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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  the break in is true - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By dogula - June 6 - 7:33 pm

  MPG was low for first 3,000 miles. I am now averaging 33.5 MPG with Automatic while driving 60/40 Highway/Town. I reviewed Fit, Versa, Aveo, Yaris and Mini before purchasing this car and with the improved MPG after break in I am delighted to say I was right. THE cost, reliability, quality and super warranty are superior to all of the aforementioned vehicles. It is not even close. Great Job Hyundai, I wish the American automakers would follow your lead.

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  Totally Amazed - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Bill Stewart - June 6 - 8:40 am

  After months of research, I chose the Veracruz and love it! This SUV is extremely quiet, has plenty of horsepower and is a pleasure to drive. The power lift gate is the bomb having kids and the third row seats come in handy when carrying the neighbors kids along. Great job Hyundai - keep up the great work! Id definitely buy another one!

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  my car - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By chunky - June 6 - 12:21 am

  I got mine for $11,750 w/ premium package w/ auto trans. So far I love this car even though I didnt think about the insurance before I purchased the vehicle. I like everything about the car considering the price but I dont feel too safe when I am changing the lanes.

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  transmission questionable - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Mag - June 5 - 11:40 pm

  Ive only had this vehicle about 3 weeks and am extremely satisfied with everything about it except for the transmission. There definitely is a slip in the transmission. It doesnt happen on every acceleration from a stop, but enough to make it irritating.It almost seems like a down- shift jerk (automatic trans.)after it has already shifted into second,it drops, or jerks into a lower gear and immediately shifts again to the gear that it previously was in. This has happened to me only 5-6 times in 3 weeks. After reading the other review about the transmission problem I see that its not just me out there with this problem. And evidently,theres no help from Hyundai corp.

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  Navigation system - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By watsowil000 - June 5 - 9:26 pm

  When we picked up the car the navigation was not hooked up correctly and the dealer "fixed" it for us, but it took three days (signs of bad things to come). Less than a month later we took it to North Carolina and the nav system went out again. Dealer there was helpful and put in a new one for us. 8 months later it is not working again. It si a great car, but I would not spend the extra for the nav system-they are not real helpful in getting it fixed and even when calling the help line they are not good at letting us know what is being done to remedy the problems.

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  Ford/GM....watch out!!! - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Mark - June 5 - 5:13 pm

  I bought a 2005 last month just when the 2006 where arriving on the lot...therefore $21,600 purchase price (+dealer doc & taxes). I priced honda, fords, gm, toyota small suvs..comparing apples to apples nobody could touch the Tuscon without adding another $5,000!!! I was looking for a bang-around car/sedan for the wife and two kids,honda civic =$20K, Accord ex 4 cyl=24K, 6 cyl=$29K..all with only front drive & traction control only (No stability control!) Honda CR-V =$27K - 4cyl. As you can see Tuscon==awesome deal and GO ANYWHERE drive line, cant wait for 3 feet of snow!!

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  Hyundai 2008 Entourage Limited - 2008 Hyundai Entourage
  By Southern Comfort - June 5 - 4:47 pm

  Overall we have found the van acceptable. Having traded a Pontiac ssei sedan for the van beacuse of medical reasons weve found many of the amenities of the sedan lacking in the van and not available as an option. However, for the task of carrying medical equipment it is acceptable. The large amount of room is pleasing. Gas mileage isnt great, especially for a 250 hp engine. The sedan got 19 mpg in town, 23 mpg on the highway and was a 3.8l, turbocharged 276 hp engine.

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  Made a fan out of me! - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By Anthony Young - June 5 - 3:21 pm

  I went into the dealership to try the Nissan Versa and Sentra, Honda civic, Mazda 3 and Scion tc. At the end of the day I test drove the 2007 Hyundai elantra se which was the 3rd manual car I have ever driven in my life and I instantly fell in love. So easy to drive compared to the acura I learned on, I got it down in 5 minutes and had to have the car. It feels like a sports car. The interior is massive compared to everything else. So much room and comfort, definitely feels more expensive than it was. Ive had it for a month now and drive about 30 miles a day and never want to get out of it. Only problem is that gas mileage over speeds of 55 mph is 32 so actual highway mpg (at 70 mph) is off

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  paint issues - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By bob nolan - June 5 - 3:03 pm

  well,I have 18,000 miles on my limeted 4cly,and have no major huge issues,we drove from Wisconsin to South of tucson this feb and avg 27.9 mpg,nice ride and love the handling and no blind spots,rotated tires as factory pressure settigs wear middle of tires out.I am concerned about the paint and feel its thin and cheaply done,chips easy and wife had luggae slip out of hads and the paint Rolled off trunk bunmber area,black molded plastic.No dealer help,I think dealers lie and warranty means crap to them as a whole,I plan on having this car along time ,so we shall see.gps was hard to get used to but love it,like heated seats and sun roof,I think it is owrth what I paid $22,000.not penny more

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  Dependable Car! - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By Trish - June 5 - 12:55 pm

  I have had one repair in 20 months of ownership! I have 75000 miles on this car and my only complaint is that It just wont break down and give me an excuse to buy a luxury car! LOL I get 26 miles per gallon even without cruise control.