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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  Cheap Asian beer can, you will regret - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By PABLO - February 28 - 8:45 pm

  The car has no torque, the engine is programmed to always keeps low rpm, not fun to drive,wrong transmission,on the fwy at 75 mph the rpm is 2050, you get foot pain from the gas pedal if you drive more then 30 min, when you accelerate it hesitate, then it go down 2 speed and it rev. THE REAL LIFE MIX MPG IS 20. shady company!

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  gas guzzler - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Bevery - February 28 - 2:50 pm

  I purchased the Limited trim with the ultra package. The van drives beautifully. It is easy to handle and has lot of amenities. However, I am very unhappy about the gas mileage. I have not been able to get over 13 miles to the gallon even on short highway trip where speed was up to 55 mph. This is considerably less than the 18/24 miles advertised.

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  Better than the Accord - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Heussen - February 28 - 10:00 am

  Better in everywhere. Not just by more options for the money but Quality! Better interior exterior design! Smooth ride with sports car performance! 0-60 under 6.7 seconds!

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  Beautiful car - 2016 Hyundai Azera
  By Ruth Schulfer - February 27 - 4:05 am

  A great looking car and has a very smooth ride.

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  So far, so good - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Rick - February 26 - 9:43 pm

  I just hit the 3 year mark on my Santa Fe. It has been great. I normally replace my cars every 2 yrs or so, but in this case, I like this vehicle so much, I am keeping it. My only problem thus far has been the alternator needing to be replaced. Otherwise, this vehicle has been trouble free.

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  "Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin" - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Susan - February 26 - 4:53 pm

  Dont be scared to put miles on this car. I bought my car used in December 2010 with 14,000 miles on it. During a heavy rain 5 years ago my car died in a flooded low point of an intersection in the city. I would wait a couple minutes, start it, itd jump a few feet & die. I did this until I got out of the water. I had water to my knee caps! I bailed water with an insulated shopping bag to lower the water and managed to drive home an hour. Vacuumed water, even drove it the next day 2 hours away, but on way home had some problems - more electrical than anything else. Took it to Hyundai - after a few days got an estimate of $14,000 to replace the computer. Took it to local auto shop who did all the repairs needed for $9,000. I now have 142,210 miles on this baby and still get 38 mpg on long trips. Its still comfortable and a pleasure to drive. Ive never had problems other than from the flooding. Im shopping for another used car and am most certain I will buy another Hyundai Sonata!

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  A lot of car for the money! - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Pete Bromelski - February 26 - 2:00 am

  After checking out the Hyundai line of cars at the dealership, I saw the Santa fe. It looked well built and asked for a test drive. It was so car like in its ride and comfortable that I bought one within a week. I now have a silver 2003 LX with the optional sunroof (everything else is standard it seems). I have read others comment about this car and I agree with all the positive comments. I sit high and the view is terrific. There is no other SUV in this class that in my opinion rides so nicely! Almost everything is well thought out and the quality is very high. It may not be perfect for all, but what SUV is?

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  Watch for price add ons - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By emlod - February 25 - 10:56 am

  The dealer added $3500 price to the sticker price and said he was doing me a favor taking $1000 off the total. The car is OK but the rude is very harsh and the handling does not justify it. The car is OK but I think i would have done bettter with something else. Dont pay the rediculous $3500 add on. This will be temporary as it is a car in demand. Wait and it will drop off. Maybe the dealer did this on his own. I dont trust Major Motors in PA, I expected more. The drive they gave you proved nothing. Avoid Jeff Butler in sales.

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  Best $14,000 Ive ever spent - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By BadReligion702 - February 24 - 10:00 am

  A great car for the money. It feels like a much more expensive car then it is.

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  Various Concerns - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Richard - February 24 - 2:40 am

  Had to replace automatic on and off light sensor did not work when purchased. Carpet had to be replaced because of rips. After car warms up transmission shifts very roughly between 1st and 2nd gears and sometimes between 2nd and 3rd. I was told that the transmission was an inter active unit and would soon smooth out after the break in period. The car has over 6000 miles now and nothing has changed since the day I purchase it. Also it emits a foul rubbery smell from the heating or air vents. Smells like air coming out of a tire. If steering is turned to quickly to either lock position car will cut off. Bought to the attention of the dealer the shifting concern but was told this is normal