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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  Everyone should get one - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By spock - July 28 - 2:00 am

  I bought my elantra in october of last year (2003) its a 2004 model and by far the best car ive ever owned. I traded in a 1999 Honda Accord and i dont miss my Honda for a second.

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  MPG? Big MPG! - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By litesong - July 27 - 9:06 pm

  My wife drove Accent thru a tough commute & winter, getting 33MPG. She let me drive over 1400, 3000, 4000 & 5500 ft. mtn. passes, getting exceptional 41.5, 42.6, & 45.2MPG, 13 MPG over the EPA highway! Think Honda Fit would have a tough time getting such mountain MPG. At 10,000 miles, Accent is 100% w/no squeaks, creaks or rattles. Although Accent, Yaris & Honda Fit have the same exterior width, Accent has 1 to 3 more inches of shoulder room than Yaris, & a bit more shoulder room than the space efficient Fit. The rpms at 60MPH are too high at 2900rpms. Needs a 6th gear. Engine & ride are smooth. Short shifter coupled to the clutch is the 2nd smoothest combo Ive ever tried.

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  Wish Id shopped around more - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By Valkyrie1015 - July 27 - 3:51 pm

  What a disappointment! I bought this car brand new with only a few miles on it from the test drive. In August 2008, Id have owned the car for 6 years and have only put about 48,000 miles on it. As of last week, it sits dead in front of my house. One year after purchase, the Power Relay went (covered by warranty) in 2006 the engine was really loud, turned out to have a hole in the exhaust and needed to replace some sensors over the next several months- more than once! Had to replace the e-brake and have work done on other brakes in 8/06 as well. By 7/08, need e-brake again, check engine light on, timing belt broke while driving and wrecked the engine. Cheaper to buy another than fix this!

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  best mini suv there is - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kelly26 - July 27 - 10:00 am

  I just brought my santa fe and I love it. Its very comfortable fun to drive. It goes up hills very well. You difently get your moneys worth with the Santa Fe

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  Great Car - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By kylestar - July 27 - 10:00 am

  Very Nice Car... WOuld Recomend to anyone

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  You will see the people looking!! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Dobson - July 27 - 10:00 am

  There is always someone looking at my car. No one can believe that it is a Hyundai. Most people have not even heard of a Tiburon. That was one of the main reasons I wanted this car over any of its competion. You should make sure this one tops your test drive list. I drove them all. For the money the Tiburon is the winner. Besides it looks the best of the competion. I bought the first one in my market area.

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  Great Little Car - 1997 Hyundai Elantra
  By Richard135 - July 27 - 2:04 am

  Bought the car off of Ebay, (after examining it), and did some repairs as expected. This car is a trooper. It has never failed me and even when it needed something replaced, it STILL got me where I needed to go. When I bought it the windows were darkly tinted and believe that has saves the interior, which is in real good shape as well. I did get the 5-speed, as I love manual transmissions, even in the city. I get an average of 33 mpg to which I am thrilled with. This includes using the a/c half of the time.

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  very loud road noise - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By David - July 26 - 10:35 pm

  I never expected to buy a new car and can not hear the radio for road the noise. We talked to the dealer about the problem 2 or 3 times. Funny they say they have not heard that before. We found a talk site on cars and guess what that was one of the biggest complants with the Azera. I do not think it is the tires. I think it has no insulation or sound deading in the car and also has a bad suspension under the car. The bad part is once you buy or lease this car they or done with your concerns. Beware David

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  satisfied - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By jenn - July 26 - 5:20 pm

  I love my Hyundai the only thing that is negative is the horrible beeping sound it makes when the seat belt isnt connected. I cant even start the car without it beeping. The Sonata thinks you will die if you are parked in your driveway without your seat belt on!!

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  Worst Car Ever - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By worstcarever13 - July 26 - 3:10 pm

  Purchasing this car is the worst decision we ever made. Upon taking delivery and driving the car home I noticed the steering is crooked to track the car straight. My husband asked if I wanted to take the car back and since I worked at a car dealership I said no and had faith Hyundai could fix it and to this day they still havent and cant give a reason why. The steering wheel/column also vibrates/rattles when going over bumps in the road. Theyve replaced the column and rack numerous times and it never fixes the problem. We contacted Hyundai corporate and they werent even interested in trying to do anything to make us happy customers. Do yourself a favor and dont waste your time or money.