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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  New owner - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Nadine59 - January 16 - 2:00 am

  I have always drove a larger american model of 4wd suvs. I fell in love with the Santa Fe and felt real comfortable in buying the Santa Fe as my husband and I spoke to strangers that owned the Santa Fe and have found that no one had anything bad to say about the vehicle. We were sold!

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  1 Year FollowUp - NY/NJ Driver (mixed hw/city) - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By kososs - January 15 - 12:43 am

  I am at my 1 year mark and ~ 15K miles. I have noticed no deterioration in performance. Have not been in shop other than 3 oil changes with my mechanic (I was told not to go by the book for oil changes, I am using synthetic and change every 4.5K instead of books 7.5K). I drive to work in a carpool, drive my 4 year old to day care and take it weekend shopping. No problems with inertia front or back. No problem with seat fabric or plastics.

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  Losing my Santa Fe hurts! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ellen - January 14 - 11:50 pm

  Of all of the vehicles that I have ever owned and/or driven I would choose my Santa Fe. I bought it new in 2002 and it was totaled in an accident with my 20 yr old driving in May 2010. There were 5 people in the car when the accident happened and other than bruises (seat belt & my daughters knee hit the dash) they were all fine. I always felt very safe driving/letting my daughter drive it. The car was reliable, fun, comfortable and could carry almost anything that I could possibly bring home including some huge rocks that I absolutely had to have. I was absolutely devastated when they told me that it was totaled! I would have driven this car for a long time yet. Boohoo, I miss my Santa Fe!

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  Good Car - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By KC - January 14 - 11:41 pm

  Ive read several of consumer comments while shopping for a new car. I bought my Elantra in 2002. It was a base GLS, no options for $9990. It was a lose leader. I owned the car for 5 years and 50,000 miles. The cost of ownership was lower than any other vehicle period. I changed the oil, rotated the tires and replaced the tires at 46,000 miles. Thats all I put into the car. No windshield wipers, no battery, no brakes. Everything worked fine. The car was extremely reliable, started everytime and got me from point A to B. The car was totaled, so Im looking at replacing it with a 05 Elantra. I had a manual, no issues with the clutch or gear box. I drove this car hard and didnt have an issue.

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  A great buy, few problems - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By Rings - January 14 - 7:34 am

  The 2004 Elantra is definitely something i will be keeping around for awhile. Some people might say that Hyundai does not make reliable cars, I dont know about Hyundais past but i assure you that this sedan is nothing but reliable. I had purchased the car with only 18,000 miles on it and now it has over 50,000 in just one year. I still have not run into a single mechanical problem nor any interior problem. I had to replace the brakes but those are wearing parts. I drive both highway and city getting a 28mpg. It is most definitely not at its best when in snow though, it is actually not a snow friendly car at all. Ill just take it easy in snow and keep driving fun, good on gas, reliable car

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  I Like my 2002 Santa Fe - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Steve Anonsen - January 14 - 2:00 am

  Solid feel, but doesnt ride like a truck. Even with the drivers seat all the way back I have more back seat legroom than my neighbors Jeep Grand Cherokee. Get the 4-cyl, 2-wheel drive. 25 mpg avg. If you dont really need 4-wheel drive, dont get it; it will bog you down, even with the 6-cyl. The 6-cyl is not worth losing 5+mpg for the extra (and not really needed) hp. Handling is nimble, stable, and fun. Granted, the 4-cyl wont be the quickest off the line, but it will be faster than the six with 4wd.

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  Great first car. - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Will Cilvik - January 14 - 2:00 am

  This is my first new car and its everything I could have asked for. I just got back from my first road trip (1200 miles round trip), the seats are comfortable, the ride smooth,enough acceleration to get around the tractor trailers and excellent gas milage(I got 35 mpg on my trip). The car is decent in the snow, not an AWD vehicle, but capable enough. I would recommend this car to anyone looking for a brand new car, especially with the HUGE warranty and the huge list of standard features.

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  Hyundai GLS Not bad.. - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Nuketroop - January 14 - 2:00 am

  Car is not bad.. dohc gives it a bit of pickup too. Even for an auto.

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  Cant Beat the Price - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By WP 34 - January 14 - 2:00 am

  I just bought the Elantra GT but had a hard time finding one. I hear they are jumping off of the lots. I added the options package 7 and for the price couldnt touch a Toyota Corolla. The Toyota was very uncomfortable and I had to lean forward very far to operate the radio. The Elantra has more interior room. At 6 3" tall, I am very comfortable in this car.

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  grandfather car - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By saulkaplan - January 12 - 3:34 pm

  After owning a dozen new cars I finally found, in my dotage, a car that is comfortable, powerful and smooth-simply a pleasure. it lacks some of the new gadgets as back-up TV and geographic locator but look at what you get for the price of a Camry? So far, fingers crossed, its a winner.