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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  Good car, TERRIBLE corporate support ! - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Will Geib - July 10 - 12:45 pm

  I returned to the dealer the first thing the next morning after I discovered there was a paperwork error that overlooked applying the Hyundai BOOSTUP savings program in my purchase. BOOSTUP is a savings matching program found on the Hyundai web site. To date, I have recieved, through my dealer, my original $500 deposit, but NOT THE HYUNDAI MATCHING. AFTER 8 MONTHS ! "Things take a long time to be resolved with Hyundai" said the Sales Manager. Wow, do they ever. This was confirmed by the BOOSTUP customer service rep, who said the very same thing. The Williamsburg, VA dealer has resubmitted documents requests several times from Hyundai, as have I. Neither one of us have gotten a satisfactory conclusion to our requst to have the matching BOOSTUP processed. Stall, stall stall. Hyundai owes me $ 500. ITS THAT SIMPLE. My overall rating is soured by the failure of Hyundai to resolve a simple problem. In short, the Sonata seems to be a good value, but dont count on Hyundai to back the dealer or the customer. This is an issue that Edmonds does not include in its review questions. The customer support by the manufacturer is overlooked. For that, I rate Hyundai one star.

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  What a great car!! - 2008 Hyundai Azera
  By Paul J - July 10 - 8:22 am

  We went to the Hyundai dealership to look at the Sonata and while it is a great car, was not big enough for our family. We the looked at the Azera and drove it. We found that the car drove and ran excellent. More power than the Sonata, and my 61" son can sit behind me in the back seat and still have leg room. The car rides excellent, looks great, and gets decent gas milage, considering its size and horsepower output. At many thousands of dollars less than the competition, this car sticks out as an EXCELLENT alternative. The warranty doesnt hurt anything either!

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  Mid life crisis - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Hillbilly - July 9 - 9:40 pm

  I drove by the dealer and had to have this bright yellow sports car. It has been great to drive, although I do store it in the winter months. I had origionally bought it to teach my teens to drive. No way! Way to quick and many blind spots. Its ok though because I totally love to grive this car. Only had 2 mechanical issues, both fully under warrenty.,

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  Lovin it - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By airforceguy - July 9 - 3:13 pm

  Ok, I have only owned mine for about a month, so I cant speak to reliability yet, but as for everything else, its near perfect. The car doesnt feel cheap at all. Its intelligently put together, its an ergonomic dream, the gas mileage is phenominal (Im averaging about 33.5 mpg and 510 miles to a tank), its quiet/rides smooth, the optional equipment upgrade(s) are excellent, and its a great value overall. What more could you want in a car? It is a little "knocky" sounding at low speeds though, I dont like that very much, but its a great highway car. Its ridiculous how quiet and comfortable this car is on the open road! The lumbar support is great. Buy this car!

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  Very pleased - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By hank2230 - July 9 - 11:23 am

  We have had our Limited less than three months. With only 400-500 miles on it we took it from NE ohio to West point NY. Actual gas mileage was 29.4 MPG. With 1500 miles we took it too Michigan and actual miles were 34.6 MPG. Needless to say we are very pleased with the car and its performance. This car handles very well on the highway and has lots of power when needed.

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  Hyundai XG350L - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By MYhyundaiXG - July 9 - 7:36 am

  ...awesome car...a lot of bang for the buck

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  Love my new Shark - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Mike Kang - July 9 - 2:00 am

  This is my first new sports car, and I’m proud to own the new 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT V6 2dr Coupe. I love the look of it and the power. I have a lot of great comments about my Tiburon from all of my friends (there all import fanatics). I’m going to be in the next Import Tuner magazine, I don’t know when or what month but I’m going to be in it. Look 4 me.

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  DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Pat - July 9 - 1:50 am

  Its a good looking car, performance isnt bad...when the car works and isnt in the damn shop! This car has caused me nothing but problems since I got it. A door handle came off and I barely touched it, the transmission and flywheel had to be replaced at around 75,000 miles. The car is a manual transmission, and during the winter months the parking brake DOES NOT WORK! The brake line freezes and is worthless. Dealership manages to wiggle themselves out of expensive repairs so I have to pay every dollar. Ive easily spent $4,000 - $5,000 to keep this car on the road.

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  Pay more for somthing else....... - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Pete - July 8 - 8:00 pm

  72 thousand miles and transmission will not shift. But not a transmission problem. Warranty is a crock. Hey Folks you pay for what you get. Also sun visors fell off, auto locks stopped, not to mention a dash light problem. The car is simply crap. Dont risk it. Pay 3 to 5 grand more for a good car.

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  Love my Tiburon! - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Patti - July 8 - 4:33 am

  Great-looking car! I get great gas mileage, and I feel safe and secure in my Tiburon -- its a hottie!