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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  Cliffs Hyundai XG350L - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By HARRY FORD - June 17 - 10:30 pm

  This has been a wonderful vehicle to own. Very low maintenance required and it loves the highway. The only problems I experienced with this vehicle is a rupture in the power steering module and constant resurfacing of the brakes rotors.

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  The others are overrated! - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Jim - June 17 - 4:46 pm

  So far we have had all good experiences and it gets better gas mileage than in your ratings by a 2-3 miles per gallon.

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  Good overall car, some bad features - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By gofalcons - June 17 - 5:04 am

  Overall this car seems to be a good value. Fuel economy is excellent, i average 33.5 mpg on 50/50 mix city/highway. Few negatives though. 1. The driver seat is extremely uncomfortable. I could not find a good position no matter what I did. My legs and hips hurt after 3 weeks of owning. I need a pad on the seat and a pad on the lumbar to make driving tolerable, otherwise pain is unbearable. 2. Engine is rather noisy during acceleration. 3. Cloth seats and some interior trim cheap looking. 4. Bad sight lines. I anticipate getting rid of this car sooner than expected, it is just not comfortable to drive.

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  a better car than Camry or Accord - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By John - June 16 - 2:00 pm

  I like the PRICE, WARRANTY, PAINT JOB, PERFORMANCE, safety features, interior, exterior, QUIETNESS, design, interior features, options, 17in rims and the STYLING. I have never been this excited about getting a new car. Its a good family car, as well as, a single mans car. Classy yet Sporty. Very Practical.

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  Getting a new motor after 111,000 miles - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By Cindy - June 16 - 1:51 pm

  I loved the car since the day I bought it. Fun to drive and peppy. If you are a tall person (maybe over 58") then I would not recommend as it is shaped like a race car without a lot of head room. I am 53" so it was perfect. NEVER a days trouble out of it. UNITIL one morning I cranked it, let it warm up, and pulling out of my driving it just suddenly stopped. After cranking it back it had developed disease that sounded like a hammer beating a metal bucket. Towed it to the dealership and sure enough, the engine recall affected my car. Im getting a new engine. I plan on keeping the car...see what happens.

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  Nancys review - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By Nancy - June 16 - 11:56 am

  This car is great, Hyundai has really come a long way, no, its not a perfect vehicle, but its far from junky and ugly for sure, I think its blowing Lincoln, Honda and Lexus out of the water now, but you never know, all in all Im very happy with my 11 sonata. :)

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  unbelievable for the money - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By kath - June 16 - 10:00 am

  best driving car for this price point .....sturdy ride handles like a 25,000 up car...love it for the money

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  dont do it - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By bangbanggg - June 16 - 10:00 am

  I bought the elentra for the warrenty. No other company offers one as good. Its burning more gas then what the sticker displays. I already had to take it in for sevice twice one was the check engine light came on.. it was fault spark plug wires which ended messing up the plugs. i did the plugs myself they did the wires. around 20000 miles i start feel a lost in power. so i went to dealership to tell them i thing the clutch is slipping. they "look" at it and agree with me and say i need a new clutch, but i have to pay for it

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  Simply Unbelievable - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By DeeDee - June 16 - 1:46 am

  WOW! I love this color! Was the first thing I said when I saw my Sonata onthe lot. Now I just say, "WOW, I love this car!" It rides like my grandmothers Cadillac, but handles like my Saburu did. When I first moved to Northern Virginia, I was always making U-turns. There was never a car that could make a U-turn like my Saburu, but now I have a Sonata. Hate to say it, but it is as good as the Saburu! The perfect combination of everything you want in a car! The feel of safety you get the first time you stop on a rain slick road. You know you have the right car, Plus, unbelievable trunk space.

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  uncomfortable - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By D. McFadden - June 16 - 12:41 am

  I have a Sonata Limited 4 cylinder. The seats are extremely uncomfortable after an hour of driving. Car is way under powered.