Been learning a lot since I wrote about buying a used Honda or Toyota. Now I wonder should I buy a Hyundai new for less than I would pay for a 4 or 5 year old Honda or Toyota. I always listen to Click and Clack and I’m sure some time back I heard them say that they are not bad cars. I’ll look forward to your comments
Stop by the local bookstore and see how Consumer Reports rates them. I could be mistaken, but I think Hyundae has come a long way these past years in reliability. If I’m right, then I personally would prefer for the same money a new Hyundae over a used vehicle. Others I’m sure feel differently.
That price I bet is the striped down version. Add air, automatic, a power window/key less entry. and I bet your are close to $13000. Still very reasonable though.
I bet that’s not as stripped down as you may think. At least when my daughter bought her Elantra 5 years ago the low end model had air and power windows, no keyless entry and of course a stick shift. I don’t know about the Accent, but it might have more going for it than you think and the 5 year bumper-to-bumper warranty means no repair costs for at least that long. They even replaced light bulbs under that warranty.
Personally, if it were my money I’d buy the new Hyundai over a 5 year old Honda or Toyota, but I’d try to get the Elantra, it’s got a usable back seat which the Accent I looked at did not.
For Accent:
Package Features
No Option Package (M/T only)
- Trim standard features
$ 0
Popular Equipment Package
- Air conditioning
- AM/FM/CD audio system with tweeters
$ 1,450
Premium Package (A/T only)
- Air conditioning
- AM/FM/CD audio system with tweeters
- Power windows, mirrors and door locks
- Remote keyless entry with alarm and panic alert
- Bodycolor mirrors and door handles
$ 1,850
Check out Hyundai website, and see what the options are on the Accent. It doesn’t appear as though A/c is standard on the base model, or power windows for that matter.
Does the above premium package come with automatic or requires it to get the package? If not then you still need to add the cost of the automatic, and what about ABS?
My daughter was shopping for a car recently, and she found a 2005 Accent sedan, 5-spd, with <12K miles for sale privately at $6,000. It doesn’t handle like a Civic, but she’s racking up miles quickly, and so far the car has been trouble-free. In addition, it’s delivering 36-38 mpg in combined city/suburban driving, and over 40 mpg on the highway.
If I were in the market for a low-cost car, I’d certainly look at an Accent. And a Kia Rio. And a few Suzukis, like the Reno, the Forenza, and the SX4.
Corollas and Civics are hard to beat, but the competition is getting better by the day.
I have a 2002 Accent, bought it in 05 for $7500 with only 24,500km on it. It’s been perfectly reliable over the past 2 and a half years, and I’ve put about 75,000km on it in that time. I regularly get over 40 mpg, and it has no extra features to go wrong on it - the only auto anything is the transmission.
Hyundai has come a long way. Any of their cars made since 2000 are just as reliable as Honda or Toyota vehicles.