Faults:

We purchased a new Hyundai Accent.

Having driven the vehicle fewer than 30,0000 miles, we have had our vehicle in for service four times in fewer than 6 months. The vehicle would not start; the dealership claims our Accent has an electrical problem. Our vehicle has been at the dealership for over 20 days, and counting as it's there now. For over half of those days, we were not provided a loaner vehicle, leaving me at home with our newborn and no form of transportation.

Faults:

Some foreign object fell into gap where sunroof slides into roof (Spring of 2007, about 5 months after purchase) and tore up gaskets and liners inside the roof, but that's not really a manufacturing fault. Hyundai repaired it for free.

Radio CD player jammed about 8 months after purchase, had to get radio replaced for free. Hyundai said that the radios aren't meant for burnt CDs, but it was a store bought CD.

Inner plastic panels started to rattle around 30,000km. Random squeeks and rattles.

Parked it on the street and my neighbour backed up into it with his pick-up truck. A minor bump, but the front bumper cracked and the air bag assembly/harness was damaged. Repairs costs just under $2,000. His truck didn't even scratch.

January 2008 (13 months after purchase), was driving down a small street to work, hit a patch of ice and drifted into curb. Front right wheel assembly completely broken. Damage estimated at $4,000.

Air filters are not the greatest and do not filter out traffic fumes very well. Had them replaced, but their quality just isn't that great.

For such a small and inexpensive car, repair costs are unbelievably high.

General Comments:

I bought this car soon after graduating when I started a full time job. I figured it would be a fun car to drive around the city with little maintenance costs. The price was right, and it doesn't use a lot of gas. I average 8.8L/100km (I keep all my receipts and track my mileage).

Although it's a great car for basic transport, it performs very poorly in the winter. The wider "sport" tires and light body weight make the car float on the snow, and there is zero traction on ice.

Even in the rain the tires get no grip.

At first the car was great and convenient, but the more I drove it the more tiring it got.

The seats offer no support, so commutes longer than 30 minutes begin to hurt your back.

The manual shifter feels cheap especially in stop-and-go traffic.

GOOD - fuel efficient, very fast for such a small engine if you have a manual, plenty of room, fit 4 people in it and 5 days worth of camping supplies for a trip to northern Ontario. Good initial build quality, felt very solid when I first bought it.

BAD - uncomfortable seats, everything easy to break, even with minor bumps, inner panels start to rattle a few months after purchase, manual transmission not the best for city or traffic driving. Scheduled maintenance costs (oil, tire rotation, etc.) is cheap, but any real re.