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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  Enjoying it with reservations - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By Rod - August 9 - 2:19 am

  Read all the reviews before buying it. could not get more than 14MPG, under any circumstances, hated that the key fob kept hitting the plastic dash and absolutely hated the ride. I was told to wait till I drove it a while before I can expect better gas mileage. At my first oil change, a young mechanic reinstalled the software that runs the engine and I immediately obtained 17.8 MPG around town and 27 MPG on the highway. I installed a plastic change purse over the key fob to silence the key chain. It worked. I stopped by another dealer to complain about the ride. He installed new shocks on the front and it now rides almost acceptably. I only have 8000 miles on it.

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  Poor resale value/ costly servicing - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By unhappy - August 7 - 4:51 pm

  The is car is fun to drive and comfortable for long distance driving. It has plenty of pep. Unfortunately, I have learned too late (as in before I bought it), that its at least $500 to service every 30K (almost 70K at 60K servicing since you have to shell out extra money for platinum spark plugs). I put on >25K per year so I am hitting these milestones quickly. I had it appraised and after 2 years and 60K miles, it is work only 1/3 of what I paid for it and it will only go down from there. Even more expensive cars cost less to service. I nthe long run, not worth the investment.

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  Weekend Rental - 2009 Hyundai Accent
  By Gravedigger83 - August 6 - 3:48 pm

  Although I didnt buy the Accent like everyone else here, I did get the chance to drive it long distance for a summer weekend. At first glance, I really enjoyed the dark blue color which made the Accent a handsome car. My renter didnt have many options, just a CD player, AC and automatic transmission. But the CD player was impressive. For something thats sticker price tops out in the 13k range, I was quite surprised with a few things like quietness, bump absorption, pickup and handling that rivaled cars outside of its price class. My only real gripe was its lack of ABS. I had to do a panic stop in the rain and I wasnt sure if I was going to stop in time.

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  Good, but with Issues - 2009 Hyundai Accent
  By Dave - August 5 - 8:01 pm

  I bought my Accent a few months ago and I really like driving it more and more each day I get in it. The car is loaded with features. The issues I have are: 1) the cruise control hesitates when first set, 2) the tranny downshifts at the slightest incline (at some interstate overpasses at 78 mph and at some bridges at 35 MPG, I never know when it may downshift), 3) it spits out gas at the end of every fill-up no matter how slow I fill it, and 4) I am a very slow driver (everyone passes me off the start), but I only get 25 MPG in town and 30 MPG at 75 mph on the freeway. Since I bought this car used, Im concerned it may have been damaged. Although, it did have a clear carfax.

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  Needed some work - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Amy - August 3 - 3:04 pm

  When I purchased the car I knew it needed work. I had three recalls on it when I bought it not including a bit more repairs than I wanted to make on a used car. The gas mileage is great, specially on long trips. Other than that it is just going to be the car I hang on to until it breaks down. Hope it lasts a few years with all the repairs.

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  a good buy - 2010 Hyundai Accent
  By dmk - August 1 - 10:31 pm

  I have a muscle car for the summers. Needed a winter/run around car. Was looking at used, for $11.000 the car was a steal. auto, a/c. Worry free driving and in a strange way, fun little car to drive.

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  Pleased with my purchase but ... - 2009 Hyundai Accent
  By Norm - July 31 - 7:40 pm

  I was very pleased with my purchase. This little car gets decent gas mileage (I drive 100 miles a day.) Id like more MPG. I was concerned to find a bit of body rust that wasnt noticed when the car was being detailed for my purchase. The sport suspension is really great here in the mountains.

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  Own a 2006 & 2008 azera - 2008 Hyundai Azera
  By BILL IN SO. CALIF. - July 27 - 9:43 pm

  Bought a used 2006 (1st year model) limited edition, with 12,000 miles. Now has 103,000. Gave it to my wife, when I bought a used 2008 azera with 12,000 miles, now has 30,000. I have owned over 25 cars in my life, and these are among my top 3 all time favorite cars. You cant beat the quality and features for the price. Dealer service is the only way to go. They stand behind their cars 100%. If I have to complain about something, its the amount of road noise on the freeway. My 2008 has navigation, but it is outdated, and not user friendly. Hyundai is updating the nav in 2011. Two friends have bought azeras, after driving mine.

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  Good but not Great - 2010 Hyundai Genesis
  By Traderjo - July 24 - 9:45 am

  I rented this car from Avis for a week while on vacation. It had less than 4,000 miles on it. It has a buffeting noise that is really irritating when you are on winding roads, I dont think extensive wind tunnel testing was done on this car. My car also had a built in GPS and it was the worst GPS I have ever worked with. I had to put my Tom Tom in to get anywhere reliably. There is no power outlet in the rear of the car, I was traveling with my family and one power outlet is not enough for us. I have owned Audis, Acuras and Infinities. The Genesis is a good value for the money but they are still not in the same class as the more expensive brands.

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  Very Pleased - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By fortythieves - July 17 - 9:59 am

  I purchased this car used with 25k miles. I have 71k miles on it now after 1.5 years of ownership. Very pleased with my purchase. Low cost of ownership - only performed routine maintenance. This is my commuter vehicle and spends most of its time on the highway. Still enjoy looking at the exterior to this day. Looking at dollars and cents, it was a smart purchase for me and my young family. Plenty of space for things, especially when you consider all of the things you need to haul for young children.