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 car - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By chunky - June 6 - 12:21 am

  I got mine for $11,750 w/ premium package w/ auto trans. So far I love this car even though I didnt think about the insurance before I purchased the vehicle. I like everything about the car considering the price but I dont feel too safe when I am changing the lanes.

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  transmission questionable - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Mag - June 5 - 11:40 pm

  Ive only had this vehicle about 3 weeks and am extremely satisfied with everything about it except for the transmission. There definitely is a slip in the transmission. It doesnt happen on every acceleration from a stop, but enough to make it irritating.It almost seems like a down- shift jerk (automatic trans.)after it has already shifted into second,it drops, or jerks into a lower gear and immediately shifts again to the gear that it previously was in. This has happened to me only 5-6 times in 3 weeks. After reading the other review about the transmission problem I see that its not just me out there with this problem. And evidently,theres no help from Hyundai corp.

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  Navigation system - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By watsowil000 - June 5 - 9:26 pm

  When we picked up the car the navigation was not hooked up correctly and the dealer "fixed" it for us, but it took three days (signs of bad things to come). Less than a month later we took it to North Carolina and the nav system went out again. Dealer there was helpful and put in a new one for us. 8 months later it is not working again. It si a great car, but I would not spend the extra for the nav system-they are not real helpful in getting it fixed and even when calling the help line they are not good at letting us know what is being done to remedy the problems.

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  Ford/GM....watch out!!! - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Mark - June 5 - 5:13 pm

  I bought a 2005 last month just when the 2006 where arriving on the lot...therefore $21,600 purchase price (+dealer doc & taxes). I priced honda, fords, gm, toyota small suvs..comparing apples to apples nobody could touch the Tuscon without adding another $5,000!!! I was looking for a bang-around car/sedan for the wife and two kids,honda civic =$20K, Accord ex 4 cyl=24K, 6 cyl=$29K..all with only front drive & traction control only (No stability control!) Honda CR-V =$27K - 4cyl. As you can see Tuscon==awesome deal and GO ANYWHERE drive line, cant wait for 3 feet of snow!!

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  Made a fan out of me! - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By Anthony Young - June 5 - 3:21 pm

  I went into the dealership to try the Nissan Versa and Sentra, Honda civic, Mazda 3 and Scion tc. At the end of the day I test drove the 2007 Hyundai elantra se which was the 3rd manual car I have ever driven in my life and I instantly fell in love. So easy to drive compared to the acura I learned on, I got it down in 5 minutes and had to have the car. It feels like a sports car. The interior is massive compared to everything else. So much room and comfort, definitely feels more expensive than it was. Ive had it for a month now and drive about 30 miles a day and never want to get out of it. Only problem is that gas mileage over speeds of 55 mph is 32 so actual highway mpg (at 70 mph) is off

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  first timer - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By jjmalez - June 4 - 10:00 am

  was unsure about hyundai at first... being a long time mitsubishi guy. the price and rebates attracted me. im pleasently suprised so far. lots of car for the money and a great warranty.

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  Probably the BEST SUV out there - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By GLENNMARIVIC - June 4 - 10:00 am

  Price, features, warranty, style, comfort, what more could you ask for? The Santa Fe has got to be one of the top SUVs out there in its price range and way above its price range. Our local Hyundai dealer (OBrian)has been awesome. We are happy Hyundai owners.

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  Wonderful SUV, cant do better - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By myhook - June 3 - 1:20 pm

  We test drove a lot of small, mid SUVs. Had a Jeep Liberty nearly blow up on the road from a gas leak, loved the RAV-4 and CR-V. Finally went to Vermont to see the Santa Fe; wow this car beat all the others on the first drive. Has everything you want, front wheel drive, with all wheel drive sending power to rear wheels when needed, V6 to tow our boat, great styling and interior, KILLER stereo, THIS VEHICLE ROCKS. It has the best feature Ive ever seen on an SUV, a shiftronic system to allow down or upshifting at any time (such as on a hill pulling a boat). Bought the car on the first test drive and Ive never bought before without at least two trip to the dealer to haggle over price.

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  Great fuel, great warranty - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sonata Lover - June 3 - 6:37 am

  I was looking for an inexpensive car that would take a beating. I own a farm on a dirt road but drive a distance on expressways to get there. My Sonata gets great mileage, especially around 60 MPH. The few minor problems I have had have been fixed for free and without a long wait. Exactly what I was looking for from a warranty.

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  Great bang for the buck - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By eberky - June 2 - 4:43 pm

  We purchased this car for my wife - who wanted a new car, but really only cared about looks. She really wanted the Lexus, but was out of our price range. Since our purchase, she is unbelievably happy. For that matter, so am I. The car drives great, handles decent, has a GREAT turning radius, with an easy to learn interior. I just hope the long-term owning experience is as pleasureable as the immediate. We opted not to get the sunroof - it seemed like it added substantial cabin noise while test driving.