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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  Car Failure with only 8 miles - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By ten29811 - March 27 - 11:21 pm

  I was very excited to drive off in my new Elantra 2012 with only 8 miles on the engine. The joy went away as an engine light went on the day after purchase. Took the car back to the dealer only to have them say all is good. The engine ran rough and would almost stall at times. The car has been at the dealer for over a week and I was told that they dont know what the problem is and the engineer from Hyundia will need to determine the problem. Needless to say I am not pleased with my first Elantra. To think I decided not to buy another Toyota due to all the great reviews.

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  A few problems but OK overall - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By danloudfoot - March 14 - 8:50 pm

  As many others stated both of my visors broke. This is a safety hazard and its sad they have not recalled this. I fixed the problem with two cheap strong metal clips that I clipped to the hand/grips. I had an oil leak that was not cheap to fix. My TPMS light is on and its $200. to fix that sensor...I dont know what good it does because I can still see when tire pressure is low so its going to stay on. It has a huge trunk. Its smooth on the highway and the gas is good on highway but sucks it up in the city. I bought it with 30k it now has 103k and has been a good car with minor issues.

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  Very Happy With It! - 2010 Hyundai Accent
  By zfair89 - March 14 - 2:53 pm

  The sticker on the car said 14400, but they are very motivated to sell cars at Hyundai. After the trade-in of my crappy Grand AM and some rebates the car was under $10000. And it is loaded! everything except for cruise control. bought it in June of 2010 and have put close to 30k on it. great value. fun to drive. great on gas. recommend to commuters and college kids.

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  limited sports car - 2012 Hyundai Accent
  By tail_lights - March 4 - 11:51 pm

  Ok when I first got this car I thaught it would be a drag to drive because it was "fuel efficent". Well its not, I was suprised its a little beast. Ive broke 115 in a stock very standard model. So it is an absolute thrill for me to drive. Aside from that I love the mpg. When i cruise down the hwy at 70 I get 44 mpg in eco mode, only 33 when doing 80. My only complaint is in my residential area we have alot of stop signs so i only get 10 miles to the gallon till i get to the main roads. Its because of the quick shifts in the lower gears. Over all an amazing car.

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  Update 1 year later - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By whigbee - March 2 - 2:53 pm

  Im updating my review from 1 year ago. Since then I have encountered more issues. My dashboard has cracked on the passenger side, where the Airbag is. The cracks are basicially in the shape of where the bag is. Also the rear window shade has gone out for the 2nd time. The paint is fading. I e-mailed Hyundai Usa, and they directed me to a dealership. I have 1 month or 5,000 miles left until the warranty expires (5yr/60k). This is something that should be covered even after expiration, I feel they are both safety issues. Unfortunatly I have to go back to a dealership that lacks customer service and follow-up. I had such high hopes for this Car, but am disappointed in the build/reliability

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  First new car with the worst mpg - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By drewberry - March 1 - 2:06 pm

  This is an update from the one I did 2 months ago or so. The car is still nice but the gas mileage sucks. No matter city or highway or driving conditions I only get between 21-25 mpg. And the miles to empty when full is 259 exactly. Both of those numbers are horrific for a compact car as well as a car that suppose to get 29 city/ 40 highway. I drive extremely gas efficiently and have not even came close to the 30s at least. I have started to look cars I can trade this for....maybe 2012 honda civic ex....But I am trully done with Hyundai. Such a disappointment.

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  1 year owned review - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By screwedinaz - February 16 - 10:49 pm

  overall its not a bad car with the best feature being with 3.50 gas prices 25 bucks about fills the tank at 3/4 empty. with the 5 speed manual i dont have to wait for transmission to shift if i need to pass some body drop a gear and just go. the seating is a bit stiff to say the least trunk space easily holds to big duffle bags. the car did not come with a radio but that was an easy fix. installing a radio was a breeze too 1 phillips head screwdriver and a pry tool to remove face plate.

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  But for 1 thing... - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By flippy_boy - February 12 - 9:05 am

  Bought this car over the summer and absolutely loved it for about six months. Then winter came. Had to switch up vehicles after I got stuck in relatively small amounts of snow for the third time. This car goes from absolutely fabulous to virtually useless in snow and ice, particularly in hilly conditions. Apparently everyone in the world knows this about rear wheel drive vehicles except for former Florida boys. It pained me to part with the car but it had to be done. If you live in areas without snow, I would recommend this car without hesitation. However, if you deal with winter driving at all, I would definitely look elsewhere, at least until 2014 when the AWD Genesis and Equus are due.

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  Radio/Time Display Screen - 2012 Hyundai Accent
  By wubaja - February 6 - 8:13 pm

  I really like my Accent. It is fun to drive and quite comfortable. But . . . the radio display LCD is terrible! There is very little contrast in the display of dark gray and light gray, and there is no brightness control. This may be petty, but Id like to be able to see the clock (hidden in the upper right corner), rather than the radio station that Ive been tuned to for the last two hours. Does anyone else have a problem with the display screen?

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  2012 elantra - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By gts4 - January 30 - 2:00 pm

  traded our 2010 elantra se for the 2012 gls its more comfortable than the 2010 gas mileage is alittle bit better car handles well but suspension is cheap on this car we have 7500 miles on the car and I belive the rear shocks are gone it sounds like the back wheels are falling off we sent it back to the dealer they said everything looks good its going back a third time it has the old time strait rear axle that went out in the 80s biege seats stain easy car has some blind spots front pilars and rear hard to see when pullig out in traffic backing can be bad also gas mileage is between 24 - 32 sometimes if the wind is blowing in the right direction you might get 36 on the highway not much power