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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  Fun piece of junk - 1996 Hyundai Elantra
  By umm_bacon - January 8 - 2:00 am

  I got this car used from a family friend, and have had a love hate relationship with it ever since. The car is very fun to drive, it being a 5 speed manual, but everything on it except the engine is crap. Literally every creature comfort has broken on this car: the sun roof, power windows, interior door handles x2, head liner, plastic molding, weather stripping, etc. Aside from the numerous problems with the unessentials (everything but the engine) I have loved every minute of owning this car. I would recomend one for a high school students first car.

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  Transmission Issues on 2106 Hyundai Tucson Limited - 2016 Hyundai TUCSON
  By Scott - January 7 - 7:04 am

  The problem that I am having is when I start to accelerate going through the gears 1,2,3 and 4 there is a huge, pause/delay in shifting through the gears. In fact there has been may times when I start to accelerate the gears pauses and I hit the gas again and the vehicle does not accelerate at all the RPMs go up sometimes past 6 and the transmission start burning. I even got an safety display message that the transmission is overheated and to pull over for safety until it cools down. Note I only have 5719 miles and my 4th time taking it back to the dealership for service. I am driving in fear everything because this problem happens when it wants to sometimes the vehicles drives perfect then the next minute Im having the same issue. This problem is happening at a street light, stop sign, stop and go traffic on the streets and on the freeway, when I am slowing down to make a turn then accelerate and in the morning, afternoon and at night. I am afraid when I start to accelerate then the next second I cannot accelerate that the car behind me or if I am changes lanes and stop accelerating than another vehicle will crash into me. I dont know if the problem is the actual transmission and or software related, but it is unsafe and I do not want to drive this vehicle anymore.

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  Dont Do It - 1999 Hyundai Sonata
  By Can win for losing - January 7 - 2:00 am

  I bought my Hyundai in December of 2001. By January it was in the shop because my transmission fell out. I got my car back in February because the dealership had to call in a specialist to fix the car. We took a trip from Indianapolis to Detroit that following May and got stranded. I replaced the battery, but by June we were in the shop again. For the next 6 months my car would sit in the dealership. I would get in back a few days at a time only for it to self destruct in a matter of hours. Im getting it back tomorrow for the last time. STAY AWAY!

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  I like it, but my son and girl dont - 1998 Hyundai Accent
  By doctor ed - January 4 - 2:00 am

  I inherited this car from my elderly mom. Ive put a good 35,000 miles on it. I like it, but my son calls it the "clown car" because its small and purple. The engine died at 59,400 miles, only 600 miles before the warranty expired. The sheet metal is pretty thin. I removed some dents with the palm of my hand! My experience is good enough to seriously consider a new Santa Fe soon.

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  Ran out of gas !! - 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Joseph Xavier Martin - January 1 - 4:44 pm

  Huyndai Santa Fe 2009 model has a faulty fuel indicator.Internet stories say 2007-2013 models share the problem also. How can you drive a car when you dont know if and when you will run out of gas? The USA Hundai and World Hyundai refuse to acknowledge the problem exists even though the internet is full of cases where the fuel gauge doesnt work. The fix is a $500 cost to the owner. Not fair. If a manufacturer wont guarantee that their product is reliable, customers would look elsewhere. We sure will when we buy our next car. Hyundai lists a corporate philosophy on their website. I didnt see anything there about throwing customers under the bus! Bad form !!

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  would never buy another one - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By unhappy owner - December 23 - 10:23 pm

  I just recently purchased the veracruz about 4 months ago. Within the first week there was a loud thumping noise in the rear end, then once winter hit I attempted to use the awd feature. I quickly realized that did not work, the loud grinding noise gave that away. So after my wife putting 1000 miles on it, off to the shop it went. replaced entire rear end and 4 wheel drive due to oil contamination, at least that what I was told. While it was in the shop I told them to check the front end,as that was making alot of noise also. they did not, so know I am back in my loaner vehicle,after paying nearly 30k for a vehicle and now back in a loaner car, could not be more dissatisfied.

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  Please Consider.... - 2000 Hyundai Tiburon
  By Monica - December 19 - 9:00 pm

  I honestly love the car, how it drives, has awesome a/c, and just a fun car, but it has some major issues. Ive read through these reviews and see that people are constantly replacing headlights, which I found myself doing the same. People with wiring problems, which Ive had. Ive spent WAY too much trying to fix a problem with my car not starting. It turns over only when it wants to. Ive replaced the relay wire to the fuel pump, which worked for a while, but now the car is only starting when it feels like it. Ive replaced the battery, ignition coil, relay wires. The interior dome lights quit working, and for a long time, my only headlights were my brights since the headlights wouldnt work

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  Great little car, just not for Colorado :( - 2013 Hyundai Veloster
  By dpco25 - December 3 - 1:32 am

  Hi, I just wanted to give my input so that others who live in snowy weather or do a lot of driving (like me) dont make the same mistake I did. I bought my Veloster (non-Turbo) in May 2013 and I admit it was a total impulse buy. This car is different-looking, super-cute, has all the bells and whistles one could ever want, and the MPGs youll get on it is phenomenal...it rivals a lot of the hybrids out there. There were many times that I got as much as 38 or 40 MPGs on the highway, which was great considering that gas was almost $4 a gallon back in 2013. The interior design is snazzy and looks totally futuristic, without being too funky or impractical like you would see in a Toyota Prius. The cars interior controls are intuitively designed, so its user-friendly and within easy reach from the driver seat, if not already on the steering wheel itself. The technology this car offers is fantastic for a vehicle in this price-range, especially the navigation system (which I did use a lot since I drive a lot for my job). The panoramic sun roof is bigger than most Ive seen in compact cars and the three-door design is unique, although it does take a little getting used to if one is used to the standard 4-door models. This is the car that one will definitely get a lot of complements on...even after having it for 2+ years, I still had people stopping me and telling me how "cool and different" my car looks. This car does have a great rear-view camera, which is good because the back window is tiny and there are a lot of blind spots due to the odd shape of the back side windows. The brakes in this car are also great....there were more than a few times when I came upon slowing traffic due to construction or an accident and this car stopped on a dime. The seat comfort is okay but not great, and its difficult getting in and out of the vehicle. The back seats in this car are almost like an after-thought; they are not very comfortable at all. The cargo space in the back hatchback is surprisingly roomy for a car this size; I was able to get medium-sized furniture and a fair amount of boxes in the back once I put the back seats down. Even with the back seats up, you can still get a couple of big, fully-packed suitcases in there, with room for some carry-on items too. Okay, here are the downsides to this car: for one, it has really poor acceleration. The Veloster looks like it would move fast and nimble, but its acceleration is sluggish at best. I heard its better in the Turbo model, but if you have the standard like I did, its surprisingly slow. The ride in the car is rough, especially the more miles you put on it, and you will feel every bump and pothole on the road. If you live in a state where you have nicely paved highways and side streets, this shouldnt be an issue, but we have some really crappy roads in Colorado so I constantly felt jostled around while driving, which only added to my stress levels on a daily basis. I was constantly worried that Ill accidentally hit a big bump or pothole, which will then make the Veloster scrape the bottom being that its so low-profile. Speaking of the low-profile, I dont do any off-road driving or anything like that, but the low profile of this car can be an issue on poorly maintained or weather-damaged roads. But heres the biggest issue I had with this car: this car is great in the summer or in warm-weather climates, so if you live in Florida or California where the roads are nice and the weather is nice most of the year, then this is the car for you! However, this car cannot handle snow or heavy torrential rains at all! If you are trying to go up a hill in snowy weather, this car will slip and slide all over the place! I dreaded snowy winter days in this car, as I commute 40 miles one way on the highway to work. When it snowed, I would slip and slide the whole way and be praying to all the saints and angels to get to work in one piece. There were a few times I couldnt even back out of my driveway in this car when it snowed. Even with all-weather tires, winter-driving was dicey at best in the Veloster. In light rains, the Veloster does okay but it can easily hydroplane during the heavy rains so you had to go very slow. The high performance tires required for this type of car is not practical if you do a lot of highway driving like I do; I had to replace my tires once a year, which gets expensive if you need all-weather tires. The higher mileage I got in this car, the more it rattled and vibrated, which eventually took its toll on the speakers and sound system. Overall, this is a great little car if you live in warm weather and do mostly city driving, but for me, it just didnt fit my needs living and working in Colorado with its unpredictable weather and roads. Sadly, I ended up trading in my cool Veloster this weekend for a much more sturdier and practical 2016 Subaru Crosstrek, which is the quintessential Colorado car.

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  Ok car, but 3.8 litre looks tempting - 2005 Hyundai Tiburon
  By derfla - November 22 - 10:20 am

  I have owned this moonlit blue tiburon for 10 months and have no major problems with the vehicle. The 360 wat infinity cd stereo system is great. The engine needs more power and I am considing getting a Mitsubishi Eclipse, after I test drive it, the price is almost the same and the engine sounds to be alot bigger. The only reason I may not buy the Eclipse is that the Tiburon has a little more leg room. I am 6 tall and the leg room is ok. I will have to see how the eclipse feels. The interior of the Tiburon is pleather and is ok and stylish but for the money there is more out there.The Tibby has been reliable and the 160lbs of torque is ok to drive but the 260lbs look more tempting.

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  Terrible Dealer Support - 2005 Hyundai Elantra
  By Don - November 10 - 3:10 pm

  Fun car to drive, purchased for kids to use. Fuel Gauge went bad, also problem with odometer electronics, within a month period odometer went from 19k+ skipped the 20s and 30s and went to 40k, neither Hyundai nor dealer would take care of it. I had canceled the extended warranty 6 months prior and funished Hyundais cust. service dept in Irvine with notarized statement of mileage at that time at approx 11k. I had owned prior Hyundais with no issues approx 10 yrs prior.They always took care of the consumer. I guess now they are to big. I have purchased 3 new cars in the past 3 months non a Hyundai and never will buy another.They will never be equal to Mazda or Honda with this lack of service