1998 Hyundai Accent GL 1.5 I think from North America
Summary:
Good performance/mileage, but lousy dealer service
Faults:
In one word, my main problem is 'Paint'. When I bought the car it was in part based on my once having owned an Excel that lived up to my expectations beautifully. The Accent is not so lucky.
I first noticed last year that the paint was starting to show rust spots. I wasn't too worried at first and questioned the dealer and he said just a little surface rust. The car was out of warranty so I just covered the spots with a little Hyundai touch up paint and didn't think too much about it until this summer. The spots are back with a lot of extra ones thrown in. In fact, rust is breaking out all over the car, but the worst areas are under the front hood and inside the trunk where it touches the rubber. Also along the window seams on the doors.
I asked the dealer about it and again he said surface rust. I thought about it for a few weeks and started checking. Some of the spots are surface rust, but most are the early signs of perforation. My car is outside the surface rust warranty so I approached Hyundai on the perforation warranty which is 5 years with 'no' mileage limit. The service manager said they would not do anything until there were holes in my car from perforation. Needless to say, I am taking this to Hyundai. I am now convinced I am the victim of a poor paint job.
One more thing, overall performance is great, but the service is lousy and the car's front end rattles too much even though it does not need repair. I have bought my very last Hyundai.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 22nd July, 2001
29th Sep 2005, 16:39
We have had our Hyundai Sonata '05 since April (not quite six months) and have a serious problem with rust spots in the paint, most of them on the trunk, some scattered elsewhere. I am sick about it. Will call the dealer tomorrow and bring the vehicle in to show. Sure hope the warranty covers this. I love the Sonata, but this is ridiculous. I've never had this happen with a car, no matter how long I had it (well, there was the 13-year-old Datsun with some rust issues, but 13 YEARS).
9th Nov 2002, 20:39
Mi girlfriend also have a Hyundai accent and after only two years some rust appeared on the doors. So for the others parts of the car there's no rust.
I think they use poor material for the body to make the cheapest car possible and for that reason the rust is coming sooner.