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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  Terrible experience with Veloster & Hyundai Dealership - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By ssmith160 - April 23 - 4:14 pm

  Since receiving a letter in the mail about the recall on the sunroof in my 2012 Veloster; Ive had issues with what the dealerships would and would not do to fix my car. I set up an appointment to get my sunroof tested for the recall issue and found out the dealership in Brunswick, GA didnt have the tools for the recall test. After repeatedly calling for weeks on the status of the tools, no response was given to me. I was driving home from work one day and my sunroof shattered. The dealership in Brunswick gave me alot of difficulty on how I would transport the vehicle to them for repairs. So I ended up having to tow it to the closest dealership in Valdosta, GA. Terrible service in Bwk, GA

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  My Best Car Ever - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By Miss Dee - April 23 - 3:46 pm

  I brought this car brand new, it now has 147,000 miles and still running. With gas prices nowadays I can not complain at 33 mpg. I am currently looking for a 2008 but .. Hmm I love my car and dont want to sell or trade in. I guess Ill keep it for one more year.

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  Love my baby!!! - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By Amanda - April 23 - 1:02 pm

  This is a great and reliable car. I feel very safe with my 2 month old daughter. It gets great gas mileage, easy to drive, and it never costs over $30 to fill.

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  Great Value for Money - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Swaroop - April 23 - 10:00 am

  I first looked at this car after stumbling on the J.D Power review in some news article. After a lot of research I test drove the Sonata LX and fell in love with this car. I also test drove the Toyota Corolla and Honda Accord. Corolla was just a good point A to point B type of car with no frills and thrills. Accord was similar to the Sonata. Well it was slightly better in terms of quality but it was atleast $8K/$9K more than the Sonata. The value for money was maximum in the Sonata. The Sonata is THE car for the cost-conscious person who wants a good car.

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  Tiburon Experience - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By mushroomangel - April 22 - 5:56 pm

  I first feature I noticed was the beautiful rear end and since I realize thats what you end up looking at the most of the car in front of you while driving, I wanted a car with a gret rear ;-D - Then after the looks of the sheik exterior comes the drive. This car handles the road great taking turns with ease even if your zoomin a bit fast for a curve it just glides along like its attached to a track. The best test so far has been the rain. I drove thru hurricane rain conditions from VA to PA with truckers splashing an added monsoon of water on me & my car only skidded once the whole 7 and half hours of driving.

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  Got a lemon - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By cruzin3 - April 22 - 10:06 am

  I bought it in July 07, the first 1 that the dealer got in. Ive had nothing but problems with this car and Im considering arbitration to resolve the matter (in NV, you have to have the same prob 4x). My first incident happened at approx 1,000 miles when my fuel pump failed to get enough pressure and my car almost left me stranded in the middle of the desert. I had to take it back right away to get fixed again. At 7500 miles, I had to have my fuel pump replaced once again because the car kept seriously lagging on hills and sometimes would not start or start rough. Now the ESC off light comes on, wouldnt go in reverse for 20 mins, and once again lags on hills. Interior is nice though.

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  Sonata is big drive - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By truewbil - April 22 - 8:50 am

  There are so many add-ons and items of standard equipment!. You can spend 10 minutes telling friends about stability control, anti-lock brakes, Michellin radils, hugh trunck, foldable this, collapsible that, soft, interior, and with the V6, an engine that takes off like a 3/4 cam GTO

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  WoW! Boy was I wrong! - 2008 Hyundai Accent
  By Larry R - April 21 - 4:35 pm

  I have always driven either a large sedan or suv. I thought that a small car would be uncomfortable,slow and poor quality. Boy! Was I wrong! The Accent that we purchased is quick, made of great quality and is as smooth as any large sedan or suv that I have ever owned. Let me clarify quick. I took this Accent on a short road trip to California from Las Vegas. I was able to cruise at around ninety and I was passing much large and more expensive cars along the way and in L.A. The best is now I put in $25 of gas every eighth day instead of $50 every three days. I did look at other small cars such as the Toyota Yaris and the Chevy Aveo. I found the Accent to have a better value and warranty.

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  Stiff Seats - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By JamieR - April 21 - 12:22 pm

  I bought my Azera last spring after researching a number of comparable models. I chose the Azera because of its Consumer Reports ratings compared to other similar models, and the value for all the goodies I wanted. My only complaint is that the seats are incredibly uncomfortable. I thought the seats would soften up but after a year theyre just not any better. I found my MPG got much better after my 15 month tune-up when they did the injector service. Im now getting about 24-25mpg, with close to 28-29 if I do nothing but highway driving.

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  Good _budget_ car - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By scott - April 21 - 10:51 am

  Like other Korean products, like Samsung phones, this car is high on well-designed features, but just misses on small things that Japanese competitors still consider (and prove to be annoying long term). Biggest pros: Features - sunroof, leather, etc Interior space- everyone is surprised at "how roomy" it is Exterior design - often mistaken for a SAAB 93 Biggest cons: Loud to drive- very little sound dampening Rough to drive- feel every bump in the road Electrical- have to replace a headlight every couple months?!? Other minor complaints... Why did they design the center A/C vents that way? They are completely worthless for the passenger.