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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  GOOD CAR - 2000 Hyundai Sonata
  By KyCat - June 28 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car new and have driven it for almost 3 years. It has had minor problems but everything was covered and fixed under the 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty. Overall, it is a good vehicle and I will probably buy another. I feel sorry for anyone that has paid $25,000 or more for a Honda or Toyota with the same features as this vehicle because they have been robbed. I paid $17,090 "out the door" (which means everything was included in the price, such as taxes, tags, freight, processing fees, etc....)

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  Bad Paint, Ponies Mis-stated - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Hoover12 - June 24 - 10:00 am

  I initially enjoyed the shark but have been very disappointed in paint quality, lots of chipping and the recently disclosed "mis-stated" horsepower. Although I still think the car is attractive and fun to drive, I have questioned its performance due to the break-in period. Now I know it was not in my head. I based by buying decision on the power ratings and may have made another choice if the information was accurate. There has been no disclosure on any mis-stated torque ratings. I would love to hear from other buyers.

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  Santa Fa - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By gus - June 23 - 3:40 am

  Nice SUV for the money. It is a little slugash and geared real low. Over all a very good SUV.

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  Big Surprise - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By LawerenceOfSuburbia - June 21 - 6:16 am

  Never thought I would own a Hyundai but thought I might look at End-of-Year deals on 2006 model. Brand new 2007 still in srink wrap caught my eye. The 2007s arrived the day before so I got to try one. Bought it the next day. Loved it ever since. Tried Honda CRV (Too noisy, slow and cheap looking) and Pilot (nice, but pricy and a bit too big). If Hyundai proves reliable over time, then Watch Out Honda! Theres a new game afoot. My eldest daughter(37) thought it was a new Acura SUV. My youngest daughter(25) wanted to go out and replace her 2005 Santa Fe immediately.

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  Mine is not as great as everyone elses ET - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By sr500mark - June 19 - 4:52 pm

  I had a catasrophic engine failure that started with a faintly flickering oil light at low idling rpm. Oil level was ok. I changed the oil anyway and the flickering went away. This flickering only lasted a very short while, as I changed the oil immediately. It seemed like everytime I approached 3,000 miles on an oil change the engine light would start to flicker and then go away once changed. Engine died at 65,000 miles. Hyundai took care of the issue with little hassle. Interior plastic chrome trim is pealing, parking brake button broke off, parking brake wore too fast, needing constant adjustment and then rear brake replacement. I like it, it just isnt great. Back to Toyota.

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  kittyfancy51@aol.com - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By sylvia gerardo - June 19 - 10:00 am

  very nice to drive. small easy to park. attractive, spacy, nice interior, good lighting. the best part is the warranty. especially free oil changes for life which is great to have the dealer per- form services and also keep me informed of future service schedules.

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  Love the exterior, inside so-so - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Knowidentity - June 19 - 10:00 am

  I Love the exterior design, gas mileage,and overall performance BUT, the front seats are too small and uncomfortable. It is great to drive locally but, unfortunately, uncomfortable for longer trips.

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  Total Unsure at this point - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By LNS2011 - June 18 - 8:53 am

  My new 2011 Hyundai SonataGLS Automatic purchased 8/13/2010 & Im not satisfied, I was at first until I notice how loud/idle the car was parked just running not to mention hearing a big bang sound when I shift the car in reverse and drive the car now act as though it doesnt want to move past 20/40 miles forcing me to push the gas pedal to the floor, this could have caused an accident while trying to get onto a major highway,The sales manager @ Porter Auto in DE says I may have gotten a bad batch of gas/we dont live in a perfect world Go figure, what a thing to say to a concern customer who spent $20k & put a nice down payment.They currently have the car, Im currently noting everything

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  My second HYUNDAI - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Kenneth. - June 18 - 3:26 am

  after 2,000 miles no comlaints. petrol consumption high..good value compared to rivals.

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  Decent little car - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By redfraggle - June 17 - 2:00 am

  I had this car for 3 and a half years and overall had a good experience with it. It did have some annoying quirks (like the check engine light going on all the time when I first got the car), but overall it was a good value. Between 60 and 70000 miles I did have to bring it into the shop a few times for some pricey repairs, but I got over it. I had the car until recently when I hit a deer, and surprisingly walked away from the accident without a scratch. This was a great little starter car.