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 2012 Tucson story - 2012 Hyundai TUCSON
  By s_f_tucson - September 14 - 2:08 am

  My Wife and I bought a new 2012 Hyundi Tucson on Dec 28 from San Francisco Hyundi. Less than 3 three months later the engine needed to be replaced because the engine gasket was bad and leaked coolant into the engine. The only thing everyone cared about was what Hyundi Motors Company said. The service department knew what the problem and the solution was, but they were told to wait by Hyundi Motors Company until the gasket could get tested. Hyundai motors wanted to make sure they knew what the problem was. I didnt buy this car from Hyundai so they could keep it in the shop testing it. They could have at least filled my tank when they were done fixing it.

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  Check Engine - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Jadejaws - September 13 - 6:26 pm

  No Sante Fe owner can tell me he/she hasnt seen this light WAY too often. Overall not a terrible car, but the interior has cheap flimsy equipment (the steering wheel literally started to come apart in my hands). I am rid of this car now and couldnt be happier about that. Maybe the later models were better, but way too many "out of warranty" repairs were needed on this vehicle. The stated MPG is an outright lie and I was lucky to get 16 MPG most of the time. I can honestly say that of the 6 cars I have bought new, this was without a doubt the absolutely worst one (1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse a very close second).

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  Quality dropping - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By Thomas Klose - September 13 - 5:14 pm

  I have had 5 Hyundais in my family in the past 10 years. All experienced issues with rusting underside, and around all the brakes. The most recent 2012 Elantra went in with a value tap, and they replaced the engine. All the other models are known to have engine issues, but they were in denial on this model. They also pointed out the accelerated rust on the undercarriage. Speaking to other Hyundai/Kia owners, there is an obvious pattern where some cars had this rust issue, others did not. My local mechanic said the underside looked like a car that is frequently parked over the grass, but this car was always on pavement. There is something wrong with their undercoating or lack of in manufacturing. The dealer wanted to charge to fix it. When we got the car back, with the new engine....we immediately traded it in for another new car...not a Hyundai this time. Update 9/2017. Many of our friends with Hyundais says dealerships trying to blame owners for the excessive rust issues on the undercarriage. Said its our fault when its likely lack of rustproofing or bad/cheap metal used in body. FYI: Car always parked on pavement. Also, everyone I know also had the engine replaced. They traded cars in for other brands.

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  I will never purchase another Hyundai - 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
  By trisha - September 13 - 4:50 am

  I presently have 67,000 miles on my car. Recently, I have had nothing but problems it. Although I have done all the scheduled maintenance on this vehicle, everything not covered under warranty is wearing out. In the last couple of months, I have had to put almost $2500 into it to keep it running. I am also being told that the clutch and the power steering are going at this point. I have taken care of the car, and not run it hard. This is my second Hyundai (my first was in the 1980s), and I thought with the warranty I was getting a better car. Not so. The drive train warranty covers only the internal engine and internal tranny parts - the dealerships dont tell you that. Buyer beware.

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  Supra Wannabe - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Supra Enthusiast - September 12 - 10:00 am

  Its not that I do not like this vehicle, but if you really pay attention to its design, it looks very much like a TOYOTA SUPRA. Examples of this are the side air duct, only hyundai put the duct near the front end and not the rear and tried not to make it look like the toyota supra, the headllight shape, hood shape, side window frame shape, read spoiler, and the V6 engine that supra had and 6- speed that supra had.

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  Stinks - 2005 Hyundai Accent
  By Adrian Chamblin - August 24 - 9:23 am

  I have had this vehicle for 4 years now and the gas milage on it stinks. It burns oil now 1/2 the time during the 3,000 oil change mark. I wish I had researched it a little more before I bought the car. I know I drive a lot but I shouldnt have to change the tires every 3-4 months either. If I were you... do not get this car! It is a waste of money!

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  Bad News for Dependability - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By smac5 - August 7 - 11:49 pm

  After researching the Sonata, I was convinced that it is was a reliable car. Oh how wrong I was. At 70000 miles the engine started to fall apart from the inside. Of course I bought the car knowing that I needed a car that would get me well past the payments, and since I still owe $11,000 + I am more than upset to add over $5000 in engine replacement costs.

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  Read before you buy - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Josh - July 21 - 7:33 pm

  Beware of a problem. the ignition system is designed very poorly. every 20k miles the car needs plug wires and/or ignitoin coils. $200-$550 every 6 months for us. 2.4l engine design is bad. Hyundai does not help except charge us every 6 months for the same replacement parts as they do not warranty these. BE VERY BEWARE!!!!!!

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  Problems Galore! **Rebuilt Warranty** - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By akkyle - July 17 - 9:13 pm

  My family bought a new 2006 Hyundai Tucson GLS 2.7L 4 speed Automatic in the fall of 2006. We have had it maintained every time at or before 3000 miles or 3 months (It has under 50,000 miles as of now, fall of 2011). When it was 3 years and approx. 30,000 it started having significant problems with the 4WD, transmission, and power steering. Now it has been sitting at the dealer for a month (NO JOKE!) for a ***REBUILT*** transmission to be put in and rear struts that recently started leaking. So far the dealer has not done anything to the car. We will never buy Hyundai again. RAV4 is the replacement SUV!

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  Poor quality - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Christopher Herrman - July 17 - 4:16 pm

  I have owned this Santa Fe since it was new. A lot of repairs. Most were covered under warranty. The worst is the valve cover gasket. It has been replaced 5 times. It drips oil on the alternator then it shortens the life of the alternator and then the battery. The alternator replaced 3 times and battery 2 times. Hyundai did finally own up and reimbursed me for the repairs. But now I dont have a Hyundai dealer. There was a recall on the alternator/ valve cover replaced both 9/15. There is oil on the alternator again. Plus the power seat is junk too, replaced twice. The rear tires are very sensitive to alignments. Im on my 3rd set, less than 100,000