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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  Most Sportiness for the Money - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Cougars 2 go - December 7 - 8:26 am

  This is a two-seater car. The "rear seat" is for lower insurance rates and gym bags. Im glad they fold down though. You can easily fit four 16" wheels with 225/60 tires in the back with room to spare. The rear wiper helps to see behind and when backing up in rain and snow. Beware with 05, dont know why it was discontinued for 05. Holds corners pretty well considering its smooth ride. Ive had mine for 13 months and put 20K miles on it. 2004 GT V6 6-spd with leather, ABS, moonroof, 360W sound with subwoofer. The 04 GT V6 was the only Tiburon that I could get the leather seats, 6-spd man trans, upgraded sound system with subwoofer, high spoiler, aluminum pedals all in one package. Great car.

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  great car - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By steelmonkey - December 5 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car in 1998 with less than 2000 miles on it. I am a construction worker and I have to travel a lot. It held up for the whole 4 years without a problem. It started every day without fail. It has sure seen a lot of construction sites that were not to favorable. Old faithful made it thru everything!! It gets 33 mpg without fail. I am very sad to have to part with it. It now has 85000 miles on it. The only reason I have to sell it is because I have outgrown the car. Too many tools now. The daughter is driving it now. Then it will go to my son to drive. Thanks Hyundai for a great little car.

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  Not Ready For Prime Time - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By richvaguy - December 3 - 2:40 am

  I have had the car a month and believe I have driven it enough to get a true feel. On the hwy it is excellent, good response great gas 39+mpg, good ride and comfort. Now for the not so good. The car is dangerous to drive, hesitates badly between 0-25mph, shudders and shakes the entire car when transitioning from Electric to Gas. Impossible to get close to advertised city MPG. I try to drive as gentle as possible to stay in EV mode, the slightest touch on the pedal and it goes to gas thus decreasing MPG. Lucky to get 30mpg in city driving. Gauges hang up and read 0 mpg in EV (electric vehicle) mode. Should read 50mpg.

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  great car - 1997 Hyundai Accent
  By 54 - December 3 - 2:00 am

  Love the car so much I have put two of my children into Hyundais. My son has a 2000 Accent and my daughter has a 2001 Accent.

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  Its great but... - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By jpiraino - December 1 - 2:00 am

  Wind noise in window, limited back seat footroom, emergency brake handle rubs midleg, car pulls left and has been aligned twice with no success. Great looking car, great value for the $, Dealer has been responsive. Remember the early Hondas ? They were not much and look at them now. Hyundai will dupicate that success in the next 5 years.

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  SUV that drives like a car - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Linda - November 30 - 10:23 pm

  This vehicle is far superior to my RAV 4 except for one thing - gas mileage. doing all city I get 17mpg and during the best possible driving conditions I only get about 21.8. That was a huge disappointment to me. It is a smooth ride, fun to drive, and feels great. Too much plastic in the interior but still well worth getting. Except for the mileage and now at over $3/gl that is a big deal, it is a great little car.

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  Youll need the warranty - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By broken - November 29 - 10:00 am

  I loved the Santa Fe from the start, good ride, gas mileage is what you should really expect (20mpg highway). Everything went downhill when the transfer case broke down after I had the car for only 3 weeks. Dealership said it was a fluke occurrance, but regardless I will be worried about the reliability from now on. The warranty is nice but knowing youll have to use it is not.

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  679 miles, XM radio not working, rattle on sunroof - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By jamil2 - November 28 - 3:47 pm

  Traded my 2006 Toyota Avalon which had 118000 miles and had way too many recalls and expensive repairs. My 02 Camry is still running with 174000 miles on it without any problem wife already bought a 2011 Honda Accord EX . So bought a 2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited after researching the vehicle and had no other choice . Love driving but sunroof rattles fixed at 450 miles and last two weeks XM radio has no signal. Sent several signals to the radio , still not working. dealer has ordered new XM antena. I hope no rattles come back after installing new antena,because roof liner needs to be removed from the back . I hope this car does not turn out to be another problematic Toyota Avalon. NJ

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  Good Car - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By Akulakat - November 26 - 2:00 am

  Warranty brought me to even look at the Hyundai. Price brought me back to the dealership when it was time to buy. I have had no major problems with this car in my 70,000 miles of driving. Ive done nothing to it except change the oil and wiper fluid. Only once did I have to take it to the dealer for a recall on an air bag sensor. The car (4 cyl. Manual trans.) has plenty of pep and decent gas mileage. Long trips give you leg cramps as the seats dont support my leg very well (Seat too low or floor too high. LOL.) Cruise control is awkward as you have to activate it every time before you use it. Interior lighting...is dismal.

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  Seats suck - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Rich24 - November 26 - 2:00 am

  Everything is good in the car but the drivers seat seems to be leaning over to the right side. My lower back hurts when I get out of the car after long drives. Need to make the seat less firm. Get the leather seats if you buy. Spend the extra money for the better seats!!