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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  frijss - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By frijss - February 16 - 2:00 am

  I bought my hyundia in 2000. The reason i bought it was for the warranty it turns out you really need it. I had no problems the first year of ownership. Just after a year it seems like i was at the dealership every couple of months. Some work was under warranty. Some wasnt . I wouldnt consider buying another one in the future.

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  Did Hyundai Provide Me Great Customer Service? - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By Disappointed - February 15 - 12:53 am

  Hyundai’s safety recall Campaign 137 was on the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system, which may have caused my car accident with my 2012 Hyundai Elantra. I called the Hyundai Recall Campaign Center several times about my case. Many of the reps I spoke with either provided wrong information, inaccurate timeframes for supervisors to call me back, denied my request to speak to a supervisor, or hung up on me. National Customer Care Rep Larry Bane managed my case. He refused my request to have my car tested in post-accident condition. During an oil change visit at my local Hyundai dealer, a service advisor recommended replacing my car’s yaw-rate sensor (the key component to the ESC system), and I approved. More than five weeks later, Larry Bane’s first conclusion letter said, “Unfortunately, we were unable to inspect your vehicle in its post-accident condition since it had already been repaired.” The message ended by saying, “We believe your vehicle operated according to its design in the accident.” The following week Larry Bane sent a second conclusion letter. This letter stated, “We have re-reviewed all of the available information regarding your accident, as well as the points raised in your most recent correspondence. Based on all of the available information, we continue to believe that our previous response is accurate and that your accident did not involve a product defect. With respect to the recall referenced in your correspondence (Recall 137), we do not believe that the condition that the recall seeks to address was present or caused your accident.” Larry Bane’s supervisor Chris said, “We pride ourselves in customer service and delivering excellence to each and every person.” However, he said the decision on my case was already made, and there was nothing else he could do for me. Then he added, “I’m trying to be really honest with you. I’m in the business for helping people, and I want to make sure that I’m doing my part to make us close any gaps and make the process as smooth as possible for you, and unfortunately I don’t make any of those decisions.” I asked him to clarify Hyundai’s conclusion letters. He simply said, “That was the decision they made.” Then I called the Hyundai Recall Campaign Center and spoke with supervisor Ethan. He suggested that “someone that doesn’t know how to write out a letter” could have composed the conclusion letters. Ethan concluded, “Honestly, those letters just sound ridiculous.” I wrote a letter to Dave Zuchowski, the CEO of Hyundai Motor America. He didn’t address my customer service experiences or answer why Hyundai didn’t want to test my car in post-accident condition. He said, “We continue to believe that our previous response is accurate and that your accident did not involve a product defect.” Do you think Hyundai was correct in refusing my request to test my car with the same yaw-rate sensor and ESC system at the time of the accident as part of the recall? Do you think Hyundai provided me great customer service? Do you think my next car should be a Hyundai?

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  More 2 come - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By upsetw/professionali - February 7 - 10:53 pm

  My wife and I purchased a 2010 Santa Fe from the Wayne auto mall on route 23 on June 17. Before leaving the dealership we realized the hood did not open and the driver door did not close correctly. My wife was very excited with the new purchase and wanted to bring it back in the morning to be what we thought a half hour adjustment, she waited for 2 hours to be told that we might need a loaner. Should a brand new car have these issues? How will the dealership handle their faulty product? Will let all know the outcome

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  Dont buy this car - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By irishfiregoddess - January 30 - 2:00 am

  I have had nothing but problems with this car from the day I purchased it, BRAND NEW. The alignment was way out of whack the minute I drove it off the lot. Also, I failed inspection, on a BRAND NEW CAR, because the right rear brake wasnt up to code. A week later, the pulley for my power steering just fell off and I lost control of the car. Luckily, I was only doing 30mph. The pulley, again, on a brand new car, was stripped. Now I am having problems with the rotors, and the hose for the coolant was corroded and had to be replaced. The car is only 3 years old. I am sorry, but this was a horrible buy and would never recommend this car to anyone.

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  Welcome to my Nightmare - 1994 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jesse 777 - January 26 - 2:00 am

  I fell in love with the car, at first sight, but it turns into a nightmare at soon I started driving. The engine get damaged immediately, it was fixed by the dealer and at soon the guarantee was over the engine went down again, I fixed and never get in to a good conditions, finally the clutch get damaged and it cost more than the car to fix it. I am without transportation and I have a car to keep making payments.

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  Few small problems - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By ABC123 - January 21 - 2:00 am

  Drum brakes problem around 8,000 miles (dispute with dealership) Head light(warranty) Battery failure(warranty) Vibrating(steering wheel and chair) (disputed and not resolved, but will check on other dealership) (service center: Freeman Hyundai)

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  HYUNDAI SUCKS - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By SSannuto - January 13 - 10:00 am

  I purchased a 2003 Hyundai Sonata. 7 months later, with only 9300 miles on it, while driving on a very busy highway in Clearwater, Florida, my transmission blew. I had to get it towed back to the selling dealer. First I was told that they had to order a part, and see if the new part would take care of the transmission. After 4 days, I was then told the part they ordered would not solve the transmission problem, so they needed to put another transmission. I questioned several times, "a new transmission or a rebuilt/remanufactured. I was told a new transmission, when in fact it was a rebuilt one.

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  This DOES NOT get better with age - 2010 Hyundai TUCSON
  By mazhater - December 27 - 10:46 pm

  Loved this vehicle when I bought it, but quality issues are starting to pop up. Paint chipping too easily, performance issues, electronic glitches. Service issues too. On a recent visit I got the car back with rear bumper damage. I dont think this vehicle will be in very good shape at two or three years old.

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  Hyundai Service and Warranty - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By netsab - December 14 - 11:31 pm

  Please be advised that Hyundai has come a long way from the junk they originally sold. I have had problems with the window washer clogging which the dealer told me was my fault and I would have to pay $100.00 to fix it? Secondly, my radiator blew up on my way home from work with 20000 miles on the car. I was advised by Kendall Hyundai that a rock (they think-because they were not sure where it was leaking from) flew up and damaged the radiator; therefore it was the drivers fault? I took it to an independent certified mechanic who advised me there was NO physical damage and that the radiator was DEFECTIVE. Instead of the dealer cost of $800 I ended up paying $475, a true travesty.

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  bad gas mileage and bad shitf at 38 to 42 mph - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By eprice5829 - November 23 - 4:32 pm

  I bought my sonata new in 5 of 09 and from the very begining had very poor gas mileage and a shifting issue with the trans at about 38 to 40 mph and around 15 to 18 on the rpm gauge when I brought it back to the dealer for service I was told it was how the car was supposed to drive and that there was nothing they could do to fix the problem except to flash the computer and then reset it . I was also told that it was the way that I was driving the car. now that I had the computer reset and the trans flashed I now get 15.9 miles per gallon to a full take of gas and was told that it was because of the winter gas that is now out on the market well to that I say B S