My front brake pads needed replaced within the first two years. (Probably in the mid 20,000 miles).
My rear brake pads needed replaced at 32,000 miles.
My master cylinder broke and the car needed to be towed away (almost 30,000 miles).
All of my rear brake lights broke at the same time and it was not covered under the warranty.
It is a nice car for the price.
However the warranty is not as good as it is made to seem. It is picky on what is covers.
I have never had a problem with the engine; just the brakes.
It gets great gas mileage!
I can fully understand your problems. I myself owned the exact same model in 2003.The Warranty was not worth the paper it was written on. My drivers door dropped a full inch. It got so bad that I had to tie it closed. The Dealer accused me of abusing the vehicle.
Replacement for front and rear brake pads is considered maintenance and is not covered by any warranty. This is true for all car manufacturers. Some companies offer free maintenance for some time / mileage (e.g. Mercedes Benz). To my knowledge, Hyundai does not offer such free maintenance. The number of miles driven on your original brake pads is rather low, but not abnormal. It really depends on what roads you drive on and your driving style. Do you drive in a mountainous or hilly area? Do you ride your brakes when going downhill instead of shifting in a lower gear (you have a stick shift)? Do you drive on very dusty roads (in the desert)? Or maybe you drive in a big city, with a lot of stop-and-go traffic? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", than you had a normal lifespan for your brake pads.
I had a Buick Century and drove it in San Francisco, on those very steep hills. I had to change the front brake pads every 15000 miles and the rear ones every 30000 miles. Now I have a 2002 Hyundai Accent, just like yours, and moved in the East Bay where driving conditions are less demanding than in the city. I changed the front brake pads at 45000 miles and still have the original ones on the rear at 73000. That says a lot...
The master cylinder should have been covered under warranty.
About the door drop. You sure someone didn't back up into it? Someone did that to my driver side door and sticks out a little bit now. No one respects these cars when the park next to them! Just back up into the side when trying to get out of a parallel packing spot?! Grr... With a 1 ton weighted SUV pressing up against the Accent drivers door I guess it has to give a little. Oh well. Hope you can get it fixed as mine is too small to complain about...yet!?
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site