I bought a 2002 Hyundai Accent hatchback in 2004. It had 4,000 miles on it. I love this car. It’s coming up on 75,000 miles, and I’m wondering how much longer I can expect the car to run. I am good about regular maintenance (oil changes are never late, but I have skipped some of the “tune up” appointments suggested by the dealer). I haven’t had any major problems with this car, and it gets good mileage, plus I can fit anything in it (sofas, tables, really – great storage). Plus the excise tax is $25.00 per year. I’d love to keep it as long as it makes financial sense to do so – any ideas how much more time I can expect to have the car before things start breaking?
Bring ALL of the maintenance listed in the Owner’s Manual up to date, and keep it up to date, and you should be able to drive this car for well over 150,000 miles before you have major repair issues.
On the other hand, if this car has an automatic transmission and you have not faithfully changed the fluid (and filter, if so equipped) every 3 years or 30k (whichever comes first), then you can look forward to transmission replacement/overhaul in another year or so.
While dealerships tend to oversell services, the maintenance listed in the Owner’s Manual should be considered the minimum needed to keep a car running economically for the long term. Failure to do at least what the manufacturer recommends (according to both odometer mileage and elapsed time) will lead to increased repair costs and an earlier death for the car.
Agree with VDC; these cars are much better than previous Hyundais and with proper care should go 150,000-200,000 miles. Repairs, when needed are not expensive, so your cost per miles will stay low.