Fuel Pump went at 33,500.
Heater Core went at 34,500.
Cap and Rotor needed replacing at 33,000.
Ignition module needed replacing at 33,200 ($160)
Spark Plugs weren't even matched!!!
Exhaust has rusted out entirely ($400 to fix)
Passenger front window won't go down or up.
Passenger rear door won't open.
Car stalls when pulling onto main roads.
Car pulls forward when braking, almost as if the calipers are hanging up.
This car sucks. I got it for free from my Grandpa (so I won't complain about the price) who got it from his mom, my Great Grandmother, who bought it new in 1988. It had 32 thousand or so miles on it when I got it and had been driven about 3 times a week, never above 35 miles an hour. I learned to drive in this car, so it was fine until I got my licence, now, I'm realizing how much of a piece of crap this car truly was. I drive it everyday, 250 miles a week, the gas mileage is great, 260 miles to a tank, $25 fills it up. Other than that, the car is a disgrace. It does not belong on the road. With only 68 horsepower, it gets blown off the road by everything around it. I haven't been able to beat a car off of a stop light yet. It takes so long to get to 60 mph, not to mention the fact that you have to let it warm up for 5 minutes before you can drive it anywhere.
The seats are comfortable though, but I'm 6' tall and the driver's seat is all the way back and I barely fit in it.
The wind noise is unbearable when driving, even at 40, and the front end shakes at 45 and doesn't stop.
The only possibly good thing about this car is the price. I got it for nothing but sank about $600 into it. I'll probably never get that money back.
I recommend that anyone who needs a first car or a commuter, never buys a Hyundai Excel, at least one that sat for most of it's life at a retirement home.
I'm looking for another car now, one that has heat and doesn't stall when I pull out onto a main road.
No wonder it's acting up.. sounds like you want a race car instead of an everyday commuter... something that old that has been sitting all these years and suddenly you think you can take it out and make a Mustang out of it.
Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm buying an Eclipse now anyway. The Hyundai was a good car when it was running right, it'd have good and bad days, I guess that comes with a car that sat at a retirement home for 17 years. I can tell you this though, it was good on roads when the speed limit was like 25 mph, you could get through there at about 45 or more, I put 14s on the car, because I had a fear of rolling it with the stock tires, the 13s.
Strange, I got my 88 excel gl at 78k miles and have had a thoroughly different experience...
Yes, mine had been sitting for a few years, but it wasn't being driven at all, just left to rot... I put some air in the tires and with a little ether and some jumper cables I got it started in about ten minutes. New tires, brakes, air filter, spark plugs, cap and rotor (about $250) and the car was very driveable, I deliver pizzas in it and that 26-30mpg I get at fillup means more cash in my pockets, insurance on it is extremely cheap (I pay 50 a month and have had some *dings on my record)
While I only have the four speed instead of five the *85 horsepower that these cars start out with is enough to get me around in town and on the highway. I had some overheating issues that stopped when I replaced the automatic fan temperature sensor and the suspension is quite loose (due to the fact that it has never been serviced, but there are no shakes or anything even when I top out at that massive 95 mph (after a loooong straightaway.
I am having a problem with the exhaust system rusting, but hey, the car is 19 years old and I know that thing is factory!
This is definitely not the kind of car you want to show off to people, but with 85 hp, I don't feel too bad getting on it hard, and the cops don't seem to mind it either! But with such low power, I'm thinking about getting wider tires instead of taller to keep from squealing them at every corner (which they do all the time even at very low speeds) and not lose even a precious few ponies.
The car is a pain to work on though, I guess because the engineers seemed to be trying "different" approaches to things due to the era it was made in.
Overall this car is pretty fun to drive, mechanically sound if maintained properly, very cheap, and definitely not the ugliest thing on the road, though it'll never win a beauty pageant.
I've had this car since 89 and it's an excellent car. I've never been beat off the line, and it gets excellent gas mileage, and the only downfall is the price of parts for it.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site