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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  No spare shocker! - 2012 Hyundai Accent
  By stevehouston - January 4 - 11:03 am

  I love this car but I was not "surprised" there was no spare tire, I was down-right pissed. I took a road trip over New Years and when I was heading back home, discovered there wasnt a spare tire!! Who does this!! What idiot S. Korean engineer dreamed this one up? Scenario: Me and my wife and son hit road debris at night on the freeway which shreds the tire. Im frantically looking up and down for the spare which doesnt exist. Bang, lights out. I guess Hyundai thinks a tire inflater will fix this. Wrong! This is inexcusable and is a safety hazard plain and simple. Im notified the dealer, Hyundai and I think Im going to contact a federal agency to complain.

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  Mixed Feelings - 2008 Hyundai Sonata
  By mr_keating - January 3 - 12:14 pm

  I purchased the 2008 Sonata GLS about three years ago. I immediately noticed a lag or hesitation when the trans shifts from 1st to 2nd gear. Came to find out that Sonatas have tranny issues, and have for years. Interior build quality is cheap. Lots of squeking from the plastic sections of the dash. Not a lot of pick-up at lower speeds, but does fairly well at highway speeds.

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  Update - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By bjpjjs - December 31 - 1:42 pm

  Hit 1k and still love the car the Smart cruise control works great. Just finished a 200 mile round trip and got 30 MPG on the highway. Great blend of power handling fuel efficiency and comfort luxury and value. Test drive one with some good music you wont be disappointed!

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  My best Car ever ... so far - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By khailash - December 30 - 1:05 am

  After i graduated, im trying to find new car but couldnt find a good as elantra. very comfort, nice interior design, But after i my parent want to change to a MPV, i no need to take a long time to think, I just take elantra to become my 1st car. As owner, continue from my dad to me, from 2002 ,elantra serve us well.Almost 3 years with me, driving more than 160K KM, i maintained this car never give me a big problem. even my friend also compliment this car engine is smooth and never make noise. Hell yeah , now i will keep this car and wait the elantra 2011 coming to Malaysia. until now, Im die hard fan of Elantra.

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  Best Car Ive owned - 2002 Hyundai Elantra
  By inlinewhine - December 29 - 9:28 pm

  Bought this car Feburary 2003 with 7k miles on for $11,300 and still own it into 2012 and dont plan on selling it. It has 106k miles on it now and the only problems ive had with the car were the e-brake cable boot came off when driving in snowy conditions and the cable froze. Warenty covered it. My blower motor quit working on low speed which was also replaced under warrenty. My map sensor failed at 98k miles and the vehicle died. it started up 20 minutes later and was able to make it to a repair shop. I am hard on vehicles and I will admit I bought this vheichle for the warrenty. I drive it hard everyday and it keeps on running smooth averageing 33 mpg.

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  Falling Apart!!! - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By nolagirl - December 28 - 8:51 pm

  Im at 57k miles now. Currently my car is sitting with a locked ignition and steering wheel waiting to be repaired. The car looks nice and does well on the highway. However, if it is plastic, it is broken or will break soon. So far, visors are broken, the front skirt is cracked, paint flaking everywhere, drivers seat only goes back, not up, the seat adjustment control falls off every time I get out the car, the passenger side view mirror housing is broken ($300 paint & replacement) and yesterday my back drivers side door handle fell off. This car is built of extremely CHEAP materials. The interior is very worn also despite being a 2007 that isnt heavily driven. Never again!

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  2010 Elantra GLS PZEV - 11,000 Miles - 2010 Hyundai Elantra
  By njscorpio - December 28 - 12:38 pm

  First I would like to address two issues mentioned in other reviews. Those with "bouncy" suspension seem to have the SE models. I havent had those problems with the GLS. Also it was said that there is a delay in acceleration. That is true, but that is due to the ECO mode. There is a slight delay when accelerating from below (aprox) 3,000rpm to above 3,000. It has something to do with keeping your driving at low, gas conserving RPMs. Disable ECO mode (by hitting TRIP till you see ECO ON, then holding TRIP until off) and you will have much smoother acceleration.

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  Blown Engine at 113K? - 2007 Hyundai Sonata
  By lorraine1966 - December 28 - 7:12 am

  I have a 2007 Sonata that has 113K miles on it. I brought it in for a ticking noise in engine-was told it could be a lifter engine has oil so was told to keep driving it. Next day on highway, noise got worse & bang, no power & oil ran out of bottom of engine. Am being told I need a new engine. NO info on any TSB on problems with this car. Am still in it for $7K-am at a loss here & Hyundai takes no responsibility. Now what?! Before this issue, car was a dream-no problems whatsoever. Am baffled, angry & feeling helpless. No where to turn-no help-no nothing.

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  2011 Ultimate review - Great Job Hyundai! - 2011 Hyundai Equus
  By jfortino - December 27 - 10:49 am

  I have owned 2 Lexus, 2 Acura, Lincoln Navigator and am turning in my Jaguar XF Premium Lease. I have test drove many cars looking for a premium luxury sedan. I took a chance on the Equus after researching for over 2 months and a number of test drives. After taking delivery and putting on 1000 miles - I am stunned at the quality of the vehicle. I was very unsure of my decision to move on a Hyundai, but relied on many of the reviews here and other places. The fit and finish is superb, and contrary to most professional reviews, the exterior of the vehicle is very sharp - I have already had a number of people asking me about the vehicle at a gas station and restaurant! Great job Hyundai!

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  A lot of car for the $$$ but... - 2012 Hyundai Genesis
  By rosstelson - December 25 - 7:51 pm

  Overall, this is an impressive automobile and a good value. It clearly seeks to emulate much more expensive sedans from Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes. It comes closer in some areas than others. Some aspects of the car are exceptional - perhaps superior to its more costly competitors but in other areas, not so much. Its a lot of car for the money, superior in many ways to equal-cost competitors ... but dont expect it to equal cars costing $10, 20, or 30k more... not yet.