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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  Happy until now! - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By Katmandu - October 2 - 10:00 am

  I was fairly happy with my car for the price until recently. For the price, I feel that I got what I paid for. Economy! Rides okay, somewhat comfortable, cute, compact and so on. Recently I put it it for some repairs. The engine light came on. Also, the latch for the trunk wasnt working and the passenger air vent slats were coming out. Well the dealership said that the vent was broken due to hit being hit, well I disagreed. So Im trying to fight it.

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  Need new suspension - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By ottok - September 29 - 6:51 pm

  Overall I have been pretty happy with my 07 Sonata GLS. No technical or mechanical issues yet after 20,000 miles. My biggest problem has been the suspension which is designed for a light bicycle. Bumpy roads provides very strong feedback into steering wheel. Bottoming out is donw easily. So you Hyundai engineer lear from Honda Accord.

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  Navigation problematic - 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By KF - September 29 - 2:06 am

  The Santa Fe handles very well in the snow and is much better than my other 4 wheel drive. After 8000 miles however the navigation/radio unit went out. Sent it to Hyundai dealer for warranty work and the part is back ordered indefinitely. Reportedly there are 50+ on back order ahead of me so apparently this is not an isolated incident. So I selected this vehicle because of the nav and other upgrades and they are unreliable. Fuel mileage is about 21.9 mpg.

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  Sell/Trade after 6-7 years - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By sarah - September 28 - 6:11 pm

  Was happy with my purchase, even though I had a lot of warranty work done on it during the first 5 years. Beginning in the 7th yr., Ive dished out more money for repairs than I care to remember, every six months or so. Nothing less than $200 each trip to the service dept! Now, for the past 2 yrs., Im paying for repairs every other month, in the neighborhood of $700-900 per visit. Ive owned other Brands that didnt have the problems Im having with this Sonato! It drives like a dream, but these costly repairs are a nightmare. Dont think Ill buy another Hyundai. I normally keep a vehicle 10-12 yrs, before buying a new one, but dont think I can put up with these problems much longer!!

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  Only 4 years old and rusting - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By nfinitygrl - September 27 - 5:40 pm

  This was my first new car and Ive completely loved driving it. Its fast, gotten me out of scary highway situations more than once and its never, ever given me mechanical problems. Ive kept up all maintenance diligently as I didnt want to void any of the warranties. The low profile tires are a bit pricey to replace but other than that, upkeep hasnt been bad. The car sits low and that helps increase chances of a cracked windshield, which Ive replaced once. But after having the car for only 4 years, it is rusting in 3 places. Hyundais warranty wont fix it as the 3 year paint warranty expired and the rust hasnt "perforated" the metal completely. Sadly, I will be replacing it :(

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  Great Buy - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By JHB - September 27 - 10:00 am

  I have just had the car for a week and have thoroughly enjoyed driving it. Every one I show it to is extremely suprised by how it looks. Very smooth car to drive. With a price under 24K with taxes, it was a great buy. A Camry with similar equipment would be at least 5K more.

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  good vehicle - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By motorman409 - September 27 - 4:56 am

  Ive had this for 3.3 years, and it has been a good vehicle. Good AWD, mileage has been good, comfortable, warms up well, all around good vehicle. When its time to get my wife a new vehicle, I will seriously look at the the new Tucson.

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  Great car, I would buy it again. - 2011 Hyundai TUCSON
  By heffelz8 - September 24 - 5:47 pm

  My wife and I bought this as our very first new car together. We bought the AWD as we live in Michigan and winters can be a bit hectic sometimes. In town we average around 22 mpg. Not bad, but highway is anywhere from 26-34 mpg, depending on how heavy your foot is. When we cruise at 55-65 mph is where we really get between 32-34 mpg. Other than that, it relatively good in the snow and there is plenty of fold down cargo space. If you utilize the trunk, you may be disappointed as there is not much trunk space. Overall its a great car, 13k on it and not a problem. Ill wait till it hits 60,000 before writing another review.

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  love / hate relationship - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By tonysi - September 23 - 6:59 pm

  My first non honda product in many years. Love the features, performance, mileage and style. What i hate are the problems, waste gate issue after 1000 miles, spider webs in the turbo, waste gate reprogram again and finally at 50k the engine light on again and a fuel pump replacement. While all were under warranty there were no loaner cars offered by my dealer. Its like my Corvette, great car when its running right !

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  No Regrets - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Steve - September 22 - 9:36 pm

  Purchased the car with Cash for Clunkers and got it for just under $10K. Considered Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Dodge but happy I settled with Elantra. Taken one long trip and averaged 36 mpg. The ride is quite and comfortable with an interior space that lets you hear music at a reasonable volume with a stereo system much better than what you would expect in this class. The seats are excellent for not being adjustable. I have a combat injury to my back and was quite surprised at the seat support comfort on a long trip. I have owned two Honda Civics and consider this vehicle a much better value especially when comparing the warranty coverage. Hyundai has come a long way, baby!