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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  Braking Problem - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By HassanZaidi - January 27 - 8:40 am

  I have 2007 Senta Fe that had CV joint rotation issue. i had it replaced. Later I have an issue with its breaks. It seems to have a longer breaking distance than SUVs I ownered before. In the last snow storm, the vehicle failed to stop safely within 25 feet @ a speed of 15 MPH. It resulted in a $6000 frontal damage to my car, with minor damage to car in front. I had the brakes checked and the shop told me that brakes/ pads are fine. I do not know how to correct this issue. Can anyone advise me how to resolve this issue? Thanks.

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  Veracruz - 2009 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Danny - January 27 - 2:26 am

  This is a crossover with the ride of a cruse ship. The car has so many bells and whistles. Have it one week and already over 1100 miles. Finding wonderful things about it every day. Could be the best car ever.

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  Spiffy - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By ABQTones - January 26 - 12:50 am

  Love it! Its not perfect, BUT great torque and pick-up. Accelerates very quickly. With respect to driving experience, the only thing Ive noticed is that it can sometimes be a little slow to respond when coming out of a dead stop. Its like it takes an extra second or two before it realizes it needs to go and once that happens the car moves very quickly. Wish it were a little more responsive. Looks great, VERY sexy. Ive gotten compliments from co-workers and friends! (very cynical people)

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  Bought it yesterday! - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By ler0n - January 25 - 11:10 am

  As I pulled the car out for the test drive, I told the dealer that if I hear loud wind noises, we can forget about Hyundai altogether. I drove about 8 miles in city and 8 miles on freeway, where I briefly reached 80 mph effortlessly. The handling was responsive, the ride very smooth and quiet (later, I found out that Hyundai engineers redesigned the door hinges and side mirrors to reduce wind noise). The average mileage for my test drive was 26mpg. I really would love it to be close to 29-30 mpg, but I can live with it since I drive only 20 miles to and from work each day and once month a trip of about 220 miles. The 17.7 gallon fuel tank should get me a long way. Love everything!

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  Limosine Looks and Quality - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Oldcarguy - January 25 - 8:46 am

  Bought a black/black Limited V-6 in February. Compared the Accord, Camry, Malibu, Sebring, G6, etc., and the Sonata beat all of them in price and fuel mileage. Have just over 3000 miles on it and we get about 25 mpg in local (suburban) driving and between 33 and 35 on the Interstates. Highly recommend the wheel flaps and trunk liner to keep the outside and inside clean. Im 63" and my wife is short and both of us have no problem getting comfortable driving positions. Very smooth and comfortable, easy to maneuver and park, have gotten many compliments on the looks ("looks like a Lexus"), probably on the color. Great warranty!!!

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  Hyundai Sonata - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By chenriks2000 - January 25 - 2:00 am

  Ive been very pleased with the car.

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  Overlooked gem - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By STEVE GONCZI - January 24 - 8:06 pm

  Awesome value. Bought it for one of my kids. I am comparing it to my Mercedes CLA-250 ( eco fvs cla) : Similar, small turbo engine 1.6L vs 2.0L. Similar torque and torque curve. 198 foot/lbs available from 1500 RPM and up. Both cars are pleasant to drive, esp. compared to the screaming high rev downshifts of the 2.4l baseline engine. Both cars have a dual clutch 7 speed tranny. The ecos tranny seems to work better, and faster. Price paid: 18.5 K vs 35K. Neither has a spare tire. Tires: 16 inch Michelin Energy vs. 17" low profile Pirelli run-flats. Handling, road feel: Hyundai cannot beat a German car as of yet. The benz wins here. Fit and finish, rattles:Hyundai wins. Example: 2x hydraulic hood suppors on the hyundai, cheap metal stick for the Benz. Seriously? Brakes: Hyundai wins so far. The benz had the front rotors replaced at 20K and now needs new rotors again at 38K. (Uneven wear, thickness variation) Warranty: hyundai wins, (6/64 vs 4/48) although the turbo is not part of the power train, so not 10/100 only 6/64. Seriously? Excellent fuel eco ( 35 vs 36 in mixed driving, 40 vs 42 on highway. Gasoline: Hyundai runs fine w normal vs Benz needs Super (runs noticeably worse on anything less). Looks: the benz wins hands down. Back seat comfort: The benz back seats are for 2 small adults or childen. The eco has OK back seats. Gripes: the Benz windshield sucks. I am on my 2nd one, it seems to crack easily. Both brands are goin to an overpriced "bundled service" model, invented by some marketing genius. Benz A service is $200 , B service is $400. The former is a glorified oil change, witness my service invoices. Way overpriced. Hyundai is attempting to go to a similar model, with a long list of "check this and inspect that" and charge an insane amount of money. Check out the service brochure and you will see what I mean. They try to present this travesty as a fantastic deal, as in if you commit to have them maintain your car, they give you some money off the insanely overinflated scheduled service cost.

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  Great car and great value. Just a few bugs - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By michael melgar - January 24 - 1:31 pm

  We already have a 2011 sonata and liked it so when we needed an SUV the Tucson seemed like a logical option. Weve had the car for a month and its been great except for a couple of items The car sometimes hesitates from a dead stop but not anything terrible. The GPS system is balky but I only have it because you need to order the ultimate package to get the front end collision avoidance system and the GPS comes with it. Why anyone would use this instead of Google maps is a mystery to me. The Bluetooth iPhone link is also balky. It was much better on the Sonata. Hands free dialing finds contacts too slowly and requires too many steps. Much easier to just use Siri. The 2011 Sonata without navigation had a better faster interface than my 2016 Tucson with Ultimate package. The seats are also a little firm but i knew that from the Sonata and decided to live with it since the rest of the car met my needs at a better price than the competition

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  Fantastic vehicle - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By charlest - January 24 - 10:00 am

  First care weve owned that we didnt have to have at the dealership for warranty work. In fact, its nearly 2 years old and still no warranty work. Love the car.

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  The best car ever built! - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By martinolsen - January 24 - 10:00 am

  Overall the Tib has satisfied me more than any other car that I have owned. Its Fast, Powerfull,The braking ability, Sleek design, and its reliability. When I wake up in the morning the first thing I think about is I wonder where I can take the Tib to rally some corners! When hyundai does its next design change I can tell you this, Ill be the first person in line to buy it.