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:

• 

  Girlfriends Car and I Want to Kill It - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By kobiewan - December 30 - 7:43 pm

  Ok this car was bought by my girlfriend in January 2014. Well, from the start it drove great. The handling was good. The transmission was smooth shifting, and it had great gas mileage. Well... February we had issues. Rotors are going, oil control valve had to be cleaned, ecu was replaced along with all coils and spark plugs. We now have a possible head gasket issue. The engine leaks oil like mad through the timing belt case, and we are also losing coolant at a fast rate. Now the engine is misfiring again, and with all the other issues, I am not sure if the car is worth keeping. It is sad that more throw away cars are being built. My 99 Honda Accord is still going strong at 170k miles. Sad

• 

  Nice Car - But Quality / Reliability Disappoints - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By scbob1 - October 6 - 8:58 pm

  I want to really like my Genesis but it is not happening. It has many good things going for it - nice stereo, great gas mileage, peppy engine, nice ride. The down side is the quality and reliability disappoints. The windshield wiper blades went bad within14 months. The windshield wipers then failed and had to be replaced. It has a sturctural / noise issue with the unidbody which took Hyundai two years to find. Stuff that should not happen. I now notice the resale is not too hot so I guess I am stuck with it. Wish I had purchased an established brand llike Toyota or Honda while someone else worked out Hyundai start up problems. If the problems would go away, I could love it again.

• 

  Follow Up Review: I wouldnt do it again! - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By brooklynjoel - September 18 - 4:28 pm

  Sadly, my experience with my car since my last review has soured me on it. I originally purchased it in June of 2012. In the last year, I have experienced multiple issues which make me question the long-term reliability, quality and engineering of this car. My issue with intermittent rough idle continues unabated, whether using or not using the a/c. It is clearly not an engine load issue. As well, now the transmission has developed an absolutely maddening metallic clicking sound intermittently when accelerating from a stop, or a roll, and sometimes when letting off the throttle. There is also a tick in the engine when it hasnt fully warmed up. This car is a "good looker" with a black heart.

• 

  Some poor engineering ,quality issues, terrible buying experience - 2014 Hyundai Equus
  By carbuyer1929 - August 13 - 5:20 pm

  If you have owned a Lexus, I dont think youll be satisfied with the Equus. I am at 4 months of ownership, 2800 miles, and there are quite a few paint chips on the rocker panels due to stepping in and out of the car. Its obviously not just me, because they are on both sides. Lexus has a metal plate where Equus has a piece of painted plastic. Thats an engineering flaw in my book. Im being told this isnt warrantable because it was caused by the user. I also have a small tear on the leather on the driverss side door. i dont have the space to discuss the buying "experience" but its not one I will repeat...with bait and switch by 1 dealer and addition of BS charges by another.

• 

  Beware of water - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By ggullett - August 1 - 11:09 am

  I purchased the Elantra limited in 2012 after having done a bit of research on the vehicle for mpg, value, and etc. And after driving nearly 78k miles I can say that there are better vehicles for the money. I am on my second set of tires and both sets have horrible road noise that is amplified when stopping on wet pavement. I have had the car looked at by the dealer and they cant find anything. Also the steering wheel would pull to the left since the day I drove the car off the lot to which again the dealer said nothing wrong.

• 

  Was a great car (at first) - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By donjo13 - July 12 - 10:11 pm

  I bought this car brand new in Oct 2012. I thought it was striking and loved the colors scheme in and out. I was amazed with fuel economy from the git go. I had a 2011 Mazda 2 which got around 32 mpg and was a much smaller car. It got totalled from a sandwich between a Cavalier and an Explorer on I-95 near Richmond VA. I used the car as a courier which was driven 250 miles per day. 40+ mpg was typical on my run cruising at 65 mph. I always got over 400 miles out of a full tank. The Bad: Engine knock after about 50k. Car sounded like it had no oil in it. Interior wear was horrible. Paint came off steering wheel center, seats scotchguarded still stained from hardly anything. Radio issues.

• 

  Not quite ready for Prime Time - 2015 Hyundai Genesis
  By alfredf - May 22 - 3:26 pm

  Nicely executed exterior design, quiet and composed ride, but clear cost cutting everywhere else with a plain-jane interior that neither feels luxurious or sporty, cheap plastic switchgear abound, ventilated seats that bearly ventilate even on the hightest setting, surprisingly cramped rear seats, a smooth but gutless powertrain and truly mediocre fuel economy. The only bright spot is the panoramic sunroof. Oh, did I mention the Hankook tires in a $45K "luxury" car?

• 

  Value for A to B drivers - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By jake013 - May 16 - 6:26 pm

  If youre looking for a car to get you from point A to point B thats reliable, cheap to own and decent looking, youve found the right car. If youre looking for handling, performance or fun, go somewhere else. Safe, reliable and cheap! Over 250,000kms and still going strong. No rust, heck, the car still looks new. Its never even been rustproofed and I live in Canada.

• 

  Bought based on reviews... VERY disappointed - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By aybaker87 - April 29 - 9:48 am

  I bought this car used in February 2011 from a private seller with 32k miles on it. FF 2 years, Ive since had to replace the headlights EIGHT times (even with the top bulbs from Advance Auto), had to replace the passenger seat due to a random airbag malfunction -- which was annoyingly expensive! --, the paint is slowly but surely beginning to chip on the hood, the passenger door handle literally came off. One night, attempt to open the door, the handle broke off in my hand. And most recently, even having had scheduled, routine maintenance done, the engine now needs to be replaced. After everything Ive dealt with, Im buying another car instead of spending 2 grand to fix an unreliable car.

• 

  I wouldnt buy it again. - 2011 Hyundai Elantra
  By tanian - April 29 - 8:35 am

  I got this car in May 2011 with only 10 miles on it. At 63,xxx miles the wheel bearings went out, on the driver side then 65,xxx the left side. at 85,xxx spark plugs and computer update. Now at 94,xxx miles the drive train broke. I have a 100,000 mile warranty so its covered. But this car is sluggish at times and the gas milage isnt all that. I average 32 mpg. I drive mostly highway some city. Lots of backroads and hills. The car dents very easy with door dings galore and a small hail storm got the best of it. I found putting V-Power gas in it makes it run alot better. (cost alot more though) and the seats stain with just water.