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:
Showing 141 through 150 of 13,764.00-
Control arm?? Not - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
By dogmollie - January 27 - 10:48 pm100,000.00 miles nothing covered, car has 74,000 control arm broke??? Not covered, pulled out transmission, not covered. Dont buy these cars the warranty is a joke, hey they let you talk to a consumer advocate, huh right they consume your money. This was my second Hyundai first one lasted 225,000 miles and was running well when I sold it. This is my last Hyundai and I tell everyone I talk to to avoid these cars now. They changed something, and no longer need loyal consumers. Stay away from these cars.
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Died at 99,200 miles! - 2009 Hyundai Accent
By Angela Wakhweya - January 24 - 9:28 pmI bought it new. It ran efficiently for six years...I was about to celebrate its 100,000 mile birthday when the timing belt shredded and killed my whole engine...after one year of no car payments, is it worth the grief now...
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Buyers beware - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
By junkhyundai - January 21 - 2:00 amThis car is not reliable. With a few initial minor problems and after 4000 miles later, the engine leaks coolant. A well-made car should not have this kind of problem, IMHO. The point is, you are buying a cheap car and that is what you get. Their cheap service comes as part of a cheap package, too. Be warned. You are taking a risk.
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Lemon Hyundai - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
By DebbieK - January 21 - 2:00 amMy Santa Fe is 5 months old. It has broken down 5 times. I would never buy another Hyundai again. The customer service has been the worst I have ever dealt with. My brand new car keeps breaking down & they act like Im bothering them by wanting it fixed.
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I Trusted the reviews - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
By rRobert W. Grant - January 15 - 5:43 pmMy 2009 Santa Fe had a major engine failure after 10 days (400K). The repair took 5 days. My request for a replacement vehicle was declined even though I was led to believe that this would be the case. In the meantime, one tail-light has water in it, the driver door vibrates and clicks, the fuel consumption is now 17 litres per 100K and the seats are terrible.
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DO NOT BUY!!! - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
By Jennifer - December 23 - 7:07 amI wanted to love this car....but...one week after having it I was on a canyon in California it began overheating. I pulled over as prompted to let it cool down, went to the dealer was told there was nothing wrong must have been a fluke. This morning back on the canyon had to pull over due to my 2016 overheating....back to the dealership and was told it is operator error. Im causing the car to overheat with the stopping and starting...WHAT?? I apply the break when stopped and accelerate when I need to move forward....and that is the cause of this? While the technician was explaining this I began video taping his explanation...he stopped and told me I needed to speak with his manager. The manager told me there was not need to tape the conversation, the car will overheat if its in stop and go traffic and there is nothing they can do about it. "Thats the way Hyundais are made" ......Ummmmmm.....what? This came from the Keyes Hyundai in Van Nuys.
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Bad Tires - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
By Bad Tires - December 11 - 2:46 amI bought the Tiburon new. I started having trouble with the tires right away. Had to air them up within first month, and every 6-8 weeks after that. Took it back to the dealer four times. They said no apparent leak, maybe a problem with the seal. So added nitrogen. 8 weeks later, a tire low again. Deal will not replace tire. Hyundai customer service says Hyundai is not responsible for defective tires, the tire manufacturer is. I purchased road hazard and extended warranty. Neither will cover defective tires. I dont feel safe driving the car.
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Not what I expected - 2008 Hyundai Accent
By mechanic - November 26 - 2:32 amThe overall configuration of the two door hatchback is nice because it gives you large doors to get in and out of and large items can go in the back without the limitation of a small trunk opening. My Hyundai only got 21 mpg to start and that declined to 15 mpg!!! For a 1.6 liter engine that is unreal. The wipers did not work from day one and the dealer took over a month to get the part. It ran cold always, the transmission way slow to react and locked up at times. The engine would tach over 4000 on the interstate in any kind of a grade and gave the feeling of going backwards. The service department was impossible to deal with at my dealer making the warranty useless.
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unnecessary Hype - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
By Sebben - November 13 - 4:41 amI bought this car after reading the review at Edmunds. Whoever is the author should be fired. Dmn, you should be nuts to compare this one with civic. Let me list the problems, 1. Transmission seals leaked 2. Transmission sensor doesnt work 3. Trans axles have problem 4. the check engine light never goes off 5. Emission canister always go bad. 6. poor mileage. 19 on highway I can get it from a good SUV A waste of money. I have already spent over $1500 in repairs
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What was I thinking - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
By Dissapointed - October 11 - 9:56 pmSo, I purchased this vehicle about 1 1/2 years ago. I tell you what you need that 100,000 mi warrenty. Everything that goes wrong is time consuming. I was sucked in by the cheap price as most people are. Well I have now come to realize that you get what you pay for with Hyundai. Everything in the car is plastic, it all snaps and hooks together. It is not a quiet drive by any means. The gas tank is too small. It tows my snowmobiles but not with out some effort. You cant make it a 3 hour trip with anything in tow without a stop for gas again. Keep in mind that this car is worth nothing in 1-2 years time -- you cant get rid of it. No dealership wants it. You will be buried in negative equity.
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