2002 Hyundai Accent GLS 4-door image from brochure.
In 2008, I left my 1992 Fiat Elba with a neighbor’s child while I set out to find a new (for me) car. With a clear idea of what I wanted, I established a few key parameters for my search.
First, I knew air conditioning and power steering were essential. Automatic transmission was a nice bonus, though not a must-have. The larger the vehicle, the better. My budget was set at a maximum of $12,000, and while the car’s age wasn’t a strict requirement, I was willing to consider older models if they offered better quality or more desirable features.
With these criteria in mind, I began my search, eventually narrowing it down to a few options. However, none of these would end up being the final choice.
The first car for sale was a dream come true, starting with the three-shields emblem on its grille –Yes, I had been a Buick fan since the primary, when not too far from home a ’74 Regal Colonnade sat on the Swiss Embassy. The car for sale was a 1992 Le Sabre, offered by the only class of people that would be reckless enough to think it was a good idea to have a Buick in Uruguay, a US embassy clerk. The price was right, the car was nice. It was as old as the car we had sold, but hey, it was a Buick. However, while I’d really rather have a Buick, my wife would really rather have a smaller and newer car. Oh well…
So I began looking for acceptable candidates, meaning wife’s acceptable.
Daewoo Espero photo from the Cohort by Roshake.
The Daewoo Espero was a really sharp-looking sedan. It was built on the same platform as the Cielo, Opel Kadett, and Pontiac LeMans (LeMans… really? I can’t imagine who was in charge of names that day).
The version imported to Uruguay was fully equipped, featuring the 2.0 OHC engine from GM’s J-cars, and had power everything. I had the chance to test a well-maintained automatic model, and I absolutely loved it. But then I thought, “I’m not wealthy enough to afford this ‘inexpensive’ car. If spare parts become hard to find, I could end up without a car at all.”
The Espero’s dashboard was really modern for what I was used to seeing, and very complete.
Daewoo Cielo image by Rich Baron.
I looked into several Daewoo Cielos, whose quality level wasn’t good but at the time they were still plentiful. I tried a couple of automatics, verifying that they rode and drove nicely unless you wanted to have a moderately agile start. In the end, I chose not to purchase any.
Nissan Sentra image from the Cohort by Roshake.
The Nissan Sentra B14, which you’ll recognize right away, was a car that sold very well here. I found a basic trim one with power steering, air conditioning, and automatic. It had several dents in the doors, needed some TLC, but I really liked it. I test-drove it, the guy had received it in trade and it was really better than what I had experienced so far. Moreover, it had only 42000 km on it.
So far, no stranger cars than the LeSabre. Please, let’s welcome FIAT:
1995 Fiat Tempra image from the Cohort by Alberto Simon.
The Fiat Tempra was a car that sold stellarly in Brazil. It was an unknown quantity at introduction because Fiat hadn’t sold expensive cars in the region since the Alfa Romeo 2300 sedan in the 80s. Anyway, you’d recognize the car’s Italian flavor, as it seemed a much larger Alfetta.
The Tempra sold here had a 2-liter engine and was seen as an outlier. Fiats were known for being utility cars, not luxury sedans. But over time, they started to show up more often on the streets. These cars came very well-equipped. The interior was nice, and in those years (mid-90s), Brazilian upholstery materials were of superior quality. In fact, you can still find some of those now-aging cars in obvious disrepair, but with their upholstery still in excellent condition.
1995 Fiat Tempra image from the Cohort by Alberto Simon.
I went to check out several Tempras, but most had the same issue I had already encountered in my Fiats: blue smoke, even in relatively low-mileage cars. None of them ever made it to my mechanic for a check-up.
In Uruguay, being a small country, police cars usually get traded every few years, so you might find a mix of brands being used for such. Around 2002, the police car fleet was tended to by Kia, with white Rio sedans. The patrol cars were appropriately outfitted, while the officers’ cars were just repainted in blue and white with the precinct name added.
I saw an ad for a Kia Rio sedan—of course, it didn’t mention it had been a police car—with something like 4,000 km on the odometer. I went to check it out. It was a bare-bones car, with absolutely nothing in terms of options. Still, it looked new, and the areas where the police markings had been were repainted. I took it for a drive and brought it to my mechanic. After inspecting it, he said, “You’re right, it’s new. There’s no issue with it being a police car, but… why does it have such a low mileage?”
Turns out, the car had been the precinct vehicle for a very small town, and it just didn’t see much use. I took another look at it, considered my likings, and decided to pass. It didn’t have any of the features I wanted, so I thought, “Better to go with something older than a bare-bones car.”
3-door Hyundai Accent image from the Cohort by canadiancatgreen.
About that time, my sister-in-law owned a 2000 Hyundai Accent GLS that had been part of a test batch. Those cars, probably no more than a dozen, were imported with top specifications at the time. ABS, airbags, power everything, driving lights, special upholstery, and other niceties. And were priced accordingly, so they were pretty uncommon. She told me, “This is the very best car we’ve ever had”. And bear in mind it had 200.000 km on it by then. For some reason, I hadn’t considered Hyundais, probably because they were newer and more expensive than what I was looking for.
A few days later I saw an ad for a car like hers. I thought, “Let’s try it.” The car had some minor dents, with some paint retouching in some places, but the original white looked quite clean. Everything worked, from the electric antenna to the mirrors, and the glass roof opened easily; it was absolutely complete. It was really well-equipped and comfortable, and the gearbox operated smoothly. The steering was precise, and well weighted. The engine didn’t smoke; though I was sure the car would need full maintenance immediately, as it had exactly 100.000 km on the odometer. All lights worked, plus the air conditioner blew chilly.
I took the car to my mechanic, he okayed it, and I negotiated a bit the price, on which I had no success. It was December, 2008.
This is what the basic model looked like. Mine was all white, had driving lights and alloys.
This is the US version of my dashboard. Mine went to 200 km/h.
This is the interior of a rather worn out basic model, the trim noticeable by the window cranks and the lack of the A/C button. It also lacks airbags and has a 1.3-carbureted engine.
You can see in this pic the center armrest for the driver, which could be lowered. The gearbox was excellent.
And this one is the HVAC panel of the top model. Really good.
This car was probably the most comfortable I had driven up to that time, and also better than the next two ones I was going to own. It was also the last really used and old car I’d buy (up to now, at least).
However, by 100K some stuff was bound to need work. The first system to need repair was the clutch, which gave up the ghost in a corner. Then I had the brakes totally gone over, and then I learned that my car didn’t have the same brake pads as all Accents. It having ABS meant it needed ones a little different that cost the same but weren’t so common. Then the air conditioning lost gas, which cost quite a bit of money to replenish. Water fills became common too, enough to overheat without showing in the needle. Lucky me, I realized it anyway. A new radiator solved the problem.
Driving one day to work, I heard a very loud “Wham!”, and immediately shut down the engine. I opened the hood and everything seemed in place… until I saw some parts were missing from the block’s left side; a pulley without its belt, and some belt shreds around. Time to check: the power steering worked fine, alternator was there…well, clearly the air conditioning compressor had flown off. How could that happen?
The mechanic told me it had probably seized, eating the belt and breaking its support. I asked him to try to locate a new or used one, to which he said that would be hard as the car was a little old and Hyundai most surely didn’t have it in stock. Long story short, he got it off a totaled car and machined ancillary spares at a cost I don’t want to remember. Fortunately, the air worked as a dream after that.
After a while, I began to suspect the car hadn’t received much maintenance during its life, even though I got it from the original owner. Oil consumption came in due course, and it became clear the engine needed a ring job. Which I had done, as I didn’t have the money to trade for another car that I liked as much. But I was spending lots on it (No news for most of you). After probably a year and a half, ring job notwithstanding, it began smoking again and I left it at that. After 5 years and 34000 km on my watch, I decided that my piggy bank could afford a trade and that I didn’t want to spend any more on this great but too tired car.
I received one call, the guy calling asked me if it used any oil and I said the truth, down to how much I put on it and how often. I also told him of all the maintenance the car had received, and he came over to take a look and drive. He liked it, and after some negotiation, I sold the Hyundai.
My next car would be only 4 months old, of an origin I’d have sworn I wouldn’t ever buy. You get what you pay for, I paid nicely for it and got a good enough car for my situation at the time. But all that to be told on the next installment.
I knew two people here in Canada, that owned this generation of Hyundai Accent. Both cars were cheerful, and cheap. What was their Achilles Heel? They were unfortunately highly-prone to traditional, almost 1970’s-type rust. The type of aggressive rust, you did not see on most modern cars.
“Hyundai” and “luxury” in the same sentence caught my eye!
Hyundai and luxury? well an ex GFs dad had a 99 Sonata V6 it had all the fruit it all worked and never went wrong, he cross shopped a Holden Calais, the Sonata was better finished with more toys and $10k cheaper than the upscale Holden.
Hyundai sold good cheap cars then better and better cars, now Chinese brands are the cheap ones, Ive driven a couple of their pickups, sure you can spend more on a known badge but you dont really get much more in work vehicle grade stuff.
A fully-loaded Hyundai was an unusual creature in 2000, so this was an unexpected choice. Here in North America, Hyundais seemed to become of decent quality around 2000, but my experience in talking to owners was that it was still hit-or-miss. I guess yours was more of this “miss.” With all those repairs, you could have had the Buick!
I would have bought the Nissan I did that a couple of times on $200 Sentras to flip and both ran and drove really well electronis aside on the ex JDM one,
I hired a 1.3 Hyundai Excel/ Accent, it drove great no power to speak of but it got along just fine including on twisty HWY 5,
Test batch car? well I have one, not recomended, an agent for the brand locally had to really search his archives to find the VIN never mind an AC condersor I needed and almost no new parts for it exist in this country. 7 day delivery from the UK though so not impossible to fix. YMMV.
I rented one of these for an awesome big circle tour of the Yucatan peninsula in 2005, which involved trying to stay away from Hurricane Wilma, one of the worst ever. A bit basic, but it worked fine for us.
And then I bought a very low mileage used one a year or two later, for my daughter’s caregiver. It was cheap reliable transportation. These were pretty decent cars for the money; a somewhat cheaper and smaller Corolla, if not as likely to be quite as long-lived.