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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  Drives like a dream - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By mtlcdn1 - April 2 - 3:43 pm

  Looks like a Honda Accord but Drives like a Beamer. Love my Sonata V6- GLS. Now have 50K miles on it and with the exception of paying out of pocket to have the center brake light replace ($125). Nothing but smooth, quiet and a powerful ride. Was looking at an Acura, BMW and a Accord. Out the door with tax including sunroof for 18K. Would buy again.

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  I love my Hyundais .....but - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By Randall G - April 2 - 12:29 pm

  Good price, and lots of goodies for the price. Great ride, and if you take care of them, they will not only turn heads on the higher end vehicles, but also keep going for years to come. I kept my XG350 and continue to drive it in tandem with my Azera. However, Hyundai does a poor job in transport. Visually inspect any new purchase very closely. They are poor when it comes to care after it leaves the plant. Deep scratches and sometimes missing clearcoat spots seem to be a problem with Hyundai and the attitude extends to its dealerships.

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  Excellent minivan - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Phillip Lau - April 2 - 12:25 pm

  We have the minivan for 8 months now withou even a minor problem. Everything was much better than we expected. We tried all the well know minivan such as Toyota, Honda and Chrysler before we brought the Hyundai, but none of them compare well with the Hyundai in the same price range. Everything were so well designed, they may be standard in many minivan now, but Hyundai did it well too.

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  Great Car - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By First Time Hyundai - April 2 - 9:05 am

  Like others, I was hesitant to look at Hyundais because of the brand name and its old reputation as a cheap car. Well... after looking at sticker prices, I was "forced" to take a look at the Sonata, and I cant be happier about it. The car performs fantastic. Its quick off the line, powerful in highway passing, has a smooth ride, and the gas mileage isnt too bad (most of my miles are highway). Ive driven family members Accords/Camrys/Altimas and my honest judgment is that I have the best car, and saved thousands over their choices. My only complaints are purely superficial, seats need to be longer for comfort, steering wheel radio buttons dont allow channel changing.

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  A Hyundai? - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By $2nassau - April 2 - 4:20 am

  Yes, a Hyundai! Hyundai wasnt even on my radar, but while test driving a Toyota, I saw the new Sonatas on a lot. So, after dropping off the boring Camry, I stopped to look, test drove all three Sonata models, and bought the SE on the spot (liked the wheels and dual exhaust). Sharp looks, roomy (Im 64" and have plenty of leg and head room) and very well built. I used to sell Infinitis, and this cars build quality and standard features rival the G37 Sedan, and blows it away on looks and value (about $15k less!). Unless your ego is tied your cars badge, you wont go wrong here.

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  Fun car! - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By smshpmkn - April 1 - 8:43 pm

  this has been my favorite car. its fun to drive and looks awesome. i still get people turning heads and asking what kind of car it is. the only problems i have had with it has been weather related. i live in an area with a lot of snow and cold temps and you can tell they didnt design it for this type of weather. if there is more that 4 in of snow on the ground dont go out driving you will get stuck if you have to stop but handles pretty well besides that. but i dont mind. i just take it in every winter to get the e-brake replaced for free.

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  My 2015 vs. My 2016 Limited Ultimate Santa Fe - 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By R Bramel - April 1 - 6:42 pm

  My 2015 saved us during a massive accident. An 85 year old man had his second accident of the day by pulling across out multilane divided highway at just the wrong time. We hit him at something less than the 60 mph limit and both my wife and I walked away from out totaled Santa Fe. The airbags worked so well that I didnt even have bruise marks from my glasses. The only downside is that Hyundai, and everybody else, I suppose, puts the horn button on top of the steering wheel airbag. I wonder how many other people suffer my injury: my hand-on-the-horn got blown back into my chest. It took almost two months for the pain to fully subside, and another month for my hand to regain most of its strength. Tow rating was important to me. If you buy the PIO (port installed option) trailer hitch package, the Santa Fe Limited (and SE) have a 5000 lb tow rating. According to the owners manual, even with an aftermarket hitch it is only rated for 2000 lbs. After the accident, even though the force of our connected travel trailer impact bent the "stinger" 90 degrees into the bumper, but the Hyundai hitch structure seemed undamaged. The impact was so severe that even the trailer was totaled. After the accident we had time to reflect on a replacement car. We felt so well protected by the car and had enjoyed all the features of the Ultimate package that we got the identical car in the 2016. Right away, both of us independently thought the 2016 was substantially quieter; I think theyve added insulation and maybe fine tuned the suspension. Ive seen a lot of negative comment about the third row seating. With the SE bench seat it might be a problem, but with the Limiteds captains chairs it isnt much of a deal to get into the third row. Just for grins, my wife and I let our daughter and her 6 5" husband drive and we rode in the third row for a six hour day trip. Grandsons in the middle. Were both 70 y/o and it was perfectly comfortable. Having the panoramic sun roof almost reach the third row makes it much nicer. My biggest complaint is that Hyundai hasnt incorporated Apples Carplay into the display system. The existing nav system is nice, but not as good as Google Maps or Apple Maps, plus I have to pay an annual $50 fee to Sirius just to get traffic information incorporated into the nav system. Carplay was supposed to begin showing up in another Hyundai model in 2015 so I figured the 2016 would definitely have it: Wrong! The BlueLink "turn by turn guidance", which is $100/ year is not compatible with the navigation system. Go figure.

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  130,000 and still a great car! - 1997 Hyundai Sonata
  By Still a great car! - April 1 - 1:58 pm

  I bought my 1997 Sonata 5 1/2 years ago with 80,000 miles at a cash price of $3,500 and its still a great car! I love it and Im looking to buy another one. Have not had any major problems with it.

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  Fun to drive again - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By highroller - March 31 - 1:17 pm

  Never owned a foreign make car before but I just love this car. It has plenty of power and shifts smoothly. My gas mileage is 32 on the hwy and 24 in town. Not bad. Warranty is also great. The car looks like it is more expensive then it is. I got sunroof and leather heated seats for far less then I could on a Honda or Toyota.

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  Fell in love during test drive - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By david stacy - March 30 - 9:38 pm

  Great exterior styling. Great interior, simply controls easy to use. Quite possibly one of the best performing cars in its class that I have ever driven. The exterior styling makes the sonata look much more expensive than it really is.