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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  Best car ive owned, too ! - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By david300 - January 30 - 12:47 pm

  I bought my 2002 SantaFe in that year brand new. Its been very reliable and ive babied the car on doing maintenance which i do myself. It routinely gets a combined 21 MPG with 23 on the Highway at 70 mph. It is very peppy and in fact, the front tires will spin from a start if you take off real quick. I upgraded the crummy LongTrail Tires to Michelin LX Tires and went from 225s to 245s -- the extra width makes it handle superbly and they dont rub on anything. The Factory radio / tape/ cd player went out at 75,000 miles so i went with a new Pioneer from BestBuy. Other than that, i had a Temperature Sensor go out around 80,000 miles...and thats been it for failures. Its been good.

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  Good Hyundai Service - 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring
  By NYC - January 30 - 1:30 am

  This is my first Hyundai. I never considered to buy a hyundai before. I bought this car because I could save at least $3000 by not buying Honda. No mechanical problems noted over 5500 miles. I drove this car during snow storm. This car was very reliable and ESC and ABS worked great on the snow and ICE. I drove about 70 miles that day from NYC and New York Upstate. Hyundai service was great and affordable. They charge me $35 for engine oil, oil filter, and 27 safety check. Also $35 for flat tire repair and wheel align. $0 for Tire air balancing. Whenever I visited the service center, they cleaned my car outside for free. Hyundai offers a reasonable price for maintenance.

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  Regret - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Ricardo - January 29 - 12:30 pm

  I traded in my Santa Fe for this because Hyundai gave me the highest trade in value. The exterior was so so. The interior was great. Soft touch material. Good looking leather. It drove quiet. Infinity radio is not that impressive but ok. However, within a month, the leather starts to fade. It starts to pick up road noise. Some rattle starts to show up here and there. Most serious problem was the transmission. I heard a lot of good things about the Aisian transmission. However, my transmission has problem shifting from 3rd to 4th gear, rumbling a lot. It went back to the dealership. They told me that there was nothing wrong. They also broke their promise about loaner car. Regret

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  Those S. Koreans have thought of everything - 2015 Hyundai Elantra GT
  By Graham Martin - January 29 - 1:34 am

  MPG only average, maybe 25-34. This cat handles great and is a lot of fun to drive. I drive it in ECO( gas saving control) and it has plenty of power. Plenty of room to store things in the front seats. Plenty of jacks to charge tour tech stuff. Besides the average gas mileage is that interio cabin is a little noisy on the highway. But at the price I paid, it is a great value!

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  Excellent - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By LoveSonata - January 28 - 2:10 pm

  Best mid size car I never seen before. Its amazing.

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  The car to buy - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By kofender - January 28 - 10:00 am

  Very simply, everything you really need is in this car. Its not expensive, but it is surprisingly well built. It is not a speed demon, but do you really need to be runing your engine with hard accelerations? You cant beat the value for the price. Everything you really need is here and all the frills (except a navigation system, but do you really need one to get around your own neighborhood) are here too. And heck, its about $8000 than a similar Accord or Camry.

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  A Bargain and Fun to Drive Too - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Enrique - January 27 - 6:10 pm

  Its been a joy to own and drive. The things you get for the price is hard to believe, even 4 years later. The hatchback styling is very Saabish and practical. The trunk is large (fits four tires perfectly) and with the seats folded, its huge (10+ tires, full size desk, etc). The space, ride and quietness surprises everyone. Although the stock handling doesnt live up to the GT emblem, a Tiburon rear sway bar takes minutes to swap in. Reliability has been better than I expected - about one trip per year to the dealership and its never left me stranded.

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  Sensible choice - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By SteveHasler - January 26 - 10:00 am

  As a long-time Honda driver, Ive found a new favorite brand. Dont let anyone else judge the Santa Fe’s style for you - decide that for yourself You cant beat the price/warranty. After 4 months I have zero complaints. It is tightly put together and quiet even at highway speeds. The trim is modest, practical, and, more for your money than youd expect. It’s obvious the Santa Fe isnt exactly overpowered. Test drive it against other vehicles with other adults onboard and decide if you can live with the pick up,Price, style, quality, warranty, and crash test ratings more than make up for power.

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  big bang for the buck - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By tony - January 26 - 10:00 am

  I love this car. my friends cant believe what i paid for it. got rid of my suv to put some fun in driving again. not the greatest headroom and trying to back out of a parking space is a "take a chance" experience what with the limited bisibility The radio/cd/cassette is amazing for the price and the warantee cant be beat.

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  big bang for the buck - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Tony - January 26 - 10:00 am

  I love this car. my friends cant believe what i paid for it. got rid of my suv to put some fun in driving again. not the greatest headroom and trying to back out of a parking space is a "take a chance" experience what with the limited bisibility The radio/cd/cassette is amazing for the price and the warantee cant be beat.