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:

• 

  Fake luxury - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By scottyaz - October 3 - 2:00 am

  I purchased this vehicle at the same time the new 2002 Maximas were introduced. I was torn between the two, but finances prevailed, and I purchased the Hyundai. It had most of the options the Maxima had, except for the horsepower. The Maxima boasted 255 HP and the Hyundai 190. The Hyundai definitely feels sluggish and since the first day I owned it, I kept telling everyone it didnt even feel like 190 HP. It turns out that Hyundai lied on its vehicles specs and didnt inform owners until the fall of 2002. The car doesnt have 190 HP but 180 and believe it or not, this makes a difference. I am joining a class action lawsuit as a result.

• 

  Worst mileage...EVER..any car - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Bob Mann - September 23 - 9:02 am

  Car drives and rides comfortably. Lots of conveniences and "goodies". But with gradual increasing noises. Dealing with Hyundai is impossible and mileage is bad beyond description. My truck Toyota 4 runner gets 5 miles more to the gallon of gas and Hyundai say mine (entourage) is behaving as designed.... Wow

• 

  A lemon underneath a very nice looking exterior - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By judgemalloy - August 27 - 12:39 am

  The 2013 Sonata is a very nice looking car. I traded in a 2010 Elantra for the Sonata. The Elantra is a much better car than the Sonata. The Sonata has a very rough ride, especially at highway speeds. I expect this to lead to abnormal tire wear. The GPS/Radio/Bluetooth/AC combination is poorly designed and difficult to use. The combination design gives you control over one function at a time. For example, when the navigator is active and you receive a call, the navigator goes to the background. If you are on the call when you need to make a turn, you will miss it. The voice recognition feature is absolutely horrible. I have gone to using an external GPS and avoid using the built-in

• 

  Dont buy this car - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Caroline - August 23 - 12:20 pm

  I would not recommend this car to anyone. It caused me nothing but problems and was a black hole to my bank account. Every time something was fixed, something else broke or needed repairs. I will never buy another Korean vehicle again because of the cheap quality of this car. I should have known better.

• 

  Check Engine Light on - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Disappointed - August 7 - 10:07 pm

  Bought this with 9000 miles on it nothing but problems with it, brakes tires, rotors, check engine light is on evap leak somewhere,plugs and wires replaced,many very small dents everywhere, gas cap replaced, headlight bulbs replaced three times, air bag doesnt read my 20 year old that weighs 105 pounds, the only thing good about this car is the gas mileage

• 

  Engine Light / Emissions / Gas - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By mgm - July 31 - 9:13 am

  This is my second Hyundai - I previously had the Elantra with over 100k miles - some minor issues brought the 2009 Sonata - been in shop 3xs in last 2 weeks - dealers states its EVP emissions - see no recall on net with other owners - at wits end with new car having issues

• 

  Wish Id shopped around more - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Valkyrie1015 - July 27 - 3:51 pm

  What a disappointment! I bought this car brand new with only a few miles on it from the test drive. In August 2008, Id have owned the car for 6 years and have only put about 48,000 miles on it. As of last week, it sits dead in front of my house. One year after purchase, the Power Relay went (covered by warranty) in 2006 the engine was really loud, turned out to have a hole in the exhaust and needed to replace some sensors over the next several months- more than once! Had to replace the e-brake and have work done on other brakes in 8/06 as well. By 7/08, need e-brake again, check engine light on, timing belt broke while driving and wrecked the engine. Cheaper to buy another than fix this!

• 

  Worst Car Ever - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By worstcarever13 - July 26 - 3:10 pm

  Purchasing this car is the worst decision we ever made. Upon taking delivery and driving the car home I noticed the steering is crooked to track the car straight. My husband asked if I wanted to take the car back and since I worked at a car dealership I said no and had faith Hyundai could fix it and to this day they still havent and cant give a reason why. The steering wheel/column also vibrates/rattles when going over bumps in the road. Theyve replaced the column and rack numerous times and it never fixes the problem. We contacted Hyundai corporate and they werent even interested in trying to do anything to make us happy customers. Do yourself a favor and dont waste your time or money.

• 

  Clutch issues, warranty? Nope! - 2013 Hyundai Veloster
  By benpl - July 22 - 3:04 am

  My girlfriend and I both purchased new Hyundais last year. Elantra for her, Veloster Turbo for me. After this, we will be trading them in ASAP! Highly disappointed in the dealer and manufacture support with my Velosters clutch failures. I would assume the company would be paying close attention and offering more support and care for a new model release. Especially during the first couple years as quirks and arising issues are being worked out and brought to their attention. I will say it was a fun experience driving the Veloster Turbo but I cant say that about owning. My lady and I will not buy Hyundais again after the experience weve been through and financial hardships this car caused

• 

  could be better... - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By a3406cat - July 14 - 9:13 am

  I got my accent about seven months ago, the drivers side window rattles when opened from just a crack to about half way down, same thing on the other side just not as bad. It gets very good gas mileage but could use a little more power. I do like the leg and head room. The paint is very cheap. Mine has spots blistering already.