1989 Hyundai Excel GL review from North America
"Little box I was glad to see die!"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Not much went seriously wrong with the Excel over 130,000 miles, but there was also not much left of the car at that point. There were no engine or tranny problems, and the clutch was the original. The front tires never stayed balanced, and the steering thus wobbled on the highway. The exhaust system had to be replaced about 3 times in that mileage.
The car wore terribly cosmetically as in paint and flimsy plastic exterior parts, it looked like a piece of junk after only 1 year of driving it. The body rusted terribly over the course of 5 northeastern winters, which thankfully ended up doing it in.
General comments?
It was a cheap commuter car to buy and own, but never at all a fun car to drive. It was flimsy, buzzy, uncomfortable, and deadly underpowered - it could never get up even the smallest of grade at a speed over 45 MPH.
I can't fault it mechanically as it never let me down, I did maintain it well. But I hated this car and was embarrassed by it every second I was seen driving it, and was overjoyed the day I got to surrender the horrible little thing to the junkyard.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 1989 |
| Year of manufacture | 1989 |
| First year of ownership | 1989 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 1992 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.4 Manual |
| Performance marks | 2 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 5 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 4 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 4 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 5 miles |
| Most recent distance | 130000 miles |
| Previous car | Honda Accord |
| Date of Entry | 8th September, 2009 |