1987 Hyundai Stellar CXL review from North America

Got the car for FREE from a nice lady up the street (after I chased her down to her house while going for a walk with my g/f - I'm a Hyundai fan!) Her father had given it to her (an older man) because he couldn't drive it anymore (too old I guess) She said she would sell it to me when she's done. I got it for free 4 months ago, but:

-The pads were wearing into the rotors

-front bearings were, well, dry at best

-It ran on two cylinders

-It burned (and continues to burn) oil

-One tie rod and ball joint were totally shot, as well as one strut was blown

-rear oil seal caused the drum to be lubricated, negating it's functionality.

Not a problem, pads and rotors were sourced cheap, as well as bearings. Seal was cheap to fix too. I replaced both tie rods and ball joints myself (also not too expensive) and was lucky enough to have two good condition shocks from a parts stellar I owned when I was 18. After a cap and rotor and plug wires, the engine purred to life.

Other major problems that surfaced over time:

-Trans output seal failure, due to center bearing failure. This was the single most expensive thing to fix ($200 + $50 labour) While I was at it, I drained the ATF and cleaned the strainer. Works marvelously now and doesn't leak any ATF.

Once I fixed all the (obviously neglected) items, the car runs very well.

I love this car. Fully loaded power everything (full instrumentation too) I took it to NYC (Long Island, from Toronto) and it cruises along at 130 KM/h no problem. The lumbar support (adjustable) is somewhat painful on the max setting, but if you remove it to the lowest setting it's OK. The car is in VERY good condition with little rust (front of hood has two almost-holes, and bottom of door corner is slowly starting to go, but will take years if untreated) It's rustproofed now anyways.

The 4G63 is not as potent as it is in a Talon, but it pulls OK. It's a heavy car, so the engine could have been larger (the 4G64 or a G54B would have been nice) - also not the greatest fuel consumption... get about 400, 450 K to a 50L tank. Pony gets 500-600 on a 45L tank.

No complaints, love it. So far I paid $800 in parts and spares, and if I take care of it, I'm aiming to get 5 years out of it!