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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  SE poor acceleration - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Serge - March 9 - 12:30 pm

  Rented for 3 weeks in Florida. While making left turns before oncoming traffic, this car seemed to stall while trying to quickly accelerate... scary! barely avoided a few accidents! This occurred even in sport mode. Dont know if it was just this particular car or problem has occurred with other similar 2017 elantras? Recall on this issue?

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  Not Good - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Jones - March 9 - 11:03 am

  I bought the Sonata back in August of 2006 brand new and since then it has had many problems. Both sun visors have had to be fixed, alarm had to be fixed, it needs new tires, an oxygen sensor is starting to go bad, and the trim is starting to come off. The dealership doesnt want to work with you and everything you call about they say is not under warranty. In order to test the car to see which oxygen sensor is going bad they are going to charge me. I have never had this many problems with a car or a dealership. You would think that in this economy a company would want to keep customers but apparently not. I would not recommend this car to anybody and i will never buy another one.

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  Piece of CRAP!!!!!!!!! - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
  By megan - March 4 - 4:16 am

  Let me start by saying that I have had nothing but trouble with this car in the 15 months that i owned it. It the first two months the power window broke and the visor fell off. After 12 months & 13,000 miles I had to put $1,400 dollars into getting a new clutch since the warranty expires after 12 months or 12,000 miles. Not to mention that before i traded it in they told me i had another problem with the transmission. Be aware also that any up grades will void your warranty, including changing your own oil. I will never buy another Hyundai...period

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  Beware of Warranty! - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Paul - February 23 - 12:49 pm

  Owned 07 Sonata for 2 years - 24500 miles on it. My recent experiences suggest that there are issues with the Hyundai Quality and Warranty claims. I had to change my both rear brake pads, and also change one rotor, resurfaced other after just 24000 miles! Surprisingly front brakes that should take 70% of braking torque were perfectly fine. Dealership said that the pads and rotors are not covered under warranty and charged $350. I have never heard rotor or even pads needing replacement in 2 years - shows poor quality of parts. Hyundai Consumer affairs would not cover even when Dealer agreed that this was not normal wear and tear. Had to change Alternator just 2 months back! Dont count warranty!

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  Not pleased - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Houston TX - February 22 - 10:00 am

  Very disappointed with mileage. Best mileage Ive gotten is 17.5 and thats highway. No head room for anyone over 6ft, little leg room. Seats are very uncomfortable for long trips. After reading other reviews, Im wondering what car theyre talking about. Were on our 3rd battery in 2 years!

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  Squeaks & Groans! - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By burt - February 21 - 10:02 am

  This car is built very cheaply. The interior plastic surfaces squeak, and the front suspension has a really annoying squeak/rattle. The interior lights dont come on when you remove the ignition key. The switches on the door (lock/unlock, windows, etc.) are not illuminated. The ignition key ring taps against the dash board when driving. The Infinity sound systems subwoofer is mounted in the cardboard deck behind the rear seats and creates an annoying distortion even at low volume.

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  Hyundai missed the mark with this model - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tony - February 16 - 8:43 am

  I had owned a Sonata prior to picking out a brand new Tiburon GT in March of 2007. At just under 19K miles the clutch and flywheel went out on me. Hyundai would not cover this under warranty and dismissed the transmission failure as though I did not know how to drive a manual transmission. The wheel bearings went out on 3 separate occasions as well. The V6 is thirsty resulting in low MPG. Horrible under-steer. Some tricky blind spots until you get use to it. Hyundais also have crummy resale value. Overall the car is fun to drive, however I highly encourage an extended warranty.

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  Not a happy customer - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By sherleej - February 6 - 9:03 am

  Well, it has been in the shop A BUNCH. They cant find the problem w/ the air bag light showing no one in the seat although they replaced the seat w/ a recall. They now say well we changed it we wont do nothing. Car has had one problem after another & now is out of warranty a lot of stuff is starting to go wrong. I am thinking of selling my car & will not consider a Hyundai to purchase. I feel the company has not tried to fix my car & that it is not reliable.

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  Fine, but too much engine vibration - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By jjrobert - February 5 - 9:47 pm

  Maybe I got the lemon, but theres too much engine vibration at 2500 rpm. My rear-view mirror sounds like its trying to tell me something.

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  Airbags Failed In High Impact Crash - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Lucky - January 29 - 12:53 pm

  Airbags failed to deploy in a collision traveling at 55 mph and then hitting an embankment as well. Read NHTSA and other consumer complaints regarding this problem with the Accent and other Hyundais and dont find out the hard way. We were very fortunate and everyone walked away from this death trap! Other prior problems include cheap tires from manufacturer that manufacturer and dealership did nothing to correct - referred to tire maker who said they didnt care about the complaint - no exaggeration! And of course car is very uncomfortable.