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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  No issues when driving in reverse - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By wbito - November 18 - 1:03 pm

  Always loved the look of the the Santa Fe so when the time came to purchase a new car it was at the top of my list. The added bonus of a top safety rating and comfortable interior sealed the deal. Two years later, after intermittent shifting issues that "could not be replicated" by my dealer, I now have a beautiful car that only moves forward reliably when in neutral — attached to the back of tow truck. Hoping that its current failure to move at all when in "drive" makes the situation a little easier for the dealership to figure out. Might be worth taking a peak at the transmission this time (?) So far, the only bright side is that Ive never had any issues when driving in reverse ;)

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  Careful - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By pfc95 - November 3 - 2:00 am

  There is a reason that this is lower priced...quality is not good. Currently my Elantra with 44,235 has had 2 front bearings replace and a tie rod end. Window panel on door rusted out and its not covered!!! I needed to bring the car back with 33 miles due it not being properly prepped (tire air pressure at 15psi etc.) Warrenty is excellent and they fixed with no charge but beware, it will need fixing and often!

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  Pits compared to the 2000 Hyundia - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By ripped off - November 2 - 11:20 pm

  Problem starting motor, 2 to 5 tries needed. Missing stard equipment, lock on glove box repaired - looks used. they repaired the motor while still in for dealer options. Repairs not reported, seems there more damage since they do not list repairs done on invoice if i get one. They didnt have the sticker on the side window stating model, year, equipment, where it was made, seems to be a used car. they refuse to even help, not very fair to the buyer. seems they are back to where they start, past was junk; whats this? honesty seems to be gone

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  Mechanical Nightmare. - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sam - November 1 - 12:43 pm

  So as the economy riddles us all, I decide to purchase a fuel efficient low cost vehicle, low priced and one that will be reliable, boy did I make a mistake. I purchased 2009 sonata gls, the suspension is horrible, my transmission makes a slight rattle, I have creaking noises coming from my interior and I have only 1000 miles. The service manager and mechanics of course cannot locate the problems and are telling me that the noises will go away with time ? are you kidding me. I think everyone who is incurring these problems should create a petition forward it to Hyundai and take care of the issues. If anyone is thinking about a sonata, test drive it as long, far and as many bumps you can.

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  Be forwarned - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By pepper - October 26 - 1:00 am

  I bought this car because I needed reliable transportation with a low cost. The warranty was what suckered me in. The check engine light came on at 400mi. and has stayed on. I now have 28,000mi. Ive taken it in to be looked at, and the dealership cant seem to figure out what is wrong. My dealership tried to charge me to look at the car. I had to call Hyundai to get a refund, and I still have the problem. Mechanically, otherwise, it has been fine...I have yet to be left stranded. I do plan to replace this car with another Toyota in a few months. I was hoping for similar quality, but sadly mistaken.

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  unhappy camper - 2001 Hyundai Sonata
  By jmsmin - October 22 - 2:00 am

  This car had more problems than can be explained in 700 words. Briefly, the air conditioner compresser gutted at about 8,000 miles, the engine would die and not restart, (a sensor they said), the engine jumped time and when it was returned, died the nest day. It was towed 9 times and spent as much time in the shop as on the road. At 36,000 miles the engind jumped time again and would not run, the dealer would not fix the problem, and I returned the car to them. I was out down payment and year and half of payments on a car that was at best a piece of junk. No more Hyundais for me.

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  Elantra GT review - 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT
  By zaps - October 15 - 9:45 pm

  very bad MPG it is giving 21MPG only as compared to 34MPG on highway and 24 on interior roads. While driving you can feel it is not smooth and can feel the hardness on accelerator. The Dealer says talk to hyundai and hyundai says talk to dealer. This is worst car i had

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  Dis-satisfaction - 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By wasp2 - October 11 - 5:57 am

  I am really unhappy with my choice. There are only 50 thousand miles on my car and they have to replace the transmission. Now I have gotten very nervous about what will happen further along the way. I had a Toyota Corolla with 134 thousand miles on it and have never had to replace anything. All I did ws normal maintenance for usual wear and tear. A few months after I pruchased the Elantra the seat covers started sagging and they told me it is normal wear. I don t know what experience others have had with their Elantra, I would some feedback.

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  I might think twice - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By not proud - October 5 - 2:00 am

  I had this car about 8mos and about 7,000 mile before check engine light came on it took the deal 3 weeks to fix.

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  Painful Drivers Seat - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Kat - October 1 - 2:55 pm

  I rented a 2017 Hyundai Elantra sedan for a day trip (a 4 hour drive on the interstate one way and 4 hours back, all in the same day). The car looks really nice, but the drivers seat is incredibly uncomfortable. After only an hour of driving, I had pain in my spine from the top of my neck to my lower back, and in my arms, hips, butt and hamstrings. Also, my right big toe kept going numb as my foot was on the gas pedal. I adjusted the seat a million ways - up, down, forwards, backwards - nothing would relieve the pain. I tried adjusting the steering wheel up and down - nothing helped. I dont typically get pain like this from driving, other than my body just getting tired from sitting for too long. Bottom line, I shouldnt get prickling pain after just 1 hour of driving. There is something ergonomically incorrect with these seats. I really think the seats are too low to the floor and thats why no amount of adjustment helps. On a positive note, the headrests were not a problem. They didnt push too forward like they do in some cars. Personally, I never want to rent this car again. Its just too uncomfortable. Maybe its the right fit for some people, but not for me. The pain that I had from driving this car continued into the following day (after I returned the car to the rental car company). The only thing that started to relieve the pain was going to a yoga class. Last year, I rented a 2016 Hyundai Elantra sedan for a trip and experienced similar pain, but not quite to this extent. I read that Hyundai is making Elantras seating out of a different material for 2017 (SoyFoam - which seems really cool), but I dont know if thats part of the problem, or if its just the fact that the seats are too low to the floor. Its unfortunate because if the seats were comfortable, I would consider buying this car... but painful seats are a deal breaker.