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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  Pleased from Day One - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By Derrick Crandall - March 29 - 7:41 pm

  After a decade of driving Cadillacs -- mostly SRXs -- I decided to see what else I could find in the $40K range. After looking at BMWs and Audis, I drove the Genesis 4.6L and took it home that night. Looked very nice, had far more features for the money. And I have been 98% delighted ever since. Great warranty and pretty good dealer support for normal maintenance. Only problem -- really, the only problem -- is a mysterious failure of the entertainment center once every 80 or so starts. On for 15 seconds, then off for 15 seconds. Cant find a way to correct it once it occurs ... but after being off for a few hours it is back to normal, and normal is very, very good with great sound syste

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  I wish they would build the Hyundai Entourage again!! - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Arthur Tate - March 16 - 8:44 pm

  I LOVE this van!!! I have almost 230K miles on it and I have loved every minute, every mile. I really wish Hyundai would build it again. I know someday I will have to replace it, but if history is any indicator, it wont be soon. So, Hyundai, you have time to re-tool and build me a new one! Go for it!! Please!!!

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  Never a problem! - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By Ralph DiMare - March 16 - 12:43 pm

  My 2012 fully loaded Genesis V6 has 55,000 miles and very reliable.

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  horsepower to gas mileage ratio is unsurpassed - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By Ned White - March 16 - 12:06 pm

  I have 40,000 mi. on my 2012 4.6L 385hp v8 sedan. With(10% ethanol) premium gasoline 93 octane, I get 21mpg around town and 26mpg on the highway in cruise (65mph) I found a gas station in NH that sells pure 91 octane gasoline (no ethanol) I fill up there often. My gas mileage immediately goes up to 31mpg (in summer) in cruise control at 65mph. Try to find a car anywhere that has that much HP and still gets 31mpg. Incredible ! (shows what a scam ethanol is also)

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  Outstanding - 2015 Hyundai Elantra
  By kello1 - March 14 - 12:02 pm

  i took this car on a 5000 mile trip through the Southwest with my Wife. The car performed flawlessly ! We averaged well over 30 miles per gallon every tankful . Even on the days going through the deserts traveling at high speeds. At 85 the tach was reading 2800 rpm. The car feels stabile at that speed as well. I really dont know the top speed of this car but I do know its above 115. (I have the Sport w/ the 2.0 four cyl.) Ride quality was very good. I did notice some wind noise around the driver door. I will see if this can be adjusted out.

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  3.8 Geneis - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By noelle polson - March 14 - 2:07 am

  Bought used for 16K, best money i"ve ever spent for a car, loaded with tech and premuim pacakage great radio, power, comfort etc. car has 51000 miles, feels and drives like new, couldnt be happier.

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  Almost to 100K and problems have started - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By ldfranklin - March 11 - 2:17 pm

  I love my car. I have had it for 3 years and never had any issues. Gas milage is awesome and I get money reimbursed to me every time I take it in for an oil change - win win for me. BUT around 87,000 the car started to stall on me when I stopped. Check engine light came on so I took it to my mechanic. He said when hooked up to a computer it says "needs new engine". So I get it towed to Hyundai. They replace an oil senor valve (covered under extended warranty) and it ran fine for about 1500 miles. Then it started to stall again. I took it back immediately and now it is giving 2 codes and one of them is replace the engine. Now I am getting "I am not sure if Hyundai will cover this"!

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  Inexpensive, gorgeous looks with projector lamps, great economy. - 2014 Hyundai Accent
  By newaccent2007 - March 7 - 8:47 pm

  I owned a 2007 Hyundai Accent when I was single, and loved it. My wife needed a fuel efficient car for long drives to work every day. Given price, features, comfort, and looks, as well as a smidge of brand loyalty, we had narrowed it down to Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Accent. My wife saw the Accent GLS with the premium package at our local dealership, and fell in love with it. We bought it Nov. 4th, 2014. Since that date (5 months) weve put 10,000 miles on it. Seriously. No problems with it, tires still look new and even so factory alignment is still sound. Now with temps warming up, its surpassing its fuel economy ratings. We usually average 33-35mpg, but now were seeing 40+.

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  So far so good, but one aggravation - 2015 Hyundai Genesis
  By Jim Orr - March 7 - 5:21 pm

  After driving Buicks & Cadillacs for several years I looked at the Lincoln MK series, drove a Lexus and settled on the Genesis with the Signature package. Traded in a 2011 Buick Lucerne, which I loved. In hindsight I wish Id sprung for the Tech package with a few more features that I miss. The biggest aggravation is getting the nav system to take voice inputs. Manual inputs work fine or if I say something she recognizes like "Starbucks" or "Texaco" then it works like a charm. But a voice input street address comes up with some of the weirdest options Ive ever seen. Anyone else have the same issue?

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  Engine Gone 48,000km - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By Stephen Power - March 4 - 8:14 am

  My Elantra has 48,000 km on it, is not driven hard, driven by me and my wife who are both 50+ years old, and the bottom half of the engine needs to be replaced. My friend has an Elantra that is a year newer than mine and her engine has to be replaced. I know of a couple of other people who drive Elantras and they have ticking in their motor the same as I have. Buyer beware.