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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  Great value, good car so far - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By niteflite888 - March 20 - 8:03 am

  picked this car up recently. Decided to lease it since im not sold on hyundais resale value just yet. So far, this car is working out fine. MPG is less than what i had desired (25mpg in 50/50 mixed driving). Hoping for this to go up under the same conditions after its broken in. The features you get for the price are great. I have bluetooth, xm for 3 months, homelink, a trip computer. TPMS as well... unlimited miles roadside assistance for the duration of the lease (and more). The accord doesnt have the ubiquitous trip computer even when you step up to the exl trim (perhaps you need nav for it). the ride is average. sometimes feels cheap. but for the price itll do.

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  2011 Sonata Limited - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By t.buddy - March 19 - 12:00 am

  I was very excited to buy the 2011 Sonata Limited with the Navigation system. The features were great on the Nav but the sound is so low that you can hardly hear the instructions on Hwys and Fortunately it was windy and rainy so couldnt hear anything. So I bought it with out Nav! How could they not check the volume?!?!?!

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  2003 Hyundai Elantra - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Survived the Crash - March 18 - 10:00 am

  I am very impressed! I was hit in the rear bumper by an Acura at about 40-45 mph and rocketed into the stationary truck in front. The Acuras front end was caved-in with severe damage. Amazingly, the Elantra was fully in tact and the trunks door was not even dented, nor tail lights damaged, nor windows broken! The passenger cabin was untouched!! I could not believe it. The bumper and frame took most of the impact, and most damage was below the bumper inside the trunk and frame. Although the car was totalled due to rear frame damage, I drove it for 58 miles at 65 mph back to home and then the autobody shop with no problem. This car is strong!!!

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  ALMOST HAPPY - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By baddog6 - March 16 - 2:30 am

  Traded my Town And Country in July and in agreement with most of the positive reviews but very unhappy with a rapid jerking on acceleration from lower speed.Does not feel like shifting or transittion from gas to elect. and does not do it all the time. Took to dealer and it ran fine and was told no reports of any problems then found edumonds review on line so don"t know what to think.Have bought over 20 cars and not had this problem and dont want it now.

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  Best Bang for the BUCK - 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By mazzda - March 15 - 5:03 pm

  4th Hyundai for the family, My wifes father has a 04, Loved his so we bought one for ourselves. 2.7L V6 pulls well for small pop-up campers and small trailers. Great power. And has the best fuel millege for its size and class.... Highly reccommended!

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  The GT is a great little car - 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT
  By brundagefamily@comcast.net - March 15 - 4:22 pm

  Currently our family leases four Hyundais (Sonata Turbo, 2 Elantras and an Elantra GT) with the GT being the newest edition to the stable. We were a bit concerned that the GT would be too small (especially in the cargo area) but have been pleasantly surprised at the cars versatility. With slightly more horsepower than the standard Elantras, the GT is quite peppy around town and on the highway. The driver visibility is great and everyone in the family has enjoyed their turn putting the car through its paces. The fuel economy, as expected, is slightly less than a standard Elantra. Other than that we would certainly give the vehicle high marks for the first month that we have had it.

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  100,000 miles and no issues - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By digitaljedi - March 13 - 2:08 pm

  I couldnt be happier with my Santa Fe. Ive had to replace a headlight bulb and the tires but the rest has just been maintainence. I just switched it over to synthetic oil and had the transmission flushed and the thing is riding smoother than I can remember in quite a while. The factory cd deck died on me but that just gave me an excuse to by a nicer one. All in all, Im very pleased.

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  The jerky ride - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By David B. Bell - March 13 - 1:56 pm

  I have had my car back to the dealer, but, the dual clutch issues of jerky ride is normal. I have been driving for sixty years and have owned 25 cars including VW, Datsun, Pontiac, Buick, Chevy, Honda and 5 Hyundai. With the exception of the 2016 Tucson Limited 1.6T, all the other transmission were smooth....not this one and the dealer said it is the design of the transmission. Hyundai Of American is looking into the issue. More to come....

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  The Sonata Limited wins! - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By FirstHyundai - March 12 - 1:03 am

  We went to World Car Hyundai/Nissan. We test drove a base Sonata with an option package and we werent totally adverse to the experience, but we didnt like the interior fabric, the paint color, or the cheapo wheels. The dealer was running a sale this particular day, it was also coincidentally the end of the month and it turns out thats a very good time to buy a new car. I found a silver blue metallic Sonata Limited with the four cylinder and they had a sale price on it of $21,699. Wow, I thought. This is a nice car. In conjunction with $2,000 customer cash from Hyundai, we paid $2,225 less than invoice. Good negotiators might still beat that price.

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  Good car, bad tires - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By snowman888 - March 11 - 1:26 am

  Nice car in general. Not sure why they decided to make such low profile tires standard equipement on the SE and Turbo. Totally impractical for most people. Perhaps in Korea they devote resources maintaining their roads. Here in New England, the smallest of potholes will cause a flat, of which I experienced two in the first week. I have since "upgraded" to the base 16" wheels. Significant improvement in ride and durability. Also agree that the steering sometimes feels that it wants to pull to the left. Not always, and mostly in the left lane when the road slopes away from the center. Prefer the feel of traditional hydraulic power steering. Otherwise nice car and good value.