Faults:

Nothing, yet!

General Comments:

In many respects, the Accent is a typical sub-compact car. There is a lot of road and engine noise, the seats are rather firm, and the ride is stiff. But like most sub-compact cars, it is also very manuverable, great on gas, and low maintenance. The overall build quality is pretty good and the car feels solid for a small car.

Where the Accent shines, in my opinion, is the overall driving experience. It can cruise at 75 all day without much trouble and moves around town respectably. The interior is very roomy and comfortable, given the size of the car. You can comfortably fit 4 adults. Even though it is cheap, basic transportation, it looks more fun than that inside and out.

Now where the Accent lags behind other sub-compacts is the build and material quality. The exterior and interior door handles are poorly designed and break very easily. Too easily. I've noticed that the sheetmetal is very very thin and dents so easily. It's also very common for the windows to go off track. That's a common Hyundai problem, not just the Accent. After having to take apart my door to fix an off-track window, I discovered that the door panels are nothing more than a paper-board-like material. Hyundai's are very very cheap like that in some areas. I've seen Accents for sale with over 150k miles, so I know they last quite awhile.

Overall though, it seems like a fairly dependable, economical car, which is what the whole purpose of a small car like the Accent is all about.

Faults:

Driver side handle broke at 95,000 miles.

The dash cracked at 60,000 miles.

Timing belt replaced at 100,000 miles.

Valve spring replaced at 125,000 miles.

Clutch replaced at 130,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car is a zippy quick car that is a real bang for the buck and is a reliable supply of transportation.

The only problem with this vehicle is it is a cheaply prices car and it feels that way. My version doesn't have power steering, air conditioning, or ABS.

Faults:

Alternator required reconditioning at 96,000 miles.

General Comments:

Great little car, reliable and easy to drive.

Hammered up and down the motorway daily and engine still performs great.

Surprising cabin and boot size for a small car.

Recommend this car to anyone looking for a second car or runabout.

Faults:

I had the Crankshaft Position Sensor replaced, as sometimes the car wouldn't start, (although it would ALWAYS start eventually) I suspected this was actually a bad connection, as fiddling with it always started the car, but I had it replaced anyway, which cost around £30.

General Comments:

This car is great fun to drive around. It’s not the most refined car, or the quietest, but the controls give lots of feedback (my model does not have Power Steering) you can be confident in what the car is doing because of that, this is something I absolutely love, and when driving more modern cars I hate the numb, anesthetized and downright boring feeling they have! Some may find the clutch a little on the heavy side though.

The engine is a 1.3 (1341cc) Multi-Point Injection, 12-Valve SOHC engine. It is pretty fast for its size, sounds great when you rev it high (from 4000rpm on-wards) and is pretty quiet down low (below 3000rpm) It produces plenty of torque low down (peak at 3000rpm) and responds very well to throttle inputs. You don’t have to put your foot far down to make it start responding, it’s brilliant around town. The only problem is that it lacks overtaking power on A-Roads, and Motorways / Duel-Carriageways; when a Van or other vehicle is doing say, ~50MPH on an A-Road and its only straight for a little while, you won't be overtaking them, needs a good straight (unless you enjoy taking risks!) and you’ll need 3rd Gear for definite and your foot to be on the floor. But when you do overtake, the engine loves being revved; peak power is at 5500rpm and it sounds brilliant.

Interior is quite cheap looking! Its gray or black plastic everywhere although the layout of the buttons is quite easy to get the hang of, nothing is in a silly position, although it may take some getting used to. Indicators and Lights are on the right-hand stalk on the steering wheel, Washers and Wipers are on the left, Rear-washer and wiper is on the centre console! Weird! And the Electric Window switches are between the seats, behind the handbrake, which I find a bit weird, but many other cars are also like this. Steering wheel is quite large, but makes parking easier as it has no Power Assist. Seating is OK, drivers seat has height and lumbar adjust, as well as the normal reclining etc, but I would prefer it to be a bit more ‘buckety’.

Boot space is big, and if you fold the rear seats; I have managed to fit 2 mountain bikes in there with bags, helmets water bottles etc so its pretty good.

My car typically does around 35mpg, not brilliant, but I’m not that gentle to it! and I mostly do town-driving rather than long steady cruises. So you may get more mileage out of it than me.