Hello All,

Middle aged, very tall male commuter w/95 Accent. Bought from French intern in 98 w 60K, now 185K. Mechanical background, but not autos. I don't really enjoy getting under the hood, or especially under the car.

It has been a reliable car, hoping for 200K before I'll retire it, don't know if I will get there. I am hard on cars, and joke that Hyundai should be paying me as a product extreme conditions checker.

The car has been amazing from a reliability standpoint. Until recently I never had any doubt that it would take me where I needed to go. Fits a tall guy about 6.5ft amazingly well for such a small car. I have had no trouble with trouble codes, or with the air conditioning to date.

I think this car has a little accident history, not sure.

Observations:

I have always been bad at maintaining proper oil levels
At 60K car was not accelerating well (stumbling), replaced spark plugs, all was well
First thing to go was the flexible exhaust coupling between the manifold and catalytic converter at 80K.
Shifter cable broke at 80K, I replaced in work parking lot during lunch break plus about 30mins.
Loud "lifter" noise persisted from 80K until I started using semi-synthetic oil, which worked wonders.
There was always a problem with the rear struts and their attachment in the car (heavy bumping sound in the rear end) finally had repaired at about 100K.
Belt idler bearing squealed early in the morning for between 100K and 130K, it was worn, but I couldn't easily get replacement, so I greased it and it still serves (quietly)
Did the timing belt at about 100K; I think it had been done before I bought the car as well.
At 120K-150K had a soft clutch first time in the morning. At 150K cleaned out system, replaced master, slave, and some line. Adapted aftermarket clutch parts. I am told that sludge builds up in the line and this was the problem (apparently).
Did some overdue heavy brake repairs (one caliper stuck-corrosion)at about 120K
Started using a lot of oil at about 120K
At 120K car was not accelerating well replaced spark plugs and wires, all's well.
Transmission (manual) went dry before 120K and became hard to shift, refilled periodically, but leaks.
Tires have badly worn for the between 100K and 185K, "bumpy" ride, etc. I suspect the suspension needs attention.
At 180K car was not accelerating well, replaced spark plugs, all's well.
I have a developing starter problem at 185K with a relatively new battery, starts fine first time, after it is warm the starter doesn't seem efficient enough to fully engage. If you don't actually start this car first attempt, I believe it floods, which compounds a second attempt. Not sure whether to park the car and buy another or try to solve this problem. I can't even get my eyeballs on the starter, which means it is going to be a pain to get at.
If I could get the starter fixed, and the suspension straightened out, I might make it to 200K
(I have not done the recall on the suspension, maybe it is related to the wear problems)


Gripes: lack of easy spare parts (like easy access to aftermarket spark plug wires) outside of the dealer and lack of individual parts like caliper pins even at the dealer. Manual transmission could use a dipstick and easy fill aperature. Area around gas pedal forces large foot to odd angle and is a little irritating to the heel of the foot. Audio system was excellent at 60K but hardly works now, many buttons have stopped functioning. What were they thinking about the sunvisor mirror installation (Shrinkage?) ? It looks like my cat installed them. It would have been nice if the rear seat folded down to allow space to carry long objects like a piece of molding or pipe. Car can't deal with internal moisture without the A/C on.

Bob