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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  Small Car, Big Car Feel - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By tbilla - January 2 - 2:00 am

  This is my commuting car, 58 miles each way most days. If you are looking for a car with decent room, all the comforts (CD, Leather, ABS, power everything) & great mileage (I average 29.2 mpg, 90% highway), but dont want to pay for a luxury car, this is the unit for you. I picked mine up online at the end of the design year for 16K out the door. Plan to drive it until the wheels fall off. Problems fixed under warranty: rattle in headliner, A/C compressor whine & loose air bag light connector.

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  Entourage Best of the Best - 2007 Hyundai Entourage
  By Russ - December 31 - 7:20 pm

  Surprising amount of power, room, bells and whistles. This minivan MOVES and looks great. Put the pedal down and it growls into action with a very smooth ride. Super amount of seat flexiblity. Some of the best features are rear windows that go down! Dual auto sliding doors. Also automatic rear vented windows. It comes with so many standard options it is a lot of vehicle. 60,000 BUMPER TO BUMPER warranty. Way roomier than Quest and FAR more features. Even cloth seats are heated up front! Dual climate control up front - Superior cooling - 3 sets of cooling vents assure consistency. You really have to check this one out if you are seeking a van. Far too many features to discuss here.

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  OUTSTANDING VALUE, FORGET THE REST! - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Blastersix - December 31 - 2:33 pm

  I spent months reading at Edmunds and other sites about this car and finally test drove and bought one. My wife was in a minivan and not enjoying it, so I thought Id surprise her for her 30th birthday! Definitely a great surprise. Our first trip was over 250 miles from the dealership home (great deal) and we averaged 28.8 MPG with the V6 and cruise set at 73 MPH. Outstanding! Fit, finish, attention to detail, styling...Hyundai really did their homework on this car to make it a true contender with the big boys: Accord and Camry. With a decent rebate and a great 2.9% financing available through April 06, I bought this car for $6,000 less than a comparibly equipped Camry or Accord.

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  Love My Tuscani - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Kelly - December 31 - 1:20 pm

  Great car...back seat way too small..No headroom

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  2007 Hyundai Santa Fe Ltd. - 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By F.J.Holstein - December 30 - 9:43 am

  I was leaning toward the Nissan Murano until I drove the Santa Fe Ltd. Not only was it almost $5000 less than the Murano comparably equipped, but it had less road noise and 7 passenger seating vs. 5 in the Murano with a much better warranty to boot.

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  AN OUTSTANDING VEHICLE - 2003 Hyundai Sonata
  By KAHUNA - December 30 - 2:00 am

  37K IN 15 MONTHS AND NOT A PROBLEM. ROCK SOLID! SAVED 4.5K OVER A SIMILARLY EQUIPPED TOY OR HONDA. I LIKED IT SO MUCH, THAT I PURCHASED A 2D HYUNDAI PRODUCT! HIGHLY RECOMMEND HYUNDAI.

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  Fun and fast - but whats that noise? - 2000 Hyundai Tiburon
  By wqmidlifecrisis - December 30 - 2:00 am

  Unique styling and great fun to drive. Bought new almost three years ago as a mid-life crisis car, and it has been an excellent value for the money. The combination of the vehicle weight, powertrain, and suspension system is fabulous, especially when you compare it to cars in its class that cost many thousands of dollars more. I am about to take it in (less than 28,000 miles now) to see what the dealer has to say about a strange "clacking" noise that seems to be emanating from between the dash and the windshield on the drivers side on bumpy pavement. In sum, if Hyundai can build these things just a little tighter, Id certainly buy another "Tib."

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  A Major Change! - 2015 Hyundai Sonata
  By Bill R. Wynne - December 29 - 8:21 am

  Im slightly biased, I lived in Korea for 12 years; and I have purchased Four (4) Hyundai Products previously. Hence I have known them to be good, solid, reliable vehicles. I traded In my 2014 Kia for the SONATA SPORT. Sitting in my driveway is a 2003 KIA OPTIMA, 88,000 miles and last year, we had to have left half shaft replaced and thats it. I normally drive a Cadillac DTS; my first was in 1973, Coupe De Ville. Hence I have grown accustomed to driving a great riding luxury car with all the bells and whistles. There is truth in that saying Rides like a Cadillac. I know that the Hyundai is reliable, and a great value, BUT I was totally stunned when I test drove the SPORT Model. Additionally, Ive always had more than two cars, and one would always be a Performance Model; Corvette, Z28, Trans Am, Cadillac CTS-V type vehicles. As I initially drove into the traffic I was impressed at its ease to get into traffic on a Six Lane Major Road. I am NOT a fan of the Four Cylinder Engines, the sound I dont like. But I did not know at that moment that IT was a Four, I felt what seemed to be the V6 type thrust. As I merged onto I65, there is a major intersection; the on ramp and the two lane exit ramp coincide, people coming to the right, and you must cross two lanes to get into the 3 Lane main road. It is a hard trick as the Speed limit is 70 and most folks are truly running 75 MPH, so you have to have acceleration to pull away from the oncoming cars are you traverse 3 or 4 lanes of traffic. Im Used to a V8 pulling me across this intersection. I was in Normal Mode, and at first it seemed that I was not accelerating, but I then noticed that I was going 70 and pulling away from the traffic. I was going to the far left lane and was going to lock down the speed at 75. I looked down and I WAS GOING 85 MPH! I had been fooled by the silence of the car! For a few minutes I let it run at 80 MPH and intentionally, I had left the Audio off and this was to listen for any odd things. I was stunned at the quietness of this car. I say, damn, this thing rides as good as a Cadillac!! Then I discovered that the Cruise Control works very uniquely by keeping the speed pretty close GOING DOWN HILL! One of my pet peeves is when you go over a hill, hit the brakes, then you have to re-engage the system or it will be definitely speeding. Im a fairly large man, 60", 235 lbs. My comfort test is I get in, get comfortable seat placement for me; Im paying for it, right? Then I get out and get into the rear seat and see what that comfort level is. I got in back and was totally stunned at the knee room. What totally blew me away was the passenger lowered the back rest very far back while I was sitting in the rear. The rear passenger still had great knee room AND on my side, I had a good Four inches between my knee caps and the seat!! To be honest, more room than a DTS in knee room, and Great for Two Passengers, ONLY! But those two get a fantastic place to ride. On the way back from our 75 mile trip, I put it into ECO and my onboard system began at 29 MPG as were returning but about 20 Miles later it was reading 40 MPG! I took that figure with a mild grain of salt, as the algorithms for mileage calculation is not always the true MPG. But even if it was ONLY getting 35 MPG, I was impressed by the solid and quality build properties of this vehicle. When You slam the trunk down, you get a nice solid chunk. Same with the Doors. I also purchased several additional programs that basically provide me with Seven Years and 70,000 Miles of Bumper to Bumper, what ever happens it gets fixed, free oil changes, tire rotations and more that includes all the High Tech Items!! I believe that the ONLY thing I must do is put GAS in it, and enjoy driving it, and so far, this has been a ball of a car! Thumbs up to the Hyundai Corporation for listening and continually attempting to improve the product in many ways to create a great vehicle. AND I was very delighted with the OWNERS Manual. Small, easy to use and simple. A GM Owners Manual is about one inch thick and is confusing at best; IF you car is equipped with this option... I dont know if it has the Bingo Banga Torque Splitting Auto 7 speed or the 9 speed?? Very Good!! I also found that the Mode Settings actually have some effect as desired. Many vehicles will list great sounding Accessories, but Like the BMW, you cant use the system very well without taking eyes off road. Does it Work? I pretty much used intutive knowledge to operate a lot of stuff prior to reading the manual to find out even more technological features, Hill Hold, KOOL!! OH, and one of the BEST FEATURES of this vehicles is ITS GREAT LOOKING!!

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  A steal at this price - 2007 Hyundai Azera
  By Dean - December 28 - 4:43 pm

  I could not be happier. Got the black / black and had the factory wheels chromed. Stunning to look at and an even bigger pleasure to drive. This is a "10" and a must see for anyone shopping at this pricepoint.

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  Why hadnt I heard of this car??? - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Karen W. - December 28 - 2:53 pm

  We looked at Chevy Equinox & Trailblazer(used), Highlander, Vue, etc. Hyundai was our last stop. We were looking at the Sante Fes, but when I walked into the showroom and saw the Mesa Red Tucson with grey leather seats sitting there, I fell hard. Although the other cars were "nice", they didnt excite me. The Tuscon did. And once you threw in all the safety features and extras, along with the best warranty ever, no one could beat the deal. (We paid just over $22,000 and extended the warranty.) Have had a week and taken 1 trip to Maine (320 rnd trip) and am extremely happy with this car! Currently getting 20/22 mpg. Our V8 Explorer got 15 mpg city OR hwy. GREAT CAR! We LOVE it!