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:

• 

  Rusted Frame - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By Bucknaked - April 1 - 9:55 pm

  The car seemed well designed and reliable so I gave it to my daughter. She had a fender bender due to black ice and the repair shop found the engine cradle frame on the right side was almost rusted into. Im sure it will cost more to fix then the car is worth. Im sending this as a warning for owners to check out their frames as soon as possible.

• 

  Fun car! - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By smshpmkn - April 1 - 8:43 pm

  this has been my favorite car. its fun to drive and looks awesome. i still get people turning heads and asking what kind of car it is. the only problems i have had with it has been weather related. i live in an area with a lot of snow and cold temps and you can tell they didnt design it for this type of weather. if there is more that 4 in of snow on the ground dont go out driving you will get stuck if you have to stop but handles pretty well besides that. but i dont mind. i just take it in every winter to get the e-brake replaced for free.

• 

  My 2015 vs. My 2016 Limited Ultimate Santa Fe - 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By R Bramel - April 1 - 6:42 pm

  My 2015 saved us during a massive accident. An 85 year old man had his second accident of the day by pulling across out multilane divided highway at just the wrong time. We hit him at something less than the 60 mph limit and both my wife and I walked away from out totaled Santa Fe. The airbags worked so well that I didnt even have bruise marks from my glasses. The only downside is that Hyundai, and everybody else, I suppose, puts the horn button on top of the steering wheel airbag. I wonder how many other people suffer my injury: my hand-on-the-horn got blown back into my chest. It took almost two months for the pain to fully subside, and another month for my hand to regain most of its strength. Tow rating was important to me. If you buy the PIO (port installed option) trailer hitch package, the Santa Fe Limited (and SE) have a 5000 lb tow rating. According to the owners manual, even with an aftermarket hitch it is only rated for 2000 lbs. After the accident, even though the force of our connected travel trailer impact bent the "stinger" 90 degrees into the bumper, but the Hyundai hitch structure seemed undamaged. The impact was so severe that even the trailer was totaled. After the accident we had time to reflect on a replacement car. We felt so well protected by the car and had enjoyed all the features of the Ultimate package that we got the identical car in the 2016. Right away, both of us independently thought the 2016 was substantially quieter; I think theyve added insulation and maybe fine tuned the suspension. Ive seen a lot of negative comment about the third row seating. With the SE bench seat it might be a problem, but with the Limiteds captains chairs it isnt much of a deal to get into the third row. Just for grins, my wife and I let our daughter and her 6 5" husband drive and we rode in the third row for a six hour day trip. Grandsons in the middle. Were both 70 y/o and it was perfectly comfortable. Having the panoramic sun roof almost reach the third row makes it much nicer. My biggest complaint is that Hyundai hasnt incorporated Apples Carplay into the display system. The existing nav system is nice, but not as good as Google Maps or Apple Maps, plus I have to pay an annual $50 fee to Sirius just to get traffic information incorporated into the nav system. Carplay was supposed to begin showing up in another Hyundai model in 2015 so I figured the 2016 would definitely have it: Wrong! The BlueLink "turn by turn guidance", which is $100/ year is not compatible with the navigation system. Go figure.

• 

  Very fun car, questionable quality - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By rex81 - April 1 - 4:07 pm

  First off, I really like this car. I bought it because I wanted something fun but practical. This is a perfect mix. The car handles great, the engine/transmission feels good, it has a TON of standard features, the full third door and roomy backseat are great for carrying kids, and the trunk is huge. I am constantly sitting at work itching to start my commute. Something I dreaded in my last car, a Toyota Yaris. So spending $18,000 out the door to get a car that does that is a really great value in my opinion. However, after driving it for 1,000 miles Im questioning its build quality. Its a brand new car so its bound to have quirks, but it just doesnt feel as solid as my Toyota.

• 

  130,000 and still a great car! - 1997 Hyundai Sonata
  By Still a great car! - April 1 - 1:58 pm

  I bought my 1997 Sonata 5 1/2 years ago with 80,000 miles at a cash price of $3,500 and its still a great car! I love it and Im looking to buy another one. Have not had any major problems with it.

• 

  Fun to drive again - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By highroller - March 31 - 1:17 pm

  Never owned a foreign make car before but I just love this car. It has plenty of power and shifts smoothly. My gas mileage is 32 on the hwy and 24 in town. Not bad. Warranty is also great. The car looks like it is more expensive then it is. I got sunroof and leather heated seats for far less then I could on a Honda or Toyota.

• 

  3.8 Liter Track Sweet Ride - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By kikkenit2 - March 31 - 7:06 am

  Fantastic low end power. Competitive gas mileage. Decent somewhat original body style. Solid chassis, almost too stiff. Almost no body roll. Nowhere to be found. Very limited availability, especially on west coast. Will never be common like mustang. A little slower than g37, 370z, camaro v8, and mustang gt but has a strong package all around.

• 

  Fell in love during test drive - 2005 Hyundai Sonata
  By david stacy - March 30 - 9:38 pm

  Great exterior styling. Great interior, simply controls easy to use. Quite possibly one of the best performing cars in its class that I have ever driven. The exterior styling makes the sonata look much more expensive than it really is.

• 

  Unsafe - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By larryd - March 29 - 9:03 pm

  My 2001 Elantra required repairs that should not have been required in a vehicle this Young. Several items are severe safety hazards and Hyundai refused to acknowledge that it was a problem. Serious issues included a rusted out lower control arm which sent the vehicle to the other side of the road as the front wheel went slamming back into the wheel well. Also a melted door harness which Hyundai had a tsb stating it was improperly sealed. In spite of that fact, Hyundai refused to fix mine because the mileage exceeded 100k. Other uncommon repairs were required and are too numerous to list

• 

  Excellent vehicle so far - Large mid size car!!! - 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By SZ - Wisconsin - March 29 - 8:50 pm

  Owned the car for 3 months and so far not a single problem. I have a long commute and the mileage has been great. While the Honda Accord says it gets better mileage the cost is quite a bit more!!??? Love the space - front and back seat and even the trunk with the battery is still very large. Wouldnt know the trunk is smaller, but the regular sonatas trunk is HUGE. The hybrid is big!!! Very comfortable. Some of the electronics - lane departure, collision warning a bit intrusive but better safe than sorry. Very good Car, plus the warranty as well as the lifetime warranty on the hybrid battery is wonderful. Only 8,000 but so far very happy.