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:

• 

  You get what you pay for! - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By goose.one - September 19 - 10:00 am

  I purchased the car as a commuter car. Highway gas mileage was poor considering the 4 cyl engine felt like it couldnt get out of its own way. Service at the dealership was sub- standard to say the least. I had to have the radio replaced , an electrical problem, 2 alignments, and a check engine light go on, all under 10,000 miles. Handling was very poor, especially in bad weather. Terrible in the snow for a front wheel drive car. Just recently involved in a frontal collision after hydroplaning in the rain on the highway. The car crumpled up like a tin can, AND THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY!

• 

  Never Again - 1999 Hyundai Accent
  By former Vermonters - September 11 - 2:00 am

  There are only two things that are good about this car, the gas mileage and it is excellent plowing through snow. Since 25K, we have had a problem with the transmission sensor. We lose the high and low gears but I learned that if I turn the car off, I can reset the sensor. Most often, it works but if not, I start in 2nd gear and upshift to D, no highway traveling with this one. It has been replaced once already and is due for another. There is almost no headroom in this car and if we wear more than a heavy sweatshirt in the car, there is barely enough room for two people in the front.

• 

  (2) Bad Xg-350 L in a month - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By Sarah Viands - September 6 - 2:00 am

  Bought 1st car on 1/24/04. Had severe lectrical problems. Dealer replaced car on 1/30/04. This one has been in shop 2 times for transmission shifting problems with clank & rough shift from 1st gear to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. Asked dealer to buy back and he offered us $9000 less than we had paid having put only 1400 miles on the car. Windshield wipers also real noisy. On Curse, get feeling of tip-over. Hate this car and also the way dealer has done, but guess I am stuck. My advice.Dont buy one.

• 

  Worst car purchase decision I have ever made - 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By nohyndai - September 5 - 10:56 am

  I have had my hybrid sonata 3 months. It has just over 2000 miles on it and has been in for service twice. It has had all the recall fixes. The check engine light goes on and the dealership keeps claiming I am not tightening the gas cap. It also gets 18 mpg based on gas tank fillup. I am terrified of getting rear-ended as the engine sputters out when on curved inclines when you deaccelarate. The engine just cuts out. The closest Hyundai service department is 45 minutes away and they do not provide drop off service or loaner cars. So I have to take a day off of work, or drop the car off the previous evening and pay to rent a car. This is to remedy their errors! A definite lemon.

• 

  Traded my 2010 Sante Fe - defective transmission - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By khh8 - August 15 - 4:07 pm

  I am so sorry to say, I no longer could live w/ the transmission issues w/ my 2010 sante fe & got rid of it. My initial problems within two months of purchasing: bucking everytime I turned on the car & slamming/thumping into 2nd & 3rd gear w/ slow acceleration and also experienced a hesitation of shifting between 2nd & 3rd. Been to the dealership numerous times & they reset my transmission once. They were able to fix the bucking when the car is turned on. Then took it back for the original problems resurfaced within a few hundred miles. Then they "couldnt duplicate" the issues & told me till they can there is nothing for them to do - as if I am making all this up. BUYERS BEWARE!

• 

  junk - 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By gradstudent28 - August 13 - 9:51 pm

  as an engineer I can reassure you this vehicle is junk. flimsy build materials inside and out. thin plastic on the inside, thin metal pieces, and doors. 40k miles the vehicle has more rattles then my dead grandma, and the shocks seem to be worn out!! I would NOT reccomend this vehicle.

• 

  Piece of Junk - 1997 Hyundai Elantra
  By dksm - August 13 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car back in Apr of 02 and it seemed like a good deal for the price. Everything worked great at first but then I started having some problems. First I had to replace the water pump in Jun-02, then a few months later I had to replace the radiator because the original one leaked in about 4 different places. For about the next 7 months I had no problems so I was thinking that everything would be ok, but then in Apr-03 one of the radiator fans went out. About 3 months later the AC stopped working because of a leak in one of the hoses. The AC worked for about month and now it has stopped working again. There is leak somewhere else in the AC system.

• 

  my last hyundai - 1999 Hyundai Accent
  By kml99 - August 4 - 2:00 am

  this car had so many problems. my friend and i bought the car on the same day and she ended up trading it in 2 years later, because it was so bad. the suspension was horrible.it would never get into the proper gear on the highway (i have an automatic). and i have had a problem with the air conditioner since day one, and no one seems to know how to fix it.

• 

  Could have been built better - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By pfehrman - July 19 - 3:36 pm

  The assumption that a car must be good based on a 100,000 mile warranty is faulty; especially when it does not transfer to a new owner. I purchased this vehicle from a dealer, used, and then was told it needed $2,000.00 worth of required maintenance to keep from voiding the warranty. After that I had constant problems with the brakes, and transmission. Coming back from Florida one time, the car began to buck and jerk for more than 400 miles. We took it to a couple of places and were told that it was a transmission sensor. After paying many hundreds of dollars for repairs, we still are having transmission type issues, along with a brake fluid leak, and other continued brake issues.

• 

  not this one - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By denn - July 17 - 6:40 am

  bad engine, repaired multiple times, windshield leaks, sunroof leaks, poor choice