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 AND Reliable! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Katster - August 22 - 2:00 am

  Its an attractive car thats fun to drive. I love the larger engine, it moves on these Atlanta highways with no trouble. It looks much more expensive that it is and comes with a lot of standard features on the LX edition. The 6 CD Monsoon system rocks! Side airbags and the warrenty sold me, and Ive had GREAT service from my dealership, theyve been so friendly. I recommend the air deflector for those of you with sun roofs, it keeps the wind from creating that buffeting feeling on your ears when the top is open. I look forward to driving it, my Artic Blue "Belle" (we name our cars, what can I say).

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  Value - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Jab0931 - August 22 - 2:00 am

  Best Bang for the buck out there. More fun to drive than the Acura at half the cost. The Honda Pilot is a pig on the city streets. Buy the car, not the hype of the name people!

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  2006 Hyundai Sonata LX 6 cyl - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Greg W - August 21 - 10:55 pm

  I have an 06 Sonata with the 6 cylinder. I have had one emission issue with the car at 70k miles (I had to pay for the repair). I purchased my first set of tires at 68 k miles and I just had the brakes inspected @ 74 k and front and rear are at 75% new. Besides the normal maintenance (bulbs, wiper blades), I’ve had to repair under warranty the w/s wiper pump, and a couple of check engines until I had the gas cap thing down. I love this car, so I bought my fifth Hyundai and second Sonata today. The 06 car handles well, has great pick up and gives even more with the shift- tronic. Plenty of drivers leg room with easy cabin controls. Great braking and the ESC and multiple air bags a plus.

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  good for the pirce - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Z - August 21 - 9:58 pm

  I bought this 2001 Elantra GLS 5-speed back in 2001. Im in the market for a new car now, after about 8 years and 130,000. The car still runs fine, but little things like the power windows, catalytic converter, etc. have given me reason to buy another car (possibly another Hyundai). The car was 100% reliable through out most of its life so far. I have driven it through all kinds of weather conditions, and even drove it cross-country. Despite two low-impact collisions, only cosmetic damage was done the car drove on as if though nothing happened. I still have the original clutch on it, and it works fine! I think its time to retire this one it served its purpose, and served it well.

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  Best Car at its Price - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Matt - August 21 - 1:26 pm

  The dealer was wonderful. Got a very good price for the vehicle. The vehicle it self is excellent for me, a single male living on my own. It gets around town very well, the freeway drive is comfortable. The audio sounds good, and AC cools well. The steering wheel is a little touchy, but that could be me who use to own a 96 Mercury. The brakes are great, and the layout of the interior is excellent. Overall this vehicle was the best value out there... Hyundai has awesome rebates, check your local dealer. Going one on one with Honda, this car offers the same as a honda that cost 1500-2000 more.

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  Delighted - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By FloridaTom - August 21 - 10:00 am

  Why is this SUV such a secret? I researched SUVs in this category for 2 months and although I have had my Santa Fe for just a week, I couldnt be more thrilled with every aspect. What a night and day difference between my trade in (Explorer). The dealer was awesome, significantly beating all other quotes. My Sante Fe is second generation 2002 so the clock is on the dash and the back seats folds with one hand (two complaints I read about). Im glad I bought mine before the secret gets out; this SUV is loaded with value.

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  owner - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By fred kritz - August 21 - 10:00 am

  it is a great vehicle fun to drive great gas milage, the dealer was not the greatest to work with. they did not know how to do the paper work for out of state purchases, had to call the motor vehicle department in arkansas to get them to give me the the paper work. it was a fight believe me. i won the war. ftk

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  What A Car! - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By Starking - August 21 - 10:00 am

  Its only been in the shop once because of a factory paint defect. The dealer restored it to factory qality. The car gets good milage, rides well, and people ask, "is that a Lincoln?"

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  elanra review - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By yomni - August 21 - 10:00 am

  great dollar value. adequate in every regard. Not a 10 in any category but can be rated good in most every aspect.Acceleration will not astounish you.

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  Excellent - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Luke - August 20 - 11:20 pm

  it is best vehicle that you can buy at this price. surprisingly quiet. powerful. comfort with huge interior room and it gives you peace of mind about stantard airbags and abs, esc, tcs. you can run any moment. most industrial standard safety features. and plus best warranty in america that none of the competitors have it. and standart mp3 encoded cd player will gives you almost 150 songs in one cd to play and it shows name of the file that you wont forget it.