Overview:
This week we’re looking at the 2008 Hyundai Accent SE three door that has some pretty good Fuel Economy numbers. Small is beautiful today more than ever. But to American buyers small meant Porsche, Ferrari, and Corvette. Today with $5 / gallon gas small has been modified in the US. Less is better will resonate more every day.
It just goes to show you how much we have come to lean on large companies to tell us what’s ok, what we want and need. Friend Richard would say “It doesn’t have to be true to be a good story”. Amen Richard, you got that right.
General Info:
Parts – US/Canadian 1%. Korea 99%.
Assembly – Ulsan, Korea
Class: – Compact cars
Cars: – Accent, Azera, Elantra, Entourage, Santa Fe, Sonata, Tiburon, Tucson & Veracruz.
Manual Transmission Pea Popper that will take you to your destination without any fan fare. But you’ll reach for your wallet much less often and keep food on the table and be able to buy shoes for the kids.
One thing I have to complain about is the gearing on this car. In Korea it may not be a problem, but on the highways of the rest of the world you’ll experience 4,000 rpm way too much. I believe the solution would be a longer high gear. 4th and 5th are too close together.
Styling:
Hyundai Accent is a Smart Car with a rear seat and larger cargo area and a little less in fuel economy. I like these two little cars but not for their beauty but rather for how practical they are.
They need to do some more work on the A/C vents. I don’t like the adjustments available.
Fit and Finish:
Good.
Cost:
Pricing is very competitive in class.
Conveniences and comfort:
This doesn’t have a built in hands free blue tooth but if you don’t already know about the portable kinds you can lose the ear piece “growth” hanging uncomfortably from the side of your head. The clip onto the visor versions only cost about $40 and work through your radio and will cost less than built in versions, and of course are movable.
Basic cars like this Accent keep cost down, in part, by smaller engines and eliminating features such as cruise control. That is a bad thing. I can give up a lot but cruise is not one of those. Traveling beyond a usual commute or around town stuff cruise becomes a necessity, not a luxury. However this is really a commuter and thus you rarely need cruise.
Consumer Recommendation:
My recommendation thus far has been to hang on to your big vehicles and don’t fall into the trap of dumping your big SUV at a huge loss. A knee jerk reaction and will surely be needlessly expensive.
Encourage your friends to support candidates who represent us who will push for more domestic drilling and watch the price of gas come back down to where you can drive that truck and SUV again until our friends in government and auto industry produce more fuel efficient vehicles for us to buy. Case in point is that past house speaker Newt Gingrich was right on when he said the price per barrel will go down by using the rainy day US reserves of oil thus eliminating being held hostage by mid east oil Sheiks and speculators. In fact just the serious discussion had pulled the rug out from under those bad guys and the price per barrel dropped $20. I have news for our elected officials, it’s raining out there!
Look out for the quick fix to the fear of high gas prices. Don’t just buy a hybrid because it gets good mileage. Consider this Hyundai and Toyota Yaris instead of the higher demand Prius and other hybrids because the perception is they are better because they use alternate energy. They don’t get a lot more fuel economy and the cost of batteries and technology repairs is still unknown. Conventional looks better every time you take a closer look.
Recognized Competition:
Hyundai Accent $11-15,000, Dodge Caliber $15-23,000, Volkswagen Rabbit $16-18,000, Mazda 3 $14-20,000, Honda Fit $14-16,000, Honda Civic $15-25,000, Kia Rio $11-14,000, Toyota Yaris $12-15,000, Mini Cooper $18-25,000, Suzuki Reno $14,000, Suzuki SX4 Sport $15-16,000, Ford Focus $14-17,000, Nissan Versa $13-16,000, Smart for 2 $12-17,000.
Good News:
Seating for 4 or 5, great fuel economy and great commuter.
Bad News:
Small, basic, no cruise control.
Standard Equipment:
1.6 liter engine, 5-speed manual transmission, sport tuned suspension, power rack and pinion steering, leather wrapped tilt steering wheel, front, side and curtain air bags, tire pressure monitoring, 16” alloy wheels, fog lights, rear wiper, air conditioning, power windows, mirrors and door locks, remote keyless entry, audio system with CD player and 6-speakers and 60/40 rear split folding seat.
Gas Stats:
$4.17/ Gal avg. July 25, ‘08
for more information.
27 City and 32 Highway MPG
Pricing:
MSRP $14,575.
