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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  STEER CLEAR !!!!!!!! - 1994 Hyundai Elantra
  By princess - July 12 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car with 60,000 miles. Immediatly the transmission went out. Soon after the back doors broke and wouldnt open from the inside or outside. Being a single mom that killed the convience of having a four door. I will never buy one of these cars again nor would i recommned it to my worst enemy.

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  Not A Lemon But - 1999 Hyundai Accent
  By Bobby Perry - June 25 - 2:00 am

  After three years, car began to drive like a Sherman Tank. Bad suspension. Went to dealer and was told it was normal. Became normal after 3 years. Had another that drive comfortably for 11 yrs without delcine in suspension performance.

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  Dont waist your money - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By tuscon - June 17 - 4:07 am

  Ive had the car a year and on my second service they replaced a part in my transmission. I asked why and they made it sound like a recall part, but it wasnt I found out. This is when the problems started. The car once warmed up and I come to a stop in drive position it would feel like someone was push on the car from outside, and making a rumbling that seemed like it was going to stall. I have taken in three time to have fixed with no help. Since my car has no lights indicating a issue my dealer or Consumer affairs Hyundai would help. I told the dealer to reverse whatever it was they did, but they said they couldnt. Besides this the car shifts all over the place and jerks you around its horrible and engine sounds terrible. The cloth interior is horrible I have white stain marks everywhere on my black cloth. If you get water or any kind of moistness on interior it stains. the only way to get fix is shampooing the car seats which is expensive. Lots of plastic and falling apart already. Im really depressed because I have always had used cars and problems and finally bought a new car so I wont have to deal with issues and here I am again. I will be turning car into Lemon law attorney to take care of since no one can seem to fix. Also, I meet a girl with same car and same issues. These cars should be completely recalled they should not be allowed out on the road.

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  Disappointing... - 2000 Hyundai Sonata
  By Kristy-) - June 6 - 2:00 am

  Careful when considering the purchase of a Hyundia. Read the warranty restriction very accutely. At 60,000 miles be prepared to pay upto $1500 in basic service maintenance to keep the 100,000 miles powertrain warranty effective. (Timing belt must be replaced every 60K!) I have owned 3 hyundias Tiberon, Sonata, and an old Excel. It might be a great value up front but carefully calculate longterm operation costs and depreciation.

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  The Worst Sports Car Out There - 2008 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Matthew - May 29 - 9:26 pm

  Lets start with the advantages: its pricing, its fuel economy, and its lack of show-offyness. Pricing is very good for the Hyundai Tiburon GT limited edition, at just $17,000. Actually I sometimes think that its a good buy. Its not a "fast car", but its great for backroad bombing it works pretty well on the highway. Driving isnt considered fun, however. On the other hand, fuel economy is ok at 22mpg in the city and 28mpg on the highway. The car gets to 60mph in 8.0 seconds, which isnt impressive these days, but better than some cars of this Tiburons price range. Its an acceptable car for its price range, and not too show-offy either, but Hyundai needs some improvements to the Tiburon

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  If only I had done some research - 1998 Hyundai Elantra
  By tueyjr - May 29 - 2:00 am

  When I bought my Elantra, I was in need of a cheap vehicle fast. I wish I could go back and choose a bike, a three-legged blind mule, or a good pair of shoes. This was the worst buy. I began to think the check engine light was supposed to be on all the time. It was ok, though, because of Hyundais warranty...right??? Well not if the warranty department claims nothing is wrong. It also liked to shift in and out of gears at constant speed and elevation, but according to the warranty department this was normal too. HMMM!!! I will never buy a Hundai product again.

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  oil burner - 1990 Hyundai Sonata
  By bns - May 25 - 2:00 am

  This car has always started for me and has been reliable. But for some reason the engine has become a OIL BURNER. I feel that this pre-mature for a car that only has 93000 miles. Perhaps the 4 CYL engine was not appropiate for the Sonata. The power windows dont operate very well.

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  2011 Hyundai Veracruz, Worst car I ever bought. - 2011 Hyundai Veracruz
  By george170 - May 16 - 1:00 pm

  I bought a new 2011 Veracruz limited and very shortly after I got it I started having problems. The brakes would make a very loud grinding and knocking sound, that is a safety hazard. The stereo system was not nearly good enough to pay the extra money for that upgrade. This car was taken back to Hyundai 5 times to get the brakes fixed. Hyundai sent a factory rep to look at the problem. This rep would not even take a wheel off to look at the brakes. All they would say is this is normal. I own another Vercruz and drove others and this is not normal. Hyundai never would fix the brakes. I had to get rid of the car before we had a wreck due to brake failure. I would not recommend this car.

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  HYUNDAI DOESNT CARE!!!!!! - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By MISTY FITZGERALD - May 14 - 10:00 am

  WARNING!!!! DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT BUY A SANTA FE. I HAVE A 2001 SANTA FE THAT IS NOW GOING IN FOR SERVICE FOR A FOURTH TIME IN 10 WEEKS AND LESS THAN 5000 MILES.

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  horrible road noise - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sel - May 11 - 2:13 am

  My 2006 Sonata V6 has a "moan" like blowing in a bottle at speeds in excess of 60 mph. It makes driving the car a miserable experience. The dealer doesnt seem to want to find the source and tell me that is normal noise. I have taken it back three times. I seriously regret buying this car and I should have spent more and got a quality car. The Sonata is great looking but what you see is NOT what you get.