*3.8L Sapphire blue pearl with Tech package*

[Simonwpb]

Well 22 days after I ordered the car it came in on the last day of the month! It took me about an hour to close the paperwork at the dealership and hit the road.

This was the first time I had seen the actual color. I would describe it as a midnight blue, very deep shade.

I noticed there is a painted tape protection in front of the rear fender. A hardly noticeable rectangular patch painted the same body color. The sales rep said it was to protect against road gravel. Do other brands do this?

My first impressions of the Genesis are all positive. It drove well in and out of rush-hour traffic. Good all-round visibility, and I felt very comfortable in the cabin. The car purrs with power. Plenty of power on the highway, nimble passing and changing lanes. The way I drive the V6 is plenty of power for me.

Climate control worked very well, and the AC seat worked as advertised.

I kept fiddling with the Tech controller, experimenting with the XM and FM Radio and programming radio pre-sets. (Not discovered the HD radio yet). After I got home I paired a couple of our cell-phones, it was a breeze to do, and the sound quality of calls was excellent. Tried the voice command feature and was able to tune to radio channels and dial by name in the address book. All very cool. Also stuck a DVD in to see the video quality. Sound keeps playing but video goes off when you leave Park. The Lexicon sound system is as good as anything I have experienced in a car before, very clear.

With the car in idle in the garage you can barely tell the engine is running.

Minor gripes? Full i-pod functionality requires I go back and purchase a cable that jacks into both the headphone and USB connections. Wish I had realized this earlier it would have saved me a trip back. If you plug your iPod cable into the USB connection it does not recognize it; you can play music through the headphone jack but without any integration features. Glovebox is a decent size otherwise storage is limited in the center console. I wish the spare was full-size, although hopefully I never get a flat...

Give me a few days of driving and I may have a more informed opinion. Tomorrow I will see if there is time to get windows tinted!

 

[Viking]

What a beautiful car; congratulations!!!!!

 

[jwaters943]

Congrats! Looks great. The Tech Package is really well implemented. I still wish NAV was available as a separate $1500-2000 option.

Regarding the paint protection, are you talking about the clear film just in front of the rear tires on the bottom of the car? It's the same clear paint protection film you can have applied to your bumpers, hood, etc. (More info: http://www.invisiblepatterns.com/products.asp)

Many new cars are now coming with this to guard against damange to the paint in certain areas where your tires might kick up sand/small rocks. Our Outlander has it on the rear door and my Pilot also had a small section of it as well.

 

[Par Avion]

Beautiful car man! I'd love to see more interior pics because that tan is my fav.

 

[1985Hyundai]

very very nice... congrats..

 

[BaywayRic]

Very cool ride!! Try a music DVD in the Lexicon, it will blow you away. Have a great vacation, hope the car goes with.

 

[Bman]

Congrats on the new car. Very nice color combination.

 

[Simonwpb]

I added some more pix including the newly applied tint and interior to my photo album.
Hopefully I will get my wing badge next week.

Today I figured out how the HD Radio works. The radio tuner goes through the analog dial only. If the station has a digital signal, it locks on after a few seconds and automatically switches over (I think the digital signal has a richer sound, you notice the difference). Under the displayed dial number it says "HD-1". If you click the controller the HD-1 display becomes active, and you can scroll to any other alternative channels but only for that frequency

I looked up what HD channels are in my area. Two websites for lookups are: http://www.ibiquity.com/hdradio_find_a_station
http://www.hdradio.com/#stationGuideWidgetry

 

[steve g.]

This is truly a beautiful looking car and the color is exactly what a car should be (in my opinion) In fact it is the color I ordered for the V8...But, tell me how did you order and get a response in 22 days? What kind of deal were you able to get. MSRP or lower?

 

[Ormond]

Beautiful Automobile Simon! Drive it in good health!

Great South Florida Setting Too.

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[Sal Collaziano]

Congratulations, Simon! Great looking Genesis! Awesome color! Thank you for posting the pictures! AND, thank you for updating your photo album! Your very doing so has inspired me to add that new 'little' icon beneath our usernames in posts - which is a direct link to our personal Genesis photo albums.

I'll be looking for you around the Palm Beach area! If you see some guy in a black 750Li staring at your car, it's probably me.

 

[jwaters943]

Simon,

Great photos! I'm a bit sad I didn't wait for the Tech Package after getting to experience it first hand. After having a vehicle w/ OEM Nav, I thought an aftermarket portable unit would be an acceptable trade-off (especially considering the huge cost savings). I was wrong! It's just not the same. Hopefully Hyundai will offer a stand-alone Nav option in the future for those of us who don't want/need the 17-speaker audio system, backup sensors, cooled seats, etc.

Can I ask you a HUGE favor? Do you think you could measure the armrest? I know it's a tiny bit smaller than the regular armrest, but I'm wondering if it's big enough to work on a non-Tech Genesis. I much the 2-tier design of the Tech armrest.

Either way, best of luck w/ your Genesis! She's beautiful. Do you have any issues so far? (Mine has a squeeky drivers door, but other than that so far, so good)

 

[RichieRichLancair]

WOW!!
LOVE THE COLOR.

Looks great with the beige interior.

 

[GenFan]

I added some more pix including the newly applied tint and interior to my photo album.
Hopefully I will get my wing badge next week.

Today I figured out how the HD Radio works. The radio tuner goes through the analog dial only. If the station has a digital signal, it locks on after a few seconds and automatically switches over (I think the digital signal has a richer sound, you notice the difference). Under the displayed dial number it says "HD-1". If you click the controller the HD-1 display becomes active, and you can scroll to any other alternative channels but only for that frequency

I looked up what HD channels are in my area. Two websites for lookups are: http://www.ibiquity.com/hdradio_find_a_station
http://www.hdradio.com/#stationGuideWidgetry

OK, I give up....how does one get view your photo album? What do I click?

 

[jwaters943]

Click the small icon that looks like a stack of photos directly beneath the screen name.

 

[GenFan]

Click the small icon that looks like a stack of photos directly beneath the screen name.

Thank you. This is the first and only forum I participate in. Strangely enough, I am a tech goob!

 

[Simonwpb]

... tell me how did you order and get a response in 22 days? What kind of deal were you able to get. MSRP or lower?

I think I got lucky. I ordered the first day the car hit dealer lots inSoFla, they committed to 30-45 days, and placed the order. The particular vehicle I wanted was obviously in the supply pipeline and not yet assigned to a dealer order. The port of entry was PT wherever that is.

I paid MSRP of $40K less trade-in. I probably could have sold my truck for more but I didn't want the hassle.

Thank you for posting the pictures! AND, thank you for updating your photo album! Your very doing so has inspired me to add that new 'little' icon beneath our usernames in posts - which is a direct link to our personal Genesis photo albums.

I did not even notice the new album link! Makes it easier than clicking your username etc. I uploaded the tech screen pictures to a 2nd album.

If you want to stop by my office to check out the car send me a PM

Can I ask you a HUGE favor? Do you think you could measure the armrest? I know it's a tiny bit smaller than the regular armrest, but I'm wondering if it's big enough to work on a non-Tech Genesis. I much the 2-tier design of the Tech armrest.

The top of the armrest is 12" long. The cup holder lid is 4.25 - 4.5" deep plus about 1/2" to the tech controller. The interior of the armrest is small. the back half matches up to the hinged armrest so is unusable. The compartment is about 4" L by 5" Deep plus the ledge where the power port and AUX input ports are. The upper tier tray is nice because you have a round cable pass-through. I am concerned about leaving things plugged in however. The manual warns about leaving USB devices plugged in at engine start, and haven't confirmed it the power adapter remains live with the engine off. One time I killed the battery on my BMW leaving my iPod adapter plugged into the lighter socket.

Do you have any issues so far? (Mine has a squeeky drivers door, but other than that so far, so good)

I got to drive through a thunderstorm yesterday so checked out the auto-wipers. I thought they were a little sensitive and high speed was IMHO too fast! (Sort of a minor quibble not a complaint). Otherwise no shakes or rattles etc. I am still wondering where to put all my crap that I normally drive around with. There is barely room for 2 pairs of sunglasses, I can barely fit a notepad and pen in the armrest, the lighter/ashtray is not convenient for my cellphone charger, no place to put CD boxes or coins. Guess I am a typical SUV slob.

Went out for dinner with my wife, who hates anything tech. She looked at the round knob with great skepticism, but was soon playing with the dial the whole way there. She begrudgingly said "Well I have to admit it is a very nice stereo system." Before I got the car she had been skeptical that it would best her Bose in the Infiniti.

 

[gipp]

Gr eat color- the car looks fantastic. Best of luck!!

 

[BaywayRic]

I got to drive through a thunderstorm yesterday so checked out the auto-wipers. I thought they were a little sensitive and high speed was IMHO too fast! (Sort of a minor quibble not a complaint). Otherwise no shakes or rattles etc. I am still wondering where to put all my crap that I normally drive around with. There is barely room for 2 pairs of sunglasses, I can barely fit a notepad and pen in the armrest, the lighter/ashtray is not convenient for my cellphone charger, no place to put CD boxes or coins. Guess I am a typical SUV slob.

I think I drove through the same storm before it got to you! I agree on your assesment of the wipers. 'AUTO' was new for me, and it has replaced 'Intermittant' which I was use to on all previous vehicles. The speed control you use to associate with 'intermittant' now controls 'Auto'. With intermittant, you could set a speed and every xx seconds the wipers would take a sweep. On Auto, the sensing module may delay the sweep for a minute or more, then , BAM, they do 2-3 quick sweeps. Not a bad thing, but takes some getting use to.

To get a little extra space, I removed the ashtray insert. Not a lot more space, but easier to use for coins, toothpicks, whatever.

 

[jwaters943]

I agree on the lack of storage space. It's no worse than my prior sedan (GS430), but a far cry from my Honda Pilot.

So far, like you, I've removed the ashtray and placed all my change in there. I've found that it holds at least $5-6 (as long as you don't have a lot of pennies & nickels). It also doesn't rattle around as much as I thought it would (with the door closed you can't hear anything).

For sunglasses, I've purchased a sunglass visor clip. It's not the prettiest thing, but it works well and was very cheap.

Other than that, I haven't really found any "clever" storage solutions. I stuff my California Dash duster and c.d. case under the seats.