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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  First new car - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Megan - May 11 - 8:04 pm

  This was my first new car, actually my second car all together. I like the car and I think that for the price, and being that I do a lot of short trips, that it has yet to let me down. I do very well in gas mileage. Most of my trips are under 8 miles, to school and work. Took it on a long trip to visit colleges and the gas mileage was MORE than expected. I love it, and look forward to buying from Hyundai in the future.

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  TIMOTHY - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By Timothy - May 11 - 2:06 pm

  Ive had two Sonatas since 2001 and they have BOTH been without major problems. Great little cars, Great price and minor write-up have been resolved by Hyundai. By the way, Im REALLY NOT an employee!!

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  more than we needed - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By kced - May 11 - 12:31 pm

  Weve owned the car for nearly a month and its been great! Fabulous highway and city driving. Decent fuel efficiency for the engine size (V6). Very smooth and quiet ride. The interior leather and finishes are beautiful. Everyone asked why we bought a Hyundai (had looked at CPO Infiniti and BMW). After they ride in it, they dont require an answer.

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  Big Problems - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Craig - May 11 - 8:03 am

  We have had the car just over one year. This past week while driving, the entire car shut down. The dealer towed the car and come to find out the rear engine seal failed they still dont have a clue as to why. They are putting a brand new engine in it at no cost to me so their service has been A+. They are sending the old engine back to the company to investigate. Their engineers and mechanics could not find a reason for the failure, that is why the old engine is being returned to their factory to try and find out why. They gave me excellent service but my problem is I no longer trust the car. As soon as I get it back Im selling it. If it happened once it could happen again!!!

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  Hyundai should honor their repairs - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By jamesw71 - May 10 - 10:02 pm

  I bought it new back in 2004. Stepson crashed it 3 months after I bought it. The dealership is having problems fixing it and honoring my insurance claims. Approximately once a year it wont start. They claimed they fixed it by doing such things as disabling the antitheft system, changing the battery and replacing sensors but I still have the problems. Insurance wont honor the claim anymore saying its a sensor problem even though its the same problem from the crash, the dealership is charging me $500 a year to change the same sensor over and over. Statefarm Insurance and Hyundai are screwing me over on this one. Exterior is coming apart..again, radio problems & door handle problems.

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  So good, Im buying another one - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By Jeff - May 10 - 5:55 pm

  I bought the 2010 Genesis sedan with the V8 in early April. I totalled it two weeks later. I loved it so much that when I get my insurance settlement, Im going to buy another one. This time Ill get the V6 as I want better mileage and the V6 is plenty powerful. This car is great. Ive owned Lexus, MB, BMW and others. This one is the best. The technology, fit and finish and well thought out design is amazing. It has almost every bell and whistle I can think of. Styling is fantastic. Nothing negative to say. Its priced right and a great value. I loved it and will love it again.

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  Best Luxury Car - Especially the Price - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By Mark C. - May 10 - 1:18 pm

  My 4.6 is the best luxury car in this price range AND others that cost $10- 20K more! I drove the GS350, ES350, and G37. I really liked the GS & ES but couldnt justify spending at least $10K more. My friends dogged me for buying a Hyundai, but after seeing the car and driving or riding in it they have changed their minds. 2nd Hyundai and Im impressed. Quiet & comfortable. HD stereo is great but youre limited on stations. Nav is great - you can change it while driving. Takes a while to get used to command knob. I like this car much more than my wifes 07 TL!! Ive had the car for 5K miles and still love it. I highly recommend this car! I think Hyundai is building great cars.

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  best car for the buck - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By jose - May 10 - 12:40 pm

  I purchase th car 2 weeks ago and so far I like it better than spected. Love the interior design and quality. I can conplain about the exterior, it realy pull lots of heads.

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  My First Sonata - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By j0anne@bellsouth.net - May 10 - 9:18 am

  I have a 100 mile commute to work. This is primarily driven on a Interstate. Nothing has been replaced on the car except for the air conditioner condenser, because a rock punctured the original. As of today I have 119,000 on the car and still enjoy it like it was new. My next car is going to be the Sonata Hybrid. Thanks for making a great car.

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  Dangerous braking - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By brad - May 8 - 3:18 pm

  This car does not seem to have two separate braking lines. We had a back brake line leak, that left us with no braks at all. This could have caused a accident if it had not happened on our drive way. I thought it was a required on all cars to have separate lines coming from the master cilider to the front and back,so that if you get a leak you dont looses all your braking. This car has only one brake line out. This would be a good reason not buy this car. We like the car other wise but did have trouble with fuel pump $800 worth and trans mission sensor $400. After market Parts are hard to get thus forcing to go to dealer and pay there prices.