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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  front crash - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By mike - January 26 - 8:30 pm

  I recently just crashed my car into a tree head on. This cars air bags did not deploy. The insurance adjuster could not believe it. I was lucky that I was not hurt. This car has a huge crumple zone which is good I guess. I loved my car and I serviced this car every 3000 miles. Good car but I dont think the security of having 6 airs bags should make you feel safe. If I could include pics I would you would not believe the damage this car suffered in a 30 mph crash.

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  OK car, bad choice for me - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ricardo Ho - January 25 - 4:46 pm

  I bought an AWD Limited Santa Fe a year ago.It is an okay car. Some squeak and rattles, but I never had any mechanical failure. The sound is relatively good. Initially, it drives ok. I later found the the front seats were too high and very uncomfortable. It takes me a month to find that out and I develop a serious lower back pain that affects my sleep. The leather used in Santa Fe does not last. I decide to change car to ease my lower back pain. Most dealer were only willing to trade it for 1/3 of the price I paid. I end up give Hyundai another try since they gave highest trade in value. I still lost half of my investment.

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  I smell lemons - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By 1carnut - January 23 - 9:24 pm

  Thank goodness for the warranty. I bought this car used with very low miles and a good service history. I have a brake problem that cant seem to be solved. On my 5th master cylinder and still have mush brake pedal. (Maybe thats not the problem guys!!) Ive also had to have the rack & pinion replaced and the noise it was making prior to replacement is back. All of this with less than 35k miles. I do not abuse this car and it should not be having these issues. I will say that the dealerships have been good about doing the repairs. I see that its on the recommended used cars list. I guess I just got a bad one but NEVER AGAIN!

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  Wheel Wells Broken - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By snowback - January 21 - 7:17 pm

  I have 4,000 Kms on my new Hyundai and the wheel wells have cracked and are broken in the front drivers side and in the rear - both sides! Hyundai Canada will not consider this a warranty issue and will not honor repairing the car. The car was driven on gravel roads at temps or - 35 degrees. If the car should not be driven on gravel roads, that means the car cannot drive on 77% of the roads in Alberta!!!!! If this is what I have in two months driving how is the car going to look in two years? JD Powers are completely wrong with this vehicle. Will never buy another Hyundai.

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  Lemon? I think so. - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Brian - January 21 - 9:37 am

  I feel swindled by the Hyundai people. Things started off without any real problems. Never had an accident and I always tried to keep-up with any maintenance. Sadly, after 30000 miles, my catalytic converter is destroyed, Ive had serious ignition problems, and theyve had to replace the spark plugs like clockwork. Just traded that sucker in.

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  10K Update - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By hutch7 - January 12 - 5:19 pm

  After 10K miles I am really trying to like this car but my first years ownership experience has been mediocre. One recall (fuel pump), two check engine lights (loose hoses), RR window track fell off and had to be repaired, Upholstery seems to be wearing poorly and its light color shows dirt, dealership botched the first oil change (admittedly not Hyundais fault) forgetting to replace the crush washer resulting in 3 qts of oil on my garage floor, interior door panels are cheap hard plastic and tend to scratch easily as well as rattle quite a bit. Otherwise car handles well is very ergonomic. My biggest disappointment are the latest iihs side impact test results...POOR/MARGINAL! Bummer...

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  Worst snow car ever - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By Steve B - January 11 - 9:46 pm

  Purchase experience was great, overall its a good car, but... Without exception this is the worst snow car Ive ever owned or driven, including rear wheel drive sports cars. A combination of light weight, touchy brakes, and ice-skates for OEM tires makes it unmanageable even with just a skim of snow on the roads. Hills and snow would be impossible, and definitely not safe to drive. If you live in a snowy area, prepare to replace the original tires before winter. If not for this I would have rated performance and fun to drive much higher.

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  car is a lemon - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By paulkay - January 10 - 10:48 am

  My x sonata was a lemon garbage car! Engine knock, replaced all the struts, both sun visors, oxygen sensor, electronic stab control module went, head gasket. Car was a piece of junk, was afraid to take it on a trip. I kept it for 10 months and bought an American car. No more foreign! No Wonder they give you a 10 year 100,000 warranty you will use it every month!

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  Unsatisfied - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Unsatisfied - January 7 - 3:06 pm

  I keep up with my cars maintenance as I should yet I have had multiple problems and my car is only at 60,000 miles. At 30 my power steering pump blew. At 40 my driver door sensor broke. At 50 my radiator and my thermostat blew literally. Despite the readings of my coolant level. It was perfect and all of a sudden smoke was coming from my hood. I do admit that the handling is good yet I had a Toyota and didnt have my first problem until I was at 120,000. Plus the problems I have had are pretty irregular, my mechanics at the dealership even were to admit. Plus Hyundai put a lock on the oil filter so that only they are able to change your oil filter. They say its to protect me but we know why.

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  Dont Buy One!!! - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Bernie - December 31 - 10:09 pm

  We bought this van because of what you were supposed to get for the money. The van is very nice looking inside and out, however the problems just keep getting bigger. Problems started with warning lights coming on then the A/C compressor, now its the brakes and doors.