Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-93
I've owned it for one day, so of course, nothing.
This is a good little car. It's not quite a Toyota or a Honda, but this car for sure takes 3rd place honors above all other compacts/subcompacts. It is very roomy for a compact, the engine is very smooth, VERY quiet in the cabin, the standard shift is smooth, and the car handles really well in the curves.
I can't comment on the gas mileage yet, but after a couple fill ups, I'll figure it out and post it.
The hatch and the doors feel solid and shut precisely, and have a nice sturdy feel.
The controls are easy to use, arranged well, and also feel tight and precise.
The seats are awesome. It's a really nice ride for a small car, and I think will be comfortable even on a long trip.
The rear seats fold down completely with the headrests removed, giving lots of space for cargo, when the rear seats are up, sitting in the back is not at all cramped or uncomfortable. The rear seats are as nice as the front seats.
Overall, I think this car is a best buy in its category. For the money, which is to say a couple thousand less than the Toyota Yaris, and a few thousand less than the Honda Fit, you cannot beat this car. If it proves to be reliable, this will be a great car. If not, I still have the 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty backing me up, and in talking to other Hyundai owners, I've heard absolutely nothing but good things about their dealer service.
OK, first update on the car: so far it's great. I really like it.
Now, concerning gas mileage; this car came with 30 psi of air in the tires from the dealership. The tires are rated to be able to hold 44 psi, and as we all know, higher tire pressure (within the safe limits of the tire) increases gas mileage, so I put 40 psi in it, and as with every one of my new vehicles, the first thing I do is put a K&N air filter in it.
The car now has 321 miles on it, I filled it finally with 9.9 gallons of gas (an 11.9 gallon tank) with equates to roughly 32 miles per gallon. I fully expect 36 or 38 once the engine breaks in, and now that I have less drag with the lower tire pressure and the performance air filter.
In my experience, this car performs on the high end of the EPA estimates. This first tank of gas was mixed city/highway driving, and I'm not driving especially easy or running it like a racecar. Shifting at 2500 to 3000 rpms on flat ground, a little more on the hills.
I LOVE driving it. Reminds me of my '93 Tercel in many ways; I hope this car is a fraction as reliable as that one was.
Always inflate your tires following the manufacturer specifications; if you inflate them too much, they will wear very quickly in the center of the thread, you'll lose handling especially on wet roads, and are subject to explode if they catch a big hole on the road. I've sold tires in garages and dealers for 6 years, so trust me.
I agree. Again, the tires are rated for 44 psi cold. I put 40 psi in, didn't want to push it right to the limit, but 30 psi seems like not quite enough for these tires. Don't know if this will make a noticeable difference in gas mileage, but physics says that it will. Less drag, less power, less fuel necessary to get the car up to speed and keep it rolling.
Another small update; the car now has about 700 miles on it, and the gas mileage went up to 34 miles per gallon, despite the fact that it is 90 degrees here right now and I've been running the air conditioning constantly when driving it. Also, for those of you who do your own maintenance, I changed the oil at 500 miles, as you should with a brand new car and the initial fill of factory oil. The filter and the drain plug are easily accessible on this car, once you jack up either side of the front end a little to give enough room to lay under the car. No problems there. For all of you comparing compact cars, I'm guessing the gas mileage will settle in around 36 miles per gallon once the engine finally breaks in fully, and the weather cools off enough so that I'm not running the a/c constantly.
I have had the car for a week and I am very pleased with it so far. The only thing that concerns me is the gas mileage. But that may be due to using the air. But I love the amount of space. I rode with my husband and a (larger) friend in the backseat, and each of us had an adequate amount of space. The car appears to be smaller from the outside than it actually is. I love how everything is within reach. I am not cramped but can still reach everything.
I wrote this review. I've been through 5 tanks of gas so far, and the mileage has been 31, 33, 35, 34, 34. No trouble with the car at all in 1600 miles or so; no squeaks, rattles, nothing.
I now have a little over 2000 miles on the car, and am consistently getting 36 mpg. The mileage has gone up from 31 to 36 as it breaks in, I hope this trend continues! I'd be thrilled with 38 or 39 overall. We'll see when it levels off.
We bought my wife's 2008 Accent just before winter... not a good time to get good MPG right off the bat. My wife averaged 32+ & rising a bit thru the winter months in slow heavy highway, city, country & some speed limit highway commuter traffic. Finally, I got to feather foot drive it to 1400, 3000, 4000, 5500 foot mountain passes, 101 degree E. Washington, & Mt. Rainier. Got 41.5, 42.6, & 45.1 MPG. Accent loves the mountains!
Dude crawling under a jacked up car is DANGEROUS!!! Never crawl under a vehicle that's lifted only by a hydraulic or mechanical jack. You should only go under the car when it's securely lifted up on jack stands, and when you do put it on jack stands you need jack it up behind both front wheels, rear wheels or all 4 wheels.
Even better buy some ramps. That's the easiest way to lift your car up to do an oil change.
And an oil change after 500 miles when the cars new? That makes no sense...
Can anyone fill me in on the prices they paid? I'm looking for the more basic 2008 hatchdoor manual with air only.
E-mail jford46@hotmail.com.
Thanks.
I think commenter 22:28 meant 5000 miles, not 500. At least I HOPE he did. Factory oil should be left in for 5000 miles because it is designed to help with the break-in period. The exception would be if you only drove very few miles, and you reached 6 months before you reached 5000 miles. You should change every 6 months, even if the mileage is lower than the recommended change interval.
Also, 07:16 is right. NEVER crawl under a car supported only by a jack. Driving after you get your head squished is much more difficult.
To the above commentor: Most vehicle manufacturers recommend the first oil change at 500 miles.
I'm a mechanic and I have never heard of ANY car manufacturer that recommended an oil change at 500 miles. Ford specifically says NOT to change the oil for 5000 miles unless 6 months has passed. Even in the 1940's oil changes were only recommended every 1000-2000 miles. My recommended change interval on my car is 7000 miles. Imports tend to require far more, and far more expensive maintenance than domestic cars, but to my knowledge none of them has such a small interval before the first oil change.
Original commenter here. I have ramps, but the narrow approach angle on the car prevents me from actually using them. And I neglected to mention that I used jackstands also, I would never trust just a hydraulic jack to support a vehicle. Also, I did mean 500 miles for the first oil change. You should change the factory fill of oil on any new vehicle between 500 and 1000 miles because it gets all of the contaminants and small metal dust, etc. that accumulate during the break in of a brand new engine out of there. Never leave factory oil in for 5000 miles; 1000 at most.
I now have 3600 miles on the car, and am ready to do my second oil change today. The car has been perfect to date. I have been running the a/c almost constantly as it is around 88 degrees here in PA lately, and the gas mileage has topped of around 35 even with the use of the a/c. I truly have very few complaints about the car, and those are extremely minor. The first being, when you fold all the seats down to increase cargo room, the panel on the floor that covers the spare tire etc. underneath is really thin and flimsy, so that even if you make all of that room, you still can't put any real weight on it or I assume in would collapse. I have to put a piece of plywood over it to haul anything heavy that would rest on it. The only other thing I can even think of is that when you are in the driver's seat, the seat belt isn't right there for you to grab; you have to kind of reach back well behind the side of the seat to get you hands on it. Very minor issues; all cars have them. Mechanically, and as far as build quality goes, I am impressed all around. This car feels just about as solid as a Honda, and drives just like one. I've had it up to 85 or 90 just to see how it handles, and the grip on the road is solid, no squeaks, no chatter, the engine sounds very happy at over 4000 rpms, doors and hatch shut precisely and tightly, control knobs and levers are solid, steering is tight and solid, this is a good car, especially for the low price. I've gotten 3 phone calls from the Hyundai dealership asking me if I'm happy with the car and offering to help with any issues I might have. I'm satisfied all around. And most of all, gas mileage is above EPA estimates, and will increase when the weather cools off and I don't run the air conditioning as much.
To the commenter asking about purchase price: I bought a 2 dr hatch, 2008, with manual and the air/CD/XM package and paid 11,250 before tax/etc. It was under the sticker price - end of the month and approaching the end of the model year. The sticker was I think 13,200 or something like that. Thus far I like it although I don't know if I am getting quite the gas mileage of the person who started this thread. One problem with the manual is it revs at about 3500 for 70 miles an hour which doesn't lend itself to outstanding mileage and I do a lot of highway driving. But it's definitely sufficient.