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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  Diligent Shopper - 2006 Hyundai Sonata
  By Satisfied Customer - July 31 - 1:20 am

  I was hesitant to buy a Hyundai at first. In the last two months, however, I have bought two! I was very satisfied with my purchase of a Hyundai Tucson so I took a good luck at the Sonata. I was very impressed by the fit and finish, ride quality and solid performance of the 235hp V6. It is very smooth and practically silent and free of vibrations while idling. I found the drivers seat a bit firm at first, but I got used to that in a very short time. I researched my purchase over several months. I looked at everything from the Volvo S40 to the Ford Fusion, and found that the Sonata was the best overall value. Best of all, the performance of the Sonata beat the all. I am very pleased.

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  a/c - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By annoyed - July 29 - 10:32 am

  I have had my car for 2 years and have replaced the a/c in it 3 times now. It is currently in the shop for the third a/c. I bought the extended warranty and it is a joke! They want to do things the cheapest way possible and dont care if it fixes the car...hence 3 a/cs in 2 years! I love my car otherwise but hate these issues.

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  Do an online check - 2016 Hyundai Elantra
  By Jeff - July 29 - 4:07 am

  Did most of my dealing online and spent less time and hassle than going to a dealership. Saved money, too.

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  just bought it we will see - 2001 Hyundai Elantra
  By poetry - July 28 - 10:47 pm

  Just bought this car today, its a beauty. I love the interior design the Windows are smoked so I dont have to get them tinted. The previous owner put in custom sound and custom rims and it drives like a dream. I bought the car with 4 recalls on it and the dealership already advised me they will fix them with no cost and provide a rental. I only gave it "8" because Ive only owned it for 7 hours now.

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  a nice little car - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By charlie - July 28 - 12:34 am

  I have 70 thousand miles on my elantra gt, replaced rear brakes at 50 thousand miles and I do a lot of stop and go Las Vegas driving in the heat, front brakes at 55. Not bad at all. 35 mpg on hwy at 68 mph, only warranty work-- new tie rod end at 49 thousand miles along with torn left cv boot, leaky sun roof and a leaking rear strut, still have the 3 other original struts in the car all work covered on the 50 thousand mile defective part warranty, the dealer told me about at no cost, 450 dollars for timing belt at 62 thousand miles, a 4 1/2 hour job not like the old days, I would never try to do it like I did my old Chevy prizm too many parts. Hyundai totally honored their warranty-

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  Sounds under the suv - 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Carol Moore - July 27 - 7:43 pm

  This is my second Santa Fe, my first was the 2007. This one has a thumping sound when the gas tank isnt full. Ive taken it back twice for repair, am told there is no repair that is only happens on this size engine. However my loner was a smaller engine and it does the same thing when driving. Beware, this is a new problem with the 2010s. After two attempts to fix it, there is no fix. I was told Id have to drive it that way. This is my last Hyundai. Im so sorry, because I love the style and comfort.

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  So far so good... - 2001 Hyundai XG300
  By eje - July 27 - 3:03 pm

  We looked at and drove many other similar cars: taurus, camry, etc... but broke down and looked at the Hyundai because of its looks, pricing, warranty, and 0 percent interest rate at the time. We were most impressed with all aspects of the car. We were the unhappy owners of a new 98 Malibu: in the shop 20 times in 3 years. We have not had no trouble with the XG in 7000 miles. We want a car that we can drive the wheels off of, and so far this car is promising.

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  problems - 2006 Hyundai Azera
  By steve - July 26 - 8:37 pm

  i have 45,000 miles on the car. overall, i like it very much. three problems i have had and other customers according to the dealer. the rear electronic window shade motor broke. the dash board has split around the passenger airbag twice now, and some problem with the timing chain recently which causes a rattling noise during a cold first start. all of these were politely fixed by the dealer, no questions asked. my car has consistently got 24.3 mpg, according to the computer.

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  Good car for the money - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By bbbig - July 26 - 7:56 pm

  I bought this car as it seemed to present a good value for money. I liked its V6 performance, interior design and very nice exterior. Considering how hard I drive this car, Im content with its reliability so far, after 23k miles. A real problem surfaced at around 20k miles, when I noticed brake noise. I thought it was the wear indicator on the brake pads, but as it turned out it was my rotors. Initially I got pretty upset at the dealership as they suggested rotor replacements - thought they were trying to milk me - but as it turned out, its a common issue with the 2007 model. Yes, I too live in the New England area and see a lot of road salt. You get what you pay for - car was cheap

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  Very solid car and a great deal - 2009 Hyundai Elantra
  By Chris G. - July 25 - 6:25 pm

  I am amazed about how solid the car is and how much fun it is to drive. Nothing creaks or feels cheap. The car exterior (we have the dark blue) looks stunning. Inside even at highway speeds there is little road noise and it is extremely comfortable. Drove its first 200 miles today. Mileage for an unbroken in car was 36+ on highway. Lots of features that are expensive add-ons for other cars and it is very safe. The iPod interface works with my iPhone 3G even in very limited testing, just tell your iPhone not to go into airplane mode when you plug it in. Bluetooth interface in the car works, although I thought speaker volume sounds low.