Overview & Reviews

A relative newcomer to the American marketplace, Hyundai is a Korean automaker with a product line that has improved greatly over the past decade. Hyundai cars and SUVs provide a high level of content for an affordable price, and are currently backed by one of the industry's longest warranties.

In 1947, Chung Ju Yung founded the Hyundai Civil Engineering Company. Mere months later, the outfit was bombed in the Korean War. However, the company regained its footing to distinguish itself as one of Korea's leading construction enterprises during the 1950s.

By the late 1960s, Chung had turned his attention to the automobile industry. The Korean government at that time believed that it made more sense to import vehicles than produce them domestically, and had made its opinion known. Still, Chung opted to follow his own convictions, and in 1967, he founded the Hyundai Motor Company.

The company quickly established an alliance with one of the industry's oldest automakers, signing a two-year contract with Ford in 1968 to share assembly technology. Hyundai's first car, the Cortina, was created from that partnership. The manufacturer's first car to be designed and built in Korea was the compact Pony (although the car was based on Japanese technology courtesy of Mitsubishi). The vehicle made its debut in 1974, and the following year Hyundai began exporting it to overseas markets.

Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with the introduction of its subcompact Excel. The car was an immediate hit, with its supreme affordability being a primary selling point. More than 100,000 Excels were sold stateside in the first seven months. By 1988, Hyundai had begun to produce cars using its own technology. The midsize Sonata was the first fruit borne of this endeavor.

Unfortunately, Hyundai's nascent image was soon tarnished by the poor durability and reliability of its vehicles. Sales tanked. However, rather than abandon the American market in the '90s, Hyundai chose to invest heavily in new product designs and improvements in overall quality and reliability. In 1998, Hyundai also purchased Kia, another Korean automaker, to expand its business and economies of scale.

It all started to pay off by the start of the new millennium, with the 2001 Elantra in particular showing massive improvements in overall quality, reliability and performance. Other models followed suit and the desirability of Hyundai cars increased sharply. Providing an extraordinarily long warranty period didn't hurt either.

Today's lineup is indicative of Hyundai's complete turnaround. Hyundai has a vehicle for nearly every segment, including the economical Accent subcompact, the popular Elantra compact, the midsize Sonata sedan (also available as a hybrid), sporty Genesis and Veloster coupes and a couple of stylish SUVs. Hyundai has also expanded into the entry-level and premium-level luxury sedan markets with its Genesis and Equus sedans. Having gone from being the butt of late-night TV jokes in the 1980s to a well-respected manufacturer of quality vehicles, Hyundai has created a very inspiring rags-to-riches story.

User Reviews:

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  AWESOME DEAL FOR A GREAT CAR! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By dkstl99 - May 21 - 8:16 am

  After EXTENSIVE research, I chose the Hyundai over Accord and Camry. Cost was over $4000 less and it had features I couldnt get with those models. Great Highway Car. V6 is Very Powerful and Torquey and a pleasure to drive. Extremely quiet, even with sunroof open. Gas Mileage is about 25 MPG overall with 75% highway (75 mph with air on). Considering Horsepower, quite acceptable. Dash is well laid out and easy to read in all light conditions. Controls are intuitive and seats are comfortable. Full featured, well options, superior handling, powerful car that looks good for a great low price. HIGHLY recommend.

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  This car is great!!! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Michael Tran - May 20 - 10:00 am

  I recently bought me a Tiburon and I love to drive this baby. Besides the car being heavy for a sports car, I love to fix up the car. Its fun to drive, fun to work on, good looking, and its a must buy car for everybody who dont know much about Hyundai Tiburon!!!

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  Hyundai GT review - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Scazzero - May 20 - 10:00 am

  So far weve put 1300 miles on this car in two months not one problem so far. It feels very solid. The car has decent acceleration and good power on the highway. Only problems is it needs more lumbar support and better gas mileage right now were only getting 22 mpg average. But the main reason we bought this car was the overwhelming number of items available at the price, we got leather seats, a trip computer, cd player (6 speakers), alloy wheels, fog lights, rear spoiler and the best warranty all standard! Name one other car that gives you this kind of bargain!

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  Beats the Competition - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Kevin - May 20 - 12:00 am

  I have been test driving/researching cars for 3 weeks prior to my purchase. I test drive the base models (cloth seats, nothing extra) of all the following: The Hyundai beat the pant off of the other cars I drove in price and quality. Incredible interior/cloth seats/value. Toyota Camry Tight steering, responsive engine, cheap dash, especially the knobs. Seats average, cloth on door arm rest worn at 30,000 miles in every car I drove. Used 2008/2009 Camry @ 35,000 miles costs more than a brand new 2009 Hyundai. Ford Fusion Absolutely horrible, disgusting, uncomfortable. Small leg width space, ugly dash, center console, very uncomfortable seats because of the headrests. This is one of the worst.

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  Mid life crisis car - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Jim Moses - May 18 - 10:50 pm

  Wonderful performance and styling. A real eye catcher.

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  very POOR engineering on steering - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Chris - May 18 - 9:50 pm

  BEWARE...Sonatas have BAD and DANGEROUS problems with steering going out...after only 29,000 miles and TWO MONTHS out of "warranty" I was forced to spend $1,200 to REPLACE the entire steering column due to failure. NEVER will buy a crap Hyundai again. Selling this ASAP and back to Ford where I should have stayed.

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  the best economy car - 2003 Hyundai Accent
  By alexander - May 18 - 2:00 am

  This is a great car for the price you pay and is alot better then the chevy metro

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  The Best Hyundai Yet! - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Daniel - May 17 - 4:33 pm

  The Azera is by far the best car Hyundai as built yet. Style, comforts, and HP. Ive gone from brand new 96 Accent, 2000 Sonata, and 2004 XG350. Better and better each year. Starting with the 2006-2007 models the resale values will start coming up and become above average in the next few years. The Azera is a pleasure to drive. Many people cant believe that Hyundai has put out such a classy car from the head to toe. I expect to have this car for a long time, unless they come up with a even better model, which Ive come to expect from Hyundai.

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  High Quality, Excellent Support - 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Madison, WI - May 17 - 2:20 pm

  This is by far the best vehicle we have ever purchased in inital quality and manufacture support. It is our first Hyundai and I have to say they really have it together with their dealers. Their collborative efforts resulted in the best buying experience we have had in over 20 years of automotive purchases.

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  Must have family sedan - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By tommyc - May 17 - 12:13 pm

  My family has always bought Honda/Acura for the last 10 years. This year the Hyundai Sonata earned my money. Yes, Accord and Camry are great cars but when you compare the price and option, the new Sonata wins hands down. Before I buy, I drove all 3 models and here is my conclusion. Performance on all 3 models 2.4L are comparable, not much more or less of each other. Options are great on all, however the Sonata has ESC = Electronic Stability Control standard on all model. Comparing price, options and warranty, the Sonata wins the final round. This car broke the Honda buying history in my family. Based on the performance and options, this car is underpriced when compared to the Camry and Honda. Similar performance and options but better price and warranty = YOU CANT LOSE.