| 5 Years with my Accent - Ownership Story and Review.
Long term ownership experience - Hyundai Accent GLE NOV 2004
First a bit of history.
The car was purchased as a replacement for my Indica V2 LSI. Basically had to sell of the Indica due to preamature and constant failing of Parts.
POst warranty I was almost spending 3-4 K each month fixing something or the other. But that will have a seperate thread about my Indica problems.
So the first consideration for car purchase was Dependability ( besides budget ofcourcse ).
Some of you might recollect that Accents used to be more expensive before. Around 2004 they annk from ounced their 5 lacs scheme which is when i had picked up the car.
Since we had another accent in family which had done 95k Kms before we sold it , we decided on this .
Car delivery was taken on 17 Nov 2004 and has been with me since.
So far it has run about 40K Kms and i am overall very happy. Whatever issues I had Hyundai dealers were very cooperative and service friendly.
Within In the first 3 months i had an issue of my headlight conking off. I was honestly furious then . Specially after our Indica experience.
Took it for check up at Shreenath hyundai ( Mumbai ) .
It turned out that Rat had Cut the wire. The service engineer there said that this happens specially with new cars where rats like the smell of new wiring harness.
He said that he would put something over there to deter the Rats coming .
After this was fixed i had no issue till the 8 th month.
In the 8th month on July 05 the car got flooded. Ya mumbai rains. I felt so stupid to leave car at home in the afternoon and go to churchgate by train to save time.
When i reached home 2 days later and when water receeded after another 2 days the car wouldnt start :(
Most Mumbai people would know how flooded car garages were after this flood thing. Since shreenath was very busy at that time and a nearby garage Excel service station ( hyundai authorised ) took my car i gave it to him.
It turned out that the owner was known to us which helped. The owner asked me how old my car was . I said 8 months and 5K Kms.
He asked me if I wanted to get parts repaired OR he should replace most of damaged parts.
I opted to replace them.
If i recollect all the electrical parts like ECM , Ac Fan Motor ,Wiper motor ,Car Deck , Speakers , Alternator , Wheel Cylinder , Headlamp assy , Taillaamp Assy , and a lot of other parts were replaced.
I spent nearly 1 lac for fixing the car and got about 70k from insurance
After 1 month in garage wen i got car back it was like back to normal . Gear did feel tight which the Garage owner said would loosen up in few days.
I must say here that this guy was taking personal interest that each cars were delivered to clients satisfaction . He drive my car and noticed a humming sound coming from engine compartment.
He suspected it to be coming from inside the Power steering pump . He arranged an inspection from Hyundai motor plaza and thereafter arranged to have that part too replaced ( under insurance ) .
Thats good cust service.
Few months after the flood say around Nov 06 , Shreenath guys said that my rear suspention was tighter than normal , possibly on account of flood . They changed the rear suspention bushes ( Sorry guys if i dont know the correct word for it ) for me within warranty.
THis was very good on their part. We see at times when few car manufacturers would like to wash off their hands of something that they are supposed to do and take customers for a ride, this attitude was truly refreshing .
After the flood incident was over i didnt have too much issues with the car. Most of my driving has been in Mumbai city with occasional trips to Pune. More than anything i have to say that the car has been absolutely predictible and dependable .
Yes i did have to change following routine parts but nothing that kind of suddenly stopped working
1) Tyres recently replaced at 35k . the 5 year old Pirelli had become soft and were resulting in frequent punctures and uncomfortable handling at speeds.
2) Clutch plate + pressure plate + release bearing was replaced at 35 K Kms as well. Though these had not given way and gear shifting was operational alright i found the clutch harder to operate than before.
It fealt like a pre NV Palio clutch ( Pardon Fiat guys , nothing personal )
3) Tail light was changed once ( Thanks to Rickshaw wallas ) .
4) Minor door denting / painting work for scratches.
Even after 5 years the car is absolute fun to drive in City , Yes its not a Rocket , Does not handle like a Fiesta but is very smooth for a relaxed driver like me.
AC is chilling . And even after so long i find very few rattles if any .
Maintaining a Hyundai accent is very easy on the pocket as well . Parts are very cheap . Most dealer workshops are good. I have been getting car serviced from Excel since its close to my residance and does not need prior appointments.
Though i might go for an upgraded car in near future , the memory of Accent always will remain .It serves well till date. Just do regular servicing and maintenance and it will keep you happy.
Only negative thing in the car is the Rear seats. They are real low and leg room is just about Ok.
Thats it for now ! | 
27th November 2009, 00:27
