What does the group think of hyundai's? Particularly accents around ten years old with say 100-140k miles. I remember working on them in the old days, at first glance I laughed at them, but after working on them a little bit I really started liking them. They seemed like a simple, solid design. They reminded me of what Honda Civics used to be, when I used to like honda civics. The few people I know that have owned hyundais seem to be happy with them. So now I'm seeing these little Accent hatchbacks popping up on CL for cheap, and I'm wondering if they would make a good option for a DD gas saver instead of driving my gas hog truck all the time. How about as a weekend autox beater? Fun car or a little bucket of suck?
Well, The elantra I gave to my mother-in-law has been a tank. It's an 06 and been totally trouble free. It wasn't the best car out there especially from an interior stand point. But overall, it's held up well and given my wife and now mother-in -law 9 years of service without really any issues. Not bad for a 11K car.
Where I've always seen Hyundai having issues is they are just not good at chassis tuning. They just seem a little off. Not bad for a commuter appliance but for me it just killed the fun factor. I always liked the Yaris better because of that.
The other problem is there just isn't really an after market for them here.
We've had our Kia for nearly 8 years and 110k very hard miles. It's been great. Tranny is now whining worse than my 7 year old daughter when she's tired, but it's been bulletproof to date. Agree chassis tuning isn't a strong point, but for a minivan, our Sedona handles fine. I think Accents of the same era are similar...strong, reliable beaters. But fun? Probably not, unless you want to sink money into them.
Wife's '00 had ~250k on it (odo intermittently stopped working in the thousands slot). sold it to a guy locally, still driving it as far as I have seen. Bought her an '08 Rio auto to replace it. Other than tires and a timing belt, it's needed nothing for 25k miles. It's sitting at 96k miles now and we expect another 100-125k before looking for it's replacement.
Seriously, the engine is bulletproof. The chassis is simple. Nothing is complicated to fix and parts are cheap. When a sensor finally does die, go get the cheapo from Napa or Oreilly. They're reboxed Hyundai parts at half the price.
In reply to Klayfish:
They can still be fun. At 180k on the Accent I replaced the original struts, springs and mounts for some Vogtland springs, KYB struts and cheap mounts. At 200k I replaced the rear sway bar with a $5 one from the junk yard. That 15mm rear bar was down to 10mm inside the mounts. I have no idea how it didn't snap. It handled great on all season tires and was truly a momentum car. With 90hp when it was new.... what else can it be?
As for the OE tuning.... in the old days (~2000-2007) they used really soft springs and good struts so the ride was pillowy soft, with tons of roll but could be easily upgraded with a decent set of springs (H&R were the preferred at the time). Sometime aaround 2007 they realized their springs were too soft, so the went to stupid stiff springs and cheap struts/shocks. Now you can make it ride/handle a ton better by swapping to good shocks.
Hyundai's suck big donkey donkers.
In reply to Bobzilla:
Are you recommending Kia Rios? DC? After?
Rio/Accent are the same vehicle after 2006. Same chassis, same suspension, same trans, same brakes etc.
We went with a Rio because it was cheaper than comparable accents with the same mileage. We paid $4k for it last August with 71k miles and it's an '08.
I have owned two.. and except for a few owner induced problems, never had an issue with either... and mine weren't the new ones that are on par with Honda and Toyota.
Rupert
HalfDork
12/17/14 9:30 a.m.
In reply to gearheadmb: Hyundai? There's a whole new thread on buying used Humvees. That'd be a DD you probably park almost anywhere you choose. Though I doubt I'd ever be able to buy enough fuel, even at today's prices, to put 100K miles on one. On second thought, Humvees may come equipped with a Watts meter instead of an odo.
Either way you measure it, you'd probably die of boredom before you hit the 100K miles, or equivalent in hours mark. I haven't a clue of a Humvees' true highway speed. But based on old military vehicles I've drive in the past, I'm guessing a Humvee tops out at around 60mph or less.
doesnt a user on here have a 2011 elantra with like 200k on it?
A buddy of mine bought a 2004 Accent ex-fleet vehicle for $1200 4 years ago and has nearly 400k miles on it. Has put almost no money into it. Tires, brakes, radiator.
They're stout, cheap transportation.
I had a 1988 Hyundai Excel (yes, the first gen) that went 168,000 miles before I traded it in on a 1999 Hyundai Tiburon (again, first gen) that went to 140,000 miles before ending up a ditch to avoid centre punching a minivan that pulled out in front of me on a wet day.
While the excel was smoking at that point (that mitsu engine was known for that) the tib had ZERO issues before getting totalled
09 Accent SE with 130k miles on it here. Zero issues, just regular maintenance. about 32-34mpg commuting. As stated before parts are cheap and the car is simple and easy to work on.
I am bored with the car though. Its fun enough to drive quickly on a windy road (slow car fast and all that) but its a pretty basic car inside, seats not that comfortable, etc.... want something with more features.
failboat wrote:
09 Accent SE with 130k miles on it here. Zero issues, just regular maintenance. about 32-34mpg commuting. As stated before parts are cheap and the car is simple and easy to work on.
I am bored with the car though. Its fun enough to drive quickly on a windy road (slow car fast and all that) but its a pretty basic car inside, seats not that comfortable, etc.... want something with more features.
^ THat's how I feel about the Wife's Rio as well. DEcent enough car, but the interior shows why they were so cheap. But for her, she doesn't care. At all. The Elantra/Forte are a really nice jump up in ammenities and comfort.
Better an old one that's still on the road than a new one. Wife's brand new 2012 Sonata Limited 2.0TGDI was a complete POS.
1988RedT2 wrote:
Better an old one that's still on the road than a new one. Wife's brand new 2012 Sonata Limited 2.0TGDI was a complete POS.
YEs we know. You got a lemon. Folks got a Lemon Nissan Hardbody in '94. Wife had a Lemon Rav4 in '98. It happens.
So what I'm seeing overall is 1)cheap buy in 2)cheap to own 3)reliable 4)long life span 5)easy maintenance 6)boring. The super plain jane, no ammenities aspect doesn't bother me a bit, in fact I view it as a positive. I've owned aging decked out luxury cars before and I don't miss that a bit. I am much happier with crank windows that work than power windows that don't. I'm not sure how I feel about the boring. I wanted to add some fun to my next commuter. Part of me says that a small five speed car will always be fun, but I can also see how that novelty will wear off and I'm left with an underpowered econobox. I don't know. They aren't off the radar yet.
suspensions wake up nicely as long as you like corners they'll be fun. Power... well, short of nitrous, engine swap or turbo there ain't much there.
In reply to gearheadmb:
I think everything can be made to be fun. Or less boring...
Underdog ftw!
Had an 04 Sephia, 216k on the clock when I got tired of chasing the check engine light. Traded it in on a 07 Spectra5. Both have been dead nuts reliable.
For mileage, the 00 Accent had ~250k, the 02 Elantra was traded at ~167k, the current Rio is at 97k and the Forte is at 58k. That's over half a million miles on 4 cars spread out since 2002. There have been 2 no-starts in that time. A dead battery in the Forte this winter (5 year old battery) and a crank sensor that died on the Accent at almost 200k.
I picked up an 02 1.5l 5 speed accent last year. Been putting 300 miles a week on it ever since. It's currently sitting at about 135k miles. No issues to speak of and it obviously lived a rough life prior to my ownership. I average 36 mpg, my best tank was 40 mpg. It looks pretty easy to work on should the need arise. It reminds me a heck of a lot of the late 80's era Civics.
more accents need to be rallyx-ed
