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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  Best car and best price - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By FordPLG - January 1 - 7:03 pm

  Best car in the class, especially the very nice interior, and the very rich standard features. Beautiful style. Best price with very clear sales information.

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  Love this Car - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By mikeyb72 - December 31 - 8:53 pm

  This is a great car. much improved over the years. Great handling. The new styling is so nice; I much prefer the new grill and air dam. The car is pretty quick and loves to go fast!

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  Gotta have it, Gotta love it (An honest review) - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Talib - December 30 - 12:24 pm

  Like many others here, I rented all the cars before buying them, believe me its worth it. I rented a Camry, Altima and finally a Sonata, I was in a huge dilemma about buying a Nissan Altima or a Hyundai Sonata until the Nissan dealership in Lake Norman started playing tricks on me, and after 2 months of research and rental experiences, I finally decided to for a Venetian Red 2015 Sonata SE. I wanted a base model with allow wheels and blue tooth without having to pay for them, and guess what, the LED lights and the spoiler just came in ad an added bonus for Sonata, this is the beauty of Hyundais along with its amazing 100,000 miles warranty that you do not have to pay extra for a ridiculous package in order to get basic stuff such as alloy wheel etc, like in the cases of Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Alright, let me be honest and tell you a few things that I dislike about this car: - Gas Mileage (Hyundai claims it gives you 25 mpg in the city, which is not true, I get not more than 22 mpg in the city for sure) - Traction Control (The traction cannot handle the acceleration and the wheels would start spinning, even on the dry roads, not sure what to blame) - USB port - The built in USB port does not support android, at least not in my case, therefore I have to rely on bluetooth or AUX) - Dull Alloy Wheels - The dullness of alloy wheels for the SE trim does not compliment the car over all, but eh, I cant complain much as it is a BASE model Now, the things I absolutely love about this car: - Great Turn Radius - Beautiful LED lights (even with base model) - Highway mileage (32 mpg even driving at 75 miles an hour, you might get better than 37 mpg if you drive at 55 miles an hour) - Spacious trunk - Great leg room for rear seats - Just enough power to accelerate quickly and merge on to the highways/freeways - Amazing Brakes - Sports, ECO and Normal Mode (For those who do not know, once switched to SPORTS mode, the cars steering becomes stiff as well as the engine along with the help of transmission helps you accelerate the car at way faster, you actually feel like driving a sports car. Normal mode for regular driving I guess) - Eye Catching Front - I love the way it looks in the front, not a big fan of how they have changed in the back - Warranty - 36,000 for Radio, Media and speakers. 60,000, bumper to bumper and 100,000 for Engine and Transmission. I do not think any other automobile manufacturer can beat that. Punch Line: An absolutely wonderful package for those who would like to fall in love with their new ride.

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  Pocket Rocket! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tom Marshall - December 29 - 10:00 am

  This car is fun to drive, attractive, manueverable, has good gas mileage, is built well, and the price is right! I am very happy with my Tiburon.

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  Re-Review 2011 Sonata Hybrid "Premium" - 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By marnold4 - December 26 - 12:27 am

  We have about 3500 miles on the car and are pleased. Plenty of pickup to get on the highway or pass, excellent fuel economy. We are able to consistently get the advertised mileage but to do so you need to modify how you drive a bit. If we hammer it like we used to do with our V6 Accord the mileage drops. (Average real-world mileage, for us, calculated at fill ups in mixed driving is 36) The interior design is outstanding. Its nice to have a transmission that actually shifts. The Blue-Tooth works great with our smart phones and the i-Pod touch works perfectly as well. No transmissions leaks or steering, or shift problems. The car has more of a luxury feel than a sporty handler for driving.

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  Nice Surprise -- I am Impressed - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Nashville - December 24 - 5:33 pm

  I drove and looked at the Altima and Camry before deciding on the Sonata (I have owned Hondas for years and wanted something different). Seemed to me that the other brands are resting on their name and are letting quality and value slip. Hyundai really seems to be trying and has put some very nice features into their base model that you have to pay a lot more for in the other brands. I only have about 400 miles so far but I am impressed with the car. Quality seems great. If the car can make it to 200K with no major repairs I will say they have arrived. Cant beat a price that is $4K to $6K less than the others and a 5yr/60K bumper to bumper with 100K powertrain warranty. Im impressed!

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  buy it - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By bobbyg - December 23 - 6:56 pm

  great suv fun to drive,decent mpg,easy to maintain.very roomy and great design on the folddown seats.buy one,you wont find a better value in a suv.

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  Great car so far - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Brent - December 21 - 7:30 pm

  Only have 1500 miles on it and owned for two months, but still quiet, smooth engine and no transmission issues or shift delays as others have mentioned. I have not driven it hard yet to break in engine as I am waiting about 3000 miles to put it to a real test. Rated 5 on reliability only b/c I dont know yet. Great car so far with little if any complaints about the vehicle itself. The cloth does seem to stain easier than some of my previous cars. A few cheaper plastic parts, but all cars have flaws. Gas mileage for me has been 18-20 on mostly highways, but seems to be getting better as I drive. And does much better if you keep it around 55 or 60 on freeways. Warranty was a major factor.

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  Great car! - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Lnix - December 21 - 10:00 am

  I have had my car for over 7 years now. At 128k miles I can honestly say its been a great car. This was my first new car to own and havent had many problems. I had to get new tires at about 70k miles. I changed the battery once and only had to get regular maintenance work done to the brakes because of the wear and tear. Havent had to put much money into it. I just wish I had gotten AWD because it doesnt handle all that great in bad snow.

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  Nicest used car Ive purchased.. - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By ciera223 - December 19 - 1:00 pm

  Ive only had my 2012 sonata for a few wks now, I purchased it used with 5k miles on it. For being used it isnt too bad, brakes are already bad, had to replace cabin air filter and the mpg they advertise is a lie, but its still better than my suv.The alternative starter in the middle console also dont work, so Im taking it in next week for that. I also agree on Hyundai customer service, its horrible, they dont care about their customers and they constantly lie. So with that said take your factory warranty and go elsewhere to get service done to it. Yes they will tell you you cant, but you can. I get mine serviced at A ford dealership where they listen and actually fix your car!