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:

• 

  Few repairs after five years - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By deliah - August 31 - 8:14 am

  Originally, it cost $14,000...it now has over 87,000 miles, with only minor repairs. Original battery lasted me to the 80,000 mile point. The windshield got a crack from a thrown up rock on the highway at about the 60,000 mile point. Now, at my last inspection, the brakes barely passed, and Ill need to have them worked on soon, but not bad for this age and mileage. I would buy another of this model.

• 

  Youve got what you paid for - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Alex Novikov - August 30 - 7:10 am

  Overall - its a car worth its money, and I believe, problems with earlier production car will be fixed in the future. 15 MGP city/26 highway - come on - its ridiculous. Weird noises from the rear suspension and gas tank, driver seat gives me a backpain, my car is equipped with a subwoofer, yet, the bass quality is even worse then standard LX audio.

• 

  Transmission Design Error - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By TraniLeak - August 24 - 10:00 am

  When my husband decided to purchase this vehicle I was a little scepticle. We have had nothing but transmission leaking from this new car. As soon as I saw it I took it to the dealer and they stated there was no leak. So the very next day, the leak appeared and it got worse and worse. So now we are back at the dealership for the third time. I found out from reliable sources that there is a design flaw but I know no one is going to fess up to a flaw. I am very disappointed. Signed, Still Leaking with pictures and all.

• 

  ok car - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By faraway - August 15 - 1:33 pm

  We got this car and its very Nice looking. The inside is very Nice. The only thing is the trany needs to be replaced. We are not happy. We talked to some one who has 2001 Hyundai sonata they told us that they had to replace the trany at 12,000 miles and now 68,000 miles later again same problem. Also the airbag light comes on and that will cost about $1000 to fix. If you need the spark plugs replaced it will be about $400 to do it because they have to take part of the motor apart. The tires are different on this car so they are about $160 a each. We have the v6 2.7litter and the oil filter for that style motor doesnt fit you have to get the 4 cylinder. Good looking car.

• 

  Kinda..Ehh - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Sketchy - August 11 - 4:26 pm

  Bought this car second hand with low miles for a occasional trip and back and forth to work car. In town MPG sucks for this car. With A/C on car has little power so always finding myself putting it to the floor to keep up. Does ok with a/c off. Very comfy seats and layout isnt bad. Highway MPG is ok but still under 30 avg 65 mph. Gremlins start to show up after 50k miles but knock on wood, still hasnt left me stranded. Transmission likes to slip when real light pedal pressure is applied. Rattling/ticking noise started around engine sometime ago. Figured it was cheap gas but ran 93 octane still no help. Looking at new cars now. Hyundai? Ehh...I dunno. Warranty only 50k after 1st owner.

• 

  what do you expect? - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By boofus - August 10 - 9:15 am

  Dont misunderstand my title, I love this car. But it does what it is supposed to well. If I expected heated mirrors, seats, navigation, chrome wheels, etc. I would have purchased a Cadillac. I wanted an inexpensive, comfortable commuter that gets good gas mileage. I love XM radio so that was a surprise and the fact it has curtain airbags is a surprising benefit. Thats extra with the other mfgs. I must admit you have to be very deliberate when driving it, 0-60 in 13sec. Does not a dragster make! But once up to speed it does fine.

• 

  Not what I thought - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By watson - August 9 - 8:33 am

  Not vary reliable, The computor has had to be reprogramed twice. Now the front end is being repaired because car shakes. MPH is bad. Good side is that the warrenty and the finish are great. Would I buy it again? Not sure, but price and warrenty are good. Engine noise very loud.

• 

  Uncomfortable - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By Toni - August 5 - 10:22 pm

  We bought this car based on all of the great reviews. It wasnt bad when we did the test drive. But we live 50 miles away, and by the time we got home our low backs were really hurting. Tried driving it a couple of more times, but it is uncomfortable in about 10 minutes. Then met someone else that commented on how uncomfortable the seats are. Now have it parked and trying to sell it. I hate this car!

• 

  Not worth the money - 2013 Hyundai Veloster
  By zuk961 - August 1 - 9:41 am

  Too many problems, unwilling to fix. Many times the radio stopped working, finally they replaced it. The back up sensors constantly beep. They fixed one, but now it beeps again and they said its cold outside and thats normal when its cold. There is an air flow problem. When I drive the car and its cold outside, the temperature with the heat on high is below freezing from the seats down. The dealership tested and found the temperature to be below freezing, but there is nothing to fix. Now the keyless entry works half the time, and they wont fix it. Bottom line, dont buy this car if you live in a cold climate. Dont pay $28,000 for a car that works 8 months out of a year.

• 

  deceptive warranty - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By hzinor - July 31 - 12:35 pm

  Until about 6 months ago, I would have said that I was very happy with my van. Now the slider doors are not closing properly (seems to be a common complaint), yet the service dept at our local dealership cannot find anything wrong. The biggest issue is the water leaking from the sunroof, dripping from the control panel(dome lights/door openers,etc. Also, water leaking from the dash when it rains, collecting water on the floor of the passenger side. There are tons of wires down there, so I cant imagine what kind of fun I have to look forward to. I am told that the warranty does not cover "leaks", I find it outrageous that Hyundai thinks that this is normal wear & tear.