I'm looking to buy a 2000 Accent with around 115,000 miles. The car seems well maintained and it seems like a good deal. Is the higher mileage an issue with these vehicles? My last car was a late 80s BMW, and those are known to go forever. Should I stay away from a Hyundai with this many miles? I believe it was mainly used for suburban and country driving.

 

I suggest three courses of action. 1) Buy a Carfax report on the car. I'll find a really sharp car to buy that I think has no problems and I'm always amazed how sobering the Carfax report can be. 2) Ask the seller if you can take it for inspection to an independent mechanic. Have a compression and leak down test performed on the engine. Have them check all the rubber items under the hood. Transmissions are hard to check out internally, but have the level and condition of the fluid in the tranny checked, auto or manual. Scan for error codes. Make sure they put the car on a hoist or rack so the underside can be inspected. I usually carry an icepick with me to poke at rusted structural areas. There will be surface rust under the car, don't let that bother you. Look for areas that might be rusting through. Sonata's of this vintage have a known rusting problem on the structural K-member that the engine/tranny are mounted to. I don't know if the Accents have the same problem but it will be apparent if the car does. Have them closely inspect the flexpipe that connects the catalytic converter to the exhaust system. If it's rusted (it will be) and very brittle (it may/may not be), you are looking at a relatively expensive item to replace in the future, second only to the convertor itself. The other exhaust components will also be rusted, but they are usually much less expensive to repair. Have them pull all four rims and inspect the brakes, brake lines, tie rod ends, suspension parts. Costs? I have a local mechanic that does all of this for me for ~$100. I've heard ranges of $75 to $150 for most independents in my area. 3) If the car is indeed a "good find", look up the base retail and the clean retail price adjusted for location and mileage on NADA Online. That will give you a good estimate of it's range of worth.

With this mileage, the car is ready for it's 2nd timing belt replacement (due at 120K) and it will likely need a brake job. As good as an ol' Beemer? To be honest, I don't think so, but it could still be a quite servicable car for another 40 to 50K.