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 car - 2014 Hyundai Elantra
  By joe480 - April 26 - 1:09 pm

  I have a new car a 2014 Elantra. I found with less than 100 miles on it the speedometer was off by 3 mph. When it showed 35 miles per hour the car was only going 32 mph. I called Keys and took it in. They did their tests called Hyundai and did not fix the problem. I was told the car is with in limits. The dealer said they can not help it is up to Hyundai. So much for bumper to bumper coverage. I might have given a good rating but now every time I get into the car I have to speed to go the correct mph. How they can say it is with in limits when clearly the speedometer is off by 3 mph. I now wonder when something goes wrong what they will tell me why they wont fix it. Beware

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  Should have kept the 2007 - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By on_target - April 23 - 8:53 am

  I had a 2007 Elantra with 140,000 mile and only minor problems. My daughter still drives it. 2013 Elantra has been terrible: 1) persistent rough idle 2) the bluetooth, time, radio stations and other electronic gadgets keep resetting almost daily and I have to re-enter everything 3) I lose power steering while backing up. The dealers both say there are no error codes reporting from the car and Hyundai keeps telling me to allow the dealers to handle it.

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  Ready to give the car back - 2014 Hyundai Elantra
  By tracker14 - April 23 - 5:54 am

  Just bought the car 1 week ago and I want to give it back. I regret buying it. The front seats are extremely uncomfortable if you drive more than 20 minutes . My legs go numb and I limp every time I get out of the car . I did take the car for two test drives before I bought it, but never long distance. I am tall, 6.1. The angle of the seat bottom is something I never considered. In the Hyundai it is extreme. I will look at seat bottom angles at any future car buying adventures .

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  Nice Car for the Money - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By dowpwr - April 18 - 8:08 pm

  I can honestly say Im glad I stopped at the dealership to test drive this car. I test drove the Azera, but once youre in a Genesis, there is no going back. Besides being dead silent on the hwy, it has an amazing stereo (I have the tech package), and plenty of other features that make this car a joy to drive. The cooled seats are a must in the summer, and ride is very smooth and comfortable. The tech is a little behind, but if you plug in your iPod or put a CD in, you will not hear a better sound in any other vehicle on the road. I would stick with the 3.6. It is plenty fast, and the super smooth transmission doesnt shift quickly enough to significantly improve your 0-60 time.

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  Very Pleased - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By psjsms22 - April 16 - 1:36 pm

  I do not understand negative reviews about gas mileage! The LOWEST we have gotten is 32.5. We live in an extremely hilly area.....rural, lots of stops, starts, slow down for curves and accelerating on steep hills. On the hwy., we get over 38 mpg. We previously owned a Ford Focus and a Chevy Impala (which I hated!) and the Hyundai Elantra Limited is way above and beyond both vehicles. The ride is so much quieter and smoother. The features in the Limited surpass the Ford Focus by miles!

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  What is wrong with Hyundai? - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By estateplanner - April 9 - 7:21 pm

  I recently bought an Elantra. Suddenly I notice that the horn is incredibly weak. The turn signal sound is almost inaudible and the panic button alarm is only effective if youre 5 feet from the car. I complained to Hyundai and they have given me a real run-around stating nothing but my neighbor has a Limited Elantra and he told me that he knew about the sound problems. I like the car but I never would have bought it if I had known. I traded in a 2009 Camry which was perfect.

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  Ive had my 2012 Elantra for 2 weeks - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By davidh11 - April 8 - 2:02 pm

  Barely a month since I bought my 12 Elantra w/30K mi and so far so good. I hear all the complaints about gas mileage but so far I have no problem averaging combined 33 mpg. which is great for me considering my Pathfinder only got 16/21 mpg. I put on custom rims and a better quality tire which seems to have helped a bit w/ road noise. So far only complaint I really have is the ride is a bit stiff and theres no spare tire. I bought my Elantra for $14k out the door so for the design and features you cant really beat it for the price....Remeber, you cant expect a $14k car to drive like a Mercedes. You get what you pay for, folks. Ill follow up in a few months..

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  2013 elantra bad rear axle - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By rockkem - April 7 - 8:22 am

  they are replacing my rear axle for free. If I had rotated my tires like I should have I wouldnt have found out that my rear axle was bad. I had 1 rear tire with extremely odd wear, took it in and they found my axle was made very badly, had I rotated them like I should have, the wear would have been minimal and almost unnoticable on all 4 tires.

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  Pleasantry surprised! - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By rlfeen - April 2 - 2:50 pm

  Dont believe everything you read. If youre interested in a car, go drive it for yourself - you may just be surprised. I had a 2013 Elantra as a rental for a week and after the week I fell in love. The car is very quiet, VERY smooth (smooth ride and steering) and the overall quality is excellent. I was worried about it being "underpowered" as some reviews have stated however I find the power to be more than adequate (its no Porsche but it has great pick up). Yes the gas mileage isnt the best, but if thats not a huge deal for you, than this car is just fine. If you want good gas mileage, get a tiny car such as a Scion iQ or the even smaller Accent Hyundai offers.

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  Im so sorry to buy this car - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By georgewahba - March 31 - 8:47 pm

  Car acceleration is to bad and very slow. MPG is just 22 mpg. I had before camrey 1995, I was averaging 23 mpg . I regret to buy it.