Car Review Hyundai Accent 2020

Review

I bought this Accent pretty much without overthinking it — just needed something cheap, reliable, and not embarrassing to drive to work every morning. I looked at tons of options: Logan, Rio, Polo, even some ancient Corolla. But in the end I went with the Accent — 2020 model, one previous owner, really good condition, and the price had dropped nicely after the whole COVID thing. Decided to just go for it instead of waiting for some dream car.

For the first two weeks I was driving around grinning like an idiot. The car is small, agile, steering is light, parking is effortless — you don’t even have to think. Coming from my old VAZ-2109, this felt like another planet: there the steering was heavy as a rock, here it’s soft, almost numb, but very pleasant. The only downside at first was the flat seats — my back got tired quickly. But after a while I got used to them and stopped noticing.

In the city it’s pure joy. You weave through traffic easily, at lights you can pull away first if you want, fuel consumption around 6–6.5 l/100 km if you’re not flooring it. On the highway it’s less fun. Above 120 km/h the noise kicks in — wheel arches, mirrors, everything humming, you turn the music up and still can barely hear it. Overtaking trucks feels sketchy, you need to plan ahead and build speed early. But cruising at 100–110 km/h is perfectly fine, livable.

In the summer I drove my mother-in-law back from the dacha — loaded the trunk with potatoes, tomatoes, jars, threw some bags on top — everything fit. She was like: “I thought nothing would fit in such a small car.” We laughed. Then a friend asked to help move a sofa from his grandma’s place. I said I wasn’t sure, but we’d try. Folded the rear seats, one end of the sofa inside, the other sticking out the trunk — made it, though I was praying on every corner that nothing would fall out.

Honestly, it annoys me that when cold it hesitates for a couple of minutes, like it’s deciding whether to go or not. In winter consumption jumps to 8–8.5 l/100 km even with the same driving style. Rear doors sometimes need a solid slam to close properly. And the plastic creaks a bit, especially when it’s cold outside.

Overall impression — just a solid workhorse. Not “wow”, not something to brag about, but also not “why did I buy this junk”. It runs, hasn’t broken yet (knock on wood), sips fuel, taxes are laughable. For city driving, dacha trips and just getting around for the next 5–7 years — perfectly decent choice. After that we’ll see, maybe I’ll want something more serious, but for now I’m happy and not stressing.