1996 Hyundai Accent review from North America

This car was an absolute nightmare and I will forever stay away from Hyundais again. Not a year went by that I didn't have to fix a laundry list of things in order to get it inspected. If you live in a cold wintery climate watch out. The doors froze up on me one morning and when I went to open it the handle literally snapped. I had to spend the next 6 months entering my car from the passenger side and even that side almost cracked a subsequent cold morning. I had to wait hours until it warmed up just to feel safe enough to pull on the handle.

The heating/defrost system is a joke. My side windows and even the front upper half would never defrost. The rear defog lasted I think 2 months then went.

Check engine light went on months after I bought the car and never went off. Spent money on diagnostics at the dealership and they found nothing but wanted me to put more money into finding out what was wrong. In your dreams.

Keep all doors well-oiled regularly. I seldom used the rear passenger doors and quickly found that they will rust in place. The hinges on them are very chintzy. I never had this problem with any other car regardless of how often I used the doors.

Gas line burst and leaked oil in torrents. Two lines "melted" together.

Oil filter burst.

Replaced brakes.

Replaced coil and both front tires.

Trans-axle blew out. This was the topper. Of course it happened right after I sank 300.00 in a new coil and front tires.

Car is now toast. My only regret is that I wasn't awarded the satisfaction of pushing it off a cliff myself.

Great gas mileage.

Handles well and is quick and responsive when running.