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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  transmission issues - 2006 Hyundai Tiburon
  By jenni - December 16 - 4:16 pm

  I bought my 2006 Tiburon in November 2005 and I have loved my car, I have never had problems with it. Then my clutch started making a rattling noise that was so loud that the passengers could hear it. Once the clutch was pushed in, the noise would stop. I took it in and they told me that my entire transmission would have to be replaced. Thankfully it is covered by the 100k powertrain warranty. I did buy a K&N air filter for it, and thankfully I didnt put it in or they probably would have said that it voids the warranty. How stupid. Im not sure how many other people have had problems with their transmissions. This is obviously a defect.

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  Great Value - MPG Accuracy? - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By niteflite888 - December 11 - 11:47 pm

  Ive got 24k miles on this now... probably 18k of it was on the highway. On the highway never got over 34 mpg but on my trip yesterday with three fully grown adults and some luggage in the trunk i averaged 36.2 mpg on a 400 mile trip on eco drive going some 70 to 80 mph up and down mountainous roads. the only thing is.... when i calculated the mpg based on miles traveled between gas fill-ups, the mpg was only 33.3 or so. the car overall has been fine for what ive paid. the only real issue was with rattling which the front passenger area which they kind of fixed. alignment has been bad from the beginning. the ride feels cheap when going over bumps.

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  7 months with my 2002 - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By straighh - December 9 - 10:00 am

  I have had the car since December, already have 13,000 miles and am pleased overall. I have noticed a few quirks though. My car, although an automatic, seems to have difficulty shifting sometimes. It will shift hard on occasion and I can see the RPMs shoot up. Im told they do this when they have not yet warmed up but I wonder if it is a sign of things to come. I also noticed that the AC only seems to work when Im moving. If I stop at a light I suddenly get a blast of air that is a little too tepid for AC.

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  Fun unless you crash - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By bishop3210 - December 4 - 10:00 am

  The $ I paid, styling, and options make this a great car. Initially, my only qualm was concerning the hp. Hyundai released a report stating that they miscalculated the hp and the EGT only has 134 hp instead of 140. I bought this car because of its hp and felt cheated when I found this out and was not eligible for compensation. But, I just recently got into an accident and pretty much destroyed the front end of my car. The Integra I hit suffered negligible damage, but my bumper, grill and hood are going to have to be replaced. I was only going 30mph, too. ItÂ’s a great car and I still love it, but I wish it had more hp and was built more solidly.

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  Not trouble free - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By JML - December 4 - 5:36 am

  Like the ride and performance. Fuel economy very dissapointing, Does not come close the the epa ratings. Have had transmission replaced. Cruise and speedometer malfuntion. Dealer was not effecient in handling the claim. Did not seem to have experience in diagnosis and repair. contantly have to fight to get fair service. For a new car it is not trouble free. It is a good thing they have 100k warranty as I may need it.

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  Great car great price - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By hutch - December 2 - 10:06 am

  I bought my tib a little over two weeks ago, 05 GT V6 5M, leather everything, sunroof, infinity system, 17" inch rims, free extended warranty (yes free), for 16,900 off the lot. Great car, pretty quick, handles great, solid ride, perfect style.

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  Turns a lot of heads - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Laura - November 25 - 5:23 pm

  I loved it ever since I layed eyes on it. Mine is the Yellow S/E with the automatic trany. Its quick, but you really feel the power when you use the "sports shift." Its been hell though with the car, constantly taking it back to the dealer because of check engine light coming on after a month of owning it, (I bought it with 48 miles on it). It was just a silly emissions problem. Now today apx. four months later its going back because the air bag light came on. Its silly problems that make the lights come on. Nothing major. I definitely would not bad mouth the car in any way. And its pretty sad when you beat a Honda Civic that had all sorts of mods with your STOCK AUTOMATIC :)

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  fun suv to drive - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By batt224 - November 23 - 3:56 am

  very good suv for the price, poor gas mileage...

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  Great Value! - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Elewis3752 - November 21 - 2:00 am

  This is my second Hyundai and I was happy with the tiburon but it was to small for my family. The Sonata is not a fancy car but it is a family car. Its the perfect car for my wife because its handles well with enough power to pass when you need to.

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  Awesome for the bucks - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Steve R. - November 21 - 2:00 am

  Just test drove yesterday and buying today. Cant believe how much car for the money. Its no Corvette but great fun to drive and the styling is superb. Japan better look over their shoulder because Korea is hot on their heels and at an affordable price.