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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  Dissatisfied - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By BJ - July 18 - 8:24 pm

  We were so excited to own our Azera until the tires went bad. We had only had the car a few months. It became very noisy. The ride is bumpy. Then the rear visor would get stuck and make the most atrocious noise. The handles fell off, the dash cracked. The battery repeatedly died for no apparent reason. The trunk is awful. It was poorly designed and rain water falls in and wets all my paper documents inside! Ill buy a Honda or Toyota next time!

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  2013 Sonata burning oil - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By laurafowler14 - July 14 - 5:03 am

  I loved my 2002 Elantra. I needed a larger vehicle so I bought a brand new 2013 Sonata. My Sonata started burning oil around 36,500 miles. I have been going back a fourth to the dealership doing oil consumption tests. After 3 tests, it has burned up 4.5 quarts in about 2,000 miles. I still cant get anyone to fix the problem. Instead, the dealership says I need to do 1,000 more miles of oil consumption tests and corporate says I need to do 3,000 more miles of oil consumption tests. The warranty sounds great but good luck with getting them to fix anything that is covered.

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  You need your warranty if they honor it? - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Louie - July 10 - 2:10 pm

  Bouncy ride and poor quality. Rear brake pads worn to rotors at 21,000 miles. Hyundai said rust caused this problem. I have never had a car with rear pads worn to rotors with 21,000 miles. I bought an extended bumper to bumper warranty for 10 years 100,000 miles, but hope I never have to use it because Im sure they will find some excuse not to honor it.

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  Bad Hyundai Quality - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By Bad Car - July 6 - 1:52 pm

  I have a 2008 Sonata, the brakes are gone after less than 18K miles of very light driving the dealer said that they are not part of the so much advertised hyundai warranty too bad they said. Hey, brakes that do not even last 18K, is this hyundais quality? It seems so I wonder what else will be braking soon. I will never, ever buy a hyundai again, and I advise against buying one. Yes, they are a little cheaper than the Japanese cars, but so much worse! My wife has a Japanese car for over 6 years, over 60K, not a single problem with it! Keep away from hyundai. And, yes, their service, at least here in Henrietta, NY is terrible.

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  dont buy an azera - 2008 Hyundai Azera
  By eddie - June 29 - 4:08 pm

  I bought a 2008 azera on june 1st of 2009. It was a program car and had 8,400 miles on it. It cost a little less than a camry, and had a better warranty, but thats the only good part. It in no way matches the quality of a toyota camry. Ive read these reviews and have decided that they must have been written by hundai dealers. My overall gas mileage is around 18 mpg. I guess thats good if you compare it with a hummer. I took the car on vacation and the throttle sensor went out 22 times before i could get it to a dealership to fix it. The mechanic who fixed it said that he had fixed several of them, and he didnt know why they didnt have a recall on them. Im very disappointed in the car.

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  Americas best warranty? Bull! - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By northArrow - June 28 - 12:28 pm

  I could get over the small and cramped cabin and complete lack of power thanks to the amazing fuel mileage, but my tolerance for this car ended the same day the 5 year bumper-to- bumper warranty did. We always did the scheduled maintenance on it, but minor problems were always cropping up (these were covered by the warranty). However, once the vehicle turned 5 years old, major issues appeared, ranging from loud whining noises to shifting problems and constant brake replacements. After several months of $1200+ repairs, the final straw occurred when the engine caught fire leaving my wife stranded on the highway. (not covered) At 6 years old and approx 80K miles we finally got rid of it

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  Another Tucson that could get someone killed. - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Steve - June 28 - 9:31 am

  Purchased car four months ago and loved it until about 3500 miles when the transmission started acting up, at an intersection, step on the gas and car goes nowhere, just like youre in neutral. Took in in to the dealer was told the tranny needed a software update, got it back the next day took it for a long ride in the mountains and guess what happened. Dealer doesnt know how to fix it now, started a case with Hyundai, I am refusing to accept it back from the dealer until it is safe. Got a call from Hyundai a few days ago, they tell me they are working on a fix but it is three to five weeks out, they did however, offer to buy it back. I read the sample buyback letter and it looks like if I accept the offer I will pay for mileage, lose the money paid for gap insurance, and since I was about $1800 upside down in my trade in I will owe that money too, great, I will owe $3000 and have no vehicle. Awesome service for a defective car that could have killed someone. Thanks very much Hyundai, my fifth new Hyundai purchase will be my last.

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  Rear Brakes - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Miller - June 25 - 10:05 pm

  My rear brakes need replaced at 21,000 miles. Dealer said it was from rust on rotors and caliper pins sticking. Also they said it was because of driving in bad weather. My wife drives this car and very seldom when roads are bad. Replacing pads and resurfacing rotors at 21,000 miles is ridiculous.

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  Sold ours for $500 - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By chapchap70 - June 18 - 12:26 am

  We bought the car when it had about 60,000 miles on it. My wife drove it basically around town. At about 90,000 miles I thought it needed the wheels aligned but our mechanic said the cradle bolt (sub frame) was rotting out and it was unsafe to drive. The part from the dealers cost $1500. We checked availability from junk yards and the common response was laughter. Since we were not the original owners, Hyundai did not offer any recourse. We sold it to a mechanic who said he would take a chance on it.

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  very unhappy with dealer and hyundai customer service - 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By drobbins - June 17 - 1:35 pm

  Lets just get right to it. A terriable metal noise in the back door.Dealer claims this is normal .to me and everyone else sounds like a pop weld somewhere between panels. how about a terriable squeaking noise in my driver seat sounds like a broken bed spring. Dealer claims this is normal. And how about a loud humming noise from the stereo system. Again dealer said this is normal. And how about help from Hyundai customer service. NO WAY DEALER CLAIMS CAR UP TO SPECS WE VALUE WHAT ARE DEALER TELLS US??. What a shame i only have 2300 miles it could of been a good value for the money. I guess I will look and trade my car in. my loss and my gain into a quantiy car this time like Honda.