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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  Im glad I did my research - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Barbarann - October 9 - 10:00 am

  I test drove the Elantra last December...compared to the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sentra it won hands down. But I hesitated because of poor crash test results re: airbag deployment. Ive had my 2002 Elantra for 2 weeks and love the way it handles. My "workhorse" 93 Toyota Camry still runs and looks good but at 190,000 miles it became a second car for my daughter. The Elantra is so much peppier and responsive. I had to get used to sitting a little lower on the road and more road noise. Im having too much fun playing with the moonroof. CD feature is nice although I dont believe the speaker system compares to Toyota. Still checking gas mileage...with only 2 fills, between 25-28 mpg mostly city driving

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  2002 Elantra = Cheap fun - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Bill Carr - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Love the features! Need better shift linkage (smoother) and give the car a horn, not a buzzer!

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  Second time Hyundai owner - 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT
  By furunofan - October 7 - 3:33 pm

  I traded in my 2005 Tucson that I purchased new for this 2013 Elantra GT. The car is really comfortable and has a nice quiet ride for a small car. The value isnt as good as I recieved when purchasing the 2005 Tucson. I think the value of the dollar has decreased to the point imports are having problems keeping the value they offered just 5 years ago. The steering is great. I wanted a Ford Focus until I test drove one and found the steering radius was not what I expected from a small car. The GT steering has three modes and all drive really well. I had problems getting a manual transmission but I didnt want to pay the xtra for an automatic.

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  2009 Genesis Review - 2009 Hyundai Genesis
  By Derrick - October 7 - 1:20 pm

  This is a great looking car. I got lots of compliments. But the car simply has the worst ride of any vehicle Ive owned. My Toyota Camry rides way better. Im going for the second time to the dealer to see if anything can be done, but Im not confident. I cant see myself driving this car for three years-Id get rid of it tomorrow if I could. Very, very disappointing.

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  Best Hyundai effort yet - 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
  By Agent Cook - October 7 - 2:00 am

  I got this car in March after reading up about it. I owned 2 tiburons previous to this car, and I must say this is the best Hyundai I drove yet. The handling is great and the power from the Turbo is excellent. For the money, it cant be beat.

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  Great car for the money - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By Marc - October 7 - 2:00 am

  I commute 80 round-trip to work and average 32 mpg in hilly terrain. No problems so far. This car is very comfortable, roomy, and quiet. I looked at comparable Toyota, Kia, Nissan and Chevrolet products and none compared to Hyundai.

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  Nice car glad I have the warranty - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By Marc - October 5 - 8:56 am

  I have had the car since 2007. A great car to drive, but I have had many problems. Check light comes on for no reason sometimes. Trunk would not close one day. Visor would not stay up. Drink holder broke. Car jumps a bit when I change from 1st to 2nd sometimes. About 2% of the time. Electrics are been faulty and I have had to replace 4-5 bulbs. I think that is about it. Quite alot though. The warranty is great and they have repaired everything, but I am tired of taking it into the shop for repairs. Nice car, but just too many problems for me to consider buying another Hyundai.

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  Love It - 2003 Hyundai XG350
  By BA - October 4 - 2:00 am

  This car exudes comfort with a very low cost. I enjoy its power as well as the smooth shifting 5-speed auto trans. When you feel like a little action just switch to the manual shift mode. The interior is very comfortable and quite impressive. Those who are used to small sedans will feel like its a Benz. Its not, but comparatively it is wonderful. I highly recommend this car for those who cant afford the $40000 competition.

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  Great except for the transmission - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By 2010_santa_fe - October 3 - 6:57 pm

  We purchased our Santa Fe after driving at least 8 competing models and the Santa Fe was way above the compting models. The Santa Fe V6 has plenty of power, decent MPG, rides pretty smoothly, and has lots of extras at a good price. The problem is its transmission. It started having shifting problems at about 3k miles and we took it in and they reset the tranny. The problem was gone for a while and then gradually returned. We took it back to the dealer and the replaced the tranny at about 7k miles. Now its been reset again, then reprogrammed and now Im taking back to the dealer again for the fifth time Jan 10. There are lots of posts about tranny problems on Santa Fe forums now too.

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  I like the car very much. - 2016 Hyundai Sonata
  By Ken Dranchek - October 2 - 8:06 pm

  Purchased new Sonata; Silver, SE in March 2016. 2300 miles on the odo. Replaced OEM Khumo Solus tires with Continental TrueContacts at 900 miles. Transformed the cars ride and handling, much quieter, as well. Im breaking in the car using the manual shift mode because the full automatic-normal setting lugs the engine. Have recently begun driving in full automatic in the Sport setting. The shift points in Auto-Sport are very close to the shift points I was using in manual shift mode. The engine stumbles when moving away from a dead stop in full-auto but not in manual shift mode. Hoping Hyundai soon owns-up to this fault and issues a TSB to increase the engine idle speed. Slight rattle from the glove box area over rumble strips. Will wait until it is constant before taking to the dealer for repair. I will change the oil and filter at 3000 miles per the owners manual and will use Mobil 1 Full Synthetic with factory oil filters. By accident, I discovered the mat in the trunk is reversible. Access to the engine air filter and cabin filter is very easy. Getting 29.8 mpg so far.