1996 Hyundai Accent- Could the car be dying?

Hi all,

I've got a 1996 accent, 4 door, standard. Lately, I've been smelling
exhaust in the car (guessing it would be due to the flex pipe? Maybe a
hole in it?). Along with this, when the car starts, it almost sounds
like the individual cylinders are "slowed down" when the car starts,
until the car is revved up a little bit. More to add, when starting
the car, sometimes it doesn't start at all, not even the radio or
anything, so I have to pop the hood, take the negative terminal off
the battery for about 20s, then put it back on. Last but not least,
both front locks, I have to have the key in the lock on the outside,
and turned to unlock the door, but as soon as I go to take the key out
of the door, the door locks. So essentially, if I'm inside of my car,
I either have to roll down my window and stick my key in in order to
get out, or I have to get out of the back seat.

Would anyone have any ideas on any of these problems as to how to fix
them?

 

The Great And Mystical Swammy sees nothing in his crystal ball but swirling
clouds. You may have to simply get under your car and take a look.

Slowed down? What is the engine reving at when this happens? When was the
last time the car had plugs and wires put in it? How many miles on the car?

Sounds like this car simply needs some maintenance. It's 8 years old, has a
myriad of problems throughout, does not seem to have been subjected to
anything more than quick-fix-good-enough type repairs, and has never really
had problems properly fixed. My suggestion - take it to someone to have it
fixed or get another car.