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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  good ride - 1994 Hyundai Elantra
  By big john - November 19 - 2:29 pm

  Bought new for wife, never had Major problems and regular maint. Will keep her running. Drove up and down east coast when new. Would do it again if I had to.

• 

  Still love it - 2008 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Anonymous - November 19 - 2:00 am

  Going on 3 years and over 36000 miles with no major problems. Vehicle runs great and loaded with extras that are standard. Read some reviews on this site that complain about the Hyundai but this was our third Hyundai and my wife now has an Elantra which is our fourth. Exceptional value for the money. Car looks good, is comfortable, roomy and reliable. Best vehicle I have ever owned and Im 62 years old and have owned a lot of different vehicles.

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  Honest Facts - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By Anonymous - November 19 - 2:00 am

  This is a great car and if you know what you are doing I have gotten as high as 35mpg on the expressway. There are some flaws with the trans, had mine replaced once with no questions asked. Car runs and handles great never a problem with getting me where I need to go. I am from Chicago so weather with the track pack. wheels is an issue. You will need winter wheels. I have over 25k miles on mine and is stil a blast. Many road trips and the comfort and ride is great. Always get a lot of attention in this car, thumbs up or questions at the gas station. Once they get this shifter figured out down the road I would give this a full 10/10.

• 

  Defective Transmisson - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Anonymous - November 19 - 2:00 am

  Very Comfortable car nice ride on long trips. Developed a transmission problem on occation transmission bangs into 3 gear when driving in town or traffic had to dealer numerous times explain how to duplicate but dealer refuse to give time to test drive for it to occure! Then you get unable to duplicate. Wife refuses to take a new car into the city. This is not the only car this is happening to.

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  Not to shaby - 2004 Hyundai Tiburon
  By JJEvans - November 16 - 2:00 am

  Nice handeling, fun and sporty... looks great. I dont know about long term reliability yet.

• 

  Probably would buy another one. - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By jcscratch - November 16 - 2:00 am

  Paid $13,700 for this car: power everything, moonroof and ABS. Im 63" and find it fairly comfortable to sit in--very good visibility. No trouble to date, at 18,000 miles. Very quiet car. This car blows the Ford Focus away (I got rid of my focus at 36,000 miles because of build quality and it was very uncomfortable). Bottom line: If I had to spend less than $14,000 on another car, I would buy another Elantra. (but see the suggested improvements)

• 

  So-so car - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - November 15 - 7:00 am

  The ride is smooth and the fuel economy is good. So far it has been very dependable, but I dont like the transmission. At times it should downshift, and it doesnt. Other times, while cruising on the interstate, it will downshift for the slightest incline. I have had this car for a year now, and it is starting to develop rattles in the dashboard. I am struggling with the dealer to fix them. I get the feeling that Hyundai is not built with the attention to detail that other, more expensive cars are. This is the first Hyundai I have owned. I would recommend it to a friend (pros outweigh the cons), but remind them that they are buying a cheap car, and not to get their expectations too high.

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  Worth the money - 2004 Hyundai Accent
  By John - November 12 - 7:06 am

  I have had this car for 5 years now and the only expensive thing ive done to it was a timing belt. (Part of 60,000 mi service). Other than that it has given me no problems. You cant beat a 5 year 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and a 10 year 100,000 mile engine and power train warranty. The warranty was why I bought this car. I just wish other makes of vehicles would do the same.

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  Not satisfied - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Phyllis - November 11 - 5:19 pm

  Bought my 07 new in 0906. Feel I overpaid for it. 18,800. Have had to replace tires at 32,000 and brakes. Now my automatic seat works sometimes and my sun visor wont stay up. Dealer only service during the week, late only two days and rarely has loaner cars. Michelin tires are too expensive for this car and wouldnt climb my driveway last winter. Slide a lot! Never heard any noise but had to replace the windshield glass in the first 20,000 miles. Orange barrel fell in front of me and now I have a crack in the front bumper doing 50 mph

• 

  Unbreakable people mover - 1999 Hyundai Accent
  By Chrs68 - November 11 - 1:16 pm

  I bought a rebuilt Accent from my sister-in-law when she moved to the other coast. The exterior design made me name it Gertrude. Three years later, I have not had to make any repairs, only normal wear and tear. This is just a people mover that does the job with no fuss, and I have no complaints about it, except that it is starting to rust (living in Quebec, any 10-year-old car has that problem). It has enough power for the job and not enough to be stupid with it - great for my kids. It has enough room for four people and adequate trunk space. I plan on keeping it for as long as the rust will let me.