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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  JUNK!!!!!!! - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By md - March 12 - 11:13 pm

  If you like taking it to the dealer buy one".... If not leave. The first year I owned it I took it to the dealer around 10-15 times. recalls, peeling paint, wheel bearings in rear, crankshaft sensor, burnt wiring in transmission, carpet falling apart, airbag sensors, and a few other things. The sensors went after the warranty. Not cheap to replace. Overall JUNK. I have been letting it sit till I pay it down some because trade-in value sucks. Been driving a Honda with 152,000 miles with no major problems. Oh!, the dealer I got it at 95% of the time didnt have a loaner car. They wanted you to sit for four to five hours. A big waist of time. Got loaner twice and a Accent as that.

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  A whole lot of ok - 2001 Hyundai Accent
  By Dan - February 28 - 1:23 pm

  The Accent is a tough little car it handles me, which is a feat. You get little by way of comfort but if you want a cheap car thatll get you there, then its hard to beat. Ive used the warranty already. Twice for wheel bearings that became loud, an exhaust leak, and a leaky valve cover. With all that in mind, it kept running and never gave me that "its gonna die" feeling. I wouldnt buy this car new, I would find one as cheap as possible and go with it. Be careful of the dealer, they are very good at slipping in costs that you might not be aware of, slick little suckers they are. Im off moving from 0-60 in 15.2 seconds.

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  Beware of Warranty - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Arthur - February 15 - 2:00 am

  I rarely write review, but I have to write one for Hyundai. The warranty is not as it advertised. I bought it as brand new and after 3 months the AC is not working. So I took the dealer and they said a rock had hit my car and damaged the air condition function. I have been driving other cars for the past 20 years with different brands. I cannot believe the Hyundais product is so fragile. So today, I bring my car to another Hyundai dealership, they still cannot warrant it. I asked why other cars that I had driven for years that I never seen or heard this type of problem. They said, its Hyundais design. I do a lot of researches when I buy car, but I will never buy a Hyundai again!

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  My Hyundai Nightmare - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Ed K - January 29 - 2:46 am

  Ive owned 2 Santa Fes (2001 & 2004). Both had engine failures and had to have their small blocks replaced at around 60,000 miles. Both failed on the freeway. Both had all their regularly scheduled maintenance performed by the book. These 2 freeway failures placed me in very serious safety conditions. The 2004 failed at night in the middle of the Arizona Desert- I was driving at 70 mph when the engine lost power & made a terrible noise. I end up getting towed over 150 miles to Hyundai Dealer. Small block failed (60,068 miles – 68 miles past the warranty). Hyundai initially refused to pay for the repair; but, after a tremendous amount of effort on my part; they finally cover 30%

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  good car bad service - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By unlucky - January 13 - 10:00 am

  been to shop twice and problem still exists

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  Dont Waste Your Money! - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Rschossow - December 17 - 5:43 am

  When I first bought my Santa Fe, I was more than excited. I loved the car, had a great buying experience. 10 months later, I am in arbitration with Hyundai! The transmission slips, the 02 sensors have gone out twice, get 50 miles out of a 1/2 tank of gas, all fuses and sensors had to be replaced, and more. The car has been in the shop for almost 45 days since purchase. Dont let the great warranty fool you, I have had nothing but problems with the company and dealers I have used. If the BBB decides Hyundai does not have to buy back, I will fight it to the end. Waste of my hard earned money!

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  Tired of Denial and Dishonest Service - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By p51mustang1 - December 14 - 9:27 am

  I bought 2011 Sonata Limited for my wife with maintenance included so that shell have carefree service, thus paid premium price for the car. I am an engineer myself so I understand there could be and there will be bugs in newly designed vehicles. When she wanted to return the car after overheating twice and gearshift issues in first month, I stopped her. I wish I did not. There followed other problems, seats squishing, rattling inside the car. And last but not least leaking moon roof from the passenger side. Every time the services response was, it is normal, it can happen etc. Mind you my wife drives our baby around this car so she is a very gentle driver.

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  Unsafe and terrible customer service - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Marina - December 10 - 3:22 am

  Ive been leasing this car for about 2 months and the brand new car shut off on me randomly twice! First time it shut off I had to pick my toddler up from daycare that is 40 min away and they told me they will come in about an hour and half to tow my car and they will not give me a loaner or anything g to replace the vehicle while being looked at while my toddlers school closed and they are waiting for me to grab him I kept trying to start the car in a panic and 2 hours later befornethentow trick got to me the car started and I rushed to get him. The next day took the car to get looked at at Paramus Hyundai service center and spent the whole day there with my baby for them to tell me my car is fine and told me I gotta go that they are closing, meanwhile I tell them I do not feel safe driving with my baby in a car that shuts off with no warnings in middle of the road and I want a loaner and this car looked at more to find the problem they said no and thats not their problem. Following week sure enough the car shuts off again at 8pm in middle of the road with my dogs and baby in the car and this time it never went back on, cops stopped the traffic moved the car off road and when I called the sos they told me they cannot tow the car because the service center is closed and they cant get permission to part the car there... So we walked home from that area about a 15-20 min walk at around 10pm I had to drag the baby back with me early morning to tow the car and sit at the crevice center all day with my poor son crying and eventually that place brought me to tears, having me there all day not tellin me anything till the very end of the day giving me a lot of problems about giving me a loaner car and only "pulling some string and giving me a car seeing that Im stuck there with a fed up toddler. No one helping me no one cared the first time it broke, now I do not feel safe in this car I also want money back from the time I spent without a working car I pay so much money for for for my time lost sitting on the phone and being transferred from person to person to tell me they cannot help me, calling corporate for them to transfer me from person to person for an hour me explains my issues over and over again to different people for them to tell me someone will call me that can help me in 3-5 business days!!! Are they crazy?! I dont want this car I dont want to deal with anyone from Hyundai anymore!!!!!! Im fed up my family is fed up I have never had so many problems with a car or with customer service as I do with this Hyundai Tucson limited! Im disgusted with the way I have bk even treated and I cannot believe Im still in this unsafe car that supposedly was fixed, a car that shuts off like this after 2 months of driving it brand new is not a safe car and is not worth $466 a month!

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  You will get to know the service department people - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Gorpot - November 21 - 5:03 pm

  I had a 2009 Sonata, and a 2012 Sonata, with no problems. I never had them back for any warranty work. This is not the case with the 2015 Sonata. I have had the car for just 1 year, and have been back for warranty work 8 times now. It is the Last Hyundai I will ever own. Had it back 3 times to fix the rear window defogger switch. Twice for the right front brake caliper recall. How can it be that Hyundai does not have the part in stock for a recall item. Service manager told me they can not order the caliper until they are sure I needed one. If that is truly Hyundais policy on a recall item, then I dont want any more Hyundais. I had the car back three times to get the front passenger seat belt fixed, and it is broken again. As far as the gas mileage, I get about the same as I did with the 2012 Sonata, even though the 2015 is suppose to be 2 MPG better. Acceleration is not as good as the 2012 had. The ride and comfort level is good, a little better then the 2012 had. Last time I will buy a first year redesigned model.

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  NOT HAPPY!!! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By rmeyn - November 20 - 1:10 pm

  I travel 160 miles per day, mostly all highway, and I am getting 24/26 MPG vs. the 33 on the sticker and all Hyundais advertisments.I have a 6cyl 2000 Toyota Avalon with 100K miles, a much nicer and certainly more comfortable vehicle, it averages 27 MPG doing the same trip day in and day out. I was willing to sacrifice comfort for a promise of much better gas mileage. Not only am I disappointed in the mileage, the seating is very un-supportive. I realize that I am much bigger then many people however, my wife is an average sized women and she also dislikes the seating. Unfortunately, you dont find these things out when you take the car for a test drive