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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  2013 Elantra GT - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By Wayne - September 5 - 4:25 am

  Great car. Just traded in for a 2017 on a three year lease. Very few complaints. A good value car. The Pearl blue finish was quite attractive. Its not a Ferrari, and I think people expect a bit too much in terms of acceleration, etc. A competent car that never let me down.

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  This is my 4th Hyundai - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By rickb - September 5 - 2:00 am

  This vehicle has the most comfortable ride of the four Hyundais Ive owned (88 Excel, 90 Sonata, 94 Elantra, 99 Sonata). Ive had to return it to the dealer a couple of times (02 sensors((4 of them on the 2.5L!))and a recall, that I read about in "Consumers Report". I currently have a problem with the paint peeling off the passenger outside mirror mount. Very solid and quiet vehicle. In five years, Hyundai will be the benchmark of the Asian automotive industry in the U.S.

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  A Major Defect - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By taciturn - September 1 - 7:56 pm

  My Sonata is 3 months old. This review is exclusively to warn all potential buyers of a major defect that Hyundai is aware of, yet is doing nothing about. Namely; the steering wheel locks up when you turn the car off. This was supposedly an anti-theft device the company came up with. However, when the steering wheel inadvertently locks up, the driver must furiously shake the steering wheel back and forth to disengage the locking device. Naturally, my family and I learned this the hard way. Getting stuck, being unable to get the device to disengage. 2 Hyundai dealers now tell me that the company is aware of this problem. Wow, thats impressive !

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  Poor rear suspension design - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By prince Strickland - August 31 - 9:33 pm

  My overall experience with my vehicle has been fine except it has developed a loud rear suspension noise and the factory reps are stating they do no have a solution for the problem.

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  sonata - great car - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By michele - August 29 - 2:00 am

  Very Positive. Great warranty, even though not needed because nothing has gone wrong

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  ::shrug:: No problems here. - 1994 Hyundai Elantra
  By Vegete - August 28 - 2:00 am

  For a 1st car, this did the trick. Since owning the car, I never had any problems w/ it. It had great gas mileage and plenty of room inside. I bought the car at around 70,000 and all ran swimmingly...up until its unfortunate demise in an accident (STAY ON YOUR SIDE). In my accident, the car automatically shut off as it should have (Ive heard of stories where peoples cars didnt shut off after having an accident) and the air bag deployed on cue (thank goodness). All in all, a pretty decent car.

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  hyundai eval - 1996 Hyundai Elantra
  By ku rainbow - August 25 - 2:00 am

  This little vehicle ssurprised me as being an off-brand, I was a little skeptical. However, I really liked the styling & the price range for a second run around town car. It gets over 400 miles to a tank & is spacious for all my cargo needs.

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  Problems - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By newtusconowner - August 23 - 10:00 am

  Got our new car in June of 2010. At 4300 miles, two weeks after our first oil change, it broke down, at first service couldnt find problem, but finally diagnosed as fuel pump failure. Pick car up and drive out of dealership and warning lights go off again, car sputters and almost stalls, horrible grinding noise and white smoke from engine, now diagnosed with A/C compressor failure. Worried about what will come next. Brand new car shouldnt have these many problems. Been in a rental car for four days and counting.

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  Satisfied but not Excited - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By A.Fl - August 23 - 1:40 am

  I have owned this car for a few months, got it fire engine red with a 5pd manual transmission. I loved the look and the fact it was a manual, though a bright red coupe was not really in my best interest(Im a young driver, all I need is more attention on the road, right?). I had been shopping for a year and a half, and I got a great deal, so I ran with it. So far I am happy with everything except the engine power, which is adequate but does not lend itself to being a joy ride. Also, I am having a bit of trouble finding some basic performance parts to increase the HP. Basically, it meets but doesnt exceed expectations in this kind of vehicle.

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  Missing the Mark, but still a nice car. - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By michelangelo7 - August 18 - 1:01 pm

  I purchased my 2012 Sonata Hybrid new from the dealership. This was my first "fancy" car, as I had always gone either base model or used in the past due to financial difficulty, but I was finally in a position to spoil myself a bit, and was able to justify my expense in the fuel savings, or so I though... Highway miles truly are 38-40, and I can even get that if "cruising", but only if the weather is nice, and traffic is light. Here in the Midwest we get temperature extremes which effect the fuel economy a great deal, and stop and go city driving averages 32 mpg which is no where near what they had advertised. My friends all say I drive like an old man too, so I know its not just me...