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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  read up first - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By summertime - August 5 - 2:00 am

  in just the first year i had the car. i had to bring it in the shop about 10 times. that in all says alot. i have had to bring my car in to the shop for problem such has fusese blowing, trasmmion problems, car stalling, speakers keep blowing and the car not excepting the right gas. PLEASE do not even think of buying this car. u will regret it in the end.

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  Waste of money - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Meredith - August 3 - 10:22 am

  Since purchasing my Santa Fe a year ago, I have had nothing but problems. Within 2 weeks I had to spend over $1500 on repairs, and that wasnt the end. The windshield was not placed in properly (apparently a common problem with these cars), causing the passenger side to have a large leak any time it rains. The gas gauge does not read properly, and will say the tank is empty a day after it is filled up. The seat heaters do not work (the passenger button controls the driver seat, and the passenger heater does not work at all). The a/c and heat are on constantly at full blast, there is no way to turn it down or off. I could go on about the problems I have had with this car, and unfortunately Hyundai will not cover any of the costs to repair these problems. I am counting down the days until I can buy a new one. I will never buy a Hyundai again.

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  Defect after Defect - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By sh5w - July 23 - 3:56 pm

  Hyundai is my 6th new car for past 10 years and itÂ’s my first time to drive Hyundai. But I donÂ’t have that kind of luck any more as I did with my previous 5 cars. I found defect after defect of this Hyundai when I just owned this car less than a month. I already encountered 4 defects since I have had Hyundai less than 10 months, loose hanger bar, broken pump of wind shield fluid tank, visor light out, and break light out. I not only needed to spend time to get those problems fixed at the dealer, but also the even worse part is that I had to pay for some of the fixes, which are not covered by the warranty. I felt that buying Hyundai car is paying for a new car price without a warranty.

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  Buyer Beware - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By atmyheels - July 14 - 10:41 am

  This car has been a huge disappointment: it looks sharp but is not mechanically sound. I purchased the car certified pre-owned just over a year ago with under 30K on the odometer. It has been a series of unending problems ever since: all interior windows must be cleaned every 3 to 4 weeks with rubbing alcohol to remove a greasy residue that continually builds up (dealer does not know the cause), the interior smells similar to a wet dog when it rains, the battery was replaced at 35K yet still occasionally dies, both rear tail light assemblies failed causing the tail lights to stop working, and several rattles developed in the dashboard. This is in addition to two recalls.

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  I cant wait to trade in my Santa Fe - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Shane - July 13 - 4:21 am

  I would not recommend buying this vehicle. The car has many leaks such as the power steering fluid and the A/C refrigerant. I constantly am buying more fluid for the car. Every summer I have to recharge the A/C. My headlights are faded and my car is slightly rusted. The seats arent very supportive. The dealer offers $816 to trade it in. The car does not get very good fuel economy. I hate my Santa Fe

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  Steering and Driving Disappointment - 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By lrwilsonjr - July 5 - 12:57 am

  I purchased a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe (2.0 T AWD) in March of 2013. I haven’t owned a Hyundai since 1988 and assumed the brand had improved. While in comparison to the 1988 Excel I owed, quality has made leaps and bounds, but this vehicle still falls short. The steering is erratic no matter what steering mode is chosen. Due to this, control of the vehicle, especially at high speeds, is a challenge. On roads with bumps, the vehicle seems to jump when hitting one. If turning a corner and a bump is hit, hold on tight…you may lose control of the vehicle. This is a safety concern experienced by many other 2013 Santa Fe owners and to date Hyundai corporate hasn’t addressed the issue.

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  Engine Shake and Misses - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By hyundainomore - June 27 - 11:11 am

  Worst choice in vehicle i could have made. The car has a shake and engine miss at idle that feels like it will fall out of the car. At idle when stopped at a light the engine has a lope and as you takeoff it shakes and vibrates until you take off. Dealer has blown off all my complaints but acknowledged they test it at idle it park, and they felt what i felt but it doesnt set a code in computer so they cant tell whats wrong. I guess im supposed to just live with it. Hyundai suggested i take it to another dealer which i can guess will go over real well.

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  Bad roof creaking - 2014 Hyundai Sonata
  By falonhawk - June 22 - 5:23 am

  with only 46,xxx miles on it. the roof make a horrible creaking noise when going over speed bumps and even worse on gravel roads. should of gotten a Civic EX-L. engine is running fine and everything else is well... it just doesnt feel like it did less then 9 short months ago.

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  Whats wrong with you people - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By atblis - June 16 - 2:00 am

  This car isnt that great(actually its junk). I want to like it, but I still wish (more now than ever) Id bought a Honda/Toyota. The handling is quirky, but adequate. The brakes are weak (try panic stopping). The clutch is weak and touchy. The motor does make adequate power. Fuel mileage is the bottom end of mediocre. Also, plan on putting new tires on it every 10,000 miles (or less) once it gets older. The dealer has been worthless. They wont even look at the car. "It needs aligned." I just had the thing aligned 1000 miles ago (and this is the 2nd time because of tire wear).

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  A lemon like none other. - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By reddeerroper - June 13 - 4:14 am

  I have just over 22,000 miles on my 12 Sonata Turbo. This car has been in the shop for many Different problems since I bought it. Hyundai service is terrible, the company just does not care about the owners of their cars. My Sonata has a stalling problem that has plagued it for 6 months now, it just quits, could be on the interstate, at an intersection, a red light, no rhyme nor reason. Its very dangerous to have this happen so often, Hyundai has not been able to fix this issue. Ive also had issues with the A/C, nav/audio unit, headliner, antifreeze smell through the dash vents, abs brake sensor, and several rattles and other poor quality car noises.