1995 Hyundai Scoupe review from North America

Everything you can imagine has gone wrong with this car.

Outside of warranty repairs, I've spent over $4,000 for fixing everything from the timing belt to the A/C to the handbrake.

26,000 miles; damper pulley failed

27,000 miles; A/C switch failed

28,000 miles; tie rod failure

30,000 miles; new clutch

35,000 miles; extensive brake work (but can be considered normal maintenance)

40,000 miles; master cylinder failure

45,000 miles; distributor cap replaced

50,000 miles; AC condensor failed

55,000 miles; handbrake failed; was deemed unrepairable by Hyundai mechanic unless extensive brakework was done which would have cost over $1,000

57,000 miles; paint job basically destroyed over the entire body of the car

60,000 miles; clutch adjustment, warned of impending clutch failure

60,000 miles; suspension dangerously in need of work.

Too many other problems to list such as cup holder, sticky ignition, and the like. This car ate tires for breakfast, and due to the low profile type tires needed to fit this car even the budget brands were very expensive. Multiple battery failures linked to a drain from faulty tail lights. Replacing tail light assembly fixed the problem only temporarily, but some months later issue would resurface.

This car was babied. When I say babied, I mean it was never abused, pushed to its limits, or driven faster than 75mph. Maintenance was done at earlier intervals than the manufacturer suggested, and maintenance records from previous owner show that much warranty work was done on the car not to mention regular maintenance was on par with manufacturer recommendations. This did not in any way prevent the car from literally falling apart around us.

When the car was inspected at 60,000 miles by a Hyundai mechanic, he informed me in a subtle way that the life expectancy of this type of car is around 60,000 miles. He informed me that he only ever saw one Hyundai with more than that in his years of work on this make.

At 60,000 this car looked like it was 20 years old (due to the paint issue) and performed like it had 400,000 miles on it. I listed the car for $1,000 and many people came to look at it, but nobody would buy it. Finally I found a young couple that was in need of transportation and gave me $600 for the car.