So i have owned a 2008 Elantra for my wife and we love the car so we wanted something more economical for me to drive to school. So I bought myself a 2011 Accent. Its Automatic and the 3 door. It has 70 miles on it now i have had for a few days. One thing that is concerning me is that when ever i get out of the car i smell a weird smell coming from appears to be the back of the car. I would describe it as maybe a brake smell. I want to know if this is common. Because when i test drove another accent 2011 it was the 4 door i noticed the same smell. Anyone know what this is?

 

If the car is that new what you are smelling is probably the protectant coating they put on the exhaust to pretect it from rust during assembly and shipping. It burns off as the exhaust heats up for the first few days.

 

Thank you. That makes sense. Only had for a few days. This is my first ever brand new car.

 

Congrats on the Accent and welcome to the forum. Hopefully, the smell goes away fairly quickly. I know my Tiburon stunk for a few days when I bought it new.

 

Welcome! I had purchased a 2010 Accent couple months back and it too smelled a bit funny when the car warmed up. 2000 miles later, the new car smell (and stink) are gone. I noticed the funniest smells only in the first few days.

If you leave your emergency brake on while you drive, it will cause that smell also. My co-worker did that on a rental car once and we stopped at a red light thinking "Hey, where's that smoke coming from?"

 

Congrats! Mine had the burning smell for the first week, I even noticed a little smoke comming out the hood at first. Now it only smells like a new car.

 

My daughter's 2011 had a smell too. Not sure if it's the same, but it reminded me of something hot or burning. It's gone now.

For you guys that have factory radios in your new Accents, does the display light operate seperately from the button lights? I mean, if you turn the radio on, does the LCD display, and ONLY the display, light up when your headlights are off? And then, the buttons also light up when the headlights are on?

Gary

 

Gary. Mine is the same as yours.

 

Another quick question on the 2011 accents. Is there a break-in period for MPG? Also what grade of gas should i be running in the car. In Utah they have 85, 88, 91. I have noticed that my MPG is lower than what i was expecting. I am hoping that is just due to it only having 200 miles on it so far.

 

Yes, MPH will be low at first as the engine breaks in.

What is your elevation in Utah? Most Hyundai cars require only "regular" fuel. That's 87-octane. However, if you are at a higher elevation, your octane reguirement drops. So if you are very high you will be fine on 85-octane but if you are at sea level, go with the 88-octane. Anything more than that is just a waste of money.