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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  excellent ride - 2007 Hyundai Accent
  By M. Gibbons - August 1 - 1:08 pm

  First 4 tanks 37,38,37,39 MPG. That is mostly highway averaging 63-65 MPH. My daily commute is 100 miles. Compared to the older Toyota Tercel and Saab I was driving I am thrilled with the ride quality - smooth and quiet. I wanted a Yaris but could not find one with side curtain airbags. I am very happy with the way the car looks (I got in black). I thought I would get the hatchback but the visibilty was not great and since our other vehicle is an FJ Cruiser.......enough said. The tires and wheel covers with the base GLS trim are very nice, not the usual economy car bicycle tires. Under 13K, excellent mileage, standard side airbags (I have a 2 yr old) great warranty...easy decision

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  Still Early But - 2006 Hyundai TUCSON
  By John Norfolk - August 1 - 12:16 pm

  I have only had for a month, but my wife and i love it. It seems to be very well built handles great, very quiet and has all the safety features and warranty at a fair price.I am getting over 21 mpg in city. Driving Florida To Md. in August, and looking forward to it. I sold autos for 15 years and would recomend this vehicle to everyone!

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  Could have been so much better! - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Disappointed in PA - August 1 - 10:50 am

  Let me start by saying that we liked our car(bought it new). It was a good deal, but gave us too much trouble-we just traded it in on an 07 Mazda3. It is a MUCH better vehicle for a few thousand more. Also-Hyundais dont retain their value well. A week after taking delivery a hose clamp fell off-car lost all its antifreeze. It was towed & fixed however that was merely the tip of the iceberg: -Driver seatbelt fell off into wifes lap! -Various trim fell off in 5 different places -Ongoing transmission problems -Climate control broke -Emergency brake "broke" & ruined the rear rotors -radio, clock, visor clip all broke All this is not acceptable in just 4 years and 39,500 miles!

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  One Year Later... - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Joe - August 1 - 10:36 am

  First, I gave the performance a 5 because a stock GS can hardly get out of its own way but for less than a GT costs you can upgrade performance parts that will not void the warranty and make it faster than a GT or SE. With that said. The car is way under priced! Exterior design is somewhat exotic and the interior, even after a year, is still not boring. Since owning the car Ive had to replace my interior carpet because a hole wore in just below the gas pedal. That can be blamed on the dealer because they never gave me floor mats. Overall this is an awesome car but if you can afford it go with the GT or SE.

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  nice suv - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By csmith - August 1 - 2:00 am

  I really like the way the car handles, and for the price, it has a lot of great features.

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  Incredible value - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Eric Bigelow - August 1 - 2:00 am

  I have the Elantra GT, and what other vehicle offers 5 year 60K mile warranty (bumper to bumper), full leather interior, 4 disc brakes, sunroof, CD player, fog lights, and very stylish guage display for UNDER 14K before tax, tags, and title. i have recevied many compliments and surpirsed looks from people who have taken rides from me. Its not the same Hyundai that your broke uncle or older sister drove ten years years ago. This is a real car at an incredible value. This is the best big purchase Ive made in as long as I can remember.

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  Traded in a Lexus, very pleased - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By DrImage - August 1 - 2:00 am

  We sold our 94 Lexus ES-300 and replaced it with this vehicle. I was not expecting the quality that we have with this vehicle and I am overall very pleased and at about 1/3 the price of a new Lexus ES-300.

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  suprise - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By bill barnhart - July 31 - 7:06 pm

  As a person that has not owned anything smaller than a full size American car,the ride, performance, and handling of this were the biggest surprise Ive ever gotten from a car. The car performs exceptionally well! The ride takes a little getting used to. I purchased the car for the warranty, and got a big surprise.

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  Good at first- Didnt last long! - 2002 Hyundai Accent
  By L Hecker - July 31 - 4:21 pm

  This car was great for about the first year only. If that! I had a major problem with my transmission in the first year. They told me that I was lucky it was covered under warranty because it would have cost me an arm and a leg! The next major problem was the brake light - apparently their was another major problem with the engine. It served the purpose of taking me from point A to point B in the city. I commute and I DO NOT recommend this vehicle to commuters! After commuting for 1 1/2 years the car broke down left me stranded twice. I put so much money into this car because the parts are soooo expensive for such an inexpensive car! The gas mileage is about the one good thing.

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  Great Car - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Sapient - July 31 - 7:47 am

  I have been very happy with this purchase. The only downside is fuel economy. I usually get 21 MPG for non-highway traffic (and that is with climate control turned on). For a V6 the MPG is not bad.