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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  GT-Moonroof w/ ABS - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By JoeBeana - July 4 - 10:00 am

  Car rides really smooth, handles sharp, and comes with every option you could possibly want, plus looks better than any other car in its price range. If you compare this car to any other one in its class, it will win by a landslide, no contest.

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  Love it - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By DustinD - July 4 - 10:00 am

  I test drove this car for about 100 miles (I know the salesperson) and it was great, the Toyota Corolla seat comfort sucked, and the leather in this thing was a little sticky, but other than that, it was great, I live in Sacramento and the A/C kept me nice and cool (so much for my current camry, new a/c system and STILL warm) Im buying this car in November 2002, I fell in love with it. I love the Saab rear end look and the purple gauges.

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  Hyundais arrived - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Dave - July 3 - 10:50 am

  After researching luxury vehicles for over 8 months, I decided on the Genesis. I bought the 4.6 with the tech package in February when they became available in my area. Boy am I glad I bought this instead of the Lexus LS 460. Same car for 30-40K less. While the Lexus ride is smoother, Genesis matches most everything else. Why pay more? I put the Korean badging on it and enjoy watching the rubber-neckers wonder what type of car it is.

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  Youll be surprised ! - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Frank J - July 2 - 6:30 pm

  I have only just purchased this car, and I must tell you, it is FAST. I have been driving an MB e500 and it is faster off the blocks and seems to have the same feeling that there is no end to how fast the car can go. It has all the high tech gadgets which are remarkably easy to operate especially by someone like me that eschews reading instructions and following complicated manuals. DO NOT TEST DRIVE the 4.6 unless you are prepared to buy this car when you return to the dealership.

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  Having so much fun! - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By ellebg - July 2 - 2:25 pm

  I originally thought Id get another SUV after driving a Grand Cherokee for many years. I liked the looks of the Hyundai Genesis and Azera on the highway and went to the dealer to look at those, but was blown away by the styling, features, and quality of the Sonata for much less money. Chose the Limited Turbo with sports suspension for the handling; the steering on the regular Limited was too busy for me after having also driven a BMW for a while, but the SE handles better. My big complaint right now is that the gas mileage is too far off from the sticker for me. So far I am getting about 23 combined and a max of 29 highway on a 300-highway-mile trip (dinged one performance star for that).

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  15 year owner - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Sambo - July 2 - 2:31 am

  Excellent car, I did my regular maintenance no major issues. beats any 4x4 jeep truck or SUV my extended family or friends have ever owned...I have had to rescue them many times or go pick them up..... to this day 15 years later runs great with 178,000 miles on it, best car thus far in my lifetime, I will always have Hyundai vehicles on my list to consider now... I might cry when I sell this, if I ever do! I have purchased the newly redesigned Tucson because the measurements are now very close to the 2001 Santa Fe but enjoy driving the Santa Fe better so far!

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  I laugh at BMW buyers - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By livewiremd - July 1 - 1:04 pm

  I am a previous owner of a 2000 Dodge Intrepid ES with the 3.2l engine. For about the same price as I paid for the Trep in 2000, I have a fully loaded LE that has so far been almost flawless. Now after 50,000 miles, I am still impressed. Initially I was scared to try Hyundai after my sister owned a Sonata back in the 90s, and that car literally fell apart. This car has been rock solid and I have only had 2 issues, and all were replaced free of charge by the dealership. The fact that this car has an excellent warranty and free roadside assist sold me. The car looks classy but a bit conservative. It rides a bit mushy but my second set of tires (Goodyear F1) has improved handling.

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  Better Car - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Scott - July 1 - 9:24 am

  This vehicle is 100% solid. I have owned Toyota, Honda, Chevy, and Saturn. This vehicle is just as solid and well built if not better built than all other vehicles on the road. INCLUDING HONDA OR TOYOTA. Yes believe it or not. And there warranty program is the BEST in the nation. THIS IS A WONDERFUL VEHICLE

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  dependable,reliable, and inexpensive to maintain - 2010 Hyundai Sonata
  By Chris - July 1 - 3:32 am

  I bought the car used in 2010 with 30,000 miles on it for $11,000. So far with regular maintenance Ive had to do nothing but brakes, tires and a battery. I now have 156,000+ and still amazed on how well it runs. I still get 34 mpg on the Hwy and 28+ mixed driving. It was driven daily to and from work 100 miles round trip for 4 years and then recreational driving after retirement for 2 years. Throw in a round trip cross country loan to my daughter , multiple heavy trips to Home Depot, good in the snow, brakes stop on a dime, only had to use the ESC once on an abrupt lane change to avoid an accident ( kind of freaked me out how the car took over) . Everything works as well as the day I bought it A/C, transmission, water pump , power steering etc.

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  Great SUV - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Camwo - June 30 - 10:00 am

  I bought the Santa Fe and the next day drove from Utah to Florida totally loaded and it did great. I kept it under 60 mph and varied the speed during the first 500 hundred miles but got some of the best mpg. I did have one problem in Florida with the engine light. The dealer down there thought it was because the gas cap wasnt tightened at least three clicks and it took the mechanics to reset the light to get it turned off. Then light has not come on again since then. Really a fun car to drive.