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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  My 2005 Tucson - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Ed - September 26 - 7:20 am

  The best feature about this vehicle is the air conditioning system. It has hands down the coldest system I ever had in a car. Temperatures several degrees over 100 outside and the cabin is easily between 70 and 75. The worst feature - relative poor gas mileage (2.7L) for a small SUV. real fuel mileage in the city about 20 MPG, highway about 23 MPG.

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  Small Problems are the most annoying in a new car! - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By ambermofwv - September 24 - 5:49 pm

  I am a proud owner of a 2012 Hyundai Sonata, happy with my purchase, just not from where I purchased it. There have been SEVERAL interior problems and the car is less than 3 months old, the car dealer blames me. I take VERY good care of my car, clean it every day, inside and out, make sure its always full of gas and drive smoothe. BOTH side air bag panels have fallen off, there was a tear in the passenger seat, the cupholder is fading to an off black, and there is white glue on my door air bags. Its just the small things that bug you, and rude salesman playing you to be a fool.

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  Great, fun car, for a low price - 2016 Hyundai Veloster
  By CJ - September 22 - 2:35 am

  One of the more fun vehicles that I have driven, but not the best. However, you do get the bang for your buck! The options you get for $20K are phenomenal and you will not find that with any other vehicle in this class. The best part about this car? Modifications, this car adjusts to mods very well; I have about $2K in aftermarket parts on this car and have had ZERO issues. The one complaint I would have regarding performance is the DCT transmission, it is not the best but, I have heard that it is an issue with other Hyundai models. The interior and exterior are very nice, minus the cheap plastic that Hyundai is known for, I have yet to have any issues after 6 months of owning the vehicle. I get a lot of compliments on both the exterior and interior. The basic tech package is really good too, its something that you would have to pay extra when purchasing other vehicles. I did forget one thing, the tires that come on this vehicle from the dealer SUCK! I am not a fan of the Kuhmo tires at all, they are absolutely terrible in rain and other road conditions. If you have the extra money, buy new tires before you hydroplane.

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  No match for excellence yet - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By scott - September 21 - 4:20 am

  So many people are talking about it so I gave it a try. It sure looks like a elegant car, some what BMW, some what mercedes, some what Lexus. Yet, it is none of those, and that is the problem. There is total lack of personality. Well, car is just a car taking you from point A to point B. May be. Finding a car is not just a transportation device to me that actually bothers me.

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  My Hundai - 1996 Hyundai Elantra
  By mikewomack - September 21 - 2:00 am

  Reliable small car. This is my third Hyundai and the best overall. I had a problem with the transmission early on but Hyundai evantually replaced it and it has been humming along ever since. Other than normal wear and tear I havent had many problems, and I am one who doesnt believe in expensive 25, 50 etc. services. As someone said recently...Hyundais can no longer be criticized as cheap cars.

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  Great Little Car - 1996 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bcar03 - September 19 - 2:00 am

  This was my third Hyundai. Great little car for the money. I now have 120,000 trouble free miles on it. I hate to say it, but its time for a new one. I am going to purchase a 2002 Hyundai Elantra.

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  Great car for the money - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By 65 Spitfire Driver - September 15 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned this car now for over 3 years and have put 80,000 miles on it. To be honest, Im impressed. Its needed a few minor repairs along the way (most of which were covered under warranty) but nothing terribly serious. One minor complaint is the brakes...they seem to be prone to serious rotor warping. I just recently went out and bought a set of new rotors, but had to return to the dealer because no auto parts stores had the correct ones. Still...not bad. Weve taken this car up in the mountains and it handles well and is impressive in the turns. I should have gotten a 5 speed, but oh well...theres always next time.

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  Hyundai, No Day - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Heroheroic - September 14 - 10:03 pm

  Well being laid off from a job is never a good thing. I have been working at Bellsouth for nearly 20 years and just got laid off so having to downgrade my house to an apartment and 2006 Honda Accord EXv6 to a Hyundai Sonata LXv6 was a lost too. Having features such as a map and Navigation System or even the smoothly performing V-TEC and 5 speed manual i was not happy. The Hyundai is a "generic" car. It seem as if it is of good quality, but maybe comparable to my last car a 1999 mazda 626 ESV6 (sorry i tend to buy only V-6 models for perfomance reasons only)and like it is about 3 to 5 years behind the competition. Hyundai is still a player in the catch up game and is learning also.

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  resale value - 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
  By kwb50 - September 10 - 2:00 am

  We just sold our Tiburon. We brought it new from Hampton Hyundai. It went for $16000 in January of 2001. When we went to Hampton to trade it in, they only offered us $7000 for it!!! Great car, but dont expect much of a trade in.

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  Competent Family Car - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By tristanboy - September 6 - 11:26 pm

  Stylish car that needs more substance. Although a good effort, still not class leading. Steering feel is a well known issue for modern Hyundais. It feels extremely numb. The powertrain is very powerful. Get decent gas mileage around 25 mpg combined. Interior materials are nice although the center console plastics are rather cheap and the blue lighting at night is hard to read at a glance. Owned the car since November 2010. Other than routine service, I had to have the rear-view mirror replaced, the A/C actuator fixed, a new key fob. Fairly reliable and holding up well. Car at 29,000 miles.