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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  Love the car! - 2012 Hyundai TUCSON
  By timtimtim - May 15 - 2:17 am

  We purchased our 2012 Tuscon in around November of 2011. So far, we love the car. We havent had a single issue and its a great car to drive. Its not fast but it does fine getting in and out of traffic. In city driving we get 25mpg almost every tank, sadly though we get just slightly better (27-28) on the highway at about 70-75mph. The interior quality is good for the price point of the car, it looks good and everything fits well. no rattles or anything so far and were at about 15k miles.

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  ITS LIKE DYING AND GOING TO HEAVEN - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By JC58220 - May 14 - 7:43 am

  Comfortable, great options, good dealer, sharp looking -- an eye opener on the road. Has come a long way and to boot the best warranty in the industry. I feel its the best deal for the money around -- recommend to anyone looking for a great looking car at a good price and unbelievable warranty.

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  2006 Azera Performance review - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By vjk6666 - May 13 - 7:40 pm

  Azera is an outstanding combination of luxury, performance, styling and quality. In almost 6 months it is still thrilling to discover new capibilities that this vehicle has.

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  Look for starter problems. - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By rebekahb1 - May 13 - 5:44 pm

  We just replaced the starter in our 75K mile 2011 Hyundai Sonata. We were told that the starter is a very common problem for this car, and sure enough, what presented as a possible battery problem that was difficult/impossible to jump turned out to be a starter. This is the first and only mechanical problem we have had with the car. Other than that, it is loud on the road and seats are uncomfy for me at 54", but it has been a great car. Just be prepared to shell out $500-700 for the starter.

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  Hyundai Sonata - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By bhud - May 12 - 1:28 pm

  We love it! Great Fuel Mileage!

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  Major safety concern? - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Rick - May 12 - 12:56 pm

  We have only owned the Sonata for 1 month. Although the test drive was fine, the the front passenger seat became very uncomfortable on a longer road trip. Also, I recently drove the car in the country after dark, and it seemed like a curtain descended half way down the windshield. I had to turn on the highbeams to be able to see if an animal was in the road, and even then, I couldnt see the sides at intersections. The problem isnt bad on lighted city streets except for not being able to see around the corner at intersections. The dealer said that the lights are normal -- but I didnt have this problem with the Nissan, Ford or Chevy cars that we drove over the past 25 years.

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  Tough to beat the 2011 Sonata Limited - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By ezsabatino - May 11 - 10:23 pm

  Love my new 2011 Sonata. Great value, great design, great ride, highly rated for safety and extremely well equipped. Getting about 37 MPG! And car has plenty of power for a 4 cyl with 198 HP.

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  I am not satisfied overall - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By bsonata13 - May 11 - 7:46 pm

  I leased this vehicle 16 months ago. The main reason to buy this vehicle is for better MPG. However, it is pretty disappointing to see low MPG (I get 22/28) average of 24 or less. They reported 24/35, and average is 28 MPG. Issues: I had to replace the blue tooth and speaker system twice and speakers are noisy, however it is covered under warranty. I have changed 4 tires already. They wore out fast and not sure why. MPG is biggest concern - I have asked for mileage inspection test twice, both the dealers gave wrong numbers, however, I am not sure how to prove them wrong. Overall it is not comfortable to drive Customer service - average Financial services - More than worst.

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  Well Satisfied - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Ron DeVice - May 11 - 1:56 pm

  Very satisfied. I got the light tan interior. Floor mats are too light colored & get dirty very easily. The mats are low quality Carpet.The mileage estimates are disappointing.I drive mostly in city & only get 12.8 MPG> (Very Disappointing from what they advertised ???.Its an excellent car, for the money.Hyundais warranty is great & my wife has an Elantra which we are very happy with.

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  So far, better than expected - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Biff - May 11 - 7:26 am

  I looked at the Ford Escape (no power), the Honda CR-V (less than no power), Jeep Liberty (no legroom) and was pleasantly surprised with the Santa Fe. I looked at it 8 years ago and it was a gas pig then. It now has a six-speed transmission and the V6 actually gets only 1 mpg less than the 4-cylinder with a ton more power. I read reviews that some people werent happy with the mileage. My tests: driving hard on the highway: 22-23 mpg, going 40-50 mph to work: 28 mpg, 35- 40 mpg on flat surfaces: 32 mpg, combined: 24-25 mpg. The interior and sound system are far and away the best out there. Very quiet. No winter yet, but awd got me through a flash flood just great. Absolutely a good choice.