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Happy motoring
C'mon now. If the car is supposedly hitting the dealers in less than 4 weeks time, the least Hyundai could do is announce a date....or firm pricing.
I was also surprised at the aparent lack of 2006 Accent's at SEMA. Hyundai did a big roll out on the 2007 3-door, but there were no modded 4 doors in sight. Yet, there were multiple Kia Rio's. What gives? Seems to me Hyundai is dropping the ball big time on the release of this car. They are missing big opportunities to generate excitement for what could be one of the most important cars for Hyundai in a long time.
Having looked at the Rio already, and without even seeing the Accent in person, I have concluded that the Accent is a far better deal. I guess I'll keep waiting to see what materializes in the next month.
From a marketing perspective, Hyundai is a forward looking company. They have to aggressively market their new products in order to take sales away from Toyota and Honda, ect (regardless of demographic.) In that sense, they have to appeal to the broadest catagory of people possible. That is why I feel the lack of a "tuner" version at SEMA was a major disapointment. They have a very lucrative younger market that they can tap into.
I'm sure many people planning to buy a 2005 are oblivious to the coming redesign and would cancel their purchase if they hear about the new design.
Not talking about the 2006 is probably a strategy to protect sales of the remaining 2005s that costs them much less than bigger rebates.
It's not unique to Hyundai. Mazda just added their '06 models to their site last week even though some have been out for months.
I'm sure the main objective is to move the old before they generate excitement for the new, as several folks have said. But still I'd like to have access to info now.
Hopefully the Accent will get here soon. I'm looking forward to test driving one.
You do make a good point about the upcoming competition, though. The market is going to be flooded in the next 6-12 months with subcompacts. Hyundai's advantage will be what it has been for years, though- low price, great warranty. The Fit in particular will be more expensive, I'm sure.
On a related note, I've not seen any advertising for the Kia Rio either.
On another note - I'm a little confused about the "sub-compact" class. The '06 Accent is damn near the same size as the '05 Civic. Sure the civic is a bit longer (~7in), but the Accent has more passenger room (92.2 to 92.4 cu ft), more leg room (42.8 to 42.4 in), more shoulder room (53.5 to 52.6 in), and just barely less cargo room (12.4 to 12.9 cu ft)
So what makes a civic a compact and an accent a sub-compact?
Do you know what interior/exterior combinations will be available? Particularly, what exterior colors offer the gray as an interior option? I'm not a fan of beige.
Thanks for all the info! As you can see a few of us econo-geek/enthusiasts are anxious to check it out in person.
As far as colors: Ice blue and Sand Beige are the only two that will come with Beige interiors only. Charcoal Gray, Sapphire Blue and Silver will come only in gray interior. White, Black and Wine Red(Burgundy) will have a choice of either Beige interior or Gray interior I hope that helps
Niels
It almost made me sad as I was truly excited about the new Accent. If Hyundai could have somehow given me a date on when the things would have been available and some firm pricing information I may have held off. The deal on the Cobalt was really good and I wanted a car today not 4 to 6 more weeks (or more) from now.
Hopefully they will decide to offer the cruise, but it's good to know it can be installed. Do you install cruise at your dealership?
Just wondering, did you consider the Kia Rio at all?
On another note: Allfiredup - why do you want cruise control so badly? In my '65 Mustang I learned how to improvise cruise control - you have to rest your leg just right against the gas pedal and sit back and relax - you'd never know the difference
My next car will likely be an STI in less then 3 years. Now if Hyundai comes up with something to compete with the STI....
I live in Seattle, which is a major Hyundai port, so I wonder if we'll get them on the road first.
I've heard some time in November, but it's almost over now. Who knows?
I wouldn't be surprised if they were coming sooner than Jan 1 and he just wanted to sell me something now, hoping I was over anxious. But you never know with those salesmen.
I drive a 98 Nissan Sentra STD (read: no options) at the moment and it was markedly quieter.
The acceleration was pretty snappy, though I think a 5 speed would make it more fun the AT did a good job getting on the freeway.
Steering was a bit light, that was disapointing. The power steering made it almost too easy to steer at higher speeds, could be dangerous if you haven't been driving long. On a side note, it was great in the lot, turned no problem (blessed is power steering).
I think the ride was a little stiff for me but Hyundai based Kias are almost always less floaty than their Hyundai counterparts so I expected that.
SOOOO; I am looking forward to trying an Accent (which I hear has more NVH insulation and TRIPLE door seals) soon, looking forwards to a smoother ride, possible a better gear ratio in the AT (maybe?), a quieter drive and better styling.
For the price they are asking for a fully loaded Rio, I would just as well wait 2 months or a month or a week, whenever...and get me a Hyundai instead.
Here's to everyone else who is eagerly awating, belated happy thanksgiving and early merry Christmas. Or have a Kwazy Kwanzy.
I thought you were gonna look into a little bigger car for your next one. I am thinking of downsizing into a '06 Kia Rio 4-door or Rio5. With Pocatello, Idaho's(elev.4,477 feet up in the Rockies) snow, though, it would probably behoove me to just hold onto my '01 Sportage 4x4. We got hit with snowdrifts of 2-3 feet and icy cold winds following the snow. Today it snowed another inch or so to top off the ice! :surprise:
Pocatello has about 50,400 people and there were over 200 accidents the last couple days. The Sportage 4x4 has held me to the road admirably. The '06 Rio's are FWD and no AWD option but would probably do very well in the snow, too. I just can't believe how nicely the Sportsman cuts over the ice.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
You may think I am looking at larger cars because, well, I am. One option I have is to buy a small car for myself, to replace the '01 Elantra that I will give to my oldest son next year. The other option is to get a new car, e.g. Sonata or similar, for my wife and then I would drive her '04 Elantra GT for a few years until it's time to give it to my 2nd son for college. I might very well go that route, e.g. with the Sonata, if the IIHS crash tests on the Sonata are stellar, there continue to be great rebates on the Sonata, and the crash tests and rebates on the Accent or other cars in its class aren't that great. It will be fun over the next few months deciding what to do.
Niels
The new-world order motors jointly developed with Hyundai and Mitsubishi are probably a few months away still, although, I must admit, I haven't read an update lately of just where the said carmakers are with those new "world" 4-cyl.motors. We'll hear something very soon on them, probably before X-mas.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick