"Humdrum"...now with more Oppo, thanks Dusty Ventures! :D

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
07/23/2015 at 12:00 • Filed to: OPPO STICKERS, Dusty Ventures, Hyundai, Accent, Hyundai Accent

Just spent a few minutes poking around my daily driver 2009 Hyundai Accent L hatch named “Humdrum”. Re-measured the custom Hyundai center caps as my current 3D Printed ones are getting a bit loose on the front and I have to get 2 SLIGHTLY larger ones printed to replace them - the rear ones fit fine on my $50 ‘98 Ford Escort summer rims. Was trying to solve a rattling under the dash on the driver’s side ....THINK I found and fixed it, but won’t know until I head to work in 40 minutes or so.

While I was out there, I decided to refresh my very tired and frayed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! decal (for a FIAT/Italian car Facebook fan page I help run) with a new, shiny one from my stockpile. I also put on my Canadatastic Oppo decal that arrived in the mail 2 days ago - looks great...thanks Dusty Ventures :D!!!

Excuse the pollen/pine needles/dust/general non-washedness!

DISCUSSION (21)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/23/2015 at 12:07

Once the “egg” Accents get cheap enough, they’ll make for a pretty fun rally car, I think.

area man > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
07/23/2015 at 12:09

I was just thinking that

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > area man
07/23/2015 at 12:12

The previous gen three doors would also be pretty good, and they’re probably in the lint to spare change price range.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
07/23/2015 at 12:14

I think I would agree with you on that! :) I treat mine fairly gently as I’m still looking for a full-time job, so I need it to last, but it’s a pretty solid and reliable car and it can be decently peppy when I need it to be!

In terms of being solidly built, some people still give Hyundai/Kia a bad rap, but it really is a good little solid car. I hit some ice on a corner this winter past and backed the rear-right corner into a guardrail at 60kph. When I get out of the car to check out the damage, I thought “great, it’ll have to be totalled” because I expected that corner to be crushed right in....actually wasn’t that bad at all (tailight wasn’t even shattered), and I remember specifically saying out loud, by myself, saying “Tougher than I give you credit for...” before I got back in and drove home. $1300 in bodywork later (not cheap, but way less than I thought!) and it looks almost perfect again...only giveaway is that the bumper cover doesn’t quite fit flush on that corner anymore.

Sadly don’t have any pictures of the damage though...

CB > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/23/2015 at 12:17

You lucky Nova Scotians and your lack of front plates. So much more aerodynamic. Ish. Maybe not.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/23/2015 at 12:28

I owned a 2000 Elantra wagon that was pretty much unkillable. Towards the end of my ownership, I was actively trying to kill it and couldn’t. I’m a huge fan of Hyundai/Kia and think that they offer way more bang for the buck than most manufacturers. In the last ten years or so to me, they’ve been like the 1980s Honda/Toyota. Some older dudes remember when they were shit, but in reality they’re making damn fine vehicles for not alot of money.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > CB
07/23/2015 at 12:36

Hahaha! I’ve always liked the fact we don’t require front plates here....not quite as helpful from a security point of view when bad things happen and they are trying to track people, but not having them at least helps keep the styling on cars more clean on the front. :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
07/23/2015 at 12:39

Had a friend with a 2003 Elantra sedan - great car, it always did well by him and had fairly high miles but still ran great when it got totaled during a “being-slightly-too-fast/overzealous-for-a-gravel-corner-and-rolled-into-a-ditch-at-slow-speed” incident......

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/23/2015 at 14:24

You ever autocross the thing? My friend autocrossed his 2009 Accent hatch (auto) this past weekend and while it looked hilariously slow, he had a ton of fun. Tire screeching around every turn and acceleration equivalent to a dump truck but still worked out great.

Side note, you ever change the starter? His went bad before the event so he just kept the car running literally the whole day. He is trying to figure out how to change it but its really tucked away in there.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
07/23/2015 at 14:27

Seeing as they sold for about $14k (or less), I would imagine 6+ years of depreciation can start making these pretty cheap.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/23/2015 at 14:32

Yep. It looks like there are a ton of running ones on craigslist with broken window switches and no AC for sub $1000.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
07/23/2015 at 14:35

Too bad there is like no room under the hood to swap anything fun in there. I opened the hood on my friend's and its just like stuffed full with the tiny 4-cyl that it comes with.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/23/2015 at 14:37

Not that big of a deal for rally, but for LeMons, my dream ride is the wrong car with the wrong engine mounted in the wrong place. Gank the engine, put something terrible like a Ford Vulcan where the back seats used to be, then dominate.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
07/23/2015 at 15:58

LeMons sounds like so much fun

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/23/2015 at 16:31

Nope...nothing has gone wrong with mine and the starter seems fine - it’s an ‘09 with (literally just turned over) 90K Kms on it. Only niggles I notice are some of the interior trim rattles a bit at times. I also had to have the transmitter receiver for the key’s chip in the steering column replaced as sometimes the car wouldn’t start after. Number of tries.....that’s been it for me though. Mom and my bro have the same Accent trim in sedan form with Auto transmissions and they’ve noticed issues where their manual windows roll down on their own a bit enough to leave a gap...mom had all window regulators replaced under warranty and, although they don’t seem to do that anymore, when they are rolled up the whole way, they still seem to be quite loose.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/24/2015 at 08:17

you have it in manual?

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/24/2015 at 08:22

I got mine used for $6900 ALL-IN at a local Mazda dealership with 54,000kms on it at the time (April 2013), so not too bad. It’s in great shape.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/24/2015 at 08:26

I do, wouldn’t have it any other way! I’ll never go back to autos if I can help it since I got my first manual (2002 Subaru Impreza 2.5TS) - so much more control. I had to replace the Subie with the Accent when old age caught up to the Subie and it wasn’t financially feasible to repair. I really miss the Subie though...

My Accent is the base Accent L trim, so no luxury features of any kind whatsoever, LOL....no A/C, no cruise control, no power mirrors, no power windows, no power locks/remote keyless, even no ABS, lol. MANUAL ALL THE THINGS.....I.....guess....I do have a factory Aux. Input jack on the stereo though, livin’ the dream!

And I actually don’t miss any of it (except the ABS a bit in winter and SOMETIMES cruise on long trips, although I’ve gotten used to it)...the A/C I miss very rarely, but I usually just turn on the fan on cold and crack the windows and then I’m fine.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/24/2015 at 08:50

No A/C means weight savings at least! Every little bit counts. I imagine the manual in that car actually makes it pretty fun. My friend has all sorts of trouble getting the automatic transmission in that car to be useful in any way. He replaced a Bronco with a leaking headgasket for the Accent. Good choice since gas was over $4 a gallon so the Ford was $100+ for a tank of gas. You should definitely try rallycrossing the thing, I think it would be fun at that. Or ice racing haha.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/24/2015 at 09:04

Haha, the manual is quite fun....MUCH more peppy than the same engine with the auto, which is soul-sucking. 110hp isn’t much, but the car isn’t all that terribly heavy, so it’s not too bad. I may miss my Subie, but I don’t miss the gas costs.....used to be $70 to fill the tank at light-on and I would get maybe around 500km out of it usually. My Accent is $45-$50 to fill at light-on and I get around 600km to the tank usually.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/24/2015 at 10:51

Ive always thought to myself "gas is not an expense, its a necessity". But then again, I have always gotten around 30mpg on the highway so maybe I need to buy some more fuel hungry cars lol.