Hyundai Research & Reviews

Overview & Reviews

Average Score

4.45/5 Average
13,764 Total Reviews
Make Overview:

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:

Showing 3061 through 3070 of 13,764.00
  • Wow, nice car for the price! - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
    By -

    Back in 2001, after a hail storm hit, we were looking for a new car. We decided to look around, and noticed Holmes (the dealer we bought from) had discounts on cars on the lot due to hail damage. Of course, we managed to get it new for 9,572 dollars due to hail damage, and a little persuasion. Love it. The only Major problem weve had was a broken thermometer. It does get a little noisy on the inside. Its 2.0 i4 gets enough Punch, and still returns good mileage. Nice exterior styling, however, the interior was slightly drab, but not too bad. Nice trunk space, and a locking gas door. Inside trunk handle is Nice. Trunk room is fantastic, and the reliability wont disappoint.

  • Santa Fe more than Okay - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
    By -

    Excellent value for the money. Fun to drive, has excellent "eye appeal" and a fantastic warranty. The LX package with the 3.5L is worth the extra money.

  • Great Car - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
    By -

    First new (used) car I ever had. I travel 28 mi a day to/from work and have only used 1/2 tank of gas! Just sold a loaded Lincoln and dont miss the luxuries as the Sonata has the most important features for pleasure, elect.windows, and cd/radio.comfortable, roomy interior,sleek looks, less elect.gadgets to worry about and cont.warranty bumper to bumper. Wanted a Camry, got an equal and saved a lot!

  • awsome car - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
    By -

    awsome car will recomend to anyone

  • Very Impressive! - 2008 Hyundai Accent
    By -

    City driving has been between 26-29 mpg consistently with an automatic. Highway comes in at 33. Visibility, handling and power are excellent for a car of this class. The a/c and heat provides a very comfortable cabin.

  • Reliable and Luxurious - 2001 Hyundai XG300
    By -

    I had purchased this car new in September of 2001. The current mileage on my XG is about 42K. I can honestly say that this is car has been the most reliable car that I have ever owned. While putting aside routine scheduled maintenance, this car has only been serviced 2 times. The 1st problem I had was that the glove box light would not go off when it was closed. The 2nd problem I had was the transmission shuttering, which was mentioned in some of the other reviews. The problem was a faulty trans. sensor which was replaced at 25k miles. The trans currently operates perfectly normal. Overall, this is a great car for the money and would definitely conside buying another one from Hyundai.

  • So-so Car - 2004 Hyundai Accent
    By -

    For a small economy car it is reasonably fun to drive. It also comes with some unexpected features such as power heated mirrors, and lumbar support. On the downside there is lots though. Lacks acceleration, too much engine noise, idles high and burns more gas than it should (a tradeoff for power). Has had two axle boots, and the rear struts replaced under warranty due to leaks/tears. AC quit, stereo quit. Both also fixed in warranty. Stereo still randomly cuts out and the AC sometimes makes a grinding noise when turned on.

  • I Would Buy It Again! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
    By -

    I am so happy with my Artic Blue 2004 Santa Fe. In my opinion the Artic Blue is the sharpest color but for some reason Hyundai has chosen not to use this color in 2005 & 2006. I have had a 100k Powertrain warranty on my car and it kicked in when I experienced two very minor problems (got the wipers blades replaced free of charge and once when the engine light came on). Great Car

  • 2003 LX Santa Fe FWD only - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
    By -

    I was first leary of buying another Hyundai since weve owned an 1989 and 1993 Sonata that were problem childs. The long warranty brought me back as well as leasing incase I wanted to walk away. I am here to tell all that we have had excellent reliability average about 22 to 23 in mixed driving and close to 26 on highway driving at 75MPG. The 2.7 V6 engine seems stronger at greater speeds. I think its because of being a 24 valve engine. The stereo is great, the cargo capacity is excellent. We still have the original tires. Two drawbacks: The timing belt and spark plugs need to be changed at 60000. Plugs require dealer to change at a cost of $250 because of a design flaw with intake.

  • hmg interface - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
    By -

    I wanted to respond to spadesman review. In regards to this HMG interface recall. I have checked with my dealership and any recall lists found on the internet. Not one mention of a recall. Other than that.....we love our new car. So far it has lived up to all expectations.

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