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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  Most Sportiness for the Money - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Cougars 2 go - December 7 - 8:26 am

  This is a two-seater car. The "rear seat" is for lower insurance rates and gym bags. Im glad they fold down though. You can easily fit four 16" wheels with 225/60 tires in the back with room to spare. The rear wiper helps to see behind and when backing up in rain and snow. Beware with 05, dont know why it was discontinued for 05. Holds corners pretty well considering its smooth ride. Ive had mine for 13 months and put 20K miles on it. 2004 GT V6 6-spd with leather, ABS, moonroof, 360W sound with subwoofer. The 04 GT V6 was the only Tiburon that I could get the leather seats, 6-spd man trans, upgraded sound system with subwoofer, high spoiler, aluminum pedals all in one package. Great car.

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  Im a believer - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Robo - December 6 - 1:06 pm

  I never thought in a million years Id own a Hyundai, I looked at the Mazda, Toyota, Nissan and Ford before jumping on the Hyundai banwagon. I was impressed with the build and quality, not to mention the price and warranty. This has been the best vehicle I have ever purchased and Ive owned almost every name brand out there at one time or another. I purchased a new 2005 Elantra GT for under $12G and cant believe how quite it drives on the highway, I averaged 38 MPG on a recent 1500 mile trip. I love it and proberly sold at least 5 of my friends on buying one.

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  Not so manly?? - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By humahuma - December 5 - 12:16 pm

  Ok, so I have been dogged out for buying a NOT SO MANLY vehicle. I dont need to put the manly in the vehicle, I have enough of my own. ha ha ha. I used my manly brain with this purchase and my brain muscles flexed well. This has been a smart buy. Good performance, excellent design inside and out, and a pretty smooth looking vehicle as well. It certainly doesnt hurt to have a great warranty too so I dont have to flex my bank account muscles.

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  Santa Fe alright by me - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By nebulouse - December 5 - 5:51 am

  I bought my 2007 Santa Fe in 2010 when it had 58xxx miles. It now has 166xxx miles. Ive never reviewed a car so Im going to throw it all out there. The car is a stud, Ive had it through winters in both Colorado and New York. The AWD is exceptional and even in 2 feet+ of snow the vehicle pulls like a beast, even with the smaller engine. Ive been stuck in a snowstorm pulling a 5x10 uhaul trailer and buzzed right passed all the stranded vehicles. I have the 3rd row seating model and it has been perfect for all my kids. I added a Phillips rear entertainment system and it wired in easily. Also replaced the head unit with a Sony Bluetooth/XM model.

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  Finally a good one I can afford - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Garx - December 5 - 5:46 am

  I bought my new Tucson in February and have been reminded how much fun driving can be. I was very pleasantly surprised at just how comfortable and solid this car is. It has great stability and a very smooth ride. It rides more like a sedan than an SUV.

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  great car - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By steelmonkey - December 5 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car in 1998 with less than 2000 miles on it. I am a construction worker and I have to travel a lot. It held up for the whole 4 years without a problem. It started every day without fail. It has sure seen a lot of construction sites that were not to favorable. Old faithful made it thru everything!! It gets 33 mpg without fail. I am very sad to have to part with it. It now has 85000 miles on it. The only reason I have to sell it is because I have outgrown the car. Too many tools now. The daughter is driving it now. Then it will go to my son to drive. Thanks Hyundai for a great little car.

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  New 2003 Sonata LX - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By curley - December 5 - 2:00 am

  Boughjt our 1st Hyundai product, being a Sonata LX. The vehicle exceeded my expectation with its workmanship and overall product performance. The quiteness of the cabin and 2.7 liter engine is unblieveable and quite peppy. I had to look at the RPM guage to make sure the motor was running. I purchashed it in the New Orleans are for 18,900.00 with a MSRP of $20330.00.

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  Good for the money - 2001 Hyundai Accent
  By KJW - December 5 - 2:00 am

  Solid car for the money. I drove the new corolla and civic, this car feels just as tight. One minor problem with a shift linkage that was fixed with no problems at the dealership. Couldnt pass up the good price, great mileage.

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  My Santa - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By tonyprice - December 5 - 2:00 am

  Really enjoy the exterior styling, more curvy than most "box shaped" SUVs. Have the leather interior - very comfortable. Good all round viewing (added 2" convex mirrors onto side mirrors). Lots of storage room for average days when seats up, and for bulky days when seat(s) down. Like the ability to shut off Air Conditioning when using windshield vents 9cant do that it my Tiburon)

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  Fantastic Car! - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By viscountess - December 5 - 2:00 am

  I cant believe how much car we got for our money. We actually paid less for this car than we did our 1994 Nissan Sentra - 9 years ago (now has 200,000 miles on it). However, this car has leather interior, a moonroof, cd player, airconditioning, pw,pd,alarm ~ everything and an unbelievable warranty compared to Nissan. The car drives like a dream and I am looking forward to the next 200,000 miles!!!