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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  Deadly Defect !!!! - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By Deadly defect - December 22 - 10:30 pm

  With 826 miles on the vehicle I was coming up to a stop sign, heard a pop in the steering column and lost all steering on the vehicle. You could spin the steering wheel completely around. Coasted to a stop, had it towed to the nearest Hyundai dealer. They found it was an assembly line defect in putting the steering column together. They were very sorry it happened, but insured me they had never seen this before. They acted like my radio knob had fallen off. If I had been going down the highway at 60 mph I wouldnt be writing this now. If you have a Veracruz I would recommend you have your steering column checked. If it happened once it can happen again!

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  cheap and fun - 2003 Hyundai Accent
  By mac68990 - December 10 - 2:00 am

  its a cheap little care with zero extras. but with the 5 speed it is a peppy, nimble little car. decent cargo space. but poorly made. it has been in the shop once twice since I got

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  NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!!!!! - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By BbyGbc - December 9 - 2:00 am

  I was in and out of the dealers for lots of problems you can say about 10 times a year. Well I have the car no more, someone was not paying attention to the road and rear ended going about 40 mph I was at a complete stop well my car was totaled, the trunk was smashed and both drivers and passenger side were buckled all the way to the front bumper.Not repairable at all, the in surance co only wants to pay 4500 and I owe 6500 they are cheap but dont stand up in a crash and what its worth after you drive off the lot, ITS JUST NOT WORTH IT buy the right car

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  2.7 + 5 spd manual, a mistake - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By whoops - December 7 - 12:13 pm

  Purchased the 2.7 with 5 speed manual. This power train combination is very disappointing and should be avoided. Recommended shift points are at 15 mph. 25 mph. 35 mph. and 45mph (each of these coincide with very close to 3,000 rpm). Slower-than- expected acceleration from a stop is unnerving, with over-anxious drivers behind you. After 1200 mile break-in (not traveling above 55 mph)the drivetrain mismatch becomes evident, as you can only reach and maintain 65 mph by sustaining 3,000 rpm or higher in 5th gear! Slight hills challenge you to maintain speed, even with no load. I believe this car fails to meet the minimum performance requirements for safe driving on U.S. interstate highways.

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  Quite Dissappointed - 2012 Hyundai Veloster
  By mdub10 - November 30 - 11:20 pm

  I have owned my Veloster since the summer of 2012. I really wanted the manual as I have driven stick shifts since 1994. Unfortunately this thing has to be built by morons. I have had navigation issues, massive creaks and squeaks that are completely annoying and now with 25,000 miles on this car, the clutch has gone out! Are you kidding?! I have driven numerous vehicles that were standards. I have never had a clutch fail. Not once in 20 years of owning cars. Hyundai is saying wear and tear and I have to pay over $1000. Once I get the quote from the dealer, I am going to fight this like crazy. The clutch is only covered for 12 months or 12K miles? Hmmmm...maybe they knew it was crap?!

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  Transmission Problems - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By mmh3 - November 25 - 10:00 am

  We purchased our 2004 SF 3.5L GLS 4wd in April,2004 in Nevada from Planet Hyundai. With 1200 miles on it, we had to have the transmission replaced. Stevens Creek Auto Imports (An authorized dealer in San Jose, Ca.) had our vehicle for testing and seal replacement prior to putting in the new transmission. There is now a difference in the way the car drives. It used to have a big surge upon the initial acceleration (like a burst of power), but no longer. The freeway acceleration seems to have also diminished. The verdict is still out on the vehicle because we just got it back from the dealership.

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  Not bad, but could be much better - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By Dinerokid - November 11 - 2:00 am

  I have only driven the car 1,000 miles. Miles per gallon are 12.8 on my last fillup. I have the LX-6 Cylinders. Car handles well and it is quite comfortable, exterior design is very striking and modern. Interior design is quite pleasing and ergonomically correct. Cannot attest to reliability since the car has only 1,000 miles.

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  Bad transmission - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By kkellycoco - October 31 - 3:46 am

  Do not buy this car! I only have 8,000 miles and the transmission is faulty. Hyundai will only put a refurbished one in and not a new one. Many other Santa Fe owners are having the same problems, stay away from this car.

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  If considering a Sonata, shop around. - 2002 Hyundai Sonata
  By Perrott - October 30 - 2:00 am

  In the search for a mid-size sedan, shop around. The flaws that come after 2 years of driving are not worth the price I paid. I live in Canada, and paid $24,000 for the car. For that price, there are plenty of other good deals. There are too many unreliable things about the car. A 2 year old car should not be experiencing this many problems after 1 year. Maybe the Koreans just horribly botched my car, but Im stuck with it due to the horrible trade in value Im left with.

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  Dangerous Dual Clutch Transmission - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Melissa Wilson - October 27 - 4:57 pm

  10 months ago I drove my selling dealership crazy because I wanted the 2016 Tucson Limited so bad. Now I am scared to death to drive my vehicle and recommend all buyers stay away until Hyundai resolves the problem with the Dual Clutch Transmission. On three separate occasions (after 11,000 miles), I have been stopped at a traffic light and depressed the gas pedal on green. The vehicle would not move. The RPMs ran over 4,000 and the vehicle still would not move. Verified car was in Drive on the cluster/shifter and parking brake was off. I managed to get the vehicle moving after several minutes of throwing the shifter into park and then into drive and then flooring the gas pedal. In all three instances, I was incredibly lucky to not be in an accident or cause an accident. I took it to the dealership and they kept it for 5 days. They could not replicate the problem and the vehicles had no error codes. They made me feel like a fruitcake or something. They reset the transmission control module which my Hyundai Case Manager verified wont fix the problem. I have been unable to get the dealership to give me a loaner so I drive my vehicle not knowing when the problem will repeat. Will I get into an accident this time or get killed? With the complaints building on Edmunds and NHTSA, Hyundai needs to stop selling the Tucson and order all of them off the road. At a minimum, Hyundai needs to admit publicly that there is a problem and that owners should be offered loaners by Dealerships if they so request one. Also, owners should have the option of requesting that Hyundai buy the vehicles back. I dont want to give up my Tucson but I want to live more!