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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  Great car great price - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ed - November 4 - 4:20 am

  Love the room this car has. I wanted to purchase another Toyota and after doing some research,the Sonata was the better choice. More standard features for a much lower price. The GLS premium options sold me.

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  Great Little Car! - 1997 Hyundai Elantra
  By ckn - November 3 - 2:00 am

  This is my 1st car right after college. I have driven the hell out of it (93,400 mi). I have lots of money to buy a new car but dont because this baby has never given me any real problems. Past problems have been a cracked gasket, broken door hinge, and the CD player laser sometimes messed up. Just now I broke my inside door handle and a fuse keeps blowing so I cant shift out of park (but you can override that). All these things are minor. I replace brakes every 40k mi. Gas mileage is between 25-29 mpg. Yearly maintenance/repair costs (for everything) are approx $500. Cant go wrong there! I saved lots of money w/ this car!

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  actually reliable - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By karmafarma - November 1 - 2:00 am

  The 99 sonata is my second Hyundai(the first being a 2000 elantra) and once again I am amazed by how much I like these cars. Contrary to popular opinion regarding the old Hyundai reputation from 1990, my sonata gls has been a delight. The v6 really performs nicely even from a dead stop and still maintains decent mileage overall. A huge leap forward for Hyundai in their struggle to overcome a negative stereotype. Personally, I would buy another one of these in a heartbeat.

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  Great car for the money - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Matt Porath - October 31 - 10:00 am

  For a hair over $15K, getting a car with traction control, ABS, leather, and a power sunroof is unheard of. On top of that, it looks good and is fun to drive.

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  2006 model purchased in 2008! - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Lacey C - October 30 - 9:36 pm

  I purchased my 2006 Tiburon in 2008 at 30,000 miles! As an 18 year old this was a dream. For the price I financed, the vehicle depreciated in value rather quickly. I was "upside down" after only 2 years, the amount I owed was more than the car was worth. Thats the thing about Hyundai though! HOWEVER, I drove the heck out of this car daily, I needed new brakes and new battery in 2011 at around 130,000 miles. (This is amazing for the amount of mileage and wear I put on this vehicle) In July 2014 at 154,000 miles, the car began overheating daily and therefore we replaced the radiator. I drove it fine until December 2014 when it randomly overheated one winter day and the following morning would not start. At 160,000 miles the car required a totally new engine. The cost of the engine replacement was more than the car was valued at the time but I sucked it up and replaced it anyway. I vowed to keep up with the oil changes on schedule!! After the new engine, we lived happily ever after until I purchased a 2011 BMW Mini Cooper in May of 2015 (huge difference, I know, but remember I was only 18 when I chose the Tiburon and now I am 25) Im now experiencing major problems with the Mini and Im about to re-tag and insure the faithful loyal old Tiburon again because she has always been there for me! The other quirk to the Tib that I must mention as have others, the thing EATS tires!!!!! I cant even count how many times I have had to buy tires for the car! Its no joke!

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  Fun Experience - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By bucem - October 27 - 3:46 pm

  Fun, Fun, Fun. Of course, this is compared to a late model Caddilac DeVille. This is the first "small" car my wife has ever liked. We find the resetting of seat, mirrors, etc. because of our size difference to be a snap. I would describe vehicle as very quick on the road.

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  Too new to know a lot except about Nav System. - 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Woofy - October 26 - 12:20 am

  Worst navigation system on the planet. It locates about half the destinations Ive tried to input. The system makes no suggestions; just says it cant locate the address. Even my home at 6200 ***** street, built in 2009 cant be input because the nav system only shows street numbers up to 6199. Havent been back to dealer yet to have it checked but maybe I got 10-year old software.

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  Not Bad for the Price - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Admin - October 25 - 1:33 am

  Easy to drive. the Engine compartment was dirty at delivery. dealer said that under EPA law they cannot wash... BULLL When closing doors plastics screw plugs keeps popping out ( very build interior) ROTTEN DEALER

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  One week rental with a Sonata SE - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By David Myers - October 24 - 7:46 pm

  We have a car in the shop, so Ive been driving this for a week. I like it - maybe not enough to buy one in this configuration, but I do like the car very much. Its very quiet. It seems to be getting better than 25mpg in reasonably spirited driving. For a 180ish HP engine, I have not felt like there was not enough power at any time - even in the Eco mode of the transmission, which has three modes plus fully manual shifting (1 - 6th gear). The Bluetooth works well from the limited use it has gotten - it will read my text messages on my Windows 8.1 device - this is a HUGE plus for me. I am sorry that the XM trial has expired, I wouldve liked to judge the quality of the reception. Overall the radio is just OK - kind of tinny and the radio display shows you the radio station (105.1 for example) and nothing else. Maybe XM provides more info, I couldnt test it... It seems really big inside, and it is very comfortable. Ive been a fan of the trip computer with two trip odometers, and all of the user-settable configurations for the lights, sounds, language, etc. Tire pressure info for all four tires is handy to have. I really appreciate the auto-off headlights, even in the lowest trim and Ive just turned them on and forgot about them - the gauges are still perfectly legible with the headlights on all the time. I appreciated the holder for sunglasses, even in this base car. The Air Conditioning seems to be super effective too. If you unlock the car with the remote, and dont open a door within 90 seconds or so, the doors lock again - I like that. Big trunk, lots of space. The back seats fold down too, but I havent played with those at all. The rear doors open way up - great for access, and potentially an easy in/out for a kid in a car seat, but I didnt install one while I had it. What didnt I like? The looks are a bit too angular for me, I liked the way the previous model looked. The radio was marginal. The base sedan must have cheap tires, because this rental with only 21K on the clock already had mis-matched tires on it. No compass in this model, thats a bummer. I would really like fully automatic headlights, but that was not a reality in this model. Overall, I think that this is an honest competitor for the Camrys, Altimas and Accords of the world. Im glad that I rented one for a week, and if this is seriously on your shopping list, I think that maybe youd be wise to do the same, and see if you like it as much as I did.

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  Excellent for small family - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By sean - October 24 - 9:53 am

  I bought this as my parents had a Hyundai Santa Fe. It seemed more economical and sporty and it was my 1st SUV. Reliability has been great and very few services (non-standard) necessary. The car is only 2 years old and the armrest has broken due to the cold. Unfortunately the cost is over $300 to replace it. The horn definitely needed to be upgraded. And finally, who still listens to cassettes anymore?