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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  Its a great car for the money - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By gofor40mpg - February 23 - 10:41 pm

  I just baught the Elantra, January 24th. Reading the reviews about the MPGs, I have to say that even when I drove this car for the first week, I was getting about <25> MPG. the car had 35 miles on it.. The MPGs have been getting better since the first tank of gas. first tank fill, I got 30 MPGs.MY second fill, I got 31.4 Mpgs. this is driving HWY and City.. The first tank i have gone 274 miles, on 9.9 Gallons. 2nd tank Ive gone 308.5 mile on 10.3 gallons, 3rd tank Ive gone 336.2 miles on 10.7 gallons.The computer Avg showed 33.1. Actual calculated, is 31.4. by dividing the miles to the gallons filled.. The computer is about 2 MPGs high. I will continue with up dates on the MPGs

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  Very Happy Accent Owner. - 2012 Hyundai Accent
  By justdude - February 23 - 6:18 pm

  I recently purchased a used 2012 Accent SE with 8122 miles on it. Traded my 2008 loaded Cobalt in for it when I read and heard gas was going to hit 4.50 a gal this summer. My Cobalt was a nice car but at 32mpg it just wouldnt do. The Accents mileage is Great!! Just filled it up after driving back and forth to work and errands for a week. 4.5 gal!!! So happy with that. Avg 34.4mpg. The cobalt was a pitiful 24mpg at best. The only thing I would have liked is a lumbar support and outside temp. Gauges and radio are easy to see and use as is the bluetooth. This car is just so easy to drive I kind wished I lived further from work......

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  GO BUY THIS CAR!!!! - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By mynewcar7 - February 21 - 9:36 am

  Let me talk about fuel economy. Ive read other reviews that bash this cars actual MPGs. Well, no car is a miracle car (not yet). When they rate this at 29 city / 40 highway, those are peak averages in very selective circumstances. This is nothing new, every single car on the market does this. What is amazing is that I DO average (combined city/highway) around 30-32 mpg per tank. And yes, this car will do 40 mpg on the highway, Ive even gotten it up to 45 mpg on flat surfaces, @60mph with cruise & no AC on. This car is nothing short of amazing. Test drove them all, this one is in a class by itself. Definitely worth a look. Ive owned it for about 7 months now with 12,000 miles.

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  You MUST own this car! - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By holywow - February 20 - 12:59 pm

  Do two things: 1) Take an Avatar DVD, throw it in the player, tune to chapter 6 and crank the surround sound 2) Settle into the leather seats, drive the car on the freeway, and wait five minutes until Mr. Highway Patrolman apprehends you for slightly aggressive driving. If these two experience dont convince you that this car is AWESOME, then you have no pulse. I own the 4.6...because the R-Spec doesnt come in red.

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  1 year owned review - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By screwedinaz - February 16 - 10:49 pm

  overall its not a bad car with the best feature being with 3.50 gas prices 25 bucks about fills the tank at 3/4 empty. with the 5 speed manual i dont have to wait for transmission to shift if i need to pass some body drop a gear and just go. the seating is a bit stiff to say the least trunk space easily holds to big duffle bags. the car did not come with a radio but that was an easy fix. installing a radio was a breeze too 1 phillips head screwdriver and a pry tool to remove face plate.

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  But for 1 thing... - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By flippy_boy - February 12 - 9:05 am

  Bought this car over the summer and absolutely loved it for about six months. Then winter came. Had to switch up vehicles after I got stuck in relatively small amounts of snow for the third time. This car goes from absolutely fabulous to virtually useless in snow and ice, particularly in hilly conditions. Apparently everyone in the world knows this about rear wheel drive vehicles except for former Florida boys. It pained me to part with the car but it had to be done. If you live in areas without snow, I would recommend this car without hesitation. However, if you deal with winter driving at all, I would definitely look elsewhere, at least until 2014 when the AWD Genesis and Equus are due.

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  Radio/Time Display Screen - 2012 Hyundai Accent
  By wubaja - February 6 - 8:13 pm

  I really like my Accent. It is fun to drive and quite comfortable. But . . . the radio display LCD is terrible! There is very little contrast in the display of dark gray and light gray, and there is no brightness control. This may be petty, but Id like to be able to see the clock (hidden in the upper right corner), rather than the radio station that Ive been tuned to for the last two hours. Does anyone else have a problem with the display screen?

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  Most Enjoyable Car I Ever Owned!! - 2012 Hyundai Equus
  By markie7 - February 3 - 8:54 pm

  Very luxurious vehicle. Solid smooth ride. Floats on the highway like being in a cloud. I fell safe, encapsulated from the noisy world, and most of all, feel extremely pampered from the moment I step inside. Very quick for a big sedan. Great displayes, comfy seats, and intuitive navi systems. All luxury features in competing car manufacturers are here, but for less money. But, let us be real: $60K is still alot of money. But, nice things cost money. However, the value for dollar is stronger in this product than the others. Also, there is some exclusivity. Most people are still eyeing the equus. Everyone (and their mother) have BMWs and the like. Be different! Stand out! Enjoy the ride.

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  Only 8-Month ownership of the car - 2011 Hyundai Genesis
  By jonathan16 - January 31 - 2:26 pm

  I was convinced by my wife to buy the 2011 Genesis 4.6 and I sold it 8 months later. The ride was killing me. Couple times I traveled with my family, my 18 years old son thought were riding on truck. Furthermore, the squeaks & rattles are also unacceptable. My wife said she will never tried Hyundai again.

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  2012 elantra - 2012 Hyundai Elantra
  By gts4 - January 30 - 2:00 pm

  traded our 2010 elantra se for the 2012 gls its more comfortable than the 2010 gas mileage is alittle bit better car handles well but suspension is cheap on this car we have 7500 miles on the car and I belive the rear shocks are gone it sounds like the back wheels are falling off we sent it back to the dealer they said everything looks good its going back a third time it has the old time strait rear axle that went out in the 80s biege seats stain easy car has some blind spots front pilars and rear hard to see when pullig out in traffic backing can be bad also gas mileage is between 24 - 32 sometimes if the wind is blowing in the right direction you might get 36 on the highway not much power