I have owned and driven a Hyundai Accent for about 7 years now. In terms of the ownership experience I would rate this as one of the best Value for money buys in the market even today. As with any of Hyundai’s products, the reliability is high and fit and finish are top notch.
While the 1.5 L Alpha engine that does duty in my car may not be the best in class, it is average and a little more on both performance and fuel efficiency. In the congested Bangalore traffic I manage an average of 10kmpl. Take her on to the high ways and you can expect anywhere from 13.5- 14.7 kmpl depending on how much you can resist and control you urge to hit the accelerator . The engine is smooth and silent at lower revs but gets noisey if revved hard. The suspensions are good, but the low clearence eith the soft suspension has the car bottoming on full load at almost every bump. The other aspect is on brakes, which I would discribe at the best as Average, in slightly wet conditions I have had the experience of the tail falling out of line when the wheels are locked.
The seats are comfortable, the AC is very effective and the rear seat is designed for 3 people and can really accomodate 3! The boot space is decent and the general plastic quality in the cabin is good.
Since Hyundai has a small car, service centers are present in smaller towns too, frankly, after having been a Maruti owner, Hyundai has not given me a reason to believe that they are in anyway behind Maruti in their service network. As for the efficiency of service, well, overall they are good, I have been getting my service done at Advaith Hyundai and the guys have been consisitent for most part of the time. The service cost are on an average about 2.5-3.5 K with regular replacements like filters, consumables like Oil, wheel Balancing . The spares are not too expensive as compared to competition and the maintenance costs are reasonable for a car in the C segment.
Would I recommend this car to anyone? With my experience, YES! but that having been said, youalso have to aware that this model has been in existence for almost a decade now and is slowly being phased out, so do not look at great resale value if you are going in for a new one today. But look at it this way, you get a real sedan for the price slightly more than that of a hatchback and this car is reliable, easy to drive around and easy to maintain and you really arrive in style!