Hyundai Accent CRDi: Long Term Ownership


Thread Starter #1
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Hi All,

I am a newbie to this forum. I have tried to summarize my ownership experience on my car here. Apologies for the lengthy write up and I believe I have covered most of what I wanted to convey.

Model : Accent CRDi (2005)
Color : Forest Dew
Kms on Odo: 1,93,000 approx

Driving factors:
1. Tire Pressure 36 or 38 PSI depending on the weather. 34 if rainy (Bridgestone S322 tube type)
2. Mostly filled Diesel at shell or reliance or at Indian Oil (recent change). No additive
3. Gear shift within 2000 RPM and no drag style.
4. Always light footed on the throttle. Speed in highways (80-120)
5. Mostly AC will be off.

Mileage :

18 to 20 on average. Best ever was 29 when coming from Chennai to Trichy (Shell fuel. 38 PSI and at 60 to 80 kmph)

Things taken care during scheduled maintenance service (By A.S.S):

Though the recommended service interval is 10K, I see the engine oil loosing viscosity around 8K. So my service interval was 8K mostly. For the past few services, I am getting it done for every 5K so that it can assist the matured (don’t want to call it aging[;)]) engine a bit.

1. Engine oil and oil filter replacement
2. Air filter replacement
3. Water wash and exterior cleaning
4. Windscreen wash liquid additive
5. Engine flush, carbon clean and Bardhal treatment whenever required at appropriate intervals.

DIY maintenance :

1. Will wash with water (no shampoo) at least once in 2 weeks or whenever it is more dirty.
2. Will wax polish the exteriors (carnauba wax) once in 3 months or whenever the wax has given up and water/dust stays on the surface
3. Recently bought a F1 spray polish for interiors. Tried only once and it looks good.
4. Air filter cleaning at least once a month by gently tapping the filter paper and blowing off the dust/insects caught in it.


Major works done so far :
1. Piston rings and valves replaced at (172K kms)
2. AC Overhaul (at 177K kms)
3. Timing belt replaced(at 80k and 1702K)

Accidental repairs:

1. When coming from Chennai to Tirunelveli on the highway, near Madurai a biker who missed the exit realized his mistake and took a ‘U’ turn on the wrong side. I was coming behind him few meters away at 80 kmph approx. He was in the left most lane and I was on the right most lane. His ‘U’ turn was bringing him from left most lane to right most lane. I honked loud and tried my level best to stop the car. Before it came to stand still, he cut my path diagonally and it was almost a head on impact[frustration]. His bike met the left front bumper and was tossed behind which jammed my left front door and tore my rear tire before getting thrown towards the side of the road. We can call it either my luck or his guardian angel who saved his life (Of course he had his helmet). He just suffered a minor shock and was ok after few minutes. I was able to drive the car after changing the flat tire and left it at A.S.S at tirunelveli. Had to change the front bumper, left panel fender, left headlight assembly, a tire and had to tinker & repaint whole left side. Cost 35K approx and 2 weeks without car.

Other minor Problems and fix:

1. FR drive shaft boot damaged (Earth over poorly covered hole in Chennai road gave up and FR wheel got in. I suspect something damaged the boot rubber that time resulting in grease leaking out. Luckily I noticed this few days after this and got the boot replaced by a roadside mechanic(2010). Cost 600 odd

2. FR tie rod outer boot torn leaking grease. Replaced the tie rod assembly in A.S.S (2011). Cost 1.5 k approx

3. A spot near the Rubber frame holding the rear windscreen on the car body somehow was allowing water to leak into the trunk. This happened during the heavy rain (Nov 2011), the car was parked in the open. So much of water had collected in the trunk that the spare wheel kept in trunk was partially submerged (A.S.S was quoting the whole glass assembly to be removed, the part to be welded and body to be repainted to fix this small hole and seal the water leak. They obviously quoted in thousands for this work). The worst part was back seat cushion was absorbing this water and transmitting to the floor mat in the cabin. I drained the water from the trunk and used M-Seal fix the leak (it worked !!) and did not use the car till the rain was over. Since the weather was not hot for the next 3 weeks, my car was turned into a fungus plantation. Had to park the car in hot sun for 2 to 3 days which took care of the sterilization. Done Vinyl flooring and PU seat covers to maintain the cabin clean and fresh. The seat covers added additional comfort and gives a luxury feel. Vinyl flooring made the cleaning job very easy.

4. AC Coolant hose gave up and was leaking the coolant. Found this on the same day and replaced the hose tube at A.S.S. Cost was around 450 including labor

5. Exide battery lasted till 2009 and required frequent top ups and for some reasons I did not like it. Switched to Amaron maintenance free dry cell Got it with 2 years replacement warranty and additional 2 years repair warranty.

Experience with A.S.S

Car was mostly serviced at Susee Hyundai tirunelveli. I have a satisfactory experience here. Not at all satisfied with D.S.C Hyundai Chennai. Most of the complaints mentioned during the service remained unattended. I felt some rattling noises after servicing here (May be a psychological factor). But got the noises fixed at popular Hyundai Trivandrum. Popular Hyundai Trivandrum is also satisfactory.

Current state of the car:

The car runs great w.r.t pick up, handling, comfort and mileage. One disadvantage is the low bed seating which makes night driving very difficult. The light from the traffic on the opposite side is exactly in line with the eye level and leaves me blinded for a moment whenever a truck/bus with high beam passes. The spare costs are too much and so is the labor charge. Hyundai should learn from Maruti in this aspect.

Planning to change the gear transmission oil, fuel filter and coolant in the next service. There is a minor leak from the turbo seal which I should attend in the near future. Not sure whether this can be put on hold till the next service or it should be treated with priority.

Minor rattling is there from the dashboard. The fitting was not done properly after the vinyl flooring was done. Another open item for the next service.
I hope there are many others like me who have smile on their face and their car being one of the reasons for their happy smile [:)]
 
Joined
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Congratulations lotz of good miles with your Hyundai Accent.

Please show us some pics.

One Quesiton: As you only filled fuel from shell or reliance or at Indian Oil. Which one do you think suited best to your car?
 
Thread Starter #4
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Thanks Rudolf and Dharmesh. I will definitley post some pics soon.

Regarding fuel quality, undoubtedly it is shell. You will feel the smoothness and extra kms for every ltr for sure. But for the current cost, the extra miles is not a benefit since Shell diesel is proced more.

I was living at velachery in chennai. No fuel pump in that area gives pure fuel so i used to fill from shell or reliance (if shell is not available for some reason)
 

350Z

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Nicely written review. This will be helpful for others in future. You were able to extract a great mileage there. Please upload some images so that we can have a look.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
Joined
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Hi

I too a new user and I own a Accent CRDI ( 2005). wants to know more about the car, mileage, maintenance and regular service.

Kindly help me with all details.

Prince.
 
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Hi ,

simply loved your detailed review on accent crdi.

-- would like your inputs. I am planning to buy a 2004 model 1.1lac km done car.

looking forward for your suggestions if its a good deal.

regards,
Sajid
 
Thread Starter #8
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Thanks Saajid. Please verify the service history and check for any issues with engine/turbo.
Fuel pump, injector and turbo are some costly parts in this car. If its a well maintained one, you can buy it for sure. Though if you shed some few thousands, you will get a better car than what is being sold now for >5L.

What is the price they quote?
 
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Hi,
It clearly states that very neatly maintained car can run more kms than expectations.
1,70,000 Kms is really effective. Why you havent planned for a complete overhaul of engine. Since i saw you mentioned only piston rings changes done.

Add some snaps of your car to know about the Body details too.
 
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Hi,

Nice to see a long term review please post some pics to have a look at your car. I have an CRDi 2003 same Forest Dew love it every moment i drive :)
 
Thread Starter #11
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Sorry guys for such a delayed response to this thread.. MY car has clocked 223800 in the odo as of now. Lot of pleasant memories and experiences with this one.. Attaching few pictures of the car taken recently.. I have booked a Verna 1.6 VTVT
 

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Hi,

That was a great write up and it infact comforted me for some reason. I recently bought a used Accent CRDi diesel but turned up to be a mess since it had problem with the head gasket. I was planning to dump it but after reading your article am thinking to replace the gasket and run few more miles. If there is any other opinion/suggestions please throw it.

Thanks
 

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