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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  shark review - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tiburoncwgrl420 - May 30 - 3:33 am

  I love this car more than mostly any other car.I love the body style and the sports car look of it.

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  The Worst Sports Car Out There - 2008 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Matthew - May 29 - 9:26 pm

  Lets start with the advantages: its pricing, its fuel economy, and its lack of show-offyness. Pricing is very good for the Hyundai Tiburon GT limited edition, at just $17,000. Actually I sometimes think that its a good buy. Its not a "fast car", but its great for backroad bombing it works pretty well on the highway. Driving isnt considered fun, however. On the other hand, fuel economy is ok at 22mpg in the city and 28mpg on the highway. The car gets to 60mph in 8.0 seconds, which isnt impressive these days, but better than some cars of this Tiburons price range. Its an acceptable car for its price range, and not too show-offy either, but Hyundai needs some improvements to the Tiburon

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  Great purchase if you take care of it. - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By JT2109 - May 29 - 10:00 am

  This was a great vehicle. But you NEED to make sure you keep it up to date with oil changes and such. The oil pan broke under the vehicle and drained all the oil out, hit 90 on the highway the next day and goodbye motor. It was a great car to own, never failed me until that day. I would recommend this vehicle. Tranny fluid and motor fluid need to be checked frequently!

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  Love my stick shift Tucson! - 2009 Hyundai TUCSON
  By former Saturn owner - May 29 - 10:00 am

  Wasnt planning to purchase this but the stick shift sold us. I love the driving experience and Hyundais attention to detail. Warranty a big plus. Ive never driven an SUV so its been a learning experience, but I love this car. Its pretty quiet and handles very well.

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  Revised: No Longer completely satisfied! - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By tedrik - May 29 - 10:00 am

  This is an update from my review from 05/09/10. I absolutely loved everything about this car (past tense). I have been experiencing transmission problems which seems to be worsening. I am experiencing rough- "clunking" and abrupt shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gear. Also at first start after overnight I hear a metal clanging from underneath towards the back/underside of the vehicle right after the first "clunk". Hyundai has "no fix". They have been reflashing the tcms, ecms, installing "new transmissions" with the same problems! Hyundai needs to step-up and remedy this problem. Purportedly it was defective transmissions from 1st production runs.

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  1 week old - 2011 Hyundai TUCSON
  By thundercat - May 29 - 10:00 am

  I have had my Tucson 1 week and I love it. However, as others have noted, the mileage is not what I expected or is reported. I am only geting 21.5 mph on the highway - granted the AC has been on high due to the high outside temps we have been having. May have to contact the dealer about it. Very comfortable especially when compared to my 2001 Forester! Am looking forward to using the heated seats in the winter, which are standard on the GLS model. Loving the blue tooth, XM satellite radio, and steering wheel controls, which are standard on the GLS I hope that it is as reliable as my Subaru was and that I am able to get the mileage up.

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  Beautiful Sonata - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By joyrood - May 29 - 10:00 am

  My husband tried to talk me into another brand car but I just loved the looks of the 2011 Sonata. It rides and drives so nice that you forget you are in a small car as we have always owned SUV. We are so happy with our beautiful Sonata.

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  2013 Genesis waste gate Rattle!!! - 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By orvpickett - May 29 - 8:24 am

  My 2013 2.0T premium has a horrible rattle coming from the turbo waste. Hyundai refuses to fix mine or anyone elses saying its normal. Trust me when you hear the loose washers on a bolt sound coming from our cars you wouldnt like it either. Its awful! Wouldnt recommend this car to anyone since Hyundai refuses to fix them. It cost way to much money to own a car you are embarrassed to start around people.

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  If only I had done some research - 1998 Hyundai Elantra
  By tueyjr - May 29 - 2:00 am

  When I bought my Elantra, I was in need of a cheap vehicle fast. I wish I could go back and choose a bike, a three-legged blind mule, or a good pair of shoes. This was the worst buy. I began to think the check engine light was supposed to be on all the time. It was ok, though, because of Hyundais warranty...right??? Well not if the warranty department claims nothing is wrong. It also liked to shift in and out of gears at constant speed and elevation, but according to the warranty department this was normal too. HMMM!!! I will never buy a Hundai product again.

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  my new hyundai - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By ed taylor - May 28 - 11:36 pm

  So far so good. Only problem is windshield wipers. Otherwise it seem to run pretty good.