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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  Fun to drive, reliable if taken care of - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By GyroVorbis - January 25 - 11:39 am

  The Accent was my first car. It has been through tons of abuses. It recently started acting up, so we took it into the dealer to find that the spark plug wires had been wrong and the transmission fluid was wrong for over a year. The car had held up pretty well for quite sometime even with all this crap wrong with it. Its pretty impressive actually. Its a small car, but it delivers plenty of power for the fuel economy. I have no problems going over 100mph in this rig. Its one of the most fun cars Ive ever driven. I just hope to god my transmission issues will get fixed.

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  Nice car, but problem with poor MPG - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Norm - January 21 - 1:08 am

  Much better car than previous model (traded in a 2001 hatchback 5-sp that we were overall very happy with, including good MPG): it looks good, is solidly built, fun to drive, and has a very nice interior. But right from the start, with mostly highway driving, we only got a poor 23-25 MPG (U.S. gal.). Looking at website reviews, most owners get the rated 35+ MPG, but 3 reviews describe the same problem and same answer by dealerships: a “longer break-in” is needed to get good MPG. Now, at 5000 miles (and after dealer tried fixing by changing spark plugs) MPG is still the same. Seems Hyundai may have a problem with a small percentage of Accents that they havent yet figured out and/or admitted.

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  Very good car, could be better! - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By John - January 19 - 6:37 am

  Ive had the car for a little longer than a year with almost 6,500 mi. Its my first Hyundai and Im generally impressed with the overall build quality and performance of the car. Because of its quietness and solid road feel, it makes a great trip car. The seat support is very good and the dash arrangement is logical which makes it easy to use while driving. The roomy back seat is comfortable for 3 adults and the oversized trunk is well laid out, great for grocery getting and large suit cases. A few miner complains though; (1) Exhaust note, needs to be refined, doesnt sound all that great. (2) Holds first gear a little too long when accelerating even in sport mode. Overall, I really do like the car. The outside styling is very nice and the ride is firm and takes most bumps and dips in the road with a secured refinement. I just couldnt give it a perfect 5 stars. Sorry, Im picky!

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  skip the GPS Navigation system-buy a portable - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By Rick - January 18 - 10:31 am

  Navigation system doesnt work. If you were where the indicator says you are you would be swimming in the ocean. took it to a dealer and they wanted $5k to replace it...i wish he was joking. He wasnt. I took it to another dealer and they charged me $400 to update the maps. It worked for about 3 months. Now I am swimming again. You can go to mapnsoft.com and do it yourself for $169.....its cheaper to buy a hand held portable GPS system.

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  Problems with being reliable - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Dianna - January 18 - 10:00 am

  The first week I had It I had to have the battery replaced. The other day I started it up, put it reverse and it gave a hard jolt. 5 minutes later I pressed the gas pedal down and It would only go 5 miles an hour. I stopped, call road service and when he arrived it miraculously was back to normal. The next day, it wouldnt start at all. I do have a 100,000 mile warranty but this is my very first Hyundai. I have always owned Toyotas. I am very discouraged and only hope whatever the problem is, they find it, fix it and I have no more problems. I have never had any problems with any of my new cars before. 4 xs in 2 years is 4 times too much. I have to have a reliable car.

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  Emergency Brake - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By stoneweave - January 17 - 5:09 pm

  I have had my Hyundai for 4 years now and just recently my emergency started freezing. A mechanic told me that the brake seemed fine, but the problem still continues. The other major problem that I had with the car was the paint. After one year the paint started bubbling in certain spots. I complained to the dealer and was finally able to get them to repaint the car free of charge.

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  Life is not easy! - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By joe - January 16 - 1:24 pm

  Im sorry for people that have gotten a poor quality Hyundai accent. I bouth this thing in Dec. 2001, ato commute and put almost 16000 miles a year. Now it has 81500 and still working. Just took it twice to the dealer to change the battery (at 5000) and then at 45000 miles to change the engine belts and check the front brakes, they did not do a good work on the front brakes. Im planning to take it at 90000 to change the belts again and to fix the rear brakes. The reason I do not take it to the dealer is because this thing has never given any trouble, i do not like it and Im not going to spend money on it.

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  Good price for a good car - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By CaffeineTripp - January 14 - 11:07 pm

  Purchased the Hyundai Elantra GLS in 2014 with 80,000 miles. This is a commuter car no doubt about that, and will remain a commuter car. Driven highway miles 75% of the time. Vehicle was in excellent condition when purchased, needed rear right strut to be replaced. Goodyear Assurance tires are quality and low noise coupled with the Elantra. Consistently get 36+ MPG mixed driving without being on the throttle. Throttle response is lacking due to drive-by-wire rather than cable. Steering is tight and consistent, but no feedback and feels dead at slow speeds. Comfort in front and back is good for shorter distances and road trips 2 hours or more. Steering wheel controls are set up nicely and ECU is good at predicting driving with Cruise Control on. Factory CD player/media player controls arent the best in how theyre set up, but is fixed by installing an aftermarket unit. Available kit on this model is good; safety all around, flawless A/C, 6 speaker sound system, and cruise. However, for a 2012 it would be nice for some minor additions of factory steering wheel controls/power and memory seats, foglights to top off exterior. Engine is noisy with lifter ticking, but common in the 1.8L Nu engine series. Possible to decrease lifter noise with revised lifters/more oil pressure? Transmission gearing is spot on for lower horsepower/torque power bands and excellent for 70 MPH interstate cruising. Shifting is chunky with the 6 speed, but direct. Shifter itself feels too light to navigate the gear box. Minimal maintenance has been required overall. Suspension is tight, however, the 2012 also suffers from the Salt Belt States front coil spring recall (which is still unavailable for the 2012 and 2013 models); both front coil springs have snapped within a month of each other slightly damaging sidewalls of tires. OEM coil springs are nonexistent through dealers in the US. Canada sourced coil springs may be available. Exterior styling is very nice and akin to Japanese cars (well done Hyundai exterior design team). Interior styling is nice as well and has a fluid-like look. Soft angles and a cockpit for front seats with plenty of room in the rear for adults. Interiors plastics do not feel chincy. Dash and center console are designed well, hiding clips to retain dash pieces rather than having screw holes everywhere giving the interior a one-piece design. Everything feels solid inside (revise the shifters to have more weight though!) Overall, the MD/UD 5th Generation Elantras are a welcome design change for the manufacturer. Quality has increased dramatically over all of the vehicles. Like many asian manufacturers though, road salt is nearly unheard of and needs to be addressed for safety before selling.

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  Good Vehicle for the Money - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By FRANKRS - January 14 - 2:00 am

  I never thought I would ever buy a Hyundai. I had never owned anything but a Ford (and one inherited Chevy). But, I couldnt pass up the price and warranty on this vehicle. Overall, we are extremely pleased with this vehicle. The ride is remarkable for an SUV. The interior is absolutely beautiful compared to other SUVs in this size range. Weve only had one minor problem after 11,000 miles (an oxygen sensor). I recommend it to anyone. (My good friend has always owned Toyotas and Hondas. However, he liked our Santa Fe so much, he purchased one.) I do recommend the 3.5 liter engine, though. The 2.7 liter is a little weak.

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  Good Transportation - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Spike - January 12 - 2:36 pm

  This is a nice ride. It is fairly quiet, and feels sounds solid. It has a good quality feel to it. The cloth seats are comfortable, supportive and heated. Sun roof opens with one touch. Nice storage in the back. Rear passengers are comfortable. The get up and go is a little slow with the 2.7 L, but I didnt get it as a sports car. Living in Alaska I needed something that could give me good traction and keep me moving in a lot of snow and ice. The stock tires seem good and I dont need dedicated winter tires. The mpg is about what I would expect with a awd small v-6. I get about 20 in town in the summer and 17 in the winter with little highway driving. It fills my need wonderfully!