Chinese plate.
The pre-facelift Sonata was available with two engines: a 136 hp 2.0 and a 168 hp 2.5 V6. There were no engine badges on this one, so sadly I don’t know for sure what is under the bonnet.
Design was pretty modern in period, very streamlined and all, but it hasn’t aged too well. Still, great to see this fine Korean sedan in such a good shape in China.