Faults:

An odd clanking sound from inside the hood.

Worn out tires at around 65000kms.

Brakes need lining.

Shock absorbers failed a few thousand kilometers before being sold.

Rear brake lights busted.

Foglights busted.

Headlamps busted.

General Comments:

I really like H-100 (or Hyundai Starex in the Philippines). It's big, it's huge, and it's as spacious as a THX theater, especially at the rear. Fake wood and hard plastics removes some points though.

Even though the ride it's a bit firm, it's comfortable. It only bottoms out in the worst ruts.

It's OK to drive. Front and side visibility are excellent, but backing this van up is like backing up a delivery van.

The handling is OK, and body roll is kept to a minimum.

Air-con is adequate cold (despite the foot vents), but not as freezing (I mean Antarctic) cold as Nissan's air-con. Because the air-con is rather noisy outside, it's quite obvious it's a Sanden.

However, the engine is super bummer weak-

85 horsepower at 4200rpm

170 Newton-Meters of torque at 2000rpm.

All pulling a 1.6-ton van.

It's also the same engine found in the older Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero (pre-1997 models. Not the ones in America, as they have a 3.5-liter V6 instead).

It's either the engine is just weak, or the transmission saps out all the power. I mean, come on! 100km/h at around 3000rpm+? Even a tiny Kia Pride (defunct) or Picanto with a much smaller

1.1-liter engine can beat it with little fuss!

Even though launching it from a standstill is good, the acceleration is super slow and deadpan throughout the rev range, even at 3500rpm or past the redline. You need to shift it up to around 3500rpm or higher for the best result. However, it can make the engine a smoker within no time, especially that the engine is a pre-combustion distributor type. The newer CRDi can be thrashed to the limit, but it puffs out only a little smoke barely visible to the naked eye. Also, the chances of the CRDi (offered in the newer H-100 or Starex) of becoming a smoker is a much lesser (about 75% lesser) than a distributor or normal direct-injection engine.

But overall, the H-100 is a good vehicle to own, as it's comfortable and quite easy to drive. Despite the meager performance, it has a solid reliability that's as tough as rocks, despite being cheap.