My dad owned both a 81 Dodge Colt and an 89 Hyundai Excel GL (essentially the same car, mechanically) The Colt was a POS. By 1986 it was a rusty clunker that was always breaking down. It caught on fire in 1988 and burned itself down to a metal shell. Thinking he was buying a Honda, he stopped by the fairly new Hyundai dealership and drove out in a brand new 89 Excel. From 1989 - 1998 the Excel broke down only once... which turned out to be a valve of some sort in the carburator. Otherwise, the engine was perfectly depenable for over 100,000 miles (was never quite sure of the mileage after the odometer stopped rolling @ 100k)Of course,the glove box lid was a flimsy piece of plastic held on by a fabric string, all four roll-up windows broke (even though the ones in the back were hardly ever used!) and the rear view miror fell down even though it was attached to the roof... but the car was a good means of transportation considering the price paid and it was many times better than the Colt! He finally retired the Hyundai in 1998... it was pretty well used up. Now, I haven't seen an Excel on the road in years! Obviously these cars didn't have anywhere near the longevity of a Honda, as I still see tons of 3rd (and even older) gen Accords and various other Hondas still running the roads.