Faults:
Car totally blew after 8 months.
From the start it always had this high pitch squeaking noise, I was told it was the serpentine belt, but I beg to differ.
The paint was already badly chipped on every single run of my handles.
It vibrated when idling, smoked when it was cold.
The steering wheel got stuck quite often.
Always seemed to be low on oil.
Alignment was AWFUL!
When I was driving on the hwy one day to school, it just stopped running and I had to be towed.
The timing belt snapped and severely damaged the engine. It was in pieces and would be $2000 to fix, regardless of the fact I just paid $2500 to fix it with a rebuilt engine! Instead of wasting the money, I just got a different car that is a 1993, but a THOUSAND times better performance wise.
Would not get another Hyundai unless it was a brand new model with a year warranty!
General Comments:
I loved the way the car looked, it was so cute! Reminded me of a Mercedes. Made me sad when it died =(
It was pretty, but I realized looks aren't everything. It was partially my fault for not putting oil in it often enough, but I also didn't know much about cars.
It only lasted 8 months, and I found out that the 2003 has an interference design. Didn't give me any mechanical problems really until it just totally died. Was very unexpected!
I wasn't going to spend 2k to have it repaired on a scrap yard engine with already 95k miles on it, not worth it.
I ended up getting a 1993 Nissan Altima, which isn't as pretty as my old Hyundai, but I got it for $1550 and it drives great! It's a GXE and I love the wood on the inside.
It drives fast, gets good gas milegage, and it only had 88k miles on it when I got it!
I'm constantly checking the oil and putting new in.
Hopefully this one will last longer!
I just wish Hyundais weren't such crappy cars. Can't really go wrong with Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans though!
11th May 2010, 15:09
The timing belt snapped after over 100,000 miles. Not the car's fault. Somebody should have told you or you should have read the manual that the belt needs to be changed every 60,000 miles. Plus you said you didn't change the oil enough. You can't blame the car for bad maintenence.