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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  Reliable Hyundai Entourage GLS - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Man Van 105 - June 26 - 7:49 pm

  My family & I have had this vehicle for a year now w/over 15,000 miles & have traveled a lot since then. So far, we have not encountered any "major" problems that other people have stated in there reviews. I spoke w/a Hyundai mechanic & he told me that this is a heavy vehicle w/a 3.8 Liter V6 engine. So of course the gas mileage is not great. Also a vehicle is considered broken in after 35-50,000 miles & that is when you will start having better gas mileage. But, it also depends on your driving style and terrain as well. My advice, save your money & stick w/a basic van. After reading other reviews, owners of vans w/more amenities seem to have more problems than others,ie. power doors 4 example.

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  Tiburon ROCKS! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Kacie - June 26 - 7:06 pm

  Had the car for only two days and I think it is awesome. The Tiburon drives very well and with its stylish appearance, its definately a keeper! When I went out looking for a new used vehicle, I narrowed the field down to a 2004 Honda Civic Coupe and a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT. The Tiburons driving and its looks won me over. Not knocking the Honda, it drove very well, but it just didnt have the appearance or the peppiness of the Tiburon. Im sold on Hyundai.

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  Buy the 5 speed manual - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By 3rd Car - June 26 - 6:15 pm

  I picked up my 08 Accent about a week ago, I did about 4 weeks of research before choosing the little Hyundai, The car is fun to drive, looks good and best of all gets 27mpg city and 35 highway. It seems to be well built and comes with a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty. I drove both the 5 speed and auto transmission, what ever you do, go with the 5 speed. Look, its not the fastest or best looking car on the road but since it is our 3rd car, we also have a 98 Honda Accord and a 02 Toyota Tundra, and with gas coming in at almost $5.00 a gallon I am finding myself driving the Accent every where I go. I paid $13,800 with the rebate for a fully loaded SE, A comparable Civic came in at $17,900.

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  Good Reliable Car - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By hdriver - June 26 - 4:09 pm

  27000 miles in the first 11 mos of ownership with absolutely 0 major problems. 33 mpg with 70% hwy, 30% city. Love all of the standard features for the price. If you buy, plan on keeping it forever, they dont hold resale at all! Only complaints are interior fit and finish, this thing is a rattle box.Rattles have formed from everywhere glove box, doors, overhead trim and gauge cluster all rattle or squeak. Could benefit from a 5 speed tranny,seems sluggish/bogged down unless you get on it. All in all though it would be hard to find a better car for the money. As long as reliability stays I will be a happy camper.

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  Had Everything, but Interior Flatlined the Deal - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By AutoImpressions - June 26 - 12:47 pm

  If you like the Camry, the Sonata needs to be at the top of your test drive list! This is an outstanding feature packed, comfortable, great daily driver. And the different configurations and add on pkgs allow you to get what you want without having to shell out $ for things you could care less about. My favorite feature on the Sport version are the seats. They have the sports fabric down the middle, w/leather side bolsters, and you still get the heated seat feature. The Sonata Sport and the Chrysler 200S are the only mid size sedans I found that offer this combo. I really tried to convince myself to get this car; it had everything on my checklist for a fantastic price. But, the interior read bland, plastic, and souless to me, I just couldnt see myself being happy driving it everyday. Ended up purchasing the 2016 Kia Optima EX w/premium pkg instead - liked the sportier exterior & interior styling much better.

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  Good at start but not Long Term - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By breich - June 26 - 8:46 am

  We bought this after owning a CRV. We really liked having the V6, the ride quality, and how smooth of a ride it gave off. We were also impressed that the V6 gave us very similar gas mileage as the CRV but with so much more power. However the love affair began wearing off this past year. We had the Check Engine light come on 3 times and then the Passenger Seat Airbag light began going crazy. Everytime our dealership gave us crap answers that something needed reset, recalibrate, or as in the case of the seat could not replicate. Nothing ever got fixed. So in the end between the dealership experience(only Hyundai dealer in area) & the car issues this was probably our one and only Hynudai.

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  Really nice SUV - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By John - June 26 - 7:48 am

  Drive it, you will love it

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  Hard to beat! - 2011 Hyundai Sonata
  By K9Handler - June 26 - 12:40 am

  Unless you are a stubborn person, it should be pretty easy to figure out what car is worth every penny. This car after a month of ownership Im still impressed. I am a car fanatic. I love cars, so when i decided to buy a new car, i did a month long research. On paper this car was very hard to beat especially for the price. But as any car buff would tell you, its not whats on paper. So i test drove, and drove, and drove. The clear choice was a Sonata. Finally someone was listening to the people that actually drive these cars. Hyundai had built a car for people who wanted value without compromise. I love it when people stop and stare and then asks "Is that a Hyundai?"

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  sporty accent - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By leifval - June 25 - 8:55 pm

  I really enjoy driving my Accent. For a small car it is very quiet inside. The manual 5 speed is fun to drive and provides adequate pickup.

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  This is a great little car! - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By cwrivera - June 25 - 2:57 pm

  This is my second Hyundai. I bought it for the commute and havent been disappointed. After looking at the the Yaris, Fit, and Rio I found the Accent to be the best value for the money. At 10,000 dollars and mileage at 37-38,(moving along at 70-75mph) the cost to own in my opinion is better that the 15,000 dollar Toyota or Honda. I have the GS manual with the "popular" package that has air conditioning and the upgraded radio. If you are looking for a reliable commuter vehicle that will last forever and get excellent gas mileage, this is the car for you.