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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  Amasing - 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By H Johnson - December 12 - 8:30 pm

  This is our second Hyundai. We traded our 05 Elantra GT for the Santa FE 06. We drove it to our home here in Texas and was quite pleased with all the features as advertised by Hyundai. It has enough power, it navigated the mountains and curves exceptiopnally well,The only thing I didnt know at time of puchase is the inside trim. The glare from the chrome on the Console is the thing I cover with a cloth. NO big deal. The Santa FE will give milage with Cruise Control on and handles high winds with ease here in Soth Texas. The 07 is probably even better than ours but we will keep this one FOREVER! Good Vehicle and you feel SAFE in it. Keep up the good work but dont over price it.

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  Sonata great car for the price - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - December 12 - 3:30 pm

  The car has been great and Hyundai supports the warranty. Had a transmission fail at 92,000, but I am sure it was due to improper servicing at 65K. Hyundai replaced with rebuilt Trans only asking if I changed fluid. Previous post dissing Sonata due to failed timing light and no engine light to warn is owners fault. No car will give a light for this and they all will fail. Suppose to replace at 65,000, mine lasted until 90K and then I had it replaced. Still running strong at 97K. Comfortable and roomy. Back seat tight with carseats, but all cars of this size are. Would buy again and recommend. Hope to get another 50K and then buy a new one.

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  Canadian VC - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Mark - December 11 - 7:06 pm

  Five weeks in and increasingly impressed as time passes. Roomy, serene, well appointed.

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  Excellent for the price - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By dcmisa - December 11 - 2:48 pm

  A lot of car for what you pay. The gas mileage is fantastic, I get about 32 to 34 mpg. The interior is great but you can tell that the plastic on the inside doors would scratch easily your not careful. I have the SE model and it comes with the stiffer suspension which really improves handling. Acceleration is very decent too because I have a manual. Dont get an automatic, the manual is cheaper, lighter and a lot more fun to drive. (Beware the trunk is tiny) Also buy the SE coupe as its the only Accent model with ABS which has already helped me out this winter. IMO ABS is pretty important. XM radio is great, even has a input jack for an MP3 player. CD player is also MP3 enabled.

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  Best in class - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By BK - December 10 - 5:40 pm

  Price, gas mileage, standard safety options, and warranty are why I chose the Elantra over other cars in its class. I love all the standard options like XM, 4 wheel ABS, standard side airbags, heated mirrors, blue lights, fog lights, stereo system. I chose this over the Nissan Sentra because of all the standard equipment and the warranty. You just cant beat it. Its a fun car to drive, handles well and just has a overall sturdy feel. It sips gas and after driving a light pick up for over ten years the gas savings are noticeable.

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  Absolutely a Keeper - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By james curtis - December 10 - 10:53 am

  Have owned BMW, Caddys ! Now 2 Hyundais. Never needed repair! Great acceleration! Trunk holds 4 sets of golf clubs and interior is spacious! I am only one in my foresome that has a car to hold all of us on a road trip! 30 mpg and fast! Great car!!!

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  Welcome back to Hyundai - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By cadadof3 - December 10 - 4:00 am

  MY first experience with a Hyundai product was a 1986 Excel. Just started searching for a new vechicle and found the Tucson. WOW, I fell in love with it the moment I spotted it on the lot. Test drove it and was hook - had to have it. All the instrumentation was easy to find and read. Controls were easyily accessible. I was new to the SUV type vechicle and I felt at home behind the wheel.

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  Out of the ball park - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Doug - December 10 - 12:39 am

  Just traded a 7 month old 2016 SE for the new 2017 Limited. So many nice safety and other features standard. Much quieter and solid feeling, love the drive mode for the steering/transmission. Cant rate the reliability due to the newness of the car, but based on my other 2 Elantras, it should be a home run also.

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  Had it for little more than a month. I am happy! - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Genette - December 9 - 2:32 pm

  I purchased a 2016 Honda Civic EX in January. Had nothing but issues out of it. Besides the ride being a little too firm for me. You could never ignore the road noise. Also mine came with a few manufacturer defects and Honda would not address them appropriately. So I sold it and got a Hyundai Sonata Sport instead, based on a recent rental car experience (new SE 2016 Sonata) a few weeks earlier. The engine is tepid, lets be honest, the Honda Accord I tested accelerated much better. However I am no longer a speed demon and it accelerated well enough and passed others cars with no fuss. The entire is absolutely quiet, almost to luxury car level (compared to a previously owned Lexus ES300) and at times you feel you are floating on a cushion of air. It is large inside, easily fitting me and my relatives with plenty of legroom in the back seat. It gets decent mileage (Im averaging 37 on the highway, although the rental I had did 39.6 with a constant speed of 70mph). The exterior is simple, not as exciting as the Optima, but I think it will look better in the long run than the Optima. The interior looks more upscale than the Accord and it has soft touch plastic in areas, where the Accord has clothe, such as your arm rest. Felt the clothe would be harder to keep clean. The entertainment system had knobs, and big easily read buttons, placed in a logical manner. The Civic & Accord touchscreens with slide volume control drove me crazy. Lastly, Ive only taken it into service once to replace a defective radio. Hyundai ordered me a new radio and install it with no muss and no fuss. I wanted an economical highway cruiser and with this car, I got one.

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  I love my Sonata - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By EdZal - December 9 - 2:00 am

  I like it more than the Honda Accord. I switched from Honnda Accord to the Sonata and I do not regret it a bit.