1996 Hyundai Accent GS from North America - Comments

Ignoring normal maintenance such as tires, struts and brakes:

The car had a tendancy to always lose its alignment (I needed to perform 8 alignments on the car).

The wheel bearings in the front of the car went bad after 60,000 miles.

The alternator died around 60,000 miles.

The transmission stalled out on several occasions.

The oxygen sensors went bad after 60,000 miles (there are two of them in the 1996 Accent, apparently).

The rotors warped after 19,000 miles (95% of which was highway driving).

All of these problems occurred despite performing the manufacturer's maintenance schedule.

The car cost $12,000 new, and taught me the hard lesson "You get what you pay for." The car's performance is acceptable (but not great) around town, but is actually bad enough to be dangerous on the highway (e.g. merging with traffic was a matter of luck). I sometimes wondered if the "92 HP" motor was "92 Hamster Power" instead of "Horsepower".

On the bright side, the seats are comfortable and the A/C works quite well. The car also handles well and is fairly efficient on gas (which it should be as it has a very small engine).

It would work OK as a commuter car within a big city, but it is really not meant to be a highway cruiser. Overall, I feel a good used car would be a better use of your money.

I think Accent is not good for US driving... at all. The problem with the engine is mainly caused by automatic transmission. The 1.8 GT Accent is very very fast.. even on the highway and perfectly holds on the road. But it must have a manual 5 speed. Automatic transmission is piece of trash on almost all cars I have seen... OK OK.. but I am a European and we have different style of driving.

Next time you should buy Skoda... but these are not probably exported to the USA..

I own a 1996 Accent and the first 8 months that I had the car it was a good little car, then I started having trouble with the alternator and forget trying to pull out into traffic, it was too dangerous to even try it. In the past 5 months I have spent more money than what it is worth. I still do not have enough power to merge into traffic and I can't get enough for a trade-in to do anything with it. I have made sure to keep the oil changed and have taken better care of it than it has of me.

I had a 99 Accent and it was the best car ever. It never had a hard time starting in the winter, even in -48'C, and the repairs done on it were all mandatory parts, brakes, etc.

I never had a problem getting into traffic on the highway; the car was a very peppy, very reliable car.

I have bought another one and am very satisfied.