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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  Uncomfortable seats - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By me34 - April 15 - 7:09 am

  There is very little lumbar support in this automobile. This makes it unpleasant for me to drive. An $18,000 mistake.

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  To Dust Revisited - 1998 Hyundai Elantra
  By to_dust - April 12 - 11:56 am

  I wrote a review of my elantra in 2005 (look at earlier reviews). It is now 2011 and I am still driving the car I bought 13 years ago. I now have 191,000 miles. To date I have replaced the timing belt, Break pads, and shocks. Otherwise the car is original. Including the original clutch. I am now on a quest to see how far it will go.

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  A big boring car for suburban American masses! - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By streetcarben - April 8 - 5:07 pm

  I bought this car in December after my 02 Mini was getting too expensive to maintain. I got sucked in by the 10 year warranty and the advertised fuel economy. An overall ok/good car. Not as fun to drive as my Mini. Harder to fit into small city parking spaces compared to my Mini. Fuel economy is not nearly good as what Hyundai advertises. The car is supposed to get 40 mpgs HWY. Hah! After 4 months, I average about 33/34 on the HWY. My Mini got 36 on the HWY. I live in Boston and had to go to a dealer 50 miles away to find an Elantra with a manual transmission! Transmission quality overall is pretty good. Based on my experience thus far with this car I would probably not buy another Hyundai.

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  Aging through the ages... - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By squirts - April 5 - 11:07 pm

  All, I bought my 02 Accent new. Since then, Ive racked up 115,000 on the odo with 80% highway driving of 75 miles/day Monday-Friday. To date, I really cant complain. Beyond normal wear items, Ive replaced both back wheel cylinders ($15 ea) and the (dreaded) flex pipe and pipe extension ($45) due to rust-through. The car still gets great gas mileage and doesnt burn oil. Ill need to work on the front end (I think some bushings are worn as there is a "clunk" over pot holes), but, knock wood, its holding up well.

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  Great Large Compact Car - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By goldthaiger - March 26 - 3:30 pm

  I just bought Elantra 2011 a month ago. So far, this car is great. The standard features that come with the car is just fantastic. Its a sport sedan good looking car by far in the market. I was amazed when i first went to the dealer and sit in the car. The interior is great...so roomy. Before i decided to buy Elantra, I went to see and did some research...mazda3 was my first choice, then Corolla and Civic. Mazda3 is a very good looking car, best interior, but MPG didnt really do it for me. Corolla is not an exciting car what so ever and still use the drum brakes the back wheels. Honda is just way too expensive for the smallest compact car. Its my first time buying Hyundai and I love it.

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  Suprising! - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By drblptq - March 26 - 11:49 am

  Let me begin by saying I purchased this vehicle primarily for its advertised gas mileage, along with its styling and for that it has not disappointed! I average about 33 mpg, with a 50/50 split highway/local. This is a dramatic improvement over my last ride, a CX-9. Of course to compare the two vehicles is useless. The Cx-9 averaged 17mpg mixed. Not bad for a vehicle its size and weight. I drive about 25,000 miles per year, 95% work related, and the Elantra fits the bill with current gas prices.

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  I was pleasantly shocked - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By jacobe - March 23 - 7:37 pm

  This is my first car and I love it. It handles very well, the best out of all the ones I test drove. It has 102k miles on it, so I replaced the timing belt and some other items, but other then that it runs amazing. Has never left me stranded. The acceleration is very good, for the size of the motor. Also this car goes amazing in snow. When we had our blizzard where we got 6 in. I was going around 4wd drive trucks that were stuck in the snow. Overall it is a great little.

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  Hyundai Equus Signature - 2011 Hyundai Equus
  By clingenpeel - March 22 - 5:21 pm

  I took delivery of My Signature On Jan 7. It has been a great car to drive. On a trip over the mountains it got 23.3 on regular.b On a trip over flat terrain it go 27,6 mpg. To all the biychers out there, my other car is a Mercedes S Class. The ammenities are the same except the Equus does not have a power trunk lid or automatic door closers. I feel like I just saved $40000

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  Great car (dependable) - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By mmeyering - March 13 - 1:11 pm

  I bought this car brand new and I am still driving it with 170K on it. Everything on it still works as it should. I have read that people thik it is bad in the snow, Well I think it has a lot to do with the tires I did a lot of research on tires and with the ones I bought the car goes GREAT in the snow. I always run 55 - 60 on the slippery roads with no trouble and I have gone through powder snow that was coming over the hood. It also handles good on dry roads as well I had it up to 120 mph and handles great. The only repairs I have made were wheel bearing and 1 fuel injector, other than that just the regular sch mat. I would buy another and do not baby it!!! It is a lot of fun to drive .

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  Pros outweigh cons, pleased with the car - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By pki1 - March 11 - 12:39 pm

  I bought the car with 53K miles on it. The first owner took good care of the vehicle, so I got a good deal. The car is inexpensive for its class, a thorough worthy purchase. Pros - Space, wide visibility angle, comfortable interiors, well tuned acceleration and braking for a 4 Cyl., good acceleration, stable at high speeds, low engine noise. Cons - Large turning radius, Insufficient differential acceleration causing deeper outward tilt on high speed turns, low power steering ratio, average road grip, visor spring quality, mildly hard suspension My recommendation backs Hyundai for a wonderful top-of-its-class vehicle at and affordable price... buy em while theyre still cheap!