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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  Traded - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Rscu - November 6 - 2:00 am

  I owned a 2002 Santa Fe LX for 9 months. After turning 10,000 miles, the engine started to sound like a diesel engine at idle. The service department and regional representative said it was normal engine noise. It was either the lifters or rods.....It also has an under-powered alternator; the lights fade after a stop, and the transmission indicator blinks with the turn signals. That was normal, also. I was afraid of engine durability. The engine is very unresponsive.

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  One Wonderful Car - 2002 Hyundai XG350
  By rajeev - November 6 - 2:00 am

  Much impressed by the compariosn of Elanta with Corolla with $4300 less, I made no mistake by choosing XG350L for Camry or Accord. Mine was a Demo car. It has every option already installed with $6000 less than its market price. What else it could wish for. With a price which could have fetched me fully loaded CIVIC, I got much much more than that. And with previous experince of Hyundai, I have no doubt about this one. I love it.

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  2003 Hyundai Santa Fe - 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Review from NJ - November 6 - 2:00 am

  Can not beat the price for what you get. The Hyundia Santa Fe doesnt have any cheapter parts than other vehicles priced much higher. They are all using more plastic then metal now days. The Warranty is the best there is with 5 years/60,000 miles bumper to bumper and there 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

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  do not buy this car unless you like heat in summer - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By R.N. - November 5 - 8:52 pm

  i am bringing this 2016 tucson limited in to dealer tomorrow 6/27/16 for the fourth time a/c blows hot air dealer keeps saying they can not find the problem ****** CARCOMPLAINTS .COM LISTS FOUR OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS

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  Cool SUV - 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Mom & Pop - November 5 - 4:23 pm

  Have had our Santa Fe for three months. Have taken two trips from Ohio to New Jersey and back. Ride is every bit as comfortable as our Grand Marquis. Cruised Interstate 80 across Pa. at 75 mph and it handled quite well. Mileage was about 26 mpg as advertised.

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  Good Truck - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Adman - November 4 - 5:40 pm

  Purchased used @ 96k. Towing capacity is awful. Can pull a 13ft Boler travel trailer. Had continuous problem with rear brakes overheating. New calipers fixed it. Transmission cooler and power steering lines both rusted through @ 220k. Replaced tires 190k, Tie rods 215k, timing belt 190k, alternator 150k, crank sensor 120k. Malfunctions of rear wiper, drivers seat belt latch, passenger power lock, screws in driver window shook lose and window fell out. Currently it needs new shocks, and the diff. seal leaks. Other than that it still has lots of life, looks great and has 251,000k on it. Id have to say after 250k thats not to bad. However, Id like my old Safari van back. Less $ loss.

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  Money well spent. - 2009 Hyundai Sonata
  By tomc - November 4 - 2:03 pm

  We got a Sonata because our previous car was starting to show its age (2000 Ford Focus). We also own a Tucson and the reliability is outstanding so we bought another Hyundai. I love the design and the spaciousness of the interior in which you can actually stretch your legs. The fit and finish is excellent made with quality materials and theres no rattles or squeaks to be heard. Hyundai has greatly improved their product line and improving every year.

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  good - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By elantra - November 4 - 12:39 pm

  I like the price. Handles well.

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  Great Car - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By Tim Spradling - November 4 - 9:19 am

  This Car has been the most reliable car I have ever owned in my 47 years of driving and buying cars. I have 50,000 miles on the Car and have only replaced the tires (Because I forgot to rotate them) before a trip (9,500 miles)out West in April 2006. The tires wuld have probably made it but I didnt want to take a chance. It has never required anything else. It is very quiet and looks very nice. I have no complaints whatsoever.

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  Beautiful car - 2006 Hyundai Elantra
  By Stephany - November 4 - 9:04 am

  The drive is very smooth. The stereo sounds great. Its easy to fold down the back seats to expand storage space. I love the color! (moonlit blue)