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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  Not a cute ute! - 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By syd91098 - August 8 - 10:00 am

  Owned the Santa Fe for 14 months. Purchased for my wife but I fell in love with it too. Had it only a few months when a cross country move happened. Crossed the Rockies in December... We passed all sorts of other 4WDS on the side, but the Santa FE kept right on truckin. I averaged aroung 24 mpg on the trip, so not bad at all. Could use a little more passing power, but you just cant beat the value and dependability of todays Hyundai. Definitely not the Hyundai of old.

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  Happy with Hyundai - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By bratsche - August 8 - 10:00 am

  What can I say? This car has it all! Every feature you could want, for an unbelievable price. I cant speak for the long term yet, which is my only trepidation, but Hyundai has the boldness to offer the best warranty in the business. Ive had my car for about a month now, and I can personally vouch for the quality of construction and engineering. This is a truely well built car. Under the hood there is plenty of room to work with, which means maintanence and repairs will be easier to do. (Read: cheaper labor costs at the shop) Compared to the Civic Si, the GT has got it beat in almost every statistic available! Continued in "Favorite Features"

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  One Year review - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Gary D. - August 8 - 4:43 am

  I have now owned this vehicle for 1 year with 20k and it hasnt had so much as a hiccup. What originally sold me, apart from the price and warranty was the interior and trunk size, (large), and the level of comfort, usually only felt with leather upgraded interior. I love all the thoughtful little upgrades which are standard, such as the 3 nozzle window sprayer, the above visor lit vanities lights, and beautiful interior stack. I have been averaging 31 mpg on regular, and honestly, I hardly miss my G35(only off the ramps and when I feel a little crazy), or its 20 mpg with super. My wife now likes to take it whenever she can and everyone who rides with me is quite impressed.

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  Best Car I Ever Owned - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By Patrick - August 7 - 3:33 pm

  I love my 07 Elantra, is interior and handling is amazing, I drive all over and its fun to drive. My wife owns an 01 Elantra and the improvements over the models are noticable sitting next to each other. I bought the manual, and it takes a second to get used to but the 07 is very refined compaired to the 01 manual. The Elantra is a very powerful car and for the size of the car. And the gas mileage can not be beat, with 328 miles to the tank, I go two plus weeks on one tank. This Elantra will be with me for a long time.

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  Good SUV for the money - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Daine - August 7 - 10:03 am

  Only had this car for a week now and I Like it alot. Smooth ride, engine is very quiet and a nice design. Love the sportronic transmission which was one of the main reasons I got this suv in addition to all the safety features. Cant beat the price. Hyundai has definately come a long way.

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  Hyundai is the new Volvo - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By DlFlyer - August 6 - 9:31 pm

  First of all, how can anyone complain about the mileage when you know exactly what youre getting? Always amazes me. And for the size, weight, and acceleration of this vehicle, what were you expecting? This car continues to amaze me. Excellent fit and finish. Extremely thoughtful design all over. Reserved finesse.

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  Best Kept Secret - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Greg Rogers - August 6 - 7:06 pm

  I decided to give the tiburon a try and I have not been disappointed. After looking at other similiar cars in this class, the value, styling, and handling of the tiburon was hands down the best choice for me. This years styling, both interior and exterior, is what caught my eye. It handles well, its comfortable, and fun to drive. Its not your high performance sports car, but it definitely has the look and feel of one (without the high price tag). Ive lost count of the compliments and the number of people who want to know what Im driving, its like having the best kept secret around.

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  Did you drive it? - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By BJB - August 6 - 5:43 pm

  I noticed on some reviews that there was great complaint about both the transmission and mileage on the 3.3L 5A equipped Santa Fes. As a recent purchaser of a Santa Fe I have to say, if you people did not test drive the vehicle shame on you. I for one have no complaints. The transmission does not "slip" it is shifting into overdrive before shifting into the next gear. And so far in mixed driving I am averaging 17.4 MPG. There are no filed issues with the DOT or any other agency on the Transmission in addition to no complaints with Consumers Reports. I have a feeling those of you who are complaining have a case of buyers remorse.

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  Best Car Ever - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By JJ - August 5 - 8:13 pm

  This is the first Hyundai that weve owned. We are long-term Honda and Toyota drivers. It was my 15-year-old daughter who urged me to test drive a Santa Fe. Boy, am I glad she did. I was trying to convince myself that I really wanted the new Honda CRV,but the road noise was so bad and the ride so uncomfortable, that I was not happy with it. The Rav4 wasnt impressing me either. Then I drove the Santa Fe, fully expecting that I wouldnt care for it. Well, was I wrong. I was sold the moment I drove it off the lot for the test drive. It was so smooth, so comfortable, so quiet. My dealer was great. And the best part, because my daughter urged me to try it, she got a finders fee ... sweet.

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  Fantastic Upgrade!! - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Austin Dailey - August 5 - 9:47 am

  I love it!!!! I was trying to get out of my 14 Sentra SV that I felt I was over paying for. Only 1.5k miles on the car and I love the change to a larger sedan, I get almost the same gas mileage as I had with my Sentra by driving on the freeways a bit more that surface streets. It has the power for me to navigate traffic with ease. I also ended up getting the sport edition with quite a few of the additional packages, and I love everything I got, and its definitely worth the ~$100 difference in my payments. My only wish is that the BlueLink last longer, or was less expensive to renew. Its definitely worth looking into, its about 10 times the car other manufacturers were trying to sell me.