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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  Say NO to Hyundai - 2001 Hyundai Sonata
  By Bob - June 20 - 5:52 pm

  Beware of chronic "check engine" warnings. Prepare to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for faulty sensors: input and output. Hyundai will capture the public with a low/reasonable price tag but the REAL cost of ownership begins the day you take it home from the dealer. NEVER, NEVER AGAIN hyundai!

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  Not Happy (Throw away car) - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By Not Happy - June 11 - 11:19 am

  This car only lasted me a year. I bought this car for $2,500 on a payment plan and on my last payment the transmission went out. It went forwards but not backwards. I wasted money. When I go to car menchanics they tell me its not worth fixing because the parts are too expensive and hard to find. I got oil changes and tuneups regurlary and it still broke down on me. Its hard to try and trade this car in because the dealerships want to only give you a couples of hundred dollars for this piece of garbage.

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  Hyundai Lies About Its Warranties - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By HyundaiLies - June 7 - 8:04 am

  I faithfully serviced my car at the dealer but immediately after servicing it for a problem, they left me stranded in the desert w/the same problem just after the first warranty ran out. Before the 2nd warranty expired, it burned and leaked oil like crazy. I had to fight Hyundai tooth and nail for everything. If anyone buys a Hyundai & believes their ads, theyre missing a chromosome. Spend the extra money & buy a HONDA or anything else.

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  unhappy - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Darryl - May 27 - 4:33 pm

  Nice car at first.Been in the twelve times since.

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  Dont buy this car - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By mvermil - May 17 - 5:40 am

  Ive had this car for only a couple weeks and am in the process of returning it. The ride is extremely rough, to the point that it is physically jarring to the driver. The seats are very uncomfortable, and the steering wheel is at an odd angle (slightly to the left) rather than being straight on to the driver, which, coupled with the rough ride, has caused lower back problems for me (Ive never had back problems before).

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  Never again!! - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Linda Resh - May 10 - 3:26 pm

  This is the biggest piece of junk I have ever bought. I am now going on my 4th fuel pump. The 1st one left me stranded at only 2 weeks old. The last one is only 5 months old and under warranty but now they are telling me its my fault that the fuel pump went out because I got bad gas. so now they want to fix it for 800.00 and no warranty. I will never buy another vehicle from these rude people and they dont stand behind any warranty they give you not to mention I had to replace my tires at 25000 miles, and my arm rest broke. I will tell anyone who listens not to buy a Hynundi its a piece of JUNK!!

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  2010 Santa Fe Limited 3 Mos NEW - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By vigs - May 1 - 10:00 am

  The vehicle hesitates when I try to accelerate and sounds like slipping into gear Dealer Reset Computer 3 times. Also, Air Bag compartment is different color than dash board. Leather seat squeaks when moves. Very poor workmanship and quality highly disappointed. WOULD NOT RECOMEND ANYONE PURCHASE A SANTA FE OF ANY KIND. the dealerships just tells you thats the way it is and too bad. But I paid $30K for the vehicle and its like a 20 yr old used car.

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  Hollow Claims! Best Warranty? - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By Stephen Mathew - April 20 - 6:50 pm

  If you are a new car buyer and plan to own car for 10 yrs maybe but beware if you but pre-owned the warranty isnt worth the paper its writtem on, trust me I have a 3 yr old pre owned Sonata! Warranty aside, I have never owned a car that has had as many problems as my Sonata! Hardly 3 years on the list of failures are a yard long! Worst car Ive owned! There is a reason they market their cars on their so called warranty, its because so much IS going to go wrong with the car! The list: air bag! (seriously this component is never used and yet it fails? How does a component that is never used become defective?), a/c: every part you could think of!, actuator, power seats. Ive had at least 6 problems that were covered under warranty, yet the hazzle, its not as if Hyundai will give you a loner!

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  Shiny on the outside, Junk on the inside - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By kho - April 14 - 10:00 am

  Hyundai, a company that hasnt built anything to last. Yeah, the car has warrenty beyond belief, it needs it so that the buyer doesnt go postal on the dealership. under powered, poor power- trains, HEAVEY and sluggish. when my SUV takes my buds Tibby, you know somethings wrong. it does have styling, the dash looks tacky. i rated this car for its worth after the warrenty is over. NOTHING!

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  All the Thrill of Watching Grass Grow - 2012 Hyundai TUCSON
  By ebie - April 9 - 4:15 am

  Driving this boring car is almost as much fun as watching grass grow. Hopelessly underpowered, it takes forever to get up to highway speed, and merging into highway traffic is a religious experience. The ignition often doesnt want to release the key, resulting in the epic "man vs machine" battle. The bolt holding the drivers seat in place on its track has come out on its own several times, leaving the seat at the lowest position, which is lovely if you are tall or dont mind sitting on the floor. This car has a rough buckboard ride. Driving in the rain with the standard tires is rather unnerving as the car feels as though it is slipping and sliding rather than rolling smoothly forward