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Hyundai Accent Hatchbacks



  • HI, just wanted to put down the update of my car. It now has 10,000 miles on it. I am averaging 35 MPG. It is running great. I had to have my driver side mirror replaced. Was replaced under warranty. Cruise control is working great. So far, I don't regret buying my car..
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Posts: 1,331
    What I am about to say goes for anyone who has work done on their car and not just for Secretblend. If you have to have something replaced, let us know why the part had to be replaced.

    In other words, what happened to the mirror?
  • since the day i got the car, the mirror handle would be all the way up and the mirror would be set a little too low for me to use it. When they replaced the mirror, they said the cable was broken. So they replaced it under warrenty and it has worked great since.
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Posts: 1,331
    Now if anyone else has that problem, they will know what is wrong with the mirror so thanks for telling us.
  • boofyboofy Posts: 4
    Hello, everyone. I've spent a good deal of time the last two months researching economy cars (namely the Accent, Daewoo Lanos, Kia Rio, Saturn, Toyota Echo, and Dodge Neon). I was mainly interested in the Accent GS, but then was initially turned off somewhat by a few of the negative comments I read in this discussion board. So I decided to research some of the other cars I already listed here and found that every vehicle, no matter how highly some people thought of it, had its detractors as well. So I returned to the Accent discussion and found that complaints seemed to be fewer and further between than most of the other cars.
    So I looked into the Accent GS a little further and test drove it. I was really impressed by the little car. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of power it had.
    I also test drove the Lanos and Saturn. I liked the Saturn, but the Lanos was unacceptable. It seemed like a good deal until I took it out for a spin... My right leg was rubbing against the bottom half of the dashboard. And the Saturn was a little too expensive for me.
    So, I decided on the Accent GS. I liked the warranty, gas mileage, and the color of the only GS the dealer had left on the lot (coastal blue). I just bought it three days ago and I already have over three hundred miles on it. I really like it and I hope it gives me very little trouble.
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Posts: 1,331
    a recall only affect PR or a fleet vehicle? Aren't the vehicles sold that way and sold privately made on the same line.

    If I had a vehicle and there was a recall, but the maker said it only applied to fleets, I would demand an explanation as to why it didn't apply to mine.
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Posts: 1,331
    Just remember to follow the break in guidelines. Much like children, how we treat cars early in their life affects how they act later in life.
  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66 2000 is Coastal Blue, I think it's an awesome color. On a really bright sunny day, it starts to look 'purplish'. I found that both of my Accents are more than acceptable for the price I paid.

    And, majorthomecho, back in post # 510 you are the one that brought up the recall issues on the 1995 Accent. If you actually did go to the NHTSA website and READ these recalls, you would see this information. Look for "VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES SOLD TO FLEET OPERATORS ONLY."

    Both of those lines were quoted directly from 2 of the four recalls. Only ONE of those recalls affects ALL US Accents, and only models with manual transmission.

    Hyundai is a pretty big company with a couple production plants around the world. To assume that all cars are built on a single production line at the same time is a bit silly, isn't it?
  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66
    by the way, anyone else that wants to check out your Accents or any other car...the web address is

  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Posts: 1,331
    I did not know what PR stood for, but I still have a question about the recalls being only for those to fleet sales (from any maker), but I think you answered the question for me. I guess you are saying that the car makers use one production line for all fleet sales?

    Like I said before, if a car (from any maker) had a recall that supposedly affected only fleet vehicles, I would call the dealer up and make sure my car was not one of them.

    A lot of people do buy former fleet vehicles as used cars. Not me you understand, but a lot of people do.
  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66
    I'm not really sure if they use different lines, plants, or just a special run. However they do it....the vehicles are different. In NJ, I'm not sure about the rest of the US, if you buy a former 'fleet' vehicle that information HAS TO BE disclosed to you and will also show up on the title. If you buy a vehicle here, and a dealer or whoever sells it does not have proof that they disclosed this info to you, they are liable to buy the car back. Most rental compaines put these cars up for auction on their own, so not many dealers get their hands on them (at least here in NJ). I myself would never buy one, just based on the abuse these cars endure.

    Anyone with a used Hyundai can just call their customer assistance line, give the, the VIN and they should honor any recalls that were not performed yet. I don't have that number with me, but I'm sure you can easily obtain it.

    Hope this info helps....
  • icebonesicebones Posts: 3
    Well I purchased the 96 accent as I mentioned earlier, I am very pleased with the little car, handles well on dry and wet roads, etc. The check engine light did come on a few days ago though. So, being a "good owner" I took it to find out why. I took it to a local shop where my family has taken foreign cars for years, so I know it a good one. anyway, he tried to do a diagnostic on it, but said that his equipment couldn't talk to the engine computer, although it could talk to the air bag system, which he thought was strange. He recommended I take it to a dealer, and didn't charge me :) After taking it to a dealer, they had the same problem, didn't
    mention the bit about the air bag system though. They wanted to run a complete electronics check for around $235 on top of the $69.95 they were charging for the diagnostic. I hadn't gotten that done yet. Has anyone encounter this same problem, or has ANY recommendations for what it could be. The car still runs basically fine,a touch sluggish since the light came on. Any ideas?
  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66
    Sorry to hear that....I forget, did you get this car from a dealer or privately?

    Anyway, even if it was a private purchase...depending on where you live, you may have rights to get the seller to pay for this. Unfortunately, there can be loads of reasons for the light to come on ! :-(

    First, I already checked for recalls on your year...there are none concerning this. Don't laugh...I had a 98 very breifly before it was totalled by a 18 wheeler while parked at my job. Althougth this was only a TSB..not a recall, I got my computer replaced for free for the same problem. The engine used to 'hicup' and the light came on while driving over 40. Not a big deal, just a little annoying. If this sound like what your car is doing...that may be the problem. Some cars only needed a new 'flash' to the computer program.

    If that's not it, try a few things.

    1. Make sure your gas cap is on least three clicks.
    2. Check your air filter.
    3. Get an oil change.
    4. Try better gas...or a bottle of dry-gas.
    5. Have someone check and/or replace the oxygen sensor.
    6. Replace the spark plugs and wires (tune-up)
    7. These cars have a coil pack rather than a distributor...I'm pretty sure that if they work at all, they are ok..but as a last resort, get that checked.
    8. Change the PCV Valve.
    9. Check for any loose, damaged or missing vacum hoses.
    10. Get the fule filter changed.

    Hope these tips help. Even if NONE of these are problems, most of them should probably be done if you don't have any proof of the maintenance that was done on the car. ALSO, the timing belt MUST BE CHANGED every 60K miles or so....VERY IMPORTANT !!!! If your not sure about it, GET IT DONE !!!!

    In all honesty, you should let the dealer do a full diagnosis. But if you REALLY don't want to pay, start with the cheaper stuff above first..and only do ONE at time so you know what it was.

    Good luck...hope this helps
  • warzonectxwarzonectx Posts: 26
    how fast do the Hyundai Accent go.can it go 120 if so email me at or post. and my name is matt.and is the Hyundai Accent chain drivin or belt drivin.
  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66
    The Accent is BELT-DRIVEN.....the fastest I have ever driven mine is around 90 MPH....I'm sure it can go a little faster, but I think 120 would be pushing it a little too far.

    Why in god's name would you want to drive any car at 120MPH? People either die on crashes or pay really big speeding tickets for stuff like that.
  • panamaltd2panamaltd2 Posts: 162
    Hi, my friend is looking for a new car and because she has no real car knowledge she asked me to find her a car around the $10,000 mark. At first when she said this I had a hard time thinking of something good for that little money (personally I HATE the Kia RIO), then I remembered the accent. She said she will not have a hatch back and she must have an auto., A/C would be nice too. If you all could just tell me how you feel about your Accents..., what the dealers were like, how much you are paying, reliability... etc. I would greatly appreciate it!

    Thanks so much,

  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66
    Look back though about 1 months worth of posts....there are plenty of opinions from me and everyone else here.
  • joecanejoecane Posts: 2
    I have just bought a 2001 GS silver option#3 my dealer told me that i had to bring the car to them at 30 60 90 thousand miles to make sure every thing is working properly and to keep my warranty in effect Can they do this legally Thanks for any help
  • njbongonjbongo Posts: 66
    NO, they most certainly cannot do this. You are allowed to do the maintenance yourself, or have another ASE certified mechanic do it. In order to keeop your warranty vaild, you must be able to prove maintenance.

    I have done all maintenace on BOTH my 95 and 00 myself...I just keep the invoices from the parts I buy for it as proof.

    It is a good idea to have a dealer occasionally check the car out while it is still under warranty, but it's not mandatory to keep your warranty. I would call Hyundai Customer Service (the number is in you owners manual), and report to them what the dealer stated to you. It IS NOT LEGAL, and they should know that the dealer actually had the b*lls to tell you this.
  • majorthomechomajorthomecho Posts: 1,331
    I also post on the Rio board and I noticed this War guy asked the same question about top speed there. I think he is trying to find which compact car has the highest top speed. I knew the answer (because of Car and Driver) about the Rio, but I don't know about the Accent.

    I was not trying to be critical about the Accent or Hyundai with my questions about recalls and fleet cars. Like I said, if ANY car I have from ANY maker has a recall affecting just their fleet sales cars, the dealership can expect a call from me demanding they explain why not my car too. To just say yours was not a fleet car will not be good enough.

    As another poster said, the dealership cannot force you to come in for maintanence, but you need to keep the receipts proving that the work was done.
  • sfarkas2sfarkas2 Posts: 12
    I have had my 2001 GS up to 185 am/Jr (114.7 mph)and there seemed to be ample gas pedal left to go. It was stable, luckily I didn't get a ticket, nor did the reamer that I was following or the Honda accord that was behind me. The reamer guy did give me the look when I went by him though. Remember this unit has the 1.6l engine and I have the manual 5 with 14" tires, that may add to the top speed capabilities.

    On the comments on the break-in process. #519 Seems to me that there is a disconnect from mar to mar. When I purchased a new 200 honda civic BB (which unfortunately was stolen, driven like the dukes of hazard and had to be written off)I was informed that after about 200 kms (120 miles) to drive it a little hard. (not that it is a stretch for me) I was informed that by doing this, the vehicle would become 'used' to high revs and as such would treat me better in the long run. Does this make sense?
  • sfarkas2sfarkas2 Posts: 12
    Ok thats the last time I use the spell check. Let me offer the following corrections to my previous post.
    GS=GSi (the canadian version)
    185 km/hr
    reamer=beamer (BMW)
    mar=mfr (manufacturer)
  • occupant1occupant1 Posts: 408
    Warzonectx is just a mass poster. He asks about only compacts? How about the Lincoln Town Car? Ford Crown Victoria? This guy asks the same question in every forum just to get people to email him. He used to be under two other names. Edmunds needs to get rid of his new name, too.
  • destro2001destro2001 Posts: 15
    First a quick update on my 2001 GS. About 450 miles so far and running great. Although the engine is a bit loud, it seems to give me adequate power for the streets and freeways here in chicago. Very pleased so far.

    I have a few questions about tires and wheels b/c I plan on replacing the 13" tires/wheels at some point with 14" ones. Unfortunately, I don't really know anything about how it works so hopefully someone here can help me out.

    I looked at the Hyundaiusa site's Parts Catalog and they have a bunch of 14" wheels listed there for the Accent that I assume I could use on my GS. But I don't know what the specs mean: 5Jx14. I assume the "14" refers to the size of the wheel (and tire), of 14 inches, but what does "5J" refer to?

    As for the tires, what does a spec like: 185/60R-14 mean? I'm guessing that the "185" refers to the width of the tire, the "14" refers to the wheel size, and the "60R" refers to the thickness of the tire. Is this true? The 185/60R-14 tires are the ones that are listed for the GSi model. I read a post waaaaaay earlier in this forum that the 60R/14 tires aren't much bigger than the 75R/13 tires that the GS comes with. If that's the case, I wouldn't really want to bother with it, but is it possible to put 75R/14 tires on the wheels I referred to above (the 5J-14" wheels), so that it would actually make a significant difference?

    Thanks in advance for any help!

  • pssonhnda1pssonhnda1 Posts: 20
    I beleive I hit the rev limiter (6000rpm) at around 185kph as well. ALthough at that speed staring at the speedo could be hazardous to your health! Hehe...

    98 accent, 2" exhaust, k&n cone filter with cold air supply, 50shot suspension etc..

    Any hondas out there looking for a race?
  • lngtonge18lngtonge18 Posts: 2,228
    You are partially right in your assumption about tires. The 5J stands for the 5" width of the rim. I would stick with 5j because wider rims may cause clearance problems with the suspension or wheelwell. As far as the 185/60R14 rating, the 185 means the tire is 185 millimeters in width and the 60 means that the tire's sidewall is 60 millimeters tall from the contact patch to the bottom of the rim. So what determines how big a tire is is the first # not the second. Switching to that size tire will make a significant difference as far as braking, stability, handling, and looks, but not a HUGE difference. You do not want to switch to a 185/75R14 because the height of the tire would be too much, causing mushy handling, slow steering response, and a speedometer that would be way off (it would read a lot slower than you were actually going). By the way, the original tires on the GS are 175/70R13, not 75R13. A rule of thumb is that for every 10 millimeters in width a tire grows, the height of the tire should be reduced by 5 millimeters to keep the speedometer as accurate as possible. Meaning that if you wanted to increase the width of the tire but not the overall size, than 185/65R13 would be the best choice. Now, if you are also increasing the size of the tire by an inch as in your case, than you should reduce the height of the tire by 10 millimeters. Therefore the 185/60R14 would be the correct choice, or for best performance, you could use 195/55R14. The kind of tire would actually make the biggest difference. A larger touring tire won't do much compared to an original size performance tire. Hope this helps your understanding.
  • destro2001destro2001 Posts: 15
    appreciate the info! However, are you certain that the tire/wheel size will make the speedometer inaccurate by getting bigger ones? I always assumed the speedometer and odometer were based on the number of turns the wheel makes, regardless of the tire/wheel size. Of course, I know nothing about how it really works. It's too bad if that's true, b/c then I guess I won't be getting 14" wheels and bigger tires then, which I thought would improve the look of the car a good deal (as well as other improvements for the car itself). Thanks again.

  • lngtonge18lngtonge18 Posts: 2,228
    Your speedometer will not be affected if you use 185/60R14 or 195/55R14. As long as you follow the rule of thumb I stated earlier, your speedometer will read accurately. I was simply stating that 185/75R14 WOULD affect your speedometer because the higher sidewall will cause the tire to rotate slower than the original size which thus affects the speedometer because it was calibrated for the original size. As an example, my sister switched from real small 14" wheels to large 15" rims on the back of her S10 without following the rule of thumb. She got a ticket for speeding, but she swore she was going 10 mph slower. She got out of the ticket because she took the truck in to have the speedometer checked and it was off by 10 mph because the calibration was off with the tires being too big. They recalibrated the speedometer for her and now it reads correctly. Just stick to the sizes I stated and you will get the affect you want with nothing you dont want :)
  • lngtonge18lngtonge18 Posts: 2,228
    If you would like to really make a difference in looks and performance, you could go with 195/50R15 on 6Jx15" rims. That size would be ok for the Accent as well. Just don't go any wider than 6J.
  • dbwellsdbwells Posts: 44
    Destro2001 - what lngtonge is saying is correct concerning wrong-size tires messing up the speedometer, but I just wanted to add my two cents of explanation in case you still doubt. It is a matter of simple geometry. As you increase the overall radius of the tire, the circumference of the tire will increase as well. If your original tires have a 10 inch radius, they will have about a 63 inch circumference, and will therefore move your car forward 63 inches with every turn. If you increase the overall radius to 12 inches, the circumference would increase to about 75 inches, and will now move your car forward 75 inches on every turn. Therefore, by simply changing the units from inches to MPH, your speedometer will read 63MPH when you are in fact travelling 75MPH. You're right when you say the speedometer only cares about tire rotations. What it doesn't know is that the bigger tire is taking you farther with each rotation, and thus faster.

    So, as lngtongue has stated, the only way to increase the rim size and keep the speedometer accurate is to reduce the height of the tire itself, and in doing so keep the overall size the same or very similar. Hope this helps.
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