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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  hyundai is korean for - 2001 Hyundai Accent
  By Jason7562004 - March 20 - 2:00 am

  Two days after purchasing, the brakes started making a high-pitched squeeling sound. One week later, the clutch makes a grinding sound. A month later, the driver-side windshield wiper stopped moving. Fortunately for Hyundai, their 10 year, 100,000mi warranty only applies to the drive-train. Nothing else is covered, as the dealer politely pointed out after charging me $110 to tell me there wasnt a problem. If I bought the car from some guy selling snake oil at a freeway off-ramp, I wouldnt be surprised, but I had it inspected before buying, I did a carfax check, it only had 27,000 miles, and its only a few years old.

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  Feeling Screwed Over - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By Joe - February 10 - 3:37 pm

  I purchased a 2013 Elantra new. I immediately had issues with the mileage. It is stickered for 41 mpg highway. I have never gotten more than 34 mpg after adjusting for the 2.7 mpg the gauge is off when compared to the odometer and actual fuel purchased. The compensation card issued by Hyundai due to the court settlement doesnt even come close to compensating me for the lower mileage. This is the first car I have ever had that has gotten less than the sticker. After 15k or 20k miles there were issues with the pollution control system that took 4-5 trips to the dealership to resolve. Now at 107k (virtually all highway miles) the car engine started making rattling noises that turned out to be a bad piston. The dealer estimates the repair cost to be over $5,600. This is in spite of regular maintenance checks and oil changes. Finally the two sets of 80k mile tires I have had on the car after the initial set that came with the car have each lasted less than 45k miles and developed significant road noise after about 25k miles even with regular rotation. Never again will I purchase a Hyundai and I discourage everyone I talk to from purchasing one too.

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  hyundai xg 300 suxs - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By ross - February 1 - 8:56 am

  the hyundai xg300 is a car with many, many problems. I had it for less than a year and it has been back to the dealer 10 times, thats right 10 times, for atotal of 42 days and still they have not found the problem. the only resource that hyundai canada has given me id to go to arbitration to try to return the car. please do not lease or by a hyundai xg 300.

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  Biggest Lemon - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - January 18 - 9:26 pm

  My 2012 Hyundai Sonata Limited 2.0t on the outside/inside appear to look nice and comparable to a high end luxury vehicle. Mechanically it is garbage! Owning this car for 3years 90,000 I had to the replace turbo sensor, fuel pump, 2 batteries, and run into multiple situations where the car would not start. Hyundai corporate and dealerships have been useless and do not stand by their products. This is my second and last Hyundai buying, next time Ill put the money towards a Toyota, a company who stands by their products and who has proven reliability.

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  Biggest Lemon - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - January 18 - 9:11 pm

  My 2012 Hyundai Sonata Limited 2.0t on the outside/inside appear to look nice and comparable to a high end luxury vehicle. Mechanically it is garbage! Owning this car for 3years 90,000 I had to the replace turbo sensor, fuel pump, 2 batteries, and run into multiple situations where the car would not start. Hyundai corporate and dealerships have been useless and do not stand by their products. This is my second and last Hyundai buying, next time Ill put the money towards a Toyota, a company who stands by their products and who has proven reliability.

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  Why spend more - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By fx - January 4 - 2:00 am

  The XG350L is everything it is supposed to be to compete with Lexus and the other big sedans...roomy, comfortable, laden with features, powerful, torqued and good-looking. And its at least 15gs less. Its fun to drive...not a Ferrari, but what youd expect from a big cruising sedan. The new 3.5 litre engine is a huge improvement; the car gets out of its way and has no problem moving well past 100 mph. Its comfortable, has a great stereo, rides like a dream, handles well, has power and more. Why people are spending so much more for the same thing with a fancier name plate is beyond me.

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  Unbelievable - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By upset1 - December 14 - 1:56 pm

  I purchased this car on march 14, 2006 in about 2 weeks i started noticing although gas is quite high everywhere that this car was burning up an aweful lot of gas, assumed its just because its a new car, well no, on april 9, noticed that the car didnt seem to kick off as quickly as it had initially, then on april 10, pulling out of work the car slipped trans was slipping,thought no, well yes next day almost didnt make it 2 work 4 the miss that the car was havin called serv & got needs 2 bring car in,takes it in & gets call next day, its the tran & needs replace, no apology nothing, got sorry 4 your luck all we are goin 2 do is fix it&call cr,cr sd we gv warr u get fix thats it-how nasty

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  One of the worst car that I have ever bought - 2012 Hyundai Azera
  By Khush - August 3 - 10:20 am

  Warning Do not buy Hyundai Azera. It has engine problem the stupid 10 years warrenty is worthless. I own a 2012 Hyundai Azera it has engine problem I took it to the dealer several times for the same issues. The problem with the car is that it’s shaking it vibrates they call it rough idle when it’s turn it on when you drive it you feel it less but when you stop at a light or park it while the car is still on the entire car is shaking. Long story short they put a brand new engine in my car guess what? I still have the same exact issue with the car. At the end the corporate said there is nothing els they can do.

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  The worse decision Ive made - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Worst Mistake - June 30 - 9:40 pm

  I bought my 2009 Sonata new and I have had it for a year and half and have had to take it to the dealer 7 times in addition to it regular maintenance. The upholstery of the driver seat was coming off within the first 3 months of having the car (3 trips total for that because the dealer did not have the part and then installed it incorrectly). Then, the side view mirror became loose without any reason (no dent or damage) resulting in 2-3 trips to the dealer. Lastly, a whistling noise was coming from the engine and clicking sound was noted from the shift gear box. The whistling sound ended up being the catalytic converter which had to be replaced.

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  Junk, just junk - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By buckaroo - June 6 - 10:00 am

  Nothing about this vehicle is above standard. False advertise 4% finance but only applies to 2% of the population. Cant compare to RAV in value.