September 2012: Hyundai Motor America

MECHANICAL PHOTOS It's definitely not a N.A. 4 cylinder engine - the V6 with twin turbos takes up a larger part of the engine bay. There is a very clearly marked compartment for the battery.  I didn't open it up to take a look. The symmetrically placed brake fluid compartment needs that much room?  One would think they'd also lay out the fuses here. While the oil dipstick is easy to find, the other lids are sort of ominous and point to something cautionary and under pressure - most likely coolant ... this shows you that the engine bay is fairly maxed out.

INTERIOR PHOTOS Sweeping view of the interior - and its sweeps - from the driver's door.  I very much like the curved effects on the dashboard and how they make their way onto the front doors. View of the front of the cabin from the passenger door An overall view of most of the dashboard and Infiniti has an agreeable enough emblem While it may hide some other info when this mode is chosen, the old school chronometer - together with the date spelled out, is a nice feature/option This is straight out of a Nissan Altima ... note that, when assigned to me, it had over 57,000 miles. Here you see the remote trunk release but I also prefer a remote fuel filler door release instead of pushing on them All the windows have the automatic up-down feature and it has become a must-have Even though I wasn't a fan of black bits on interiors in other colors (cream, tan, gray, etc.), it works well here, together with the wood applique and chrome, and is handled in a way to may it look sort of "premium." Here is the rear seating area of the cabin with all the headrests pushed down.  Its craftsmanship appears to be good. The rear visibility with the headrests pushed down garners a "thumbs up" from me. When you have a sunroof, you realize it's sort of nifty, but that you don't exactly want to use it all the time.  I preferred just having the glass sunroof in a closed position with the shade pulled back and open most of the time. This is an overall view of an empty trunk.  I came to learn that the large rear wheel well humps created some restrictions. That is a standard piece of luggage at the right and a rollaboard at the left.  While they are both stuffed (in height), the width remains the same and I couldn't place them side by side and pushed against the back of the trunk space.  That made it harder to put in other luggage or store purchases, the latter of which could go in front of them  or at the sides.

EXTERIOR PHOTOS Side view of the Q50 on America's "First Coast" region and Ponce de Leon seems to approve. Actually, the grille is somewhat attractive (not as heavy handed as that of a Lexus).  The pearl effect white exterior with very pale cream/tan interior came together well in this vehicle. These cars in this category seem to converge in terms of styling - I see some Nissan Altima and even some Pontiac G8.  The greenhouse, with all the headrests pushed down, gets a "thumbs up" from me for visibility.

I see your rental, and raise you mine..

RENTAL!!!!! This will be interesting; since I had a 2016…..