Hoondai Accent Rental Car Review!

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
03/20/2015 at 12:46 • Filed to: None

As the old adage goes, the fastest car in the world is of course a rental car! My rental for the week in San Diego, CA was a 2014 Hyundai (HOONDAI) Accent in rental car grey/silver sedan.

Exterior

I had trouble finding the car in a parking lot many times just because of how anonymous it looked. But I would probably consider that a good thing for an economy car. There is nothing that is trying to be more exciting than it is. Sure it has some nice lines on it (as all new hyundais now do) but I think it is a pretty honest looking car. Nothing particularly attractive and nothing particularly ugly either.

Interior

Well appointed for a rental car. Sure it does not have cruise control or bluetooth, but the seats worked, I could see well enough out of the car, AC was cold, and the radio sounded pretty darn good. It feels and looks modern inside and doesnt have too much going on. I actually like that it was pretty basic since I generally hate complicated interiors. Rear leg room looked pretty small but that was unimportant to me. The only real complaint I have is the high window-sill height. But this is true in all newer cars thanks to safety standards. It just makes it really hard to stick my arm out the window while driving.

Gearbox

Since it is a rental in the US, it was unfortunately equipped with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. As far as automatics go, this one was not a CVT nor a 4-speed so it was at least a little entertaining. I used the "manual" mode as much as possible just to wring some more life out of it. The car would not let me redline it but I could still hit 5000-6000 rpm no issue at least. Being able to keep it between 2nd-3rd gear while going through some canyons made it quite fun to drive with actually.

Handling

I took the car on a nice drive through some canyons east of San Diego. Being a weekday around 3pm, I had the back roads mostly to myself and so it was just an entertaining ride. Keeping the revs around 5000, I was able to whip through some of the corners right at the speed limit without too much issue. Everything stayed planted and handled well. I didnt get a chance to actually push the car, but spirited legal driving held up pretty well due to the lightweight of the car.

Overall Impression

Would I buy this car? No. But would I mind driving it for a while if I was given it for free? Not at all. If it were in manual and hatchback form, I would definitely consider a used one to be a pretty decent option if I needed a solid daily winter driver. My overall thought though is just about car sizing in general. This car is way bigger than I could ever need and yet it is the smallest car sold by Hyundai (in the US). I think of something like the Elantra or Sonata being ridiculously oversized in comparison. Maybe I am just biased since I drive a miata, but cars today are just way too big! The trunk space in the Accent is massive, you could comfortably have 4 people in the car, and it is lightweight enough to get out of its own way using a 4-cyl. If I owned any Hyundai though, I would definitely get some sort of huge bumper sticker or change the badge to say HOONDAI.

MSRP: $14,645 (definitely worth that price I would say)
EPA MPG: 27-38 (With my hoondai driving, I saw about 28 combined)

DISCUSSION (11)

Party-vi > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/20/2015 at 13:22

I'm renting a car for a trip down to GA and back - about 1100 miles round trip - and will do a review of whatever terrible rental we're stuck with.

NoneOfYourBiz > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/20/2015 at 13:55

Thanks for that.

I didn't know there was a six-speed dual clutch auto for the Accent. That's great.

I was quite interested that you found the car large. I've owned two Elantras (2002, 2006 GT hatchbacks) and found them large.

When I went to sit in the new Accent hatch, I found it to be almost the same size as the old Elantra hatchbacks. Much like other models (Civic: looking at you) have grown over the years, it seems the Accent has too.

In Europe, there's a Hyundai "i10" city car that's smaller than the Accent.

Telumektar > NoneOfYourBiz
03/20/2015 at 14:18

The i10 is sold worldwide, except for the USA. They also sell the i20, which is a better put together Accent and the i30 that is a tad bigger. All good cars, but I like Kia's styling more.

Isn't the Kia Rio based on the same platform?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > NoneOfYourBiz
03/20/2015 at 14:23

Yeah I thought it was only a 5 speed so I never bothered shifting up while going 75 on the highway. I didn't notice until I accidentally left it in D and saw it go to sixth. Don't think it's a DCT though.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Party-vi
03/20/2015 at 14:24

I think most cars now aren't that terrible anymore. The only one I would not be happy to be in would probably be a Nissan versa.

NoneOfYourBiz > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/20/2015 at 15:52

Hrm. Just looked it up. I think you're right that the the model you had wasn't double clutch. The newest Accent though has a 7-speed double clutch auto option. (!)

Party-vi > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/20/2015 at 16:01

I've books from fullsize and can choose anything similar or less expensive, so compact, standard, economy are all open for me. I'm hoping to get a Fusion or Accord.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Party-vi
03/20/2015 at 21:06

a fusion would be a pretty solid choice for a long ride!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Telumektar
03/20/2015 at 21:10

Yeah the Rio/accent should be the same thing. I agree on the styling stuff too! Although I don't understand what really differentiates Kia from Hyundai.

Telumektar > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/21/2015 at 12:24

they cost about the same IIRC. But in my opinion present-day Kias look amazing for the price and feel better quality than most in their price range, even Hyundai, which is odd given that they are the same.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Telumektar
03/22/2015 at 15:37

Yeah but I wonder what hyundai plans to do with kia. Like how Honda has Acura, Nissan has infinity, and Toyota has lexus and scion. They all kinda make sense as to why it's a different brand. But kia and hyundai are just the same! If anything I only think of kia in the past being absolute crap. But now things have turned around a bit.