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 - Make of the Future - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By JayMo - July 16 - 2:00 am

  Excellent car loaded with features with a good cash rebate! Hyundai has come along way. 2-1/2 years ago this car was "tinny" and felt insubstantial and cheap. No more!! Compared with Protege, Sentra, Corolla and Civic. Extras included as standard features and price kicked butt. Ive owned Honda, Toyota and Nissan products and I believe they are pricing themselves out of the compact car market. All they have to offer is the snob factor. Wonder how long it will take most Americans to latch onto this great little car?

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  The car for new College Graduates.... - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By kennies - July 16 - 2:00 am

  Very nice car. This car is starting to become popular. I was looking an affordable car that can get me around. I dont want a corolla or civic, cuz everyone has those. I wanted something cheaper and maybe better. This car is it. Bought in August drove it 2 months 7000 miles already. Wow 3500 per month. The oil leaked once, but i fixed it by tightening the oil filter. The shop must not have tighten the oil filter when i did an oil change. Besides that its purrfect. Im planning to drive this car to the ground since its not going to have a resale value, which im fine with. I just know i got a good deal on this car.

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  Great Value - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By OmahaMark - July 16 - 2:00 am

  This is a fun-to-drive car with many standard features. It has a surprising amount of room inside. I am 63", 280 lbs and I fit in the drivers seat just fine with ample leg room (after I adjusted the seat angle a little). I like the fact that almost everything comes standard. The only extra I got was a spoiler for an additional $500. Everything else I wanted came standard. The only hangup Ive had is its low-end torque. It seems like I really have to wind the engine up to get it to accelerate well. It doesnt really take off until I hit 3500 RPMs.

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  elantra - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By bsmiley - July 15 - 9:36 pm

  i really enjoy my Hyndai it is really a good car for your $$$$$.....i love the road side assistance....Yes I would buy another one

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  4.6 w/Tech - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Tech Junkie - July 15 - 2:34 pm

  This car blows me away - its worth every penny, the technology is top-notch, the interior is unbelievable. Its quiet, comfortable, and tons of power. My only complaint (reason for 9 in comfort) is road noise from the Dunlops and a little stiffer ride than I would have expected. Aside from this, its still one of the quietest cars Ive been in. Wing badges are essential, but leave the flying H on if you really want to raise eyebrows. HD radio = awesome. XM = not really all that awesome after listening to HD. Navigation works very well. Seats are VERY comfortable for me even at 66" and over 300lb. Best of all = wife loves it.

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  My Fourth Elantra - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Chelle - July 15 - 3:40 am

  Ive owned my car for a little over three months and this is my fourth leased Elantra (2011, 2012, 2013 GT and now this one). We also own a 2014 Sonata. The first thing (besides the body style) that I am impressed with over the 2011 & 2012 is the ride and handling of the car. I was a big fan of the 2011/2012 body style, but hated that the back end would "jump" over any little bump, despite different sets of tires. The 2017 is wonderful and feels much closer to the Sonata . I wish the Sport mode was set at the steering level like the GT and that it had a separate "ECO" button. Instead, I keep this one in ECO for gas mileage rather than Sport which handles better. My biggest complaint is with the storage (or lack thereof). The earlier versions, especially the GT, had massive amounts of storage with a deep closed middle compartment and wide areas along the bottom of the doors. The design of the new one is difficult - there is one little area which slants downward and is located behind the shifter and under the heating/ac controls. A USB and aux are smashed between two charging ports and every single time I try to put a cord in, I end up hitting the AC button or the defrost button. The large middle storage area is now only a few inches deep and doesnt hold much of anything; the side door pockets are almost worthless because you cant get your hand down into them to get anything out. Im also having some trouble with the App screen where it freezes up for indefinite amounts of time (I have not yet taken it back to the dealer since I only have a little over 2K miles on it). The only way I can change the station is to use the up/down button on the steering wheel. My only other complaint is the heating system - it takes about 30 minutes to get warm and the air comes out of the defroster regardless of what I have selected. This makes wearing contacts impossible because it blows right in my eyes. Now that Ive complained, let me say that my favorite feature is the notifications in the mirrors when a car is in my blind-spot or gets beside me. This is such a fantastic feature & should be standard in every car. Oops, I have one more small "whine" and thats the backup camera. In the GT, it was covered so I could always see out of it AND it was easy to read and accurate. The backup camera in this car needs wiped off daily, if it rains its useless, and the accuracy is so bad that I cant depend on it. Let me add that I am not one who uses the cameras to backup, but rather as a guide. The outer "blue box" indicating that the car is straight can be misleading as well. I will say its nice to finally get a new Elantra and not have to replace the tires within the first few thousand miles which I had to do on the others. Im very grateful that there are not low profile tires on this model. So while I love this car and overall its a fantastic value for the money, I would go back to my fully loaded GT if they could load it up without the low profile tires. What I wouldnt do for the panoramic sunroof again vs the little bitty sunroof I now have which, for some reason, even though its closed, the display in the car will sometimes beep and show me that its open. I feel I should also add that the little quirks are personal things for me and I would still recommend this car to everyone. Heres hoping for an awesome three years with it....

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  A Decent Company Vehicle - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jerry - July 14 - 8:56 pm

  After running the gamit of GM and Ford I finally got to choose what I want in a car I spend 50% of my time in. The car is neat, responsive and doesnt look like every other model of the manufacturer with some plastic glued in various places.

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  Im Impressed - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Marshall - July 14 - 2:28 pm

  The 4.6 Hyundai replaced my lease expired Chrysler 300 Hemi. The Hyundai is a better driving car and has more luxury features. The ride is smoother and quieter, the quietness being my first impression when I test drove the car. I dont think it has quite the acceleration of the Chrysler, but way more than enough for the traffic situations I drive in. The Hyundai exterior design is not as impressive as the Chrysler, but the interior is beautiful. The car is loaded with a surprising amount of luxury features, for the price. The car is as roomy as the Chrysler and has as much trunk space. The seats are well designed for comfort. Driver controls and pushbottons are readily accessible.

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  Good except on gas - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Andrew - July 13 - 5:10 pm

  I love our new Sonata. I think it is a lot of fun to drive and is flashy yet economical. However the one thing that is not as advertised is the gas mileage. We were told it gets 30-32 MPG when in reality our gauges read 23 MPG. I think the car is great, very roomy (and I am broad shouldered), and tons of fun to drive. When you hit the gas... it goes!!!! Great stuff Hyundai.

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  Good Solid Car - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Darin - July 13 - 11:08 am

  I bought my car new and have had little to no problems with it. I have replaced the normal items like tires, belts, etc. I have owned 2 Hyundais and both cars I have over 200,000 miles on. Will buy again