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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  Deplorable Gas Mileage - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By metzrob - January 31 - 5:30 pm

  I am getting horrible gas mileage on my 2012 Hyundai Elantra. It is under 30 MPG while doing 55 MPH using cruise control on an open highway. The dealership treats me like a moron and promises me the moon and then thinks I will just disappear and somehow magically become a satisfied customer if they do nothing. The mileage rebate program is woefully insufficient. People need to know that these cars are not good on mileage to say the least.

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  2006 Hyundai Sonata LX V6 - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By mogulprinceton - January 29 - 6:14 pm

  I dont understand... When I fill my tank up it says 350 miles to empty every time but the MPG estimator say 318.6 CITY /477.9 HIGHWAY. My Sonata has 31,000 miles on it and its 7 years old. After while the car becomes uncomfortable on long rides a hour or so into the drive. Its hard to take off from a red light without the wheels spinning causing a ruckus. The body roll is insane when turning at spends higher that 15mph. The 235 @ 6,000 RPM and the 226 lb-ft Torque @ 3,500 Torque RPM is to much for the front tires.

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  2006 Elantra GLS still going strong at 214,576 - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By binski72 - January 29 - 5:18 pm

  I bought this car new in june of 2006. The only thing I have done to this car is change the oil every 5,000 miles. I have gone through 3 sets of tires and front brakes 3 times. at 120,000 I did a complete tune up and had the trans and radiator flushed. This is my 4th elantra and they heve never let me down. Just make sure you do the basic maintaince and it will last a long time. I do drive 90% of the time on the highway. With the cruise controll set at 68mph I am still getting 32mpg on the highway. If i set it at 78mph it drops to 28mpg.

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  I love this car - 2013 Hyundai Elantra
  By elantra6 - January 26 - 12:25 pm

  I have had this car for 3 weeks and I love it. I was trying to choose between Mazda 3, Honda Civic, Ford, Kia, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla , Nisan... and few othes... At the end I had to pich between Honda Cic and Elantra - and I chose the Elantra. So I saved $3,000 , got a better looking car, more leg space, much better warranty , 5 years of road side assistance, 2 years of free oil change. The quality is great it drives great- feels very sporty.

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  GREAT CAR OVERALL - 2008 Hyundai Elantra
  By happy1989 - January 22 - 2:03 pm

  I elantra back in 2008 it now has 136000 on it iv only put one set of tires and breaks and one senser in it other then that just oil changes the car dose have a little bit of road noise but is solid i have to say i trade my chevy in for this car and im happy i did i will be keeping this car till it hits 300000 miles witch will be at my rate in 2 more years

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  What an amazing car - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By mheib - January 19 - 4:04 pm

  After owning everything from BMW, Lexus, Porsche, and Jags I must admit this is one of the finest of them all. Power, poise, comfort, and value.

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  Transmission Problems - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By missmyescort - January 14 - 7:05 pm

  Ive had my 2006 Elantra for 3 years. Up until the last week I was pretty impressed with the value. These cars are much cheaper than those in its class for any given year. I had to replace the A/C condenser and a power steering pump but not bad for three years. ENTER YEAR 4 & THE TRANNY PROBLEM! I didnt read a single review about Hyundai tranny problems... but once my car started having problems I googled "hard shift from 2nd to 3rd after car has warmed up" and WOW! A lot of people have had this problem. Replacement was the only successful fix (appears it doesnt lead to failure but I cant live it). These car also have timing belts, another expensive maintenance item so trade it in I did.

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  Still going strong - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By dragunz - January 11 - 11:16 am

  Well, here it is 2013 and my 2006 Hyundai Elantra GLS is still going strong. 128k miles on it, its paid off, and it has only had a few issues over the past six years other than standard maintenance. The one thing that still irks the hell out of me though is the staring wheel material. It has degraded and is basically crumbling away. I took it to the dealership when i was still within the 60k bumper to bumper warranty. They had the nerve to tell me it was not covered and i was causing the damage with my finger nails??? Oh well, thats what black electrical tape and steering wheel covers are for. All in all i am hoping to keep this car another two years for my daughter.

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  I WILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER HYUNDAI! - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By mchunter - January 8 - 7:27 am

  We are very disappointed in this car. 17,000 miles in, the car developed a blown headgasket. Service manager said bolts were loose from the factory. Hyundai area rep. tried to blame this on us, saying we had let the car overheat, although the car had never got hot. Why would a new car overheat anyway? While being fixed, dealer found timing chain tensioner was loose also. Kept smelling antifreeze later and dealer found hoses with pinholes. 35,000 miles now and car is making a popping noise in the front end and our mileage has dropped from averaging 35mpg to 29mpg. We bought this car, because of mileage and Hyundai quality supposedly being better now, but it is the last one we will ever own!

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  So far sooo good. - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By geekfreak32 - January 4 - 2:32 pm

  Running on 76k miles now. All I did was oil change, battery change, tire change, filter change and belt change. Six years of owning this car ever since it was bought new, maintenance was minimal. I had a Mitsubishi 3000gt before, gave me all sorts of engine and transmission problems. Im sticking with Hyundai. Call it luck or whatever it is, my car runs like a champ. Forgot to mention, when I was on the L.I.E(495) coming from Long Island to Queens, a Stony Brook student hit the rear of my car with his Saab. My bumper only had a minor paint chip while his entire front bumper and hood was crushed in. The impact was enough to tilt my head. Unfazed.