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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  Very impressed - 2001 Hyundai Accent
  By n8d1 - March 13 - 2:00 am

  Well I bought this car used for a comuter car, with only 12,500 miles on it for only $6900. It has been very good on gas mileage (about 30/gal) and get about 250 mi/tank (only 8+ gal). Very peppy with the 5-speed and has lots of features I didnt expect from one of the least expensive cars on the market...even the stripped down model I bought. I am very pleased with it and will most likely keep it untill it dies, which will be 10yrs/100,000 mi. or more...

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  WOW - 2007 Hyundai Veracruz
  By This is a Hyundai??? - March 12 - 1:06 pm

  We bought this after searching every maker for a 7-passenger SUV that was fun to drive, looked good, felt good, and got more than 15-17 MPG. Its not an ugly minivan/round box SUV clone, it didnt cost $50K+ like the luxury brands, and it gets 20+ MPG combined driving while taking regular gas (unlike virtually every other premium- swilling luxury SUV - thats worth another 1-2 miles per gallon if you do the math). 1000 miles in, I am amazed! It is so far an awesome vehicle and comes in cheaper than the 5-passenger Lexus RX (whose look it very conveniently resembles) - plus it outperformed the Lexus in a Washington Post auto review. Good fit and finish, great warranty.

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  My Second Elanta - Solid Value - 2014 Hyundai Elantra
  By Robert Grande - March 12 - 3:29 am

  Overall its a great car and initial quality was outstanding with no defects. Highway gas mileage may not always be the original false claim of 40 MPG but now that car is broken in I get there with summer blend of gas. Mostly highway driving (80/20) so overall I get 35 to 38 consistently. The transmission is very smooth though occasionally when you come to a hill it feels like the transmission should downshift. Fortunately you have the option to manually downshift so its not that big a deal. If you want sporty, go for a Mazda 3 - Elantras acceleration is okay and it handling is very good but not quite on par with Mazda. But then again, I judged the overall road noise level of the Mazda 3 annoying by comparison. Like the Mazda and other small 4-cylinder cars it gets a bit loud when accelerating onto the highway. Beware the blind spots sue to the slope of the front roof pillars. Backup camera is very handy since its tough to judge the front or back through the windows. Standard audio system is okay but wish it had a bit more "oomph" - especially for bass. Bluetooth works well and touch screen controls are easy to learn. Climate controls are well- designed.

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  Amazing!!! - 2012 Hyundai Sonata
  By elifant71 - March 11 - 1:16 pm

  I love my new car. The ride is excellent, the gas mileage so far has been outstanding, and its been a long time since I have gotten into a vehicle and actually been comfortable. This car is and has out surpassed my expectations and desires. I cant wait to take a road trip and really get to enjoy the open road again!

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  No Power???? - 2005 Hyundai TUCSON
  By XtrmeDriver - March 10 - 11:13 pm

  Okay first off, I am an avid car guy. I enjoy reading multiple reviews 4 many different cars and trucks, and I have read several reviews on the new Tucson. Every professional review I read talked about the Tucsons poor performance in regards to its acceleration and transmission. So going into my first test drive with the vehicle I was expecting a sluggish experience. This was definitely not the case at all. No, it wont outrun my Mustang Cobra, but it has plenty of low end punch off the line. It feels eager to go as soon as you touch the pedal. I now proudly own a Tucson and have been very pleased w/it. Build quality is excellent and the value that comes with it cant be matched!

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  A great SUV - 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By JWP in MN - March 10 - 2:40 am

  I own the 2002 LX AWD my daughter bought it and put the first 30K on it and we took over for the last 60K. It was the best SUV in its class in 02 and we havent been disappointed yet. It gets 26 to 28 mpg on long trips, I dont keep track in town. It handles great in snow and on icy roads, AWD is automatic with nothing to worry about. Our only repair was a cracked A/C line otherwise trouble free except for normal maint. Soon we will get an 07 or 08 RAV4 or Santa Fe, both the top performers in our test drives. The 07s are far nicer SUVs and that is what you would expect with 5 more years of expierence but the 02 is still a well built classy SUV.

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  XL350 - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By ecfusa - March 9 - 10:00 am

  Great handling and accelatation. The vehicle handles well at high speeds and in corners.

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  An awwwwesome car! - 2004 Hyundai XG350
  By bot337 - March 9 - 10:00 am

  This car really took me by surprise. I was checking out between Jetta, this car, and the smallest Kompressor model of Mercedes. This car ruled the others out when i took it for a test drive. I couldnt believe the smoothness and quiteness! The power is more than i can ask for. the RPM stays below 2.5 x1000, as compared to others that reach way above 3.0. lack of visibility of the time and radio screen during daytime? Change the light to "off" which still keeps your daytime headline on, then turn on the night headlight when the sun goes down. Most asian cars are manual

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  MUCH better than my Saturn SC1 - 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
  By Moperock - March 9 - 10:00 am

  I have wanted a Santa Fe for the last 5 years and was finally able to afford one. The exterior styling has European grace and sleekness, and the cost is more than reasonable. The ride and steering are excellent, and I will be able to fit my toddler niece and nephew triplets all in the back seat in their car seats, and have room up front for an adult!

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  excellent value - 2001 Hyundai Sonata
  By minski - March 8 - 2:00 am

  This GLS v6 is just about the nicest car Ive owned. Its coming up on 50K and Ive had no troubles whatsoever. Id buy another one in a heartbeat.