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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  Hot in Arizona - 2004 Hyundai Elantra
  By John - June 26 - 6:13 pm

  Brought it used in 2004. Former owner didnt take good care of it. Local Hyundai dealer fixed all problems with no hassles. Great car so far after putting on 11,000 miles. Love how it drives.

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  so far so good - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By kjb - June 26 - 5:23 pm

  We just purchased the car, we upgraded from a 4cyl. vehicle and we are still adjusting to the additional fuel costs, but not bad. We love everything about the car, I would appreciate a better arm rest in the front and the cd player when switching to another disc doesnt always start on track one. I was slightly concerned about my image if caught driving a Hyundai, but now after 3 weeks I think it is the smartest buy I ever made and know it is going to be a big seller, The only other car that compared in comfort and a smooth ride was the Lexus rx, I drove them all! The Tucson is a great ride.

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  love my santa fe - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By rhinesstonegal - June 26 - 3:43 pm

  This is my 3rd Hyundai and my favorite so far. I had a Sonata and a GLS 350. I have had 3 Volvos, 3 BMWs and a Porsche Boxster and frankly for the money, its an excellent car. I have all the options in high end cars. I saw someone complain about their service but I have had wonderful service. Twice they have fixed things for free that would not have been covered under warranty. As long as all goes well with this car, I will probably buy another.

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  The Small Car of the Future - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Don - June 26 - 8:51 am

  Originally I was looking at A Toyota Prius, because of the mileage. However they were out of my price range. I started looking at the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Carrolla, and Nissan Sentra (No KIAs, dont like their styling). Other Brand cars left out due to mileage ratings.. After looking, and driving these cars, I settled on A 2017 Hyundai Elantra Limited for its styling, mileage ratings, smooth ride, and good interior setup. The car has a leather interior which is very comfortable. The setup of the interior is very nice, with all the controls within easy reach. The second day we had the car, we headed out on a small trip (265 miles round trip). The ride was smooth, except my wife said the front passenger seat had too much vibration to it (I will have this looked at by the Dealership). I felt very comfortable during the ride to and from our destination. The mileage was great. I averaged 44.5 MPG going to our destination, and then with driving around the Wildlife refuge (start and stop many times), we ended up for the whole trip with a combined mileage average of 42.3 MPG. I have repeated these numbers time after time going to and from work (30 miles each way. I travel about 24 miles on the freeway, and 6 miles in city. They had a great price, and the dealership was willing to come down substantially on the price. I found this very good, since their main concentration was selling their prior years stock of 2016’s. The experience with the salesman was great (His name is Woody – Streetsboro, Ohio). I would definitely buy a car from him again. I will end this by saying I look forward to getting in this car and driving to work every day.

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  2005 Hyundai Tucson Owner - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By rgc - June 26 - 3:46 am

  Have driven the vehicle over 6,000 miles since purchase. No problems of any type have been observed. Good acceleration, traction and handling characteristics. Fuel economy, approximately 20 MPG average, is within the lower portion of the published range.

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  XL 300 - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By lawrence5182 - June 25 - 10:00 am

  HAVE HAD CAR FOR 20,000 MILES WITH NO PROBLEMS. NONE OF THS SUPPOSED NEGATIVES PURPORTED BY EDMUNDS IN THEIR REVIEWS. PREVIOUS THREE CARS WERE CAMRYS. FIRST TWO WERE GREAT-LAST IS A DOG. GLAD I CHOSE THE HYUNDAI OVER ANOTHER CAMRY!!

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  Great car at a great price - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By Not easy - June 25 - 10:00 am

  I saw this car on the road and said thats the one for me. Exterior style is excelent except for the tail lights, a little more sport is needed. Interior is everything I could want in location, ergonomics, and style. Lots of pep in the engine. When test driving the day I purchased it, I requested that 3 average size people take the ride. We put on the AC to burden the engine and drove off. NO PROBLEM! The car performed like a champ. True European quality at an affordable price. Make your deal on the last day of the month, in the afternoon and take a car in stock. MSRP with extras was $27,777. I paid $22,000.

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  Sonata - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Paddy - June 25 - 10:00 am

  I only have 1000 miles but I love it. I have the V6 and power moon roof options.The car handles great and I get a lot of compliments on the looks.

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  The best car ever - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Alberto - June 25 - 7:53 am

  This was my first new car, it has an astonishing 32 mpg fuel economy, I do my own tune ups, this car is very easy to access under the hood, also in the dashboard, I change the factory stereo and it was very easy, took me only 1 hour to do it. Very fun to drive, and the best of all is an affordable but elegant sedan. I am very happy with it has more than 40k miles and runs like the first day.

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  Solid Vehicle for the Price - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By gunlockjs - June 25 - 12:26 am

  This Sante Fe is well equipped for the price and a good bargain. With the 3.5 V6, it has adequate power for hills and interstate driving. I test drove the smaller engines and recommend the 3.5 V6. The initial check of gas mileage was 21mpg @ 75mph on interstate driving. We bought the Sante Fe for my wife to drive to work in northern Minnesota and it works well in bad weather, handling 6 inches of fresh snow with no trouble.