2007 Hyundai Accent Hatch ( Base ) from North America - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong, however there have been some mysterious clunking noises, twice.

During the break in period, engine sounded very raspy and coarse. This turned out to be normal. Another accent did this same thing, but it was alarming.

I drive one of these as a company car. We have a fleet of these. At first I thought 'oh great, the managers are cheap and are buying us these pieces of #%@#*', but boy was I wrong.

The engine has a strong, useable torque curve. It's driveability is excellent. Most small engines are seriously lacking low end torque, but this car has it in gobs. These things could probably haul pretty heavy with some mods.

Transmission feel is good, but the shifter is pretty long. The gear ratios could use some improvement, for sure. With longer gears, this car could get better gas mileage, and not be so noisy on the highway.. driving above 70mph makes the engine exponentially noisier to the point of irritation.

However, you have a good amount of power even in 5th gear. Kind of a tradeoff.

My main beef with these cars is their soft, rubbery suspension and little tires. They do not handle well in inclement weather or around turns. Sure, the ride is soft, and potholes do not punish the chassis, but hyundai could have stiffened things up a bit with a small swaybar, or harder shocks.

And I know that excellent handling is not a design goal of any economy car, but body roll is pretty bad in this car, so you have to slow down quite a bit on turns. I can imagine flipping this car would be quite easy if you didn't take that into consideration.

Interior is nice and very well designed. It is of much higher quality than I expected. seats are comfortable, and everything has a solid feel to it. The weather seals in the door window worry me, because they move freely and are not glued down or screwed in.

Compared to my 1.6L honda civic EX, the accent is a much smoother ride, whereas the civic is very hard edged and lacking in low end torque. At 1500rpm, the accent accelerates like normal.. whereas my civic will shake and stutter until I downshift.

Hyundai has created an impressive economy car, but for the sake of refinement, however, i'd much rather be driving a yaris.

Yes, the 5 speed tranny needs a 6th gear. The low end torque isn't as good as you say. Again, the tranny is geared too low. Superb low-end torque is what the stunning VW GTi engine has. However, the 1.6 liter Hyundai will pull smoothly from low rpms without engine hesitation if you just don't want to shift.

We just bought the 2008 base Accent. Surprisingly we got the short throw 5 speed shifter that is the 2nd best shifter I've ever driven. Creamily smooth (v.v. slightly too viscous) with no balking or hangups, all 5 gates are easy to find. Shifting normally is sweet. If you want to cut down on in-city shifting, skipping gears 1-3-5 (or however) is quick & again, no hangups. Grinding gears will be hard to do.

Think you're too hard on suspension softness, because most people aren't pretend racers. However, I'm older while most Accent drivers are much younger than me.

I keep reading all these amazing things about the Accent but all I've had is problems with my 2007 Hyundai Accent Hatchback.

First, the panels were not made properly and they scratched with ease (i.e. I could pass my nail on it and a white scratch would appear on my black panels). I spoke to the dealership about it and they repeatedly told me that it was normal. It was only after I spoke to the President of the service department that they did something about it.

Secondly, within the first couple of months the check engine light kept coming on. I would turn the car on in the morning and it would stay on for a while and then go off. Again I repeatedly brought the car back to the dealership. They finally figured out that there was a problem with one of the injectors and when they took it out they found a small metal pin inside the injector.

Thirdly, just recently my transmission (automatic) was making weird noises and then it started leaking. I brought it to the dealership and they're telling me that a part of my transmission is cracked and that it was caused by the transmission taking a hit. They're saying that this hit came from, for example, when you're sitting at a light and its winter, then you take off and the tires spin on the ice for a while and then they hit the asphalt. I live in Canada, this is definitely not the first time that a Hyundai has seen a Canadian winter nor is it uncommon for cars to experience this slipping on take-off in the middle of winter. Doesn't Hyundai have any protection for their transmissions from this kind of thing? I would also like to know if anyone has ever experienced this type of problem with the transmission?

All in all, I am highly dissatisfied with my Hyundai Accent.

Had a 2002 Hyundai Accent. It's a great little car. Over 160,000 miles with no repairs.

I have a 2005 Elantra; so far no problems.

I just bought a 2007 hatchback GS - horrible mpg, never had to use warranty on previous Hyundai's, but this one had the engine light come on and the service department told me water in the gas caused an engine problem not covered under the bumper to bumper warranty. I use Chevron gas.

That great warranty is not so great. Going to write to the B.B.B. and the Attorney General. Some times auto's need repairs and that's why we need a good warranty. Very disappointed with the Hyundai warranty.

Sorry about your problems, but don't give up on that Hyundai. The newer ones are very good cars.

DO pursue the BBB and Attorney General complaints, though it may be futile.

I had the same issue with a brand new Dodge some year's back and it WAS water in the gas, which was the fault of a leak in a service station's holding tank, and not the car's fault. It will also wreak havoc with your gas mileage.

In my case the service station management offered to pay for my repairs, but I am a mechanic and had already removed the bad gas and replaced it. I just accepted a free tank of gas because it was not a case of anything done in error by anyone, just a freak leak during a storm that contaminated the gas in the holding tank.

Lots of luck, and let us know what happens. You have a great little car. Don't give up on it.

Now here is a testament of Hyundai's improving quality, a Honda Civic owner thinks it's a nicer car and even better in some ways!