Had a 99 accent briefly. Rode and drove nice, was a bit of a mystery mechanically. Had to lift the radiator to get the alternator out. Did not use a serpentine belt/ tensioner setup, had an old school jack screw.
Older hyundais had a wierd brake rotor setup too, but I think the new ones are normal.
Redid the valve cover gasket; machining and design of the rocker arms etc looked high quality. The idle speed control looked tacked on for american consumption. There are a lot of hyundais the world over driving on dirt roads that seem to survive!
Asking if they're any good is a dated question, maybe appropriate in y2k! They are a proven worldwide company and have been!
The only thing they lack in the US is a strong hybrid, electric, truck, or diesel presence. One can look at that two ways: they're hyperconcentrating on passenger vehicles, or they lack the engineering expertise to be a full line maker.
