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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  Im excited! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By foxy brown - December 4 - 10:20 pm

  So far so good. This is my first SVC and Im having a great time with it. I previously had an XG350 and I loved it so I decided to try this. I love the blue lighted dash it makes it a little classy. The handling is great. I look forward to the winter to see how it will handle.

• 

  I love it! - 1993 Hyundai Elantra
  By kristinkm - December 4 - 2:00 am

  My friends had me talked into the Accent, I drove it, I hated it. They had the Elantra on the lot, I gave it a spin, and I loved it! I was looking for a manual transmission 4 door sedan, and this one had it all. Its been a good, reliable car, and really good mileage for its time (Ive never gotten less than 25mpg, even with city and stop-and-go freeway driving with air conditioning). Ill be going up a class on my next car (next <2yrs), but I have NO regrets on my Elantra.

• 

  Not Ready For Prime Time - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By richvaguy - December 3 - 2:40 am

  I have had the car a month and believe I have driven it enough to get a true feel. On the hwy it is excellent, good response great gas 39+mpg, good ride and comfort. Now for the not so good. The car is dangerous to drive, hesitates badly between 0-25mph, shudders and shakes the entire car when transitioning from Electric to Gas. Impossible to get close to advertised city MPG. I try to drive as gentle as possible to stay in EV mode, the slightest touch on the pedal and it goes to gas thus decreasing MPG. Lucky to get 30mpg in city driving. Gauges hang up and read 0 mpg in EV (electric vehicle) mode. Should read 50mpg.

• 

  great car - 1997 Hyundai Accent
  By 54 - December 3 - 2:00 am

  Love the car so much I have put two of my children into Hyundais. My son has a 2000 Accent and my daughter has a 2001 Accent.

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  Great little car, just not for Colorado :( - 2013 Hyundai Veloster
  By dpco25 - December 3 - 1:32 am

  Hi, I just wanted to give my input so that others who live in snowy weather or do a lot of driving (like me) dont make the same mistake I did. I bought my Veloster (non-Turbo) in May 2013 and I admit it was a total impulse buy. This car is different-looking, super-cute, has all the bells and whistles one could ever want, and the MPGs youll get on it is phenomenal...it rivals a lot of the hybrids out there. There were many times that I got as much as 38 or 40 MPGs on the highway, which was great considering that gas was almost $4 a gallon back in 2013. The interior design is snazzy and looks totally futuristic, without being too funky or impractical like you would see in a Toyota Prius. The cars interior controls are intuitively designed, so its user-friendly and within easy reach from the driver seat, if not already on the steering wheel itself. The technology this car offers is fantastic for a vehicle in this price-range, especially the navigation system (which I did use a lot since I drive a lot for my job). The panoramic sun roof is bigger than most Ive seen in compact cars and the three-door design is unique, although it does take a little getting used to if one is used to the standard 4-door models. This is the car that one will definitely get a lot of complements on...even after having it for 2+ years, I still had people stopping me and telling me how "cool and different" my car looks. This car does have a great rear-view camera, which is good because the back window is tiny and there are a lot of blind spots due to the odd shape of the back side windows. The brakes in this car are also great....there were more than a few times when I came upon slowing traffic due to construction or an accident and this car stopped on a dime. The seat comfort is okay but not great, and its difficult getting in and out of the vehicle. The back seats in this car are almost like an after-thought; they are not very comfortable at all. The cargo space in the back hatchback is surprisingly roomy for a car this size; I was able to get medium-sized furniture and a fair amount of boxes in the back once I put the back seats down. Even with the back seats up, you can still get a couple of big, fully-packed suitcases in there, with room for some carry-on items too. Okay, here are the downsides to this car: for one, it has really poor acceleration. The Veloster looks like it would move fast and nimble, but its acceleration is sluggish at best. I heard its better in the Turbo model, but if you have the standard like I did, its surprisingly slow. The ride in the car is rough, especially the more miles you put on it, and you will feel every bump and pothole on the road. If you live in a state where you have nicely paved highways and side streets, this shouldnt be an issue, but we have some really crappy roads in Colorado so I constantly felt jostled around while driving, which only added to my stress levels on a daily basis. I was constantly worried that Ill accidentally hit a big bump or pothole, which will then make the Veloster scrape the bottom being that its so low-profile. Speaking of the low-profile, I dont do any off-road driving or anything like that, but the low profile of this car can be an issue on poorly maintained or weather-damaged roads. But heres the biggest issue I had with this car: this car is great in the summer or in warm-weather climates, so if you live in Florida or California where the roads are nice and the weather is nice most of the year, then this is the car for you! However, this car cannot handle snow or heavy torrential rains at all! If you are trying to go up a hill in snowy weather, this car will slip and slide all over the place! I dreaded snowy winter days in this car, as I commute 40 miles one way on the highway to work. When it snowed, I would slip and slide the whole way and be praying to all the saints and angels to get to work in one piece. There were a few times I couldnt even back out of my driveway in this car when it snowed. Even with all-weather tires, winter-driving was dicey at best in the Veloster. In light rains, the Veloster does okay but it can easily hydroplane during the heavy rains so you had to go very slow. The high performance tires required for this type of car is not practical if you do a lot of highway driving like I do; I had to replace my tires once a year, which gets expensive if you need all-weather tires. The higher mileage I got in this car, the more it rattled and vibrated, which eventually took its toll on the speakers and sound system. Overall, this is a great little car if you live in warm weather and do mostly city driving, but for me, it just didnt fit my needs living and working in Colorado with its unpredictable weather and roads. Sadly, I ended up trading in my cool Veloster this weekend for a much more sturdier and practical 2016 Subaru Crosstrek, which is the quintessential Colorado car.

• 

  great - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By john santiago - December 2 - 1:03 am

  vehicle is reliable, good on gas

• 

  Its great but... - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By jpiraino - December 1 - 2:00 am

  Wind noise in window, limited back seat footroom, emergency brake handle rubs midleg, car pulls left and has been aligned twice with no success. Great looking car, great value for the $, Dealer has been responsive. Remember the early Hondas ? They were not much and look at them now. Hyundai will dupicate that success in the next 5 years.

• 

  SUV that drives like a car - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Linda - November 30 - 10:23 pm

  This vehicle is far superior to my RAV 4 except for one thing - gas mileage. doing all city I get 17mpg and during the best possible driving conditions I only get about 21.8. That was a huge disappointment to me. It is a smooth ride, fun to drive, and feels great. Too much plastic in the interior but still well worth getting. Except for the mileage and now at over $3/gl that is a big deal, it is a great little car.

• 

  I despise this car - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By Sydnee Sprague - November 30 - 8:48 pm

  I bought my car nearly 2 years ago with about 61,000 miles on it. The vehicle now has 79,000 miles on it. With the hail protection plan I added, it totaled to about $11,500. When I first got the car, I noticed nothing wrong with it, mainly because I lived in a small town and only drove it at no more than 30mph most of the time. Upon moving to the city for college, I noticed major issues, mainly with the way the car shifts. Its extremely rough, even getting up to 40mph is a hassle. Ive looked up reviews, and other people seem to have this issue as well. Im getting my transmission checked in a couple of days, and I swear if it needs replaced, Ill never get a Hyundai ever again. Plus, resale value is awful. Im looking at $3,000 trade in value.

• 

  I despise this car - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By Sydnee Sprague - November 30 - 8:48 pm

  I bought my car nearly 2 years ago with about 61,000 miles on it. The vehicle now has 79,000 miles on it. With the hail protection plan I added, it totaled to about $11,500. When I first got the car, I noticed nothing wrong with it, mainly because I lived in a small town and only drove it at no more than 30mph most of the time. Upon moving to the city for college, I noticed major issues, mainly with the way the car shifts. Its extremely rough, even getting up to 40mph is a hassle. Ive looked up reviews, and other people seem to have this issue as well. Im getting my transmission checked in a couple of days, and I swear if it needs replaced, Ill never get a Hyundai ever again. Plus, resale value is awful. Im looking at $3,000 trade in value.