If you bought a new car in Europe in 2004 you wouldn't even have to worry about antilock brakes, those were standard on probably all cars by then, apart from a few exotics.

Well I got the car added to my policy for the remainder of the term, until the end of August, for a little over $50. So I am good to drive it until at least 8/28 when the tags expire, here's hoping we get the title and registration sorted out before then. :yeah:

GL Frau

I guess a good air condition is more important than ABS at the moment over there...

You got that right. I think I have a couple cans of coolant around here, I keep it on hand when I need to "recharge" the AC on the Chevy, but I am taking them along just in case the Sonata's AC needs some topping off. I am going to have to spend a little time driving it around the back roads and the parking lot across the street so I'm comfortable with where everything is before I drive it in any traffic. And I am NOT doing that unless the AC is pumping out some seriously cold air.

Well, I got the car today. :woot:

We had to jump it to get it started but once I drove it around a while it seems to be fine, I've restarted it several times since the jump with no problems.

Still getting used to all the stuff I never had to do before, like engage/disengage a parking brake. Okay to be fair there is what appears to be a parking brake in the Chevy but I was told it was an "emergency" brake and I never had an emergency where pulling the lever seemed to be the proper response. :O:

Plus I've always had the shifter thingy (you know, from Park to Reverse to Neutral to Drive) on the steering column and now it's down to my right. Everytime I get in it and think I'm putting it into reverse to back out of a parking spot I end up giving the windshield a good rinse instead. :haha:

But OMG I have power windows and a CD player and I can lock and unlock it and open the trunk by pushing a button on the keychain just like a real live 21st century human! And it has an alarm that will go off and annoy my neighbors! I hope that only happens when the dude with the big SUV who thinks he needs two parking spaces is trying to take a nap.

Had a little panic attack when my sis got here to run me out and pick it up, I *know* I had the current registration card because I had to refer to it for the VIN when I was sorting out the insurance and I read it several times over to make absolutely sure the registration was current. But then when I double-checked to make sure I had everything on me today when we left I couldn't find it. All I could find was the previous year's card which I had tucked away with all the other outdated stuff. I don't know if the current card got swept up in some other papers I had on the desk, or fell down behind something... but I was able to print out something from the BMV website showing the reg is good for another month. I hope that's good enough for the time being, at least I won't get pulled over for reg issues since the sticker's on the plate.

And the AC blows nice and cold. :yeah: Nevertheless I still had a good hour total outside this afternoon cleaning out the Chevy and moving some things over to the Sonata, BRUTAL. Tried to wait until the sun got a little lower but it didn't help much. Two hours after I came back inside where the AC is running full blast, the neck of my tee shirt was still soaking wet. Ugh.

Now I will get it into the shop on Monday I hope, to have them check it over and change the oil. According to the service log - looks like mom was taking it to the dealer - it hadn't been in for routine maintenance since June 2009. No, that's not a typo. Granted it was only driven about 1000 miles between then and now, but still. :o

Sounds like it is a good running car, congrats.

Thanks.

And my karate teacher asked me this morning if I was going to sell the Chevy and I told him I would be embarrassed, honestly, to put a "for sale" sign on it. :haha: But believe it or not he said he has another student (nice guy, I know him from class) who might be interested in it since he needs a car that runs okay just to get around in and doesn't really care about how it looks. And he has actually SEEN it, lol. But I'm not holding my breath.

So, did you find out if it has Anti Lock / ABS or not?

We all still stay tuned...

Nothing wrong with the Sonota. Hyundai has been making quality cars for years. I would buy one in a heartbeat. I have been watching KIA that is now owned by Hyundai. KIA is a quality car and has been for years. So much so I purchased a 2010 Optima. It shares many parts with the Sonota. I love the thing. I joined the KIA forums for odd ball questions and to follow the track record for the newly designed KIA Optima. I'm interested in the longevity of the 2011 new design from ground up. First year redesignes usually are for beta testing if you get my drift. The 2.0T 274 hp four cylinder has my interest.

Anyway, join the Hyundai forums:

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/

Also:

https://www.myhyundai.com/

I'm certain you will get good service from the 2004 Sonota. :up:

Well my sister looked in the window when I was still sitting in the driveway at the house and apparently saw a light on the dashboard and said "Oh you have anti-lock brakes, be careful until you get used to them." So, you know I was very careful driving home. But now I think what she was looking at was the light saying the parking brake was engaged. But I could be wrong. I'll have to check the manual to see if there *is* something on the dash or not.

Thanks for the links! :DL

There should be a ABS Service Reminder Indicator on the Instrument Panel

http://htmlimg1.scribdassets.com/4z4...e8f6d9436c.jpg

Cool, thanks!

Okay, where the ((ABS)) light should be if appropriate, nothing flashes when I start the car. Plus I found the original dealer sticker for the car and it doesn't list ABS under the optional features. So - no anti-lock brakes.

Also I dropped it off this morning to have the oil changed and everything checked out and my mechanic told me to come up with a price for the Chevy when I'm ready to dump it and let him know, as he is definitely interested in buying it.

Seems like the perfect buyer as he has been working on it for several years and there's nothing about it that he doesn't already know. So we'll see.

But a price? I got no clue. The blue book value probably has a minus sign in front of it. :haha:

What year/model Chevy?