27th Feb 2006, 16:53
I bought a 98 twincam brand new, its covered 98,000klms and has had 1 battery and a set of plug leads. I change the oil & filter every 10,000 klms. nothing else has been touched. I can highly recommend this cheap little car.
26th Mar 2006, 23:28
Well! My Excel also gives roughly 400 KM with the full tank running around suburbs. I fill about 40 litres when I make it full tank. This is 97 Excel, 5 speed manual. NO power steering, but has A/C. So you would think this is the one with 4 valves per cylinder??
28th Oct 2006, 07:51
I have recently bought my Excel Sprint for $4300. So far I am happy with it as it is quieter and more efficient than my previous VN Commodore. Just as a quick note for people in Australia thinking of buying and excel, I have recently discovered that many insurance companies won't cover you unless you have an Immobiliser installed. I discovered this when I went to get comprehensive insurance and was told they would not offer it to me until I had one installed. Apparently it is in the top 14% of stolen cars, especially the sprint models. insurance is not necessarily expensive if you have an immobiliser so, if you can, try to buy a car that already has one.
9th Aug 2007, 20:32
I own a SOHC 1997 Hyundai Excel, I paid $5000 for it second hand and I came with A/C and P/S. I have modified it performance and style wise and apart from routine services it has never needed any attention. I would highly recommend this car to anyone who is looking for a cheap, but powerful enough car. The best bet would be going for a DOHC which is the Twin Cam model which delivers more power and better response.
(i fill up with Shell Vortex (Premium) around 45L and I get a good 600km out of it, given I also have a after-market air filter and Cold Air intake)
23rd Aug 2007, 20:00
In 1998 I bought a 1997 Excel GX when I didn't have a lot of money to spare. I have owned several cars in my time, but would have to say that the Excel is by far the most reliable. Apart from routine servicing and a battery at 120,000km I've never had to do anything to it and it's never let me down. It's a basic car and has a couple of rattles now, but if your expectations match the price, you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for an economical, cheap and reliable car I could highly recommend one.
18th Nov 2007, 13:55
I was the third owner of a 1997 Excel Sprint. When I bought it in 2001 I paid $7000 and it had 90 000klms on the clock. It had a few added extras that did not come with it standard. It has been the best car I have ever owned. We just upgraded to a slightly larger car (Toyota Corolla) because the family got larger, but I would have been happy to drive my Hyundai around forever.
It's very economical on fuel and has never had a thing wrong with it mechanically. It's now done 165000 and aside from regular servicing it's only had a new muffler and new tyres. Also one new battery since I've owned it. It has never, ever let me down mechanically. The door handles have broken off and I've had them fixed (very inexpensive) and apparently this is a fairly common problem with them. Someone stole my passenger side door mirror once while I was in a shopping centre. I went to a few wreckers to see if I could pick up another and they all told me they never see these cars because they don't die! They just keep going and going.
We have now sold mine to a friend at a very cheap price, but it will continue to go and go and go for a long time yet according to my mechanic.
20th Feb 2008, 16:37
I LOVE THIS CAR!!!
It was my baby and served me well throughout my Uni days- it was probably the saddest day of my life to sell it because I was moving overseas. I never had any problems whatsoever, even though I drove it like a manual F1 racing car and mounted a few curbs, roundabouts, through a shallow river, took it off-roading (basically to hell and back) - NO PROBLEMS EVER!
ONE PROBLEM however.: NO CUP HOLDERS!!! Drove me crazy.
This was the greatest car I have ever owned.
13th Jun 2009, 06:16
I bought my Sprint new in 97. It has towed a small camper trailer over all states except W A. It has now done 254000 and has never missed a beat.
Peter.
3rd Sep 2009, 08:05
As an 18 year old female uni student, I think this is an amazing little car. I bought mine second hand off line, for $2000 in about May '09. It had done around 160,000 kms when I got it, and has had regular run of the mill services since I bought it, but has had absolutely nothing go wrong with it.
I drive nearly 600kms in it every second week, and it does an incredible job. I usually get nearly 600kms out of a full tank, costs me about $50 to fill. She's a great, great car. The only thing I've had trouble with has been slightly higher insurance because I have a 2 door model. Other than that, it's a fantastic car. Very economical, easy to maintain and very stylish looking, even when it's 12 years old!!!
8th Sep 2009, 22:22
I got my car a couple of months ago for $2000 and at 112,000 kms. So far, it's been doing good. Very very reliable. Although I have to change the reverse light switch, the headlight bulb, and the rubber grommet in the break pedal that hits the stop light switch. Total cost? Just around $80 as I replaced it all by myself.
This car is easy to maintain and is reliable but maybe a bit high on insurance.
13th Sep 2010, 19:38
I have purchased a 95 Excel Sprint, awesome little car, and as all the comments state, very economical.
Yeah I have had the slight problems with the driver side door handle and the windows on both sides, the windows have come off the runners. But I love the little thing.
I drive from Blacktown to Auburn every day for five days, plus all the extra running around that I do, and only have to fill the car once a week.
I would recommend these cars to anyone who wants a cheap little car, that goes well and looks great.
19th May 2011, 07:59
Hey mate. No. They are bad cars. They seem to have a lot of problems as immobilisers are crap and also engine problems.
30th Mar 2004, 21:03
I also own a 1997 Excel Sprint and have found that 600K can easily be achieved on one tank. I can regularly get over 700K per tank when driving on the highway. This is with the standard 45 litre fuel tank running on Regular Unleaded fuel.
I know that the later Excels' which had 4 valves per cylinder are slightly thirstier than the earlier 3 valve per cylinder types.