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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  I regret the day I considered Hyundai - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By chris512 - October 20 - 12:07 pm

  The harshest ride Ive ever experienced from a sedan. Either the suspension is too tight or the Kumho tires are too hard? or both? If youve even owned a small pick-up and experienced the rear end bounce from being too lite, thats what I feel in the Sonata. Ive put 100 pounds of sand in the trunk, deflated the tires to 28 psi, and bought a memory foam seat cushion, and still feel the rear end hop. My only hope is to live with it until January (new tax year) and dump it. At about 100 miles the center console started to rattle.

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  Time will tell - Getting disappointed day by day - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By ding9888 - October 20 - 4:53 am

  When we bought this car in April 2010, we were so excited and thought it was great value - good looking, great freeway mileage etc. There were some minor problems (the handle bars fell off within 1/2 year) but we were okay as long as the engine runs well. However in less than 2 years, we kind of regret it. Since January we have visited the service department 4 times in less than 2 months: 1. Engine lights on 2. Starter broke and was replaced 3. Oil leak 4. More oil leak after less than 2 weeks This car only has 29K miles. Although these were all covered by warranty, its not fun to visit the service dept. every other week. I dont need free car wash anymore.

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  my 2002 sonata experience - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By rashaun - October 18 - 11:34 pm

  I have owned the car for 5 years. First let me tell you for the first 60,000 miles zero problems as long as a kept up the maint. After tho power steering pressure hose burst 560.00, ignition crank sensor failed 600.00. During this time many interior and exterior pieces started coming loose and generally looking bad. struts now bad too. 75,000 miles the timing belt fails and destroys the engine to the point where it needs a rebuild. Id ditch the car after 60k, its resale value is so low its not worth the repairs. now have a year old toyota and a six thousand dollar paper weight.

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  Regret - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Nan - October 17 - 11:00 pm

  I enjoyed the look of this vehicle and warranty, very smooth ride. I only had the Tuscon for three weeks when it would die while driving it. Thank goodness for the warranty. I dont think I would purchase again. The Tuscon does not hold its value and not worth what I paid for it.

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  My story - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By alliecat3 - October 16 - 2:54 pm

  I have had my Sonata for almost four years now, with a little over 33,000 mileage. After 8 months of having it, I needed a new transmission. Now I need a new engine. I feel like I ended up with a lemon. No one wants to hear it and service tries to shift the blame to me some how. I have all my invoices of oil changes, brakes, etc. So I have done my part. I loved my car. When you buy something new you want the new engine, the new transmission and so on. You are paying for that. As in anything there can be a circumstance where this vehicle was not assembled correctly. But no one will own up to it. I dread thinking of what will be next.

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  Disappointed owner - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By uncle_bob13 - October 14 - 10:56 am

  Sonata drives OK but the interior looks and feels cheap. My major problem with Hyundai is its customer service. 3 days ago I decided to go shopping. I left my car in the parking lot. When I returned, I found a major fracture in the windshield (20 "). I drove to Hyundai dealer. Their service guy looked at it, couldnt find any chips, so he took a pencil and traced the fracture and concluded that it was caused by a stone hitting the windshield. I told him that it happened in the parking lot but he wouldnt believe me. Right, Im trying to rip Hyundai off for $200. They dont have any trust in their customer. So much for Hyundai for me. As soon as I pay it off, Ill trade it in for a Camry.

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  car stalled and engine is seized... - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By trishv - October 14 - 7:46 am

  never received recall. car stalled at stop sign.. engine seized

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  Hyundai is the Harbor Freight of the car world. - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Author Name - October 11 - 6:48 am

  When we narrowed our choices down to the Sonata or the Accord, the price and warranty of the Sonata seemed to make our decision easy. Initially, the vehicle was amazing, despite the abundant road noise, that we didnt seem to notice when we were purchasing it. However, things quickly went downhill. Within a few months, little things started going bad and we were constantly dropping it off at the dealership to fix the heated seats, automatic breaking, BSD system, heated steering wheel, traction control, TPM system and so on. Like harbor freight, the vehicle was "comparable" to others in its class, but at a sacrifice of quality. We figured that its okay, because the warranty would cover us, which it still does, but constantly dropping it off at the dealership became cumbersome and now we have issues that we just leave, because its not worth the time of not having the vehicle. Current issues: the backup camera takes almost ten seconds to turn on when you put it in reverse / the automatic mirror tilt when you put it in reverse, doesnt always work / a "Check BSD System" light flashes every so often / the memory seats dont always work when you push the button / it brakes randomly, even when no one is in front of us (I try not to even use the cruise control anymore) / bluetooth doesnt always sync, on multiple devices. Theres probably more that Im forgetting. The other issue is that the vehicle doesnt have a remote start function from the remote. The only way to get remote start is to pay a yearly subscription fee to Bluelink or purchase aftermarket, which we were told would void the warranty unless we paid a fortune to have it done at the dealership. We did not know this when we purchased the vehicle and thought that Bluelink was free with the vehicle. I guess that ones on us; we should have checked. If you dont mind continually taking your vehicle in for service and you want a deal, then the Sonata is for you. For me, I think next time well just pay the extra money for the accord.

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  Defective transmissions and poor ride - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By dbqfan - October 5 - 2:37 pm

  I have had the transmission replaced twice in my 2010 Santa Fe. The new transmission has the same problems and Hyundai will not fix it. They have to "replicate" the problem which is there way of not fixing it. I have never had a car with this many problems in 50 years of buying cars. The dealer is just as bad as Hyundai. The vehicle has many squeaks and rattles which shows poor build quality. The GPS unit is useless in cold weather as you can not see the screen. This is the last non American car I will buy. Poor quality as the floor carpet is just cardboard covered with a poor quality fuzzy material.

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  Nice while it lasted - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Liz - October 4 - 1:17 pm

  My 2001 Hyundai Elantra has just 65000 miles on. I have done regular maintenance, including just doing all of the manufacturer suggested 60000 mile maintenance. Now, at just 5000 miles out of warranty (I am the second owner, bought it at 18000 miles), it has a cracked piston!!! This repair is estimated at 2000. I called Hyundai and they said there is nothing they can do for me. I have enjoyed the car and have had few problems with it up until now, but PLEASE a car should go at least 100,000 without having any major problems like this. What a rip off. I have also been very disappointed with the cheap paint on the car that degrades under any sort of pressure (bird poop).