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:

• 

  good little car - 2013 Hyundai Accent
  By g.a.scalf - October 21 - 10:17 am

  I have had my car for just over two years. When i bought it new it had only 6 miles on it, it now has 113,000. I have done my own maintenance on it. I have replaced the tires once. I have also replaced the battery. The sensor valve stems are fragile and break very easily and are expensive to replace. My current issues are a vibration sensor that sometimes comes on and then goes off without me having to do anything. The cruise control switch is acting up, but other than that it has been a good little car. My complaint would be the road noise while driving and the radio only going up to 32. You see when you cant hear the radio because of road noise so you turn it up, you are out of luck once you reach maximum and still cant really hear. Also, car companies, not including a spare is really a bad idea. Yea it saves them money, but if you have a blow out in the middle of no-where that inflator that they include will not work, so again you are out of luck. Incidentally, to buy a spare from the dealer was over $200 so i went to discount tire bought a full-sized universal rim and tire for $70. The best mileage I ever got was 56 hwy, (I even took a picture of it since no one would believe me) now after so many miles I get around 37 combined.I fear that hyundai should focus on the electrical more and resolve the issues there and include a full sized spare tire or at least a donut instead of the blow up kit.

• 

  my little friend - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Frank - October 1 - 7:15 pm

  136000 and still going strong. I drive it easy and give it tlc.everything works. it is a good little car. I love it. cassette player died but I got a after mart thats sounds good. I dont know what these other people knock it for. it ony cost me 13000 dollars new.maybe I got a good one but I still love it. 15 winters so far and runs like a champ. rustproofing does pay off. body has none and paint still sines because I wax it often. so there

• 

  Nice car for the money - 2014 Hyundai Genesis
  By Tom - September 29 - 8:32 am

  Purchased mine in July 2014 Nice car now has 18000 miles with no issues however the cost of car vs what options are in it ,think it a bit short for being the basic model probably could have purchased a fully loaded Chrysler 300 with all options otherwise its a nice car

• 

  Great first car - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Batoutofhe11 - September 24 - 8:02 pm

  this is the cheapest little car you can get, it has very little put into it interior or electronics wise, but it makes up for all that by having an average of 40 miles to the gallon. which even modern cars have trouble doing. this car is surprisingly good in snow, getting me around in as much as 6 inches of snow as long as i braked real early and kept it in third gear or below. the interior sucks, but i really couldnt care about it since it was my first car. the only big problem is that the car is made for an average sized male, meaning if you are shorter than say 5"5 like me then youre seat belt will always get stuck on the seat back support adjuster. there is no electronic or power anything, my girlfriend hated that dis-feature about this car but seeing all those cars get hacked i liked the dis-feature. this car model has a glitch in the programming that will show the check engine light sometimes, and the problem will read engine cylinder 1 or 2 random failure. leave that be, its nothing. if you want to do anything switch out the spark plugs and wires, dont go crazy on repairs. the battery hook wires rot off at around 80,000 miles

• 

  love this car - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By ED - September 18 - 9:16 am

  brought this car new in 2006 have been one of the greatest , havent had no major problems with it an have replace nothing but brakes, bulbs , so far got 342,000 miles on it now, still run like a champ love this car.

• 

  Great 1st year, not so much now - 2015 Hyundai Genesis
  By Disappointed - September 10 - 4:17 pm

  Ive had my 2015 AWD 3.8 V6 Hyundai Genesis with the Ultimate Package now for a little over 1 year. Within the last 3 months, the car has developed numerous extremely annoying rattles, clunks, thuds, popping and creaking sounds inside the cabin anytime the body flexes or encounters bumps. I cant tell where they are all originating from: dash, door, sunroof, or trunk. Its very disappointing that an otherwise fine vehicle is plagued with these kinds of problems. This is my first Hyundai (and probably last) vehicle and the problems Im now experiencing were my worst fear prior to purchasing. They make the car feel and sound cheap and are practically impossible to fix, let alone find. The build quality just isnt there yet. Other gripes: 1. Front bumper too low frequently scraped from simply entering and backing out of driveway. 2. Not enough headroom. 3. Not enough heat felt in foot area. 4. Driver side door takes more effort to close than passenger doors. 5. Side view mirrors too high obstructing vision. 6. Limited rear view. 7. Seat cushions too hard. 8. Noisy and rough riding Hankook tires. For a car in this class, Hyundai has a long way to go in my opinion. In particular, the cabin should be the focus and should be much quieter and completely devoid of ANY rattles, squeaks, clunks, thuds, popping or creaking sounds.

• 

  A Big Car for Not So Big Money! - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By J.P. - September 10 - 10:13 am

  Bought mine in 2013 used with 31,000 miles on it. I like its simple in design, but seems to be sturdy built and reliable. Now have over 65,000 miles on it and no trouble except for wear / tear items. Front seats are very roomy, firm, and it has a lot of room compared to most cars at this "compact" class. The EPA actually considers it mid sized due to interior room. Only things I dont like about it are the steering is a bit heavy, tight, and the gas pedal is stiff as well. It will get out of its own way, but not like our 2013 Accent that is a very light gas pedal. Hoping to get to 150,000 plus!

• 

  Bought new, donated it to charity at 205000 miles - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Joe S. - August 30 - 9:44 pm

  I bought this as needed, reliable transportation in October of 1999. It has been there through thick and thin through cross country road trips and raising 2 of 4 kids. It was a great car for a long time. I lost my timing belt at 205K, and it ruined my head assembly. Too expensive to fix, given the worth of the car. It was starting to show its age, although it still looked mighty fine. So, I hope I made another great decision with my purchase of a used 2013 Elantra sedan.

• 

  My little Korean - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By Anders Bang - August 10 - 10:55 am

  I have my Elantra since 2013. So far I only got 16500 miles on it, and it has been running fine. MPGs on the highway is great, I see upper 30s and a few times over 40. It is not a race car, the 1.8 does not have a lot of torque. I never use the ECO mode since it makes the car feel slower, and forces up shifts. I am sure some people will like it, but it makes the car even more dull to me. Half a year ago a lady nicely decided to crash test it by hitting me with her Isuzu Trooper. The poor Elantra crumpled as intended and i got out without a scratch, though in need of a new front end. The stock tires are terrible, I cant wait to wear them down a little more and buy some proper ones. The car is roomy, easily sits four people. I am 6 foot 4 and have no issues being comfortable in the front. Very good trunk space too. Buy a spare tire if you want the safety, it is not included.

• 

  Purchased new 2007 Never a problem - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By happy elantra owner - August 10 - 8:14 am

  Bought new in 2007, had no mechanical issues. Great service from Fitzgerald Hyundai. Excellent ride quality. Received excellent trade in value for vehicle as it had low miles and was very clean. I bought expecting a very reliable car, and that is what I had for 8 years. Traded it in and got over $1500 above average price for true value trade in. All city dtiving.