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Hi guys, I'm planning to buy a 1.3 96/97 Hyndai Accent as a second car which would mainly be used at my part-time job (take-away deliveries). I would like to know how reliable they are and if they're cheap to run (MPG, insurance etc..). Are there any common faults which I should be aware of and if there's any more info you would like to add please do so. Thanks!
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My partner drives one, a 2000 model. It's gearbox is a pile of po*, and it's not nice to drive around town. Has zero acceleration.
However get it on a motorway, put it in 5th and it cruises along very nicely. Looks - wise, the inside is very "plasticky" and the seats are nothing to write home about comfort-wise.
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Fairly reliable and decent MPG. Not good in a crash though - so drive carefully! Hyundai parts are expensive. On balance a Nissan Micra would be a better bet (but check underneath for rust first).
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Mark 1 accent is good for 150k and more
gear box on mark 1 is better than mark 2 car
paint work is poor
prone to rust - just about everywhere
1.3 engine is the one to have - tried and tested, never goes wrong.
electrics bulletproof
never buy parts from a hyundai dealer - the mark up is incredible, increasing number of korean part distributors.
its not the end of the world if it has no service history - not alot to check or go wrong.
acceleration isnt as bad as earlier mentioned - although it will never be fast.
cheap to run, cheap to insure.
just very hard to sell on.
buy as cheap as you can, dont worry to much about surface rust - they actually take a good beating with the rust - but it rarely gets into the sills in my experience.
expect a few body dents - they are prone to the lightest of knocks - but door panels are easy to get of and repair.
Had 3 mark 1's - very few problems.
its actually a better car (with the excpetion of the handling upgrade) than a Mark 2.
and they are very easy to work on.
dont worry about the paintwork being rubbish - hyundai are still turning out cars with rubbish paintwork, the new getz and current elantra have terrible paint finishes compared to other manufacturers.
buy one in my opinion - just dont pay for than £200 for it.
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My uncle has had one trouble free since new 99 and is going for a newer one.
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I considered buying a nearly new one of these back in '96 because it was practically being given away and we needed a car to get us to the South of France and then keep for a few years. It remains the dullest, most lifeless car I've ever driven. Feedback from the steering was non-existent even though it didn't have power steering. The gearbox was grim, but that didn't really matter because whatever gear you were in it had minimal acceleration and the engine made a high-pitched buzzing noise. It wallowed in corners and tramlined. The interior felt like being trapped in the Hinari cassette player aisle in Dixons. The salesman clearly hated it and kept repeating the line "It's quite sporty really." Yeah, right.
In the end we ran out of time and kept our 12 year-old Metro, which went to the SoF and back without drama. On our return bought a 10 year-old Peugeot 309 Diesel, which was streets ahead of the Hyundai in every department apart from the weight of the non-assisted steering. The Pug even had similar spec to the Hyundai, despite being a decade older.
That's how bad the Hyundai was. Unless it is a gift you can do better.
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If you can get one for nothing don't turn it down, but there are much better cars around. I had a brand new one 5 years ago as a courtesy car - 1.3 Auto. It was positively dangerous - no power to do anything. The interior trim, switchgear etc reminded me of the early 80s Datsun Sunny I learnt to drive in.
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