2001 Hyundai Accent GSI review from North America

Okay, first of all let me just say that I love my car, and that the biggest problem with my car was from my own inexperience and lack of knowledge about cars after I bought it (this Accent was my first vehicle).

Alrighty, first on the list...

About a month after I bought my car (with 138,000 km), I had the unfortunate experience of the timing belt breaking while I was doing 100 K down the highway.

The end result of this event was a month in the shop and a completely rebuilt engine. Apparently the timing belt on my car had never been changed in the seven years of its existence. In a perfect world it should have been on its third timing belt when I took possession of it. Consider it lesson learned LOL.

Note: Most timing belts are supposed to be changed every 60,000 km.

A few months after I got my car back, my windshield wipers on their highest setting slowed down to a useless crawl. Annoying to say the least, but also extremely dangerous, so it was back to the shop. The wiper motor needed to be replaced, apparently for the second time in the cars life. My mechanic told me that the old motor was actually a used part to begin with and that the reason the motor burned out again was because the inner workings of that area had never been cleaned. So being the good man that he is, my mechanic took it all apart and cleaned it up, and now it works perfectly! :)

Fast forward to sometime around April 2009 and a test of my horn produced nothing but silence. Cue another trip to my mechanic. At first he suspected that I would need a new horn, but luckily after taking a second look he discovered that it was nothing but a grounding problem, and after a half hour of messing around the horn was working good as new.

The latest problem that I've discovered is that the backlight for the instrument panel has gone out. I suspect that it's only a blown bulb, so I'm going to attempt to repair the problem myself. Hopefully the experiment will go well, but if not, I've got my mechanic on speed dial... LOL.

I know that to see all the problems laid out one by one makes it seem like I've had nothing but problems with this vehicle, but the truth is, that if I had known enough to get the timing belt changed as soon as I had bought the car, the repairs would have only cost me an additional $400.00, and considering that I only paid $4,300 for it in the first place, I think I got a nice little car for the money. :)

First of all, this car is great on gas! (as long as you do the speed limit ;) ) I love the way the car handles. It is by far the easiest standard that I have had the experience of driving and if you're just learning, I highly recommend this model as a training car. Beware though, first gear can be a tad loud until you get the hang of it ;)

The steering is tight and the acceleration makes the driver feel like they are going much faster than they are.

The fabric on my seats is in perfect condition, and the lumbar support makes driving long distances a bit easier.

The positioning of everything from the gear shift to the stereo is nicely centered around the drivers reach, and the open concept of the vehicle makes the compact feel much bigger than it actually is. You don't really notice how open it is until you get into a different layout of car (like a Sunfire) I was shocked.

My only complaints about this vehicle is that the road noise that can be heard from the interior of the car is quite loud. I'm not sure if this is because of my tires, but I suspect that that's just the way these little cars are.

There is also the matter of the venting system not being screened. You end up with random pieces of plant debris on your dash, which makes it necessary to wipe down the dash every couple of days if you want a clean car.

Last but not least is the paint. I know two other people who own Accents, one a 2001 like mine and the other a 2003. The one thing that all of these vehicles have in common is that the paint is peeling badly. Hyundai does provide paint pens for touch ups though. Sadly my friend's Accent (the 2003) is covered with a discontinued paint colour, and the owner of the other 2001 doesn't care enough to fix the scratches.

Other than these few things though, I am very happy with my car and have vowed to take it to 300,000 km and beyond LOL.

I would gladly buy another Hyundai when this one dies though. :)