Faults:

At 8k miles the check engine warning came on. Scans showed a faulty post O2 sensor. It was replaced free of charge.

The same thing happened 3 more times. Being a mechanic myself, I was patient. The problem ultimately turned out to be a faulty wiring harness. It was corrected at 32k miles. No problems since.

At 65k miles, the T.P.S. (throttle position sensor) failed. The 1st portion of the warranty expired at 60k miles. The new T.P.S. cost me $60, and I replaced it myself in 2 minutes. No other problems until 111k miles.

1- Front struts failed (replaced them myself for $120).

2- At 121k miles, the alternator failed (replaced it myself for $129).

3- At 134k miles, the A/C compressor leaked (replaced it myself, along with the the receiver drier for $195).

4- At 139k miles, the radiator developed a small pinhole leak (replaced it myself for $115).

General Comments:

Great (for what it is)!

It's been well cared for, and looks like it's 4 years old instead of 14 years old. It doesn't burn oil, and still handles and stops as good as new! (well, almost)

It's a breeze to work on for the novice and pro alike!

Faults:

The cable from the gear lever to the gear box snapped at 120,000.

General Comments:

Excellent little car, I used it for my security business, and it was excellent.

No faults with the engine itself, interior began to wear out because of constant wear and tear (this car was used 24/7), but this was normal in comparison to the other security vehicles.

We thrashed, bashed, and drove this car hard, just normal regular services, and it never gave out on us.

Faults:

The master and slave cylinders on the manual transmission gave out at 92000 miles. Other than that, very little over ten years.

General Comments:

I bought an Accent hatchback brand new in 1999, a stock manual with no air conditioning, and I kept it for ten years with no real mechanical problems. I would have kept it longer save for a wreck that totaled it.

It has a stated mileage of 28/37, but the reality was more like 33/40. My model, as stated above, was no frills, which left very little in the car to break. I wish I still had it. It was no sports car, but you can park it like a Mini, it was very quick off a light in 1st gear, and you could stuff an incredible amount of stuff into it (I had the hatchback) with the seats folded down. I drove it across North America more than once with the car loaded down so much that the body was two inches off the ground; it did fine.

The engine is a paltry 92 horses. It's actually pretty peppy on the highway with one driver, though, because it only weighs 2300 pounds. You will notice the lack of power primarily when more than 2 people are in the car, if you're loaded down, or if you have the automatic (which ruins a pretty good little car in my opinion).

Faults:

Dashboard cracked after recharging the AC due to an extreme and sudden temperature change.

Door cover's plastic looked cheap.

Small trunk size if carrying more than 1 big suitcase.

Driver's seat started to wear at an accelerated rate last year of ownership, causing the foam on the left side to thin and metal was quite noticeable after a short while of driving.

Was noisy while in the highway.

General Comments:

Even thou it is a cheap car, it looked quite good and was extremely reliable (past, as I sold it).

Had timing belt change twice, not for failure but for mileage, as changed when owned and 70.000 km after. just to avoid any issue. Car always ran perfectly.

Same with clutch, changed it at almost 150.000, and only because it started to had a little noise, which is quite expected at the odometer amount.

The 1.5 engine was quite brisk and powerful for such a light car. Was always able to overtake whatever was cruising in front in the highway.

Size became an issue as my kid grew up, as the trunk space was not enough for 3 people's luggage, and legroom at the back is not that much.

But this is a small car.

I really enjoyed and liked this car a lot, had many good times while in the highway (car "got used" to trips over 2000 km for holidays) and it never let me down.

I used to live in the south of the country and water, humidity and cold were never a problem. Car always started immediately and never had "life" growing anywhere.

Changes I did to it: bought a used instrument cluster with tach and replaced original one without a tach.

Added "almost original" fog lights.

Installed aftermarket power windows in the front and had the alarm wired to close them when locking.

A little before selling it, a noise started in cold mornings. After some checks, it turned out to be cylinder / piston wear causing a knock while pistons "danced" inside cylinders till warm up. Considering the age of the car, which is 10 years at this time, 150.000+ KM in the odometer, and that such a repair would be a not cheap, I decided to sell it.

Really loved the car. Please share your experiences with it or leave a comment.