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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  Blown away by wind - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Unhappy camper - January 1 - 12:13 pm

  Updated review still feel the same about the wind noise, but its a nice little car otherwise. Take it out on the interstate and run it at highway speeds, because the wind noise it HORRIBLE!!!! I commute for work and seriously get stressed out by the noise. Sounds as if you are in a really bad wind storm all of the time. I have taken it back to the dealer and they say its the design of the car! I love the way it looks and handles but if I had it to do over probably would shop for something else because of this.

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  Decent car for the price - 2017 Hyundai Elantra
  By Kevin Shayer - January 1 - 11:27 am

  The acceleration with the turbo is jerky/cuts out. That is very annoying. Happens around 2000-3000rpm mainly. The consensus on forums is that its the way the car is tuned from the factory causes the wastegate dump to open and close to frequently causing the acceleration to feel like it drops out for a split second many times in a row. 7 speed gearbox is decent but shifts awkwardly at times. Exterior car looks great. Interior is awesome. Seats are comfy, dash layout is great. Dual AC works perfect. Ergonomics of everything fits well. The look and feel of the interior is very Audi-esque which I very much like. Passenger side door handle seems a little loose. Had the car for a month and a half. Overall satisfied. However would like the acceleration issues fixed. Entertainment system crashed and rebooted itself last night. Hopefully that doesnt become a regular thing.

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  WOW~~ - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By JK - December 31 - 2:56 pm

  The Sonata Limited is loaded with features. You name it, it has it. Except for Navigation. But other than that, it has all the options Id ask for and for the price that I cant imagine with any other manufacturer. I have about 6000 miles now and enjoying it everyday.

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  Thank Goodess for the Warranty - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Pupusa - December 31 - 10:00 am

  Problems with paint, had to have the car painted 3 times. Electrical peoblems with the interior lights and radio. Took it in for 2 recalls which one of the recalls I was never notified of. Very disappointed with the purshase of this SUV. I wish I would of gotten a more promosing and reliable SUV such as Toyota.

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  Wow! - 2003 Hyundai Tiburon
  By AllOhio - December 31 - 10:00 am

  More fun for the money than anything else out there!

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  Buy one - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By pinetree - December 31 - 10:00 am

  Just had my 2002 Elantra GLS 2 months, but boy am I pleased! Didnt even go out to get one, but who can (or would) pass up that warranty!! Whatever it might lack in pizzaz and bulk, it makes up for in build quality and overall plain ol fashioned dependability. I love it!

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  You get what you paid for - 2003 Hyundai Elantra
  By marvin - December 31 - 10:00 am

  The Elantra I bought was below expectations. It had three major problems within the first 7K miles. In one case, the maintenance technician had to drive it for 400(yes!400) miles to determine the bug.

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  great change - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By les atkinson - December 31 - 1:33 am

  i had a 2005 santa fe and traded it in on the new 2007 limited 4x4 and wow! what a change i abosolutly love it.what a refreshing new look inside and out.

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  Owned one for 5 years-Good car - 2000 Hyundai Accent
  By Stormy21856 - December 30 - 11:19 am

  I bought this car used with 18,000 miles in Jan 2002. Car now has 67,325 mi. Very reliable after the first couple times in the shop the first year I owned it. Needed Mass air flow sensor to stop pinging & some automatic transmision shifter sensor found in TSB to smooth out shifting. Great city car, great gas milage. Car has functioned extremly well no problems. Brakes and tires around 42,000 mi. Very basic low cost transportation. I have been very pleased.

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  car with style - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By chris - December 29 - 10:59 pm

  i have has a lot of cars in my45years of driving GM FORD and Toyota but never thought i would buy a HyundaiBest car I ever had a rolls royce product at a vw pricew ill buy a Hyundai when the wifes Toyota claps out