Question about Hyundai Coupe (old model)

spooky2005

Hello ,

I'd be interested to purchase the previous model
of the Hyundai Coupe 1.6 FX ,say from year 1998-1999 .
I would love to know if any person were happy/unhappy
with this car .So far it looks a second hand hyundai coupe
is very affordable (aroud EUR7500 for a 1998-99 one ) .
I just want to know if the spare parts are expensive and
if thery can be a good buy for someone who won't do
much driving (shopping + going to the train station for work ).
Also are they spacy enough for a tall person (I'm 6 foot 4)
and finally when is the best period of the yeatr to buy a car from a dealer
? ( I hear it was november )

Many thanks for all your comments/input ! ;-)

Spooky

denachoman

I traded in a 1.6 1999 Hyundai Coupe a couple of months ago. I got an allowance of €5,000 for it which wasn’t bad considering it had 120k+ miles on it.

It was a lovely car but I have a child on the way next month and it isn’t practical for obvious reasons.

I never had any real problems with it but I remember people saying to me that it can be expensive to get parts for if needed.

I think your height would be a major drawback in choosing this car however. I am 6’ 1” and my head was practically touching the ceiling when driving. Obviously you would find this out for yourself when test-driving.

Try Tractamotors in Blanchardstown – they might still have my trade-in!

Interceptor

Cheap, plasticky, nasty, under-specc'ed, rough, thrashy engines, underpowered, disposable, ugly. Please rearrange these words in any order you like and put the words 'The Hyundai Coupe is...' in front of them. The current one is the prettiest of the bunch but it handles like a dead fish on a sheet of ice.

'cptr

Citizen Jake

I've been driving a 99 1.6 coupe for the past two years and have to say I love the car and it has given me few, if any, problems. Have about 78k on the clock and aim to keep the car for quite a while.

Had to replace the timing belt (necessary at around 60k) and spark leads about a year and a half ago (straightforward job). Also had to change the power steering pump not long after (grrrr). The latter is the only real gripe I had, an isolated case I suspect, and I doubt it is a typical problem in the coupes. If anyone else has experienced this let me know.

All in all I think it is a lovely car to drive. Also, I like their appearance, very sleek, nice curves. The designers showed more imagination than goes into the average car on the road these days. Even the new coupe seems a little boxy by comparison. You can adjust the seats up and down as well as back and front so hopefully you'll fit in fine. My recommendation: if you like it, go for it.

SouperComputer

handles like a dead fish on a sheet of ice.

nice!

I also like, "handles like a drunk pig on rollerskates"

spooky2005

Thanks a mil for all your info so far !
Would it be possible to provide me roughly the cost
you had for the spares/maintenance .
Also if you know a good mechanic who is dealing
with Hyundai Coupe car that you would recommend
that would be fab !

Thanks a million for all your info so far !

Spooky

Citizen Jake

Hi Spooky,

Spark leads - less than 100
Timing belt change - about 300
Power steering pump - 350

Annual service costs about 120-150, thereabouts. I was using a mechanic (big dealership type set up) that the previous owner was using in the Blackrock area that specialised in Hyundai cars. Because the previous owner had the car as a company car I suspected I was being fleeced price wise. They didn't do the job properly first time (I suspect they dicked around with the existing pump and charged me for a new one - so much for fancy dealerships) on the steering pump and by the time they'd finally fixed it (at no charge cos there's no way I would have paid) I'd had enough. For potential libel reasons I'm not naming and shaming.

I now use a mechanic that my girlfriend's family swear by in Meath. Ever since, the mechanic has done a sterling job and sourcing parts and servicing the car has not been a problem. For example, when I went for my NCT recently, needed to get a new catalytic converter (emissions) and the mechanic was able to source this for about 150. Hyundai, like most Asian cars, are very straightforward so I can't imagine you needing to find a specialist mechanic that focuses solely on Hyundai cars.

Jake

Dagon

If you're going for a car like that, might be better to go with a Honda Civic Coupe, or a Honda Integra, or even an older Celica.

I've heard that the Hyundai's are fine for the first 4 - 5 years, and are very reliable. But after that they can be more troublesome. Better to go with a Japanese car.

blastman

They don't have the oomph to back up their sporty aspirations. According to Top Gear, the current range topper is a 2.7L V6 that develops 170 BHP. That's only ~ 10 more than my 1.6L Honda VTEC! Having said that, they're pretty tunable if you're into that.

jayok

Ah yes, it might only have 170bhp, but I'm pretty sure that it would p1ss all over the Civic with torque output

The VTi is great craic at 7,600 rpm, but as for smooth low-end pulling power forget it...