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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  My Fourth Elantra - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Chelle - July 15 - 3:40 am

  Ive owned my car for a little over three months and this is my fourth leased Elantra (2011, 2012, 2013 GT and now this one). We also own a 2014 Sonata. The first thing (besides the body style) that I am impressed with over the 2011 & 2012 is the ride and handling of the car. I was a big fan of the 2011/2012 body style, but hated that the back end would "jump" over any little bump, despite different sets of tires. The 2017 is wonderful and feels much closer to the Sonata . I wish the Sport mode was set at the steering level like the GT and that it had a separate "ECO" button. Instead, I keep this one in ECO for gas mileage rather than Sport which handles better. My biggest complaint is with the storage (or lack thereof). The earlier versions, especially the GT, had massive amounts of storage with a deep closed middle compartment and wide areas along the bottom of the doors. The design of the new one is difficult - there is one little area which slants downward and is located behind the shifter and under the heating/ac controls. A USB and aux are smashed between two charging ports and every single time I try to put a cord in, I end up hitting the AC button or the defrost button. The large middle storage area is now only a few inches deep and doesnt hold much of anything; the side door pockets are almost worthless because you cant get your hand down into them to get anything out. Im also having some trouble with the App screen where it freezes up for indefinite amounts of time (I have not yet taken it back to the dealer since I only have a little over 2K miles on it). The only way I can change the station is to use the up/down button on the steering wheel. My only other complaint is the heating system - it takes about 30 minutes to get warm and the air comes out of the defroster regardless of what I have selected. This makes wearing contacts impossible because it blows right in my eyes. Now that Ive complained, let me say that my favorite feature is the notifications in the mirrors when a car is in my blind-spot or gets beside me. This is such a fantastic feature & should be standard in every car. Oops, I have one more small "whine" and thats the backup camera. In the GT, it was covered so I could always see out of it AND it was easy to read and accurate. The backup camera in this car needs wiped off daily, if it rains its useless, and the accuracy is so bad that I cant depend on it. Let me add that I am not one who uses the cameras to backup, but rather as a guide. The outer "blue box" indicating that the car is straight can be misleading as well. I will say its nice to finally get a new Elantra and not have to replace the tires within the first few thousand miles which I had to do on the others. Im very grateful that there are not low profile tires on this model. So while I love this car and overall its a fantastic value for the money, I would go back to my fully loaded GT if they could load it up without the low profile tires. What I wouldnt do for the panoramic sunroof again vs the little bitty sunroof I now have which, for some reason, even though its closed, the display in the car will sometimes beep and show me that its open. I feel I should also add that the little quirks are personal things for me and I would still recommend this car to everyone. Heres hoping for an awesome three years with it....

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  Love my tibby - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Skygirl - July 15 - 3:10 am

  I love this car. I was in the market for a mazda and they wouldnt come down on the price so i went and test drove my tibby and fell in love. To get a car with power windows and locks and all for $18000 u cant beat that. I was looking for something sporty that i could fix up performancewise and make my own and it is really easy to do that with this car.

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  Horrible Car - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By Not So Happy - July 15 - 1:57 am

  We have owned the car for 1 year and almost every 2 months it is in the shop. The check engine light is always & the engine is misfiring. Have had to coils replaced. They always say "sometimes these things happen & well get it taken care of." The car is 1year old, should have no problems. I would seriously reconsider my options before buying this car. A bus is more dependable. Thank goodness for a second car.

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  You get what you pay for! - 2008 Hyundai Tiburon
  By LovetheTib - July 14 - 9:00 pm

  I have owned both the Tiburon GS and SE. Though I loved the GS for its fuel economy and affordable pricing, the SE surpasses it by miles. I noticed that the only negative reviews about the Tiburon are from owners of the base trim; all I can say is that you get what you pay for! Though I prefer a good old fashioned American V8, the six speed manual transmission that comes standard on the SE makes the most of the 180 horsepower offered by this V8. This car FLIES and the upgraded suspension and brakes(better than the GT) make this car a blast to drive on the back roads! Not to mention - the SE tops out around 150. Hyundai always has and always will make the most car for the money.

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  A Decent Company Vehicle - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jerry - July 14 - 8:56 pm

  After running the gamit of GM and Ford I finally got to choose what I want in a car I spend 50% of my time in. The car is neat, responsive and doesnt look like every other model of the manufacturer with some plastic glued in various places.

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  Im Impressed - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Marshall - July 14 - 2:28 pm

  The 4.6 Hyundai replaced my lease expired Chrysler 300 Hemi. The Hyundai is a better driving car and has more luxury features. The ride is smoother and quieter, the quietness being my first impression when I test drove the car. I dont think it has quite the acceleration of the Chrysler, but way more than enough for the traffic situations I drive in. The Hyundai exterior design is not as impressive as the Chrysler, but the interior is beautiful. The car is loaded with a surprising amount of luxury features, for the price. The car is as roomy as the Chrysler and has as much trunk space. The seats are well designed for comfort. Driver controls and pushbottons are readily accessible.

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  great value - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By pjm - July 14 - 11:36 am

  only has it 2 weeks but am pleased over all with the Tucson

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  2013 Sonata burning oil - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By laurafowler14 - July 14 - 5:03 am

  I loved my 2002 Elantra. I needed a larger vehicle so I bought a brand new 2013 Sonata. My Sonata started burning oil around 36,500 miles. I have been going back a fourth to the dealership doing oil consumption tests. After 3 tests, it has burned up 4.5 quarts in about 2,000 miles. I still cant get anyone to fix the problem. Instead, the dealership says I need to do 1,000 more miles of oil consumption tests and corporate says I need to do 3,000 more miles of oil consumption tests. The warranty sounds great but good luck with getting them to fix anything that is covered.

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  More than I expected for what I paid - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By panoguy - July 13 - 10:10 pm

  First looked at CRV, RAV4, 09 Forester, Outlander, and Outback (in that order). Finally got over my fear of Hyundai from the old Excel days and tried the Santa Fe. Bingo! The Santa Fe strikes a great balance between size, mpg, comfort and performance (for an SUV). Plus, it has many luxury "extras" standard (except an iPod jack, which I added). Drove nearly 1000 miles in the first week and love it! Interior fit and finish is Lexus-excellent, and outside it looks like most other "luxury mini- SUVs" after the redesign in 07. The Limited trim has a great stereo, leather heated seats, sunroof - all for the price of a mid-level CR-V or RAV4. Reliability is said to be good, but well see...

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  Good except on gas - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Andrew - July 13 - 5:10 pm

  I love our new Sonata. I think it is a lot of fun to drive and is flashy yet economical. However the one thing that is not as advertised is the gas mileage. We were told it gets 30-32 MPG when in reality our gauges read 23 MPG. I think the car is great, very roomy (and I am broad shouldered), and tons of fun to drive. When you hit the gas... it goes!!!! Great stuff Hyundai.