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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  A great SUV - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By pcgod - February 28 - 2:00 am

  Excellent value for the price. Comparable vehicles cost much more. Other than the normal minor issues that are associated with "First Year" vehicles, this was my best experience, and continues to be.

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  Nice Car, Horrible Company - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By no thanks - February 28 - 2:00 am

  While I enjoy driving my Elantra, and I cannot come close to saying the same for the company.7 months after purchasing they had made 7 attempts to fix it.The company paid me no attention until I filed for Lemon Law arbitration.The car was fixed another time between them contacting me the week before arbitration and offering me a settlement.The light recently came on again, #10, and now it is like pulling teeth to have them at least honor their agreement.Nevermind the fact that they will now be able to resell my car to another poor customer and make more profit off of it, they are now trying to make me pay for the scratches on my car which is being replaced.

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  Buy of the century! - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tib=Fun! - February 27 - 10:20 pm

  If you like the way it looks, you will love the way it drives. Just get in, let the generous options surround you and lean back and enjoy the ride. Very solid car and fun to drive. When I park it in the garage at night, I can hardly wait until the next morning to drive it again. Do yourself a favor, go drive one. You wont regret it.

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  Repeat Hyundai owner - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Lady Schei - February 27 - 3:40 pm

  This is the 3rd Hyundai I have owned. The first was over 20yrs ago when we lived on the west coast. Brought it back to the midwest and was so happy with performance. 15 years later I got an Elantra. Loved it till my son totaled it in an accident. It did in an accident. It held up very well. Now I have my Santa Fe..2 years now. It has been fun to drive, mileage traveling 24-29 mpg on the hwy and never less than 19.5 even in our Michigan winters. When I need a replacement(hopefully many years away) I will head right back to my dealer for another Hyundai

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  Its all good - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Dave - February 26 - 7:30 am

  We have had our Santa Fe for a little over a month and are very satisfied with the way it drives the fit and the finish. A high quality vehicle Hyundai have come a long way in the past 20 years. Heads up Toyota..

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  I really like my Santa Fe - 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By maine_cpa - February 25 - 2:44 pm

  I bought the "bait and switch" car from the newspaper ad, so I think I got a very good price. Its stripped down, 4 cylinder, front wheel drive, but has the bluetooth, ipod connector, hands-free phone, and radio controls on the steering wheel. today, its 1 year old, 10,000 miles. Mileage is about 22 in the city but rises to 26+ on the highway if I keep to 65 and use the "manual" feature of the automatic transmission to force it to stay in 6th gear. I also drive conservatively in general. It will get up and go if you ask it to, but mpgs will suffer.

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  Great car for the price - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Martin - February 25 - 9:23 am

  Researched many different models before settling for Hyundai.I have had the car for two weeks now and have more than 1000 miles on it. It is very comfortable. Unlike my Honda Accord that I heard some rattling noise from the dash from day one, I have not noticed any noise or rattle.Fit and finish is on par with a lot more expensive cars in its class.I have become so impressed with Hyundai quality that I am considering another one for my wife. Great job Hyundai.

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  Never again...!! - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By EMurray - February 25 - 2:00 am

  I bought the Accent GL as my first brand new car. From January 31 to April 20,2000 it was in the shop 4 times for the transmission, it was slipping as it shifted. Every time they told me that they found the problem and it was done but after having the car home for less than a day the same thing was happening so I had to bring it back again with the same result every time. Also, I took the car from RI to MD (350miles)and back one weekend and when I went out to start it for work Monday morning, it wouldnt start so yet again, I had to have them put it in the shop. I wouldnt ever buy this car again!!

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  you get what you pay for - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By josevilla - February 25 - 2:00 am

  By far the worst car I have ever owned. If it wasnt for the hatchback feature the car would be useless. Its so bad that the people at the service center not only know me on a first name basis they recognize my voice when I call to make appointments. This car is mechanically inferior and what is the point of 32 miles per gallon if you have to fill up 3 or 4 times a week because the tank is so damn small.

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  Some faults - 2005 Hyundai XG350
  By Hazel - February 24 - 7:23 am

  My husband is the only careful driver of this car. He was thrilled to buy it, and has been fairly pleased with the performance. It is now over 2 years old, and has 11,000 miles on the clock. He just had an inspection done, and the brakes are gone already. The repair department told my husband that they usually only last to 9,000 miles. The radio has been just awful from the start. It has been in repair twice. Problem has not been resolved. Terrible to listen to on a trip to town, crackling all the time. So I end up putting an audio tape in.