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:

• 

  Pleasantly Surprised by the Santa Fe - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ed Brunson - June 1 - 11:20 pm

  We initially overlooked the SF, mainly due to the old stigma of Hyundai. We looked at The Toyotas RAV4 and Highlander, the Honda CRV, the Ford Edge and the Mitsubishi Outlander. All had their good and bad qualities. I did the research and decided to take another look at the SF. Im glad we did. The SF excelled in appearence, safety features, warranty & price. It was easily $3-5,000 less than the other models, loaded. Hyundai really did their homework, its like they took the best attributes of all of the vehicles we tested and put them in one package. Their attention to detail on the interior is noticible. Granted, its not perfect, but for the price, its an exceptional value.

• 

  Fun to drive, great value, very reliable - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By proaudiorep - June 1 - 2:00 am

  Bought in May 2000, paid off last month. I looked at Civic, Corolla and some other competitors there was no real competition for this car at its price. Amazing car for the money!

• 

  My first SUV - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Marie - June 1 - 12:16 am

  This is my first SUV and it is a sound vehicle and it looks great too. I didnt get the 4 wheel drive, but I didnt have any trouble in a snow storm. The traction control worked great.

• 

  2005 Overview - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By B Thomma - May 30 - 11:56 pm

  Car has been reliable and meets my needs. The only problem has been the check engine has continually been going on. This has caused me to return to the dealer to have it corrected. The problem in every instance is in the gas cap overfill. The dealership has always fixed the problem and given a loaner car when needed. Another problem was with the radio. The AM reception was no good. This was their top of the line radio. They replaced it with a less expensive radio and the problem was corrected.

• 

  GT-R - 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Superstar - May 30 - 2:00 am

  Ever since the Tib went on sale in 1997, i wanted this car. It looked like nothing i had ever seen, and for a cheap amount. my grandfather bought me a used blue 2001 tib with 10,400 miles. ive now had it for 8 months and has been so much fun. i prob wash it atleast once a week. sufficient amount of pick up for an economy car and is fun to shift. already have put a magnaflow exhaust and an AEM cold air intake on it. lots more performance for $500 worth of mods. its worth it. overall, great first car for a 16 yr old!

• 

  85k and no big repairs - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By Brad - May 27 - 7:15 pm

  I bought this car in 2011 and have only done routine maintenance (brakes and tires). So far so good. Update, 94k miles and still no issues.

• 

  Good reliable vehicle - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Glenn - May 27 - 5:43 am

  2wd SUV good visibility. Comfortable and roomy easy to drive. Only negative is cruise control is poor not accurate doesnt hold speed well.

• 

  Elantra - 1997 Hyundai Elantra
  By ceceipe - May 27 - 2:00 am

  Clutch had to be replaced after 60000 miles. Speedometer broke after 60000 miles. Seats are not comfortable. Fuel Economy is ok.

• 

  Impressive Tib SE - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By bnick - May 22 - 2:13 pm

  Great car! The exterior styling is what let me to purchase the Tiburon. The price was well below comparable sports cars. My MPG is slightly better than I was expecting based on the published MPG. On the low end I have never got fewer than 24, and the highest has been 29. I now have driven it to 23,000 miles with no mechanical problems. A little wear spot on the leather seat bolster. The 6th gear, ratio, could be a little higher it "tacks" about 900rpms higher that my old 5sp Mits. Eclipse at 60MPH. It could do better on fuel consumption if the 1-6th gear ratios were different, especially 6th. There is noticeable acceleration steer. The accelerator pedal and brake pedal are to close together.

• 

  This car is great!!! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Michael Tran - May 20 - 10:00 am

  I recently bought me a Tiburon and I love to drive this baby. Besides the car being heavy for a sports car, I love to fix up the car. Its fun to drive, fun to work on, good looking, and its a must buy car for everybody who dont know much about Hyundai Tiburon!!!