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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  Awesome Little Ride - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By Mcnack7 - October 23 - 1:40 am

  So I just bought the Elantra, pretty much the first one in the area which is pretty sweet. I have only driven it for about 150 miles, but all the first impressions are Great! Interior with all the blue lighting is awesome. Standard features are great too (with prefered package on GLS model)! It drives very smooth, very smooth, Its easy to be going faster than you think you are. 70 on the highway with low noise. test drove 06 Civic, 07 mazda3, 06 Chevy cobalt, and a few others, and there is no doubt in my mind that I bought the wrong vehicle! Its the best in its class.

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  Id buy another one - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By umgoblue80 - October 23 - 12:20 am

  My wife and I are very pleased with our Tucson. She has not had a problem with it. Its fun to drive and surprisingly enough, we dont see them on the road all the time. We would gladly recommend them.

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  Elantra a solid build - 2007 Hyundai Elantra
  By cpjiardina - October 22 - 1:06 pm

  Good build. Fuel economy at 65 rates around 35-37 mpg. Got 45 drafting a semi at 60 the other day so all in how you drive.

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  enjoying my Hyundai - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Edna Bozeman - October 22 - 6:53 am

  i enjoy driving .I do not like the way my keyhole lockout I have carpal tunnel and some time it is hard to get unlocker also I do not like where the hieght of the gearstick is it inter fers with the ashtray. the volume button on ther steeringwheelare go but sometime you accedently change the mode. but over the safety air bags is the reason I got the car it was more pricee then advertized.

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  Overall, pretty great. - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Enjoying new Sonata. - October 22 - 2:46 am

  I like most everything about our new Sonata. The (PE) Popular Equipment package, for about $600 extra, makes the GLS pretty nice, w/pwr seats, woodrgrain interior trim, radio controls on the steering wheel, trip computer. Somehow the advertised price of $14k went up to $21k by the time I got out the door (service contract, taxes, extras like floor mats) even tho I qualified for the $3500 rebates.

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  rattle rattle annoys me - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By david d. - October 21 - 9:13 pm

  Way too much rattling. Especially from the back. I took it back and they told me thats it. I find myself dodging anything and everything. And too much Windows.

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  BMW TO Hyundai - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By George - October 21 - 3:00 pm

  I traded a BMW in 325I on this Hyundai / dollar for dollar/ i made the right choice being that i needed moor room / just changed to SYN oil this boosted the MPG to 26 HY/ put a drop in K&N ait filter, Drop in replacement of factory/ over all performance gained approx 15 HP/ with 26 + mpg with the kick down snap you want / and extra tow power /Rely like this Cross over / interior is well designed !

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  Not reliable after 100k - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By Michael - October 21 - 3:10 am

  I was the 2nd owner, and had it for miles 77K through 114K. During that time, I replaced: front rotors, cracked exhaust manifold (free recall fix), plugs and wires, window regulator, o2 sensor, washer pump, horn, wiring, transmission (OUCH!). The previous owner had replaced the mass air flow sensor and throttle positions sensor. The entire exhaust rusted out too-- salt is tough up here though. Still, thats a lot of repairs for ~30K! And I did the timing belt stuff and tires, which is routine-- but it hurts to do all that and then have the tranny go.

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  2001 Hyundai XG300 - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By GandyDan - October 21 - 2:00 am

  A lot of car for the money

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  I regret the day I considered Hyundai - 2013 Hyundai Sonata
  By chris512 - October 20 - 12:07 pm

  The harshest ride Ive ever experienced from a sedan. Either the suspension is too tight or the Kumho tires are too hard? or both? If youve even owned a small pick-up and experienced the rear end bounce from being too lite, thats what I feel in the Sonata. Ive put 100 pounds of sand in the trunk, deflated the tires to 28 psi, and bought a memory foam seat cushion, and still feel the rear end hop. My only hope is to live with it until January (new tax year) and dump it. At about 100 miles the center console started to rattle.