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 Deal - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Hyundai Buyer - March 3 - 10:00 am

  What looks like a full size SUV with interior room to match for a very low price. Well thought out features. With the extended warranty, reliability is a non-issue.

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  Decent but leaves a lot to be desired - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Martin - March 3 - 2:13 am

  Overall, a good value for the money compared with other SUVs in this class.However...at 4000 km there was an oil leak which took 3 trips to the dealership and was finally fixes with silocone sealant.During the winter,the windshield washer fluid reservoir broke and had to be replaced.Windshield is surprisingly fragile - accidentally dropped the wiper arm when replacing the wipers and the windshield cracked all the way to the top.I also have a 2005 Chevy Malibu and the Santa Fe is missing a lot of the nice add-ons.It even doesnt have auto on headlights (come on, I get leather seats and not this!).I have had less problems with my Chevy (and previous one) in 5 years than with the Santa Fe in 1.

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  No not a Jag but a Hyundai! - 2004 Hyundai Sonata
  By Steve - March 2 - 7:00 pm

  Couldnt be happier with this car. We have owned it for three years now and still love it. Great looks, style and best of all this car has Lexus type of reliability.

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  Turns heads - 2007 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Brendan - March 2 - 10:16 am

  Overall, I have had a great experience with this car. I bought it new and have had it for 2 1/2 years now. It currently has a little over 50,000 miles on it. I have taken several road trips in it and it is surprisingly comfortable. It also turns heads. I have literally had people pull up to me and ask what kind of car it was and were stunned that it was a Hyundai. I would highly suggest getting the SE because the 6-speed helps make full use of the small amount of power to make it feel faster than it really is.

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  2012 Sonata Hybrid - 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
  By sonatahybrid65 - March 2 - 3:27 am

  Just picked up the new car this week. Received rebates, 0% for 60 months and nice discount. Have driven the car about 500 miles and am averaging 39 MPG. I love this car so far, the technology is amazing. It drive and rides very nice. Drove it about 250 miles first day on turnpike, 70 mph with no problems. Its not as powerful as my 2007 Sonata with V6, but the mileage is a good trade off.

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  Wow. A real car for a real price - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By wow - March 1 - 8:16 pm

  more then i thought was possable for less then $25,000. leather, heated seats, abs, tcs, esc, 6 air bags. i never thought i would say it, but i am impressed!!!

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  Good Value - 2000 Hyundai Elantra
  By HunnyCar - March 1 - 5:55 pm

  Fun to drive, especially for a wagon. Handling is zippy and predictable, The 2-liter V6 is smooth and predictable. Reliability has been good at 49,000 miles, but the radio gave out early.

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  very enjoyable ride - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By alan rubin - March 1 - 4:39 pm

  This is one fine car to drive for comfort and handling.From the very nice seating to the fine quiet ride, the limited Elantra is always an enjoyable ride, on city streets or highway driving, its a great enjoyable ride.The gas mileage is 25 city 39 highway and very good performance.Very quiet and a very solid feel over all kinds of roads.Visibility and safety are great and the radio really sounds high end.There is a roomy and comfortable rear seat thats easy getting in and out.Steering is also an improvement over earlier models which gives me a confident feel.Overall for the class I think this car ranks right at the top.

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  Amazing Buy!!! - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jason - March 1 - 11:19 am

  I purchased my 2003 elantra when it was about 2 years old and had abour 80,000 miles on it. Now, Ive had it for 2 years and am so in love with it. I have put on almost 60,000 miles in 2 years. Ive changed oil, brakes and headlights.... thats it! I think that is great since it is just shy of 140,000 miles. I have two jobs one requires occasional highway miles to be put on the car and the other is delivering pizzas. Yes 60,000 miles with about 2/3 of those as pizza delivery miles. Simply amazing! I was about to make an offer on a 1994 Honda Accord with over 100,000 miles when this fell in my lap for less than $1,000 more than what I was going to offer. My MPG averages City 24 /HWY 32

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  Great Value and Drive too - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Robert - March 1 - 10:00 am

  Purchased my silver blue pearl Santa Fe SE in June. My initial ride home over 100 miles was a delight, beautiful ride vehicle felt right in my hands. I have 2000 miles on it now and its still as advertised. My avg fuel mileage is 24.7 and there is a wonderful feeling knowing it has plenty of power with the V6. Mine has the premium package really enjoy the XM and all the other features. No complaints or issues with this vehicle.