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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  Nice quiet & smooth ride. - 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By Bing - February 23 - 8:17 pm

  I love the looks & body lines of this car. I have received many compliments. The limited with ultimate package offers many features that would cost thousands more from other manufactures. Mileage as been from 40 mpg to 46 mpg depending on how I drive and what gas I use. Lower octane gas with ethanol gets lower gas mileage. The vehicle is very quiet, smooth, comfortable, ride. My 40 minute commute is much more comfortable in the Sonata then in my previous 2012 Toyota Prius 4. There is a lot more room. The audio, phone, & GPS controls work well although they dont always work flawlessly with my I-phone 5. I dont always like how the car shifts. At times it shifts awkwardly in the 2nd & 3rd gears. I dont regret this purchase.

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  Hyundai Tucson - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By CarFan1956 - February 23 - 7:36 am

  I bought the Tucson because of Hyundais warranty. I bought the 4-cylinder because I hoped it would save on gas. I was wrong...it gets HORRIBLE mileage. I get 16-19 MPG consistently...which is lousy and not what was advertised. It has 34000 on it now and is falling apart. I take very good care of my vehicles, but it doesnt seem to make a difference with this one. I would not buy a Hyundai again.

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  Much like the cla-250 except done right - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - February 22 - 1:21 pm

  There is a lot to like about this car. The ECO borrows a lot from the Mercedes CLA 250 which I also own. E.g. the trunk lid design is almost the same. I could trade in my benz for the ECO sonata,and probably not miss a thing. Pros: well designed, well executed car, a lot of common sense and standard options. 8 way automatic driver seat, quiet drive. A lot of torque, available all the way from 1500 rpm to 5K RPM. Same torque and torque curve as the CLA. (198 foot pounds) . Good fuel economy, takes regular gas. The standard tires are Michelin Energys now. Dual, scroll turbos, so no noticeable turbo lag. Smooth and fast shifting 7 speed dual clutch auto tranny. Again, similar to the cla 250, except the Hyundai is faster and smoother shifting. Nice standard telematics package with excellent iphone and android integration. Cons: The turbo is not covered untder the 100K powertrain warranty. This may be a reason for folks who want to keep the car post the b2b warranty to stick with the 2.4L engine ( ie the non-eco sonata). If the turbo goes, and you are out of warranty, it is an expensive repair. The car perhaps a tiny bit underpowered. No spare tire. More frequent oil changes needed (5k vs 7.5K). The turbo engine is more finicky than the 2.4 inline 4 engine, so fully synthetic oil is highly recommended. I wish the BSD side mirror was standard on the ECO. The lumbar support is not hgt adjustable. Service wise, Hyundai is trying to take a page from Mercedes, and bundle a long list of "check this and inspect that" with the oil changes, and charge you a ton of money. Mercedes has alternating A and B services, costing $200 and $400. (Effectively a glorified oil change. Looking at the service printout for the A service, they do not even bother to pretend they did anything other than changing the oil and the filter). Hyundai is trying to get you to have your service done at the dealer, and charge similar jacked up fees by bundling a long list of super-overpriced checks and inspections. They are trying to make it sound like they are doing all this work, to justify charging you a couple of 100 $ for an oil change. E.g.: they will change your wiper blades for 3x what it would cost you to do it yourself. If you buy into the concept, you can get some discount off their insanely priced maintenance. They have a service leaflet, you may want to peruse while you are at the dealer. I do all my own maintenance, following the users manual recommended service intervals and items, keeping detailed logs, and receipts. Do not be intimidated by a salesperson telling you that they will not honor the warranty unless you opt into their maintenance racket. By law they cannot force you to do your maintenance there. Update: I had a failed battery at 5K. The dealer service was total amateur hour. They admitted the battery was bad as they could see it draining down to nothing in 24 hours with no load on it. But they insisted the battery was fine, as their tester did not show a problem. Kept looking for a parasitic drain, despite of the fact that there was not one when monitoring the 2 battery terminals. They kept the car for a week, and wanted to give it back unfixed (no loaner) but ended up replacing the battery in the end after I yelled at them. 2 things I dislike about the car: the jack point markers can not be seen unless you neel down and bend way down to look for them. When need to change tires in the rain this is needlessly painful. It is hard to get at the drain plug and oil filter. Have to remove a panel with a bunch of bolts to get at them.

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  So Far So Great! - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Kunzi - February 22 - 10:00 am

  All around great car! I took a long time deciding what car to get. I looked at the Mini Cooper S, and the Acura RSX type-S, neither of which do I have bad things to say about. Just afraid the Cooper novelty would wear off, and didnt like paying extra for a spoiler and fog lights on the Acura. All of which led me to check out the Tiburon. So much car for significantly less money than the others. True, Hyundai doesnt have the same "Cachet" of the other nameplates, but I got what in reality is an equivalent car and kept more "Cash-A" in my pocket!

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  26K in PA - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By PattyP - February 22 - 10:00 am

  Bought the car nearly 2 years ago, now Im up to 26K. Ive had no real problems with it; however, I did notice that when the automatic trans shifts gear, its a bit sloppy between gears. Took it back to have it checked out and the 2003 loaner they gave me did the same thing. They say its normal. Well see how it goes but everything else is just great...reliable, good power, very comfortable.

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  Former Toyota Owner - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By HappyCamper - February 21 - 10:43 pm

  Ive always driven a Toyota - my first car was a 1970 Toyota Spider and Ive driven Corollas and Camrys. Have always been pleased with the combination of reliability, features and price. When time came to look for a new vehicle, I decided to look at several - the Sonata, Camry, Accord and Fusion. Based on the dealer experience, features and price, I made the switch to Hyundai. Ive been extremely pleased with the car thus far. If the long term reliability matches my expectations, Ill probably get another Hyundai when my wife is ready to trade in her Camry next year. Have had the car for about 30 days and havent experienced any problems thus far.

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  Great Value - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Fred - February 21 - 1:03 am

  Test drove the Civic, Corolla and Elantra. All very nice cars but the Elantra has many more standard features, gives a bigger car ride and is overall a great value. The 138 HP 2.0 Liter engine is in a class by itself in this car category. Acceleration is very good and the engine is fairly quiet. Fit and finish on the car is excellent. Once you get over the bad history and stigma of driving a Hyundai from years ago, you will be favorably impressed and this probably wont be the last Hyundai you purchase. This car is simply a better and heavier car than the Civic or Corolla with a much better warranty. Gas mileage is less than its competitors, but worth it.

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  Great...As Long As You Dont Drive - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By jvanrees - February 21 - 12:47 am

  Hyundai really packs a lot of features for the price, unfortunately they are not packed very well. I get a new rattle every day I drive this car. The dash, door panels, tailgate among other places I have yet to locate. The dealer is unhelpful in fixing all the creaks. In addition, the ride is very, very, firm. On the plus side, I find the seats comfortable and their is plenty of space for our three person family. I bought the Tucson to replace a 2001 VW Passat and sorely miss that car.

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  Better than I expected - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By John - February 20 - 10:36 pm

  So far this has been a great vehicle. We replaced a 2002 Toyota Highlander with the Veracruz. The Hyundai is quieter, gets better gas mileage, and has more room. My wife liked the style better than the new Highlander. After 5000 miles, we have had no problems at all. The quality of the sound system is as good as the JBL we had in the Toyota. The quality of the paint and interior materials is better than I expected from Hyundai. So far, neither show any wear at all. The ride quality is very good for a crossover vehicle and the road and wind noise is almost nonexistent. I would not hesitate to recommend this vehicle to a friend. The third seat is actually usable too. Thats a plus.

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  Not too shabby - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Hopper - February 20 - 9:53 pm

  Pros- I have yet to find any defective cosmetic/operational problem with this car.The ride is better and the road noise is much less than the new Honda EX Civic that my wife just purchased. Cons- Sluggish steering, around 30 mph the transmission should down shift to a lower gear but refuses to and you will get this engine strain noise & sometimes I manually down shift the transmission in city driving to get it out of its misery. Summary- This is the best value out there if you are keeping a car for a few years. You cant wrong considering the options you get for the money. I would not have purchased this car if I had intended on trading in a year or two as one would take a bath.