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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  Out of the Mainstream - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By royvw56 - April 6 - 2:00 am

  Ive had my XG350 for over a year now, and am satisfied overall. What I dont like is: (1)leather seats are too hard, (2)gear shift lever can be too easily put into manual mode (3)no autodimming rear view mirror for this model and (4) poor resale value. On the plus side, the V6 provides more than adequate power, and theres a nice array of standard options.

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  tiburon v-6 - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By jessieo10 - April 6 - 2:00 am

  i have had alot of problems with it first problem was the door seal then the rear window seal then my window motor quick workin then my trunk wouldnt open and the biggest problem was that it was quiting it would start up and run for about 5 seconds then stall out and it would do it 4 times before it would run but i had to take it to the shop about 4 times for that problem and they finally got it fixed said that it was the fuel i was using and that you shouldnt use high test gas in the v-6 that it was tuned to use 87octane but so far so good well see though

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  i may not buy another one - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By william r obrien - April 6 - 2:00 am

  gas mailage not as good as i thought it woud be ( 18 to 19 mpg.) car has sounds coming from back like something is broken-- all in all i dought that i would buy another one.

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  2009 SE AWD - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By vermontbuyer - April 5 - 2:23 am

  Good value,handling and comfort. Center console has less storage compared to Pilot.The car handles well in snow (havent driven it snow deeper than 3" as yet). Oil/filter change at dealer is pricy (first car Ive without any to get oil filter)

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  Satisfied mostly - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By zannan - March 31 - 5:10 am

  Have found this vehicle a fun car to drive and own. This is our second Hyundai, the first being an 2003 Elantra. It is a comfortable car that travels well and is overall an excellent vehicle. The gas mileage is a little low, (22mpg)but not a spoiler. So far the only issue we have is a loud high frequency buffeting noise that only is noticable when the rear side door window is rolled down. It occurs at 60 mph and stays with you until you reach alomost 95. I am taking it to the dealer to see what is causing this and if it can be fixed. I hope that it can because we live in Florida and although the a/c works fine, we didnt spend that much money to be cooped up all the time.

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  Good...could be better. - 1997 Hyundai Elantra
  By Pepe - March 30 - 2:00 am

  Bought my 1997 Elantra in 1996. New model, was skeptacle but have learned to love it. Good reliable car for the money. Definitely not Honda quality, but getting there. Great price for what you get.

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  Vera Cruz is Very Cool - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Dan - March 27 - 4:36 pm

  Bought our 2007 Vera Cruz Limited about 4-5 years ago and we now have almost 200,000 miles on it and it still drives & rides like a dream. Its our first SUV and we absolutely love it. The engine still doesnt use any oil and still has plenty of power & torque. Only trouble weve had with ours is we had to replace the AM/FM CD radio because it began to drain the battery after shutting the car off because the cd player would continue to run...the radio-CD player still worked fine but for some reason it just kept turning inside and would drain the battery. Upgraded with a new Boss Radio system and my wife is happy again. I offered to trade it in and get her another vehicle but she chose to keep the Vera Cruz and I think we made a good decision. Why Hyundai decided to discontinue this model in favor for the smaller Sante Fe is a mystery to me?

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  Call previous owners first... - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By Shan - March 27 - 2:00 am

  Fun, sporty-looking car, but not very good acceleration. Transmission slippage recall on some. Had to have tranmission replaced at 35000 miles. Check engine light has been on most of the time since. Fuel pressure sensor replaced, now service is checking some other sensors. Or might be faulty wiring. Fuel injection timer replaced shortly before 35000, of which service said is common in this model. All repairs have been covered by 60000 mile warranty. Blinker handle too short, no reminder bell if you leave your lights on, and the exterior trim on a door fell off. Plastic pieces inside that you use to close the doors come out easily.

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  My 95 Elantra :-) - 1995 Hyundai Elantra
  By DavidTX - March 27 - 2:00 am

  I got the car for my 17th birthay with 125,000 miles on the odometer. It was a great car. My good ol Aunt had it before me and she babied that car, it was perfect. Well, two years later Im sad to say the ol car threw a rod at 159,987. It almost made it! That car and I had some good times. I had charachter. We all called her Edna. She was the best. Rest in peace Edna!

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  best full size for the buck - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By pete - March 22 - 7:33 pm

  This is the best bang for the buck if you are looking for a family sedan, far exceeds the value of the Camry and Honda and exceeds the value of the mid/intermediate class such as the corolla, civic which I compared, The brand will evolve to be a powerhouse and increased market share w/ bring prices higher to where they should be, approx 3-4 higher at least, which is found in the warrenty, nevermind the undervalue price in what really matters ....and thats the bread and butter of the family car, saftey,warrenty, soundness, and comfort. this drives very similiar to a buick century.