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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  1300 Miles on New 08 Santa Fe - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ohio Citizen - March 22 - 3:30 am

  Im happy overall with my new 08 Santa Fe. Ive never owned a Hyundai, but they sold me with the massive warranty and assurance program. I looked at CR-Vs and Escapes, and I found this was a much better priced vehicle for the options I wanted. Its comfortable and snazzy. It drives more like an SUV than a zippy car. Braking distance sometimes sneaks up on you-- Ive taken to adding some following distance. Theres plenty of leg room. I wish there was more headroom in the drivers side. Anyone more than 6 tall will feel a bit scrunched by the vehicle roof when driving (my boyfriend is 62" and feels the roof is uncomfortably close to his head).

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  LOVE THIS AUTOMOBILE - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By FRANK PERRICONE - March 21 - 10:00 am

  THIS IS TRULY AN EXCELLANT AUTOMOBILE. THE BEST CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED AND/OR DRIVEN. HANDLES WELL, ACCELLERATES WELL, IS VERY SMOOTH AND ALMOST SOUNDLESS.

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  Love it so far - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Gail - March 21 - 7:16 am

  I bought this used with over 70,000 miles. Love the car so far, except for fuel economy - coming out of a standard 4-cyl Accord this is a shocker to me. The Santa Fe is awesome in all aspects except for the fuel. I cannot wait to try it in the snow and I am looking forward to buying an updated model after this one. Would definitely buy another one.

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  Best bang for the buck - 2008 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Craig - March 18 - 5:46 am

  Purchased this SUV after having a 4 cyl 5 speed Sante Fe for 4 years & was quite happy with both service & reliability with Hyundai vehicles. Was looking for something comparable & found the 4 cyl 5 speed Tucson surprisingly similar to drive. Handles very well in the city with great gas mileage. Having purchased a front-wheel drive, a good set of snow tires handled winter driving in the snow well. The highway driving is very good but the engine works harder on hills with 4 passengers and a full load, which is to be expected. Interior noise is surprisingly quiet for a hard working engine as well as very smooth handling. Recommend this vehicle with anyone with kids.Trunk space is a minimum

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  Great Little Care - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By az45 - March 17 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my 2003 Elantra GLS to use as a second car to take me to and from work. However, I like driving it so much that I find myself choosing it over my 2003 Camry XLE. The Elantra is a well thought out car with a lot of pep and spirit. I do have some complaints however. Only the driver can lock all the power doors. The front passenger can control only their door. The trunk hood is too low. When loading and unloading I constantly bang my head on the latch that protrudes from the inside of the trunk. Overall, it is still a great little car.

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  Hyundai Accent 1997 GT - 1997 Hyundai Accent
  By James from Boston - March 15 - 3:16 pm

  This is my third Accent(first was a 1997 hatch GS with 54,000 miles on it and no issues which later involved in an accident and totaled, second Accent owned a Hatch L purchased in 1999 with 40,000 miles on it...NO PROBLEMS AT ALL....still have it with 96,000mi), since then I have purchased a 1997 Accent GT. I owned a Grand Am in 86 & 92(when they redesigned it), and both cars had issues starting in the winter BRAND NEW...NEVER BUY ONE AGAIN.

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  New Sonata - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sark - March 15 - 11:13 am

  Went from a 2001 accord to the 2007 Sonata primarily because of cost. Was very pleasantly surprise with the Sonatas performance together with the added features the Accord doesnt offer. Todate I couldnt be more pleased. Given the cost of the Accord and Camry they are both overrated compared to the Sonata.

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  A solid little car - 1996 Hyundai Accent
  By Toro - March 13 - 10:26 am

  Love my Hyundai. Bought this car from the dealer with 7K miles on it and havent had any major problems. drivers side window mechanisim broke 33 bucks to fix, less than an oil change. Also broke a bolt in the front pass suspension $8 dollar fix. Though its light in the horsepower still a fun little car to drive.

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  The good and the not-so-good - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Denis - March 6 - 11:16 am

  I enjoy my Santa Fe very much. The 3.5 engine has plenty of zip and the car handles very well. Biggest drawback is getting into car. The natural tendancy is to lean forward to clear the door with your head but the overly raked windshield makes this manuever ill-advised. The rear seats not only fold down (although not 100% flat), they also recline which make them much more comortable than the Subaru Forester which I considered. Standard safety features are outstanding such as side air bags & reinforced doors,ABS 4 wheel disc brakes, heated power mirrors. My Santa Fe came standard with AC, powerful CD/Cassette, AM/FM, Cruise, power everything except seats, remote entry w/alarm & much more

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  Evaluation of 1999 Hyundai Elantra Wagon - 1999 Hyundai Elantra
  By Judy Maxwell - March 4 - 2:38 pm

  I like the body, the roominess, and the convenient style of the hatchback. It gets around and it is easy to maneuver. It gets good gas mileage and is easy to park because of the size. I think it is undervalued in the blue book.